New Holidays

It has been quite a while since I last posted, and I have so much to share!

The first snow was on Halloween!! This holiday is not largely celebrated in Poland but I was very excited to see the big Hollywood snowflakes falling when I woke up :)

We celebrated Wszystkich Swietych or All Saints' Day on November first. This is a holiday to commemorate family members that have passed away. Wednesday morning we left the house at nine and drove two hours to Marek and Jola's home town. We went to the church and then we walked over to the cemetery, where we lit candles and placed flowers on the graves of my host family's loved ones. It was surprising to see how different the  cemetery was from what I'm used to seeing at home. Usually the cemeteries are grass with a small headstone, here there are rows and rows of stone tombs above the ground. Each 'tomb' has a picture of the deceased and their age on it. Every grave is covered in candles and flowers.  I spent the day with my host family and all their extended family, I had a great time learning about a new celebration with such kind people. 

I had the rest of the week off. Thursday I stayed busy at the gym and then at my running practice and to finish off the day I had a ballet class to try out! I met a dancer at one of the parties I had gone to and she helped me sign up for a class. My body was exhausted and out of shape but I was so excited to be dancing again! I am very grateful that the terminology in ballet is French, the positions and steps are universal. I still understood what I was supposed to be doing :) I've decided to continue with the class, it will keep me busy and hopefully get me back in ballet shape. 

Last weekend Olivia's host family took us on a fun adventure! We visited Szczytno, a small city about an hour away. We went to a cool little museum that displayed some history of the town through peoples old belongings. We then zipped up our coats and walked around the city to find 15 little dwarfs! I'm hoping to visit the 100 other trolls in Wroclaw later this year! 

Monday was a cookie making sort of day! Olivia and I struggled to get the brown sugar right, there is not normal brown sugar here and the molasses was pomegranate or grape flavored... We ended up using honey. It worked pretty well and I think it made the cookies more moist! Aside from that hiccup it was a fun way to start the week! Wednesday we spontaneously decided to  go to Gdansk to see a Ukrainian Ballet. It was such an incredible show. The dancers were amazing, it was very different from the ballet performances I've seen before. It was tradition Ukrainian ballet, the shoes were different so were the moves and the costumes too! It was a great experience, I'm hoping to see a Polish ballet and maybe even a Russian ballet later this year! 

This weekend we celebrated Poland's independence day! 99 years of independence, It's celebrated a little differently here. In Olsztyn there was a small parade and in some bigger city they also set off fireworks, the holiday isn't as widely celebrated as it is in the United States. 

Saturday night Olivia and Maciek and his girlfriend and I established Hockey Night! We watched the New York Rangers vs. The Edmonton Oilers, it was really fun for us to hang out together and not have to go out. I've been so busy and I was in need of a chill night in with some friends :) 

Also a quick note: I know that there have been some frustrations with commenting, I have changed the settings and anyone should be able to comment now! Let me know if it works :)