Yes Houston, we have a washer!!

Oh joyous day. At 11:45AM our washer was delivered. For the next 4 hours Joan tried to read the directions in Polish about how to use it. She's still reading, with our 6 dictionaries in front of her. Fortunately for me, I had pictures to use to install it but really won't know if I did it right until we use it, which won't be today. Picture yourself reading a foreign language with dictionaries to help, looking up almost every other word to try to make sense of one sentence. And there is sentence after sentence for each different cycle. Maybe by Monday we will be ready to try it or maybe tomorrow. Cousin Luke may come to visit and if she does she will have the "honor" of helping us do our first laundry. Now that's family!!

Of course, to do laundry one must have a way to dry it so we walked back to King Cross mall and bought a drying rack that will sit on the balcony during washing days, laundry detergent, tomato juice and a large bottle of Absolvent (polish vodka). After all this we deserve to have a drink or two tonight. You'd be surprised at how many different types of Vodka there are here. They take one long section of the alcohol department in the local supermarket. We had planned on going to Stary Rynek (Old Market Square) today, having lunch and watching the tourists go by but when the washer arrived Joan started reading the directions and we lost track of time.

Earlier in the morning I had to go to the poczta (post office) to overnight our application to Warsaw for our medical coverage. I couldn't find anyone who spoke a little English so I had to try to convey to them that I wanted it sent overnight and after some time I did. I hope it goes to the right place. For Polish citizens, the cost of private health insurance is very expensive, about $220 USD a month for both of us. Compared to the US, it very cheap.

Today is the wedding of cousin Ańia Wiśniewska. I should have pictures in a few days to show. For me, Ańia is the most beautiful name for a woman.

One thing we have to buy is a curtain for the balcony. In the afternoon it's hard to sit here and write the blog because there is so much sun coming in so I want a curtain to block it while I write. In the winter, it's heat will be welcome I am sure. We read on the weather report that the storks have already starting migrating to Africa and that usually means a harsh winter.