Monday, September 17, 2018

An excellent meeting.

Nothing like exhaustion to help you sleep through the night without waking up once and that's what we did Saturday night after returning home.

Sunday was a new day of sunshine, good traveling weather and we started on the road to S艂upca to visit with the Bekalarek family at 11:30. I took the old route #92 through the small villages, past the birthplace of my great grandmother and we arrived on time at 13:00.

The 3 young daughters, Nora, Chiara and Vivien were all at the tennis courts so we were greeted by their parents, Norbert and Wioletta. We hadn't been there for about 7 or 8 years so it was interesting to see the changes in the house and the new garden they had developed behind the house.  Now there was a staircase in the house leading down to the lower floor which had been turned into living quarters where their oldest daiughter, Nora and her new husband, Kuba, were living. The other 2 daughters live in Pozna艅 but come home to visit on the weekends. All 3 were home today.

I talked with the parents, in Polish, and translated for Joan to understand. We had coffee and about 20 minutes later the 2 younger girls arrived. Shortly after that, Nora and her husband came in also. We were introduced to him.

The conversations were both in English and Polish so Joan felt comfortable that she could understand what was being said most of the time. That was important for me, for her to like being there. Maybe an hour later we all had obiad(lunch), prepared by Wioletta, that was delicious. It was boiled potatoes, salad and rolada with gravy. When it was done, Wioletta brought out a Torte Bezowy that she had made. It was a cake made of red currents. mascarpone cheese, meringue on top and other ingredients. It was fantastic! You will have to look at the pictures to get a better idea of what it looked like.

We sat at the table and talked on several subjects, like traveling, future plans, how life is now, learning new languages, how things have changed since our last meeting, etc. It was a very good meeting and we were happy that we had the opportunity to meet again.

Kuba was kind enough to make a copy of a film of the wedding and give it to us before we left. My first impression is that Nora made an excellent choice for a husband. He seems very nice to me.

Nic tak nie dzia艂a, jak wyczerpanie, kt贸re pomo偶e ci przespa膰 ca艂膮 noc, nie budz膮c si臋 ani razu i to zrobili艣my w sobotni膮 noc po powrocie do domu.

Niedziela to nowy s艂oneczny dzie艅 , dobra pogoda na czas podr贸偶y, kt贸r膮 zacz臋li艣my o 11:30 na drodze do S艂upcy, aby odwiedzi膰 rodzin臋 Bekalarek. Wybra艂em star膮 drog臋 nr 92 przez ma艂e wioski, obok miejsca urodzenia mojej prababki i dotarli艣my na czas, na godzin臋 13:00.

Trzy c贸rki w m艂odym wieku, Nora, Chiara i Vivien by艂y na kortach tenisowych, wi臋c zostali艣my przywitani przez ich rodzic贸w, Norberta i Wiolett臋. Nie by艂o nas od oko艂o 7. czy 8. lat, wi臋c by艂o ciekawie zobaczy膰 zmiany w domu i nowym ogrodzie, kt贸ry urz膮dzili za domem. Teraz w domu znajdowa艂y si臋 schody prowadz膮ce na ni偶szy poziom, kt贸ry zosta艂 zamieniony w pomieszczenia mieszkalne, w kt贸rych mieszka ich najstarsza c贸rka Nora i jej m膮偶 Kuba. Pozosta艂e 2 c贸rki mieszkaj膮 w Poznaniu, ale na weekendy wracaj膮 do domu. Wszystkie 3 by艂y dzi艣 w domu.

Rozmawia艂em z rodzicami po polsku i t艂umaczy艂em na angielski dla Joanny, aby mog艂a zrozumie膰. Pili艣my kaw臋 i oko艂o 20. minut p贸藕niej przyby艂y 2. m艂odsze dziewczynki. Kr贸tko po tym Nora i jej m膮偶 r贸wnie偶 weszli. Zostali艣my mu przedstawieni.

Rozmowy odbywa艂y si臋 zar贸wno po angielsku, jak i po polsku, wi臋c Joan poczu艂a si臋 pewnie, 偶e potrafi zrozumie膰, co m贸wi si臋 przez wi臋kszo艣膰 czasu. To by艂o dla mnie wa偶ne, aby czu艂a si臋 tam dobrze. Mo偶e godzin臋 p贸藕niej wszyscy jedli艣my pyszny obiad (lunch) przygotowany przez Wiolett臋. By艂y gotowane ziemniaki, sa艂atka i rolada z sosem. Kiedy sko艅czyli艣my, Wioletta przynios艂a zrobiony przez siebie tort bezowy. To by艂 tort z czerwonych porzeczek, serka mascarpone, bezy na wierzchu i innych sk艂adnik贸w. To by艂o fantastyczne! B臋dziesz musia艂 spojrze膰 na zdj臋cia, aby uzyska膰 lepsze wyobra偶enie tego, jak wygl膮da艂.

Siedzieli艣my przy stole i rozmawiali艣my na kilka temat贸w, takich jak podr贸偶e, plany na przysz艂o艣膰, jak wygl膮da 偶ycie, uczenie si臋 nowych j臋zyk贸w, co si臋 zmieni艂o od czasu naszego ostatniego spotkania itd. To by艂o bardzo dobre spotkanie i byli艣my szcz臋艣liwi, 偶e mieli艣my mo偶liwo艣膰 ponownego widzenia si臋.

Kuba by艂 na tyle uprzejmy, aby zrobi膰 kopi臋 filmu ze 艣lubu i da膰 go nam przed wyjazdem. Moim pierwszym wra偶eniem jest to, 偶e Nora dokona艂a doskona艂ego wyboru je艣li chodzi o m臋偶a. Wydaje mi si臋 bardzo mi艂y.