In just a moment, after little less than one year break, we’re flying to Poland.
I am very happy that Rose will listen to more Polish in Krakow, and Maya will take advantage of the delicacies of Polish cuisine and update her collection of Kicia Kocia children’s stories collection.
It will be great to once again shop in small shops, boutiques, meet up with my high school friends, and embrace the ones I have known since I was a child.
After three years in Berkeley, we’ve definitely settled in. Sometimes we think about moving, but we are doing quite fine here, and we can say that Berkeley feels like home. We make new friends and try to have a social life.
In the summer, a few of our friends moved away. The reasons were mostly financial. However, once I talked to UC Berkeley’s PhD students (of Romanian and Argentine origin) who had found a job on the East Coast to enjoy a less chaotic lifestyle.
I see this chaoticness here. In the US, everyone does their thing. You can start all over again every day. Find a new job, move on. It affects everything, including friendships. Work, school are the centers of life. My friendships usually get caught up in playgrounds, gyms, internet groups, and even, to my surprise, the church. Dean says it’s not the whole US; it’s just the blue states where democrats are the majority and success is the modern world.
We have met many very nice people here. Some friendships persist; others fade away. In May, we threw Rose and Maya a birthday party. We invited our close friends, their children as well as Róża’s preschool friends. We were very pleased that everything (except the weather) went well. It was worth the effort (mine’s and Dean’s) with the organization so that the girls could see photos from their first party. Rose certainly cannot complain about HER social life.
We were also invited to several great birthday parties. The parents were Poles, Americans and Israelis. We had great fun at all of them.
The girls are growing, and our house has entered the next stage of renovation. Everyday our hands are full. I hope that we will rest a little in Krakow and recharge in Europe again, enjoying the presence of family and close friends.
I know that new playgrounds have been built in Krakow, so we will definitely visit them often. This year, Maya will also take advantage of them herself, because she loves navigating jungle gyms.
Now we are finishing packing and we will prepare to fly over the North Pole. Last thing – whom are we meeting for a coffee at the Rynek Główny?
Doggie!!
Pictures taken by Dean on a walk with the girls xx; yes that is chocolate on Maya’s chubby cheeks.