The Birthday Saga!!!

Ok, so what you've all been waiting for.......

It started off on Thursday-with breakfast at Ciocia (Aunt) Ruths the founder of the English School I teach at. After that I met with Agnes (from Alaska) and Mary (from USA) for Nalesniki (not sure if my spelling is correct-but it means pancakes!). I came home to letters from ECM and my sister Naomi.... Even a letter from my nephew Matthew!

On Friday the fun continued with a cultural study in the childrens class-of course the topic was birthdays!! In Poland the tradition is to celebrate "name days" as the Church kept a calender of the saint days so you celebrate on the day of the saint which you where named after. The children brainstormed Birthday words, took dictation on birthdays, play guessing games (forming correct questions) to guess what presents they would recieve, learned to sing happy birthday and of course ate cake!! (Chocolate with sprinkles kindly cooked by Louise-from America and Pumpkin cake courtesy of Agnes).

But the fun doesn't end there! Friday night I had some of the teachers visit along with people I had met on camp for an icecream night..... and of course more cake! Oh, and it snowed!!!!! Ok, so I missed it as I was indoors and it wasn't enough to last-but what a great present for my birthday!

Saturday (my actual birthday) I rolled out of bed early to call my Mum on a mysterious number-only to find my relatives gathered to celebrate my Aunt and Uncles 35th wedding anniversary! So they played pass the parcel with me until finally I managed to stop the music and tell them how cheap the call was..... time for some good chats and a chance to catch up on the family news. Also got to speak with my younger sister Natalie for the first time in ages.

So I went home and got some great gifts and said a quick hello to people. changed into my birthday top and headed across the street to spend the morning with Ala (a Polish lady who teaches at the school) and her two year old son. We played with the toys and then went for a walk. And I learnt more Polish!! Children are great for picking up Polish words. I know Nie Mam- "don't have" and pa pa-"bye bye". Woytec (once again, apologies if the spelling is wrong) is cute-blond with dimples-but going through the terrible two's! So when we went for a walk he wanted to walk with Ciocia (Aunty) Keren and kept saying Pa Pa to his Mum who had to walk 10 steps behind for the first 5 minutes of the walk!! I got a tour of the area and the best places to eat/shop etc and then we bought the best pierogi I have ever tasted.

I returned home to find missed calls and birthday wishes via email but soon got whisked off again by Joshua and Becky (both teachers from America) to taste the most delicious hot chocolate ever and pick up some gourmet chocolates (which will be eaten if I ever feel the need to eat chocolate again!! Wow, the weekend was a chocolate overload). Afterwards I met Rebecca (again from America) and we headed to Louises for a roast dinner, games with her 5 children, happy birthday in both the English and Polish versions and ANOTHER amazing cake (chocolate date nut..... and yes, it had candles!). That night we rugged up and watched Oceans 12. I went to bed feeling very content.

But it doesn't end there! Sunday I caught up with Naomi, went to Church and afterwards had my Bible study group over for a meal. Good times! They made me do a speech.... I tried to get away with doing it in Polish-but they wanted something deeper. Sunday people went to vote so the evening was time out just to relax and recover. I thought my birthday was over for another year but it was not so!!

Monday more birthday mail arrived, as well as more gifts-including one from my adults class along with a beautiful rendition of Sto Lat (the Polish "happy birthday" song..... it means 100 years and goes on to say "we wish you 100 good years" they tell me they don't know what to sing when people actually turn 100!!). It was amazing to celebrate my birthday in a country which I have been praying for for so long!

And now for the present list (because people have asked):

6 fragrant beauty products
5 floral gifts (2 pot plants, 1 bouquet a sunflower and a rose)
4 blocks of chocolate
3 birthday cakes
2 elephants (what would my birthday be without elephants!)
A teapot and candle heater-with strawberry and cream tea
A journal (with some great memories already recorded on the first few pages)
An American flag scarf
A memorial plaque
A stunning top and a CD

I think that is all...... please forgive me if I missed anything off the list!
As you can see-my birthday included everything a birthday at home would have and more.