So for those that don’t know – I’m Polish. :) My parents are both from Warsaw, came here in 1981, and ended up settling
because of various circumstances – including me, job and then my brother. My
Polish heritage – upbringing, language, customs, history, etc – are a very
important part of my life. It’s something that I identify with daily.
Most of my family still lives in Warsaw, including grandpa,
uncles, aunts, cousins and their families, and lots of other family (that I
honestly can’t keep track of). I do have family in the States, but not a lot. In
NYC, I have my mom’s sister and husband plus some distant cousins in the
Detroit area. We have family in other places too… distant cousins in the UK and South Africa… a second cousin
in Australia… I think that covers it?
I have made it a point in the last 7 years (since my grandmother
passed) that I make a trip every calendar
year to get out to Warsaw and see people. It’s a bit more difficult and
expensive for any of them to come to the US because of visas and such, so we
all go there… as frequently as we can. I have cousins who now have adorable
kids too, and they can’t forget that they have an aunt!!! Oh – let me explain that
for a second. Since there are really only 5 of us at our generation – me being
the only girl I might add – we all call each other brothers and sister. So,
Bruno and Filip are my nephews. Bruno is now almost 3.5, and Filip is almost 14
months. Since last year I was in Poland in July, I haven’t met Filip yet. I’m super
excited to hug, play, and tickle the little one!!!
So, long story short – I’m going in just a little over a
month!!! My mom and I are going to make a little trip through Prague on our way
back to the States as well, so it’s going to be a little bit of extra fun.
Going back is such a weird feeling. It’s like I’m going back
to my motherland, although I was born here. I’m excited and overwhelmed all at
once every time. I have so much fun going, getting back into the language, the
culture, and seeing my family. At the same time, every one of my trips seems to
bring about a lot of drama. You have however many months of their family life
to catch up on (this time it’ll be 14 months). Trust me, when you’re jet lagged
and after a couple of mulled wines (yum!!!), it gets a bit overwhelming. The whole experience makes you realize that even though you live half way around the world, these people are your family, and I identify with them so much.
Either way, I’m already getting ready. You have to plan a
lot of things – where to stay, who to see, time for different family, taking
care of some random errands (like trying to get my papers in order to get my
Euro passport finally), etc. The only thing I need to figure out for our trip
is the hotel that we will stay at in Prague. I bought a cell phone for myself
to use out there – that was a feat after years of using my parent’s phone.
Finally. I bought a brand new camera that I’m SO excited about. Canon 510
PowerShot Elph with 12.1 megapixels, 12x zoom, full HD… Oh and I have a new winter coat…
I’m so ready to go even though I know my time there will
pass quickly. I’m also looking forward to some time off… But in the mean time,
I’ll keep planning and getting more excited. :)
