Saudi King Abdullah visited Buckingham Palace, and he received a villainous welcome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Cc_dJBKz4
Month: October 2007
Repeating Ourselves
Once again, we found ourselves at Graveyard Fields this weekend.
Last time we were there, L was much smaller:
I’ve a feeling that, as long as Dziadek is here, we’ll be doing a lot of repeat trips.
More at Flickr
Feeding the Girl
Grandfathers
Last weekend we had both grandfathers with the Girl. One fed:
The other entertained:
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Big Yard
The downside of having a big yard is having a ton — almost literally — of leaves to rake. And when the back yard has 25+ trees and hasn’t been raked in probably years, it makes a mess.
This represents probably 20% of the leaves in the back yard.
A Little Girl and Some Pumpkins
Pool
We all went down the other evening to shoot some pool.
Ojcow
I’ve been in the process of uploading old pictures to Flickr in an effort to make our collection there more indicative of our travels in Poland.
Ojcow lies just outside of Krakow. It’s a national park filled with rock formations and ancient castle ruins.
K and I visited Ojcow in late November 2002, for “Andrzejki” — the last night of partying before Advent sets in.
The first thing that strikes you about Ojcow when you arrive the bus station. There’s a tree growing through it.
We never learned why they built it around that tree. Maybe a rare tree? Maybe an ecological conscience? Maybe an architectural novelty?
Ojcow is in an area formerly ruled by the Austro-Hungarian empire during the partition of Poland. The Austrians declared that the Poles shall not build a single church on this ground. Occupied Catholic Poles being what they are (like most occupied people, very stubborn), they figured out a way to get around that. Such rule bending drives me absolutely nuts when my students do it.
Science in the ELA Classroom
The other day, right as we were in the middle of our starter, the principal walked into the room, strode purposefully to the back of the room, and sat down. A bit of a hush fell over the class at a time when I do not require complete silence–they’re doing pair work, after all. Still, everyone was especially quiet.
A principal observing a classroom is the perfect illustration of the bane of modern science: the inability to observe something without changing it in the process of observation.
Chimney Rock, Take 201
Last Sunday we went to Chimney Rock.
Again…
When Dziadek was planning his trip, he’d looked through all the pictures of where we’d been with J (and where she’d bought spoons…) and decided that, having saved up some money, informed us that he wanted to go on one “real” outing, and the rest could be “little spoons.” (It sounds better in Polish.) So he came with plans to go on one big trip and instructions to bring home spoons from everywhere he’d been.
Chimney Rock was our first “little spoon.”
“Mamus juz tu byla?” he asked.
“Yes, she’s been here,” we responded.
“Nie musimy kupic lyzeczka, co?”
“No, we don’t have to buy her a spoon.”
Scrape
Few things hurt as much as a sunburned nose — a really sunburned nose — so I can only imagine how L must have felt.
It looked worse the next day.
First Wound
Bumps, scrapes, and scratches — part of growing up. We tell ourselves, “It’s going to happen. She’s going to hit her head hard and a knot will rise on the spot, or she’ll slip and skin her knee,” and we think we’re prepared.
Yet when it actually happens, it’s something entirely different. For the first second.
In the grass field where everyone parks before catching the bus up to the chimney part of Chimney Rock Park, L was walking, then running, then falling and — it all flashed before everyone’s eyes — stumbling, falling, and planting her face squarely on a patch of dusty ground.
The results were predictable: instant hysterics, jerky motions, and panic — and that was mom. L was in a state of screaming that we’ve never heard.
“Water! Water! Put some water on that rag and give it to me! Quickly!” In Polish, from a panicked mother.
The tears passed quickly enough, but the consequences will hang around for a few days:
Once the girl stopped crying and everyone calmed down, K said, “Don’t worry, L. It’s just your first scraped nose.” Dziadek and I added, almost simultaneously, “And it won’t be your last.”
Dinner
Dziadek had never eaten shrimp in his life, and so K and I had to correct that situation.
Ribeye steak, marinated chicken, grilled shrimp with garlic, baked potato, and corn with lemon and cayenne pepper (learned from Chhavi).
Dziadek
K’s father came for a visit. He brought mushrooms that he picked and dried this year; he brought plum vodka that is to die for; he brought oscypek; most importantly, he brought himself.
Dziadek has a personality that is difficult to describe, but easy to discern from his facial expressions.
Everybody Looks East
Right now there is a labor shortage in Poland for the simple reason that thousands upon thousands have gone West, primarily to Ireland and the UK, seeking work. Off the top of my head I can think of five people I know who are now in the UK: two former students and three friends.
But this leaves Poland itself short. So it’s doing what the UK did: look to the East.
Warsaw, Poland 9 October, 2007 With the failure of the Polish Government’s efforts to attract Polish workers back to Poland, Chinese and Indian workers will be brought to Poland in order to make up for the severe labor shortage that exists in the country. (Poland Looks To China And India For Help)
Weekend
We were going to fix an outside spigot
Then we decided it was too much work with too little time, so we had a cookout instead.
