Polish Easter: Part Two

Well, last entry i left off with Saturday evening (be sure to read part one that i posted earlier today!)...so wake up early Sunday morning to get to church to make ready and rehearse the Easter service.  :)  First things first.....i was actually dressed up--a sight that had yet never been seen in Poland, lol.  All the clothes were borrowed!  A dress from Brooke, shoes from Steph, a jacket from my roomie, i was a walking collage.  Is it fun to dress up every once in a blue moon?  Yes; it is dealing with the blister after that i don't appreciate.  My feet were miserable.  LOL.  But at least for three hours before service actually started, i was able to walk around in some socks instead of wearing those heels!  The service went great!  The dramas, the sermon, the worship was all very unique and new!  And the theme that carried and resounded throughout was just the amazing promises that Christ fulfilled in His life and death and the confidence we can have that His promises of return and our eternal life with Him are true and we have that hope to look forward to.  I was so excited to even see Pawel there with his brother and father!  :)  I got to meet them shortly--unfortunately they had to leave early so i did not have much time to spend with them, but i was just thrilled that they had come.  And they invited me to come to church with them in the future.  :)  They go to a Polish Methodist church but Pawel was thinking they could find someone to translate the service for me if i did come.  I do hope to meet them more in the future though.  Pawel told me in a text later that every time he goes to church, he feels good about it, but even this and feeling like he should go to church isn't enough because he is still too lazy to go regularly.  So it is like he wants to go !  He enjoys it !  He just needs the encouragement i think.  And unfortunately, i don't think he gets that from Dagmara--in fact, i know he doesn't because when he wants to go, she always resists and does not want to.  :(  But my hope is that the reason for this is becuase the Lord is knocking so obviously on the door of her heart, and she is doing her best to resist it, BUT GOD! is going to continue to pursue her, despite it.
After a fabulous service, we headed over to Coralanne and Eyrek's house for an Easter lunch.  :)  there was so much good food, but alas, i wanted to be hungry for the dinner i was to have with my Polish friend Zofia and her family later that evening.  :(  But i of course HAD to have a cookie that Coralanne made--snickerdoodles!  Coralanne is perhaps one of the best cookie makers in the world.  I am not joking.  Her cookies are ALWAYS fabulous.  And she makes "girl scout cookies" (thin mints)....better than actual girl scouts do.  LOL.  the kids had an easter egg hunt and we were just hangin out and eatin.
When 5:30 rolled around, i was at the tram stop, catchin my ride out to my friends house.  She and her father picked me up at Os. Lecha and took me a short drive to their lovely neighborhood on the outskirts of Poznan.  :)  They have a very comfortable and inviting home in this neighborhood that is very peaceful and calm and just nice.  There is a pond nearby that we took a walk to and there is an old brewery factory closeby that is quite an interesting building to see.
I walked in the door and was greeted so warmly and kindly by her mother, with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  Their little dog was excitedly barking and pawing the door to be let in.  It was a really cute and sweet dog!  I was shown into the dining room where we sat down to the table to begin our meal.  First, Ula had Zofia explain to me the tradition of the baskets and why there was butter, bread and eggs on the table to be served.  And on Saturday-the day before Easter-families put different things in a basket to take to the church to be blessed by the priest.  Most traditional is bread, ham, salt and pepper, butter and eggs--since these are the staples that no one would want to ever be without.  But they explained that some people add much more and bring large baskets to be blessed, but they are happy to just bring in these staples.  the food that is offered and then blessed on Saturday, is then eaten Sunday Easter morning with the family.  The blessed food can also be shared with close friends and family whom they want to share it with.  :)  That's ME!  Yay!

And they have these butter moulds that they use for Easter that are so cool!  It is a wood block that inside is shaped like a lamb and so you fill it with soft butter, put in the fridge for it so set and then they serve it on a plate with peppercorns for eyes and this special kind of leafy plant that is popular here for Easter as the ears!!  I wish i would have got a picture of THAT!  But i didn't.  :(  I am hoping to find one of those molds to buy....
So we had chicken noodle soup, and chicken with rice and a green salad and a traditional potatoe/egg salad.  hte meal was delicious and the conversation was so cool since Ula is a teacher!!!  We were having "teacher talk" lol.  It was really interesting to hear about education and beign a teacher from her Polish background and her expereince as a teacher in Poland and under the ideas of a Polish society.  But really, we were very similar on so many things!!!  I was so happy that her mother spoke such wonderful English!  Her dad, Pawel, was  a little more quiet since he doesn't speak as much English as Zofia or Ula--but i still felt very welcomed by him and like he could understand all that was being said, even if he wasn't doing so much talking.  After we finished with dinner, Zofia and i went for a short walk around the neighborhood.  :)  Zofia is a really special girl--she is about ready to graduate highschool and has a life full of oppurtunity before her and she realizes all the amazing possibilites before her!  She has so many different ideas and hopes and directions....she reminds me of me!  LOL.  I love her to death and we are very similar in many ways and think alike in many ways.  :)  I hope that she makes it to the US sometime so i can host her in Arizona!!!  She is talking about going to a college in England that specializes in translating and dubbing movies!  Isn't that crazy?!!?!?!  i never even knew such a program of study existed!  LOL.  But that would be a cool job--and hey, someone's got to do it!
After our walk, we had dessert at home with tea.  :)  I love tea and dessert!  LOL.  It is so quaint and makes me feel like...i don't know, it is just very traditional.  So we had some traditional cake for Easter time and just continued to talk til it got late and we were all getting tired.  Zofia and her father kindly drove me home--so i did not have to take a tram.  Her family was very adament about me returning to their home....SOON. :)  And in May they told me to mark a weekend in my calender for them to take me to some different places close to Poznan that i MUST see before i go.  So i look forward to spending more time with them in the future!  They even told me that my mother and i should stay with them when we come back in July!  :) I would love to, but i told them i would have to see about the arrangements we already made. But that would be so cool!  their family is just wonderful.  I can't imagine having had a better Easter....unless they had been able to come to MY family's Easter celebration in the states!  Maybe someday!!
Well, today is a day when people are free to throw buckets of water on perfect strangers, so i have kept myself inside all day catching up on cleaning and blogs and pictures and such.  But i reeeeeeeally, need to get outside and breathe some fresh air and stretch my legs.  Unfortunately the sun is taking a holiday.....a little chilly and looks like rain.  Ah well, as long as it ain't snowing.  LOL.  I hope i didn't just jinx the nation of Poland.