Sept 8-10, 2017
During our trips to the US, one of the things I wanted mostly to show Zosia was where we used to spend time as kids with our grandparents: that is Hawaii and Whidbey Island. And over the last couple years, we managed both. I don't know what it is about grandparents' houses, but there is something magical and nostalgic that is just fun to share with people. I had never been to her "Whidbey," so we went there back in September. And it was awesome!
Zosia's mom grew up in Tomaszów Lubelski, just a few minutes from the Ukrainian border in Southeast Poland. The town is called Tomaszów, but like many cities in Poland, there are others with the same name. So to differentiate the cities, they add an adjective describing the region where it's located. The Lubelski voivodeship is in SE Poland, around the town of Lublin. When I first got to Poland, people talked about "voivodeships" as if I was supposed to know what that word means. In Polish it's a województwo, which basically means a province, but they English-ize the word thinking that spelling it with V instead of a W magically makes it understandable to non-Polish speakers. Let's just call it a province and make it easier for everyone. Anyway, the point is that Tomaszów Lubelski is different than Tomaszów Mazowiecki, for example.
Packed to the max in Tomek's car, we stopped in Lublin on the way to pick up their mom, who was preparing her rental apartment for a new tenant. After another couple hours (with spam musubis for the car ride), we were finally in Tomaszów.
We stayed in the house where Zosia and Tomek's grandparents lived, and where their mom grew up with her two sisters. It was a cool, sunny September weekend, and somehow the house stays even colder inside. Nobody lives in the house now, so it requires several visits a year to maintain the house and massive garden, but it also means that the heat isn't turned on. Since we spent time in extra layers outside eating and making s'mores at the fire pit, we were fine wearing these layers inside as well.
When I wrote that the garden is massive, I mean gigantic. There are a lot of trees, a swing, a fire pit, bushes, enclosed areas where the dogs used to stay, even a full-size greenhouse. You could easily get lost back there and not notice if others are walking around or working in other parts of the garden.
Similar to us going to Whidbey Island or Hawaii as kids, Zosia spent a lot of her childhood in Tomaszów. Her grandpa was a doctor and everyone in the city knew who he was because of his generous personality. He has an interesting story of his own, getting sent to a prison camp in the Ural mountains during WWII. Zosia's aunt Agnieszka wrote a book about this time of his life, and she rode her bike along the same route that he traveled to get back to Poland from Siberia.
Because no people live in the house, spiders decided to move in. I think that weekend was when I first realized how scared Zosia is of spiders. I pretended to throw one towards her and she almost broke down crying. I think she might still be running! I won't make that mistake again, at least not too many more times. The family also does something that I find simple yet brilliant....they always leave thoughtful, handwritten notes in the kitchen, addressed to a fictitious person, saying that they'll "be back soon." This is just in case someone breaks in the house while they're away, the intruders will think that at least 2 people live there. I guess the robbers don't know how cool and popular Z's grandpa was...or else they wouldn't dare break in.
Zosia and I had a nice wander around the town. She showed me the church where she was baptized, the cemetery where her grandparents are buried, the parks where they used to walk as kids, where Tomek fell off his bike, and where they used to have to go for time outs after getting in trouble. There was a hilarious story about her mom always being late for school, even though the school is just down the street. During a teacher's conference, the principal told the parents that "someone" was always late to class, even though they lived only 100 meters away. Zosia's grandma knew the principal was talking about their oldest daughter (Zosia's mom, Madga), but the grandpa refused to believe it. On the way home he counted the steps and noticed that they lived just over 100 meters away, so he came to the only logical conclusion: "They were definitely talking about the neighbor girl".
I learned another Polish cultural reference, when eating at an ice cream shop called Zimna Zośka. Zośka is another cute form of Zosia, and Zimna means cold. The term Zimna Zośka refers to May 15, Zosia's name day. It's also said that after this day the weather is warm for the rest of the summer. So not only did I learn what Zimna Zośka means, I also learned that I have to buy her a present every May 15... And that Zosia looks for any excuse to get ice cream.
It's too bad that Tomaszów is so far from Warsaw, because it would a nice place to visit more often, or even to consider for the wedding. The spiders are friendly, the churches are old, and the ice cream is cold. Plus the city means a lot to Zosia, and that's enough for me.
During our trips to the US, one of the things I wanted mostly to show Zosia was where we used to spend time as kids with our grandparents: that is Hawaii and Whidbey Island. And over the last couple years, we managed both. I don't know what it is about grandparents' houses, but there is something magical and nostalgic that is just fun to share with people. I had never been to her "Whidbey," so we went there back in September. And it was awesome!
Zosia's mom grew up in Tomaszów Lubelski, just a few minutes from the Ukrainian border in Southeast Poland. The town is called Tomaszów, but like many cities in Poland, there are others with the same name. So to differentiate the cities, they add an adjective describing the region where it's located. The Lubelski voivodeship is in SE Poland, around the town of Lublin. When I first got to Poland, people talked about "voivodeships" as if I was supposed to know what that word means. In Polish it's a województwo, which basically means a province, but they English-ize the word thinking that spelling it with V instead of a W magically makes it understandable to non-Polish speakers. Let's just call it a province and make it easier for everyone. Anyway, the point is that Tomaszów Lubelski is different than Tomaszów Mazowiecki, for example.
The house in Tomaszów
I wonder if she likes the musubis
We stayed in the house where Zosia and Tomek's grandparents lived, and where their mom grew up with her two sisters. It was a cool, sunny September weekend, and somehow the house stays even colder inside. Nobody lives in the house now, so it requires several visits a year to maintain the house and massive garden, but it also means that the heat isn't turned on. Since we spent time in extra layers outside eating and making s'mores at the fire pit, we were fine wearing these layers inside as well.
When I wrote that the garden is massive, I mean gigantic. There are a lot of trees, a swing, a fire pit, bushes, enclosed areas where the dogs used to stay, even a full-size greenhouse. You could easily get lost back there and not notice if others are walking around or working in other parts of the garden.
The breakfast patio
The front side of garden is like a forest
Still part of the garden
Similar to us going to Whidbey Island or Hawaii as kids, Zosia spent a lot of her childhood in Tomaszów. Her grandpa was a doctor and everyone in the city knew who he was because of his generous personality. He has an interesting story of his own, getting sent to a prison camp in the Ural mountains during WWII. Zosia's aunt Agnieszka wrote a book about this time of his life, and she rode her bike along the same route that he traveled to get back to Poland from Siberia.
Because no people live in the house, spiders decided to move in. I think that weekend was when I first realized how scared Zosia is of spiders. I pretended to throw one towards her and she almost broke down crying. I think she might still be running! I won't make that mistake again, at least not too many more times. The family also does something that I find simple yet brilliant....they always leave thoughtful, handwritten notes in the kitchen, addressed to a fictitious person, saying that they'll "be back soon." This is just in case someone breaks in the house while they're away, the intruders will think that at least 2 people live there. I guess the robbers don't know how cool and popular Z's grandpa was...or else they wouldn't dare break in.
My little buddies got me in trouble
But she has no problem with crickets!
Zosia and I had a nice wander around the town. She showed me the church where she was baptized, the cemetery where her grandparents are buried, the parks where they used to walk as kids, where Tomek fell off his bike, and where they used to have to go for time outs after getting in trouble. There was a hilarious story about her mom always being late for school, even though the school is just down the street. During a teacher's conference, the principal told the parents that "someone" was always late to class, even though they lived only 100 meters away. Zosia's grandma knew the principal was talking about their oldest daughter (Zosia's mom, Madga), but the grandpa refused to believe it. On the way home he counted the steps and noticed that they lived just over 100 meters away, so he came to the only logical conclusion: "They were definitely talking about the neighbor girl".
Walking in the park
Cool church from a few thousand years ago, maybe
I learned another Polish cultural reference, when eating at an ice cream shop called Zimna Zośka. Zośka is another cute form of Zosia, and Zimna means cold. The term Zimna Zośka refers to May 15, Zosia's name day. It's also said that after this day the weather is warm for the rest of the summer. So not only did I learn what Zimna Zośka means, I also learned that I have to buy her a present every May 15... And that Zosia looks for any excuse to get ice cream.
Zimna Zośka looks very zimna
It's too bad that Tomaszów is so far from Warsaw, because it would a nice place to visit more often, or even to consider for the wedding. The spiders are friendly, the churches are old, and the ice cream is cold. Plus the city means a lot to Zosia, and that's enough for me.
I’ve known you for over 15 years and you’ve never shown me where you grew up!!! Why is that???
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