How it all began...in Dolny Śląsk

So I'm supposed to study abroad at the University of York (UK) in the fall, but my semester starts in October! Not knowing what to do with my time after my summer research position ends, I decided to go to Europe to see family, friends, and travel around a bit. I was born in Poland and immigrated to the States when I was young... but I travel there almost every summer. Much of my family, including my grandparents, still live in Poland while others have immigrated to the States as well. On August 18th I flew into Poland (Wrocław) from JFK. I had not been to Poland in about 2 years because I had to spend the last two summers working, taking extra college classes, etc. I was quite excited to be back!

For the first week I went back to my hometown (village?) in Dolny Śląsk, which is called Pieszyce. It is about 50km away from Wrocław and situated at the base of a small mountain region, called the Sudeten Mountains. My backyard ends and the mountains begin. It's amazing. Also, right next to Pieszyce is a city called Dzierżoniów, where most of the action happens. Bielawa, where I was born, is also about 2 km from Pieszyce. So this is how I spent the first few days of my visit: eating great food, walking from one grandmother's house to the other, and hiking my backyard. After hours of sitting in a lab and doing in-situs on zebrafish embryos, this was a welcome break.

Upon arrival in Pieszyce, my grandmother (Dad's side) had a ton of pierogi ready. AMAZING! Babcia Stasia knows me too well. That same day I also walked down the road to my other grandparent's house, who live with my Aunt Halina. They are doing OK.. have changed much since I last saw them for their 50th wedding anniversary, which was also the last time I was in Poland. Over the past two years, they've sold their livestock and don't farm now due to health concerns. I also saw my cousin Malwina, who is my age, and spent last summer at my house in NJ. I truly love her and we always have an amazing time together. We made a bunch of plans, which will be the material and subjects of my later entries. So overall, it was quite a fantastic feeling just being around my family again.

Aside from seeing my family, I had some awesome experiences just being outdoors. As usual, the first thing that I did was take a hike in the mountains. It's kind of a ritual. Back in the day, I've always released the dogs and let them come with me. However, my grandmother acquired a new dog and I was afraid to let him loose because I didn't know if he was going to run away. He's a large one, too. So anyway, I went up into the mountains, and the views were breathtaking as usual. I was able to see a few towns over and even recognized my godfather's house, which is in the plains, on a road, in the middle of nowhere. I picked a bouquet of wildflowers, which I brought back to my Babcia Stasia.

In these first few days, I also visited Dzierżoniów to have a look about. Much has changed since I was there 2 years ago. I can see that there has been a steady flow of money into the town. The kamiennicy (buildings) are being reburbished, the town square is shaping up, and overall it is beautifying. In Dzierżoniów, I enjoyed some wonderful ice cream with my aunt (who is like my second mother). Then we went to Bielawa to check out the zalew (artificial lake) and go on a little walk. They were also setting up for some sort of concert near the lake. It was sunset and I took some wonderful pictures.

Yeah, rock on Poland!

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