JPII's House

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Day 2 in Poland began with a visit to John Paul II’s house in Wadowice, Poland. It was amazing to see the place where JPII spent the first eighteen years of his life, the years that laid the ground work for the person he would become. (There’s a thought, I walked around on the same ground as JPII did during the years of his formation). We also got to see the Basilica right next to his house where he was an altar server and I have to say it was one of my favorite churches because it was so cute.

This visit to the pope’s house taught me a fundamental difference between Americans and the Polish…actually all of Europe for that matter. See there’s this thing, that as Americans we have been taught since day one, and that is to stand in a line. Well, over here, that just doesn’t happen. And if you’re one of the few to attempt to stand in a line people will look at you like you’re an idiot because chances are, if you’re standing in a line, you’re not going to get anywhere.

So imagine this, 150 Franciscan students waiting to get into JPII’s house in under 45 minutes and hundreds and hundreds of Polish people pushing and shoving to get past us and through the door. It honestly brought back terrible memories of being at a concert where I was sandwiched between eight people on all possible sides and it was physically impossible for me to move an inch. Half the time while I was waiting I wasn’t even standing up straight; I was either sitting on the person behind me or leaning on the person in front of me. Needless to say, it was insane.

Piotr had bought all of our tickets before hand so it was important that we were able to get in within our time limit. So he, along with some of the people who worked there, tried to tame the Polish and squeeze the students through the door. It was quite a task but eventually we did make it. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside the house but we got to see so many neat things like his scapular, pictures of his childhood, religious vestments, and his skis which were so sweet! So all the pushing and shoving was totally worth it!

JPII Pray for Us!

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