At about 9:30 this morning all the phones in our house started to ring - friends and family calling to ask if we'd seen the news. BBC News was on in the background and I heard "plane crash... Polish President....presumed dead." I called to my husband to switch on TVN24, but he already had. It now appears (10:50 am) that Poland's worst fears are confirmed, all passengers have been killed including President Kaczynski, his wife, many Parliament Ministers and Bishops - perhaps as many as 87 in total.
The plane was heading for Smolensk, about 20 km from Katyn where the Polish delegation was heading. Katyn or Katyn Forrest was the place where almost 22,000 Polish Officers were murdered in 1940 under the orders of the Soviet Regime and Joseph Stalin. Todays visit was intended to commemorate those killed in Katyn as we approach the 70th anniversary.
The news today has left the country in shock. We still don't have the facts and nothing is official at this time, but this is a national tragedy and Katyn will once again be a reminder to Poles of a day of sadness.
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Tricity Easter
Easter is perhaps the most important part of the Roman Catholic calendar and no more so than here in Poland. You won't see self-flagellation as you do in the Philippines, but the churches are bursting at the seams.,
Preparation for today, Easter Sunday, began in earnest on Good Friday, surprisingly not a holiday here, when the supermarket queues saw what looked like preparation for 'Armageddon.' I joined the masses in the '10 items or less' aisle making sure I hadn't exceeded my limit, while the woman behind me huffed and puffed impatiently to such an extent that I let her go before me - she only had 4 items after all! Is it worth the aggravation I ask you?
Queues at the car wash were equally long; it's not unusual to see 10 cars waiting at this time of year. A clean car is part of the Easter tradition.
On Saturday, we brought our Easter baskets to church to be blessed. This is called a 'swieconka' and traditionally contains painted eggs, salt, horseradish, bread and sausage.
Today, we celebrated with the traditional Easter breakfast which usually consists of cold meat platters and other regional specialties. Families first share the food that was blessed the day before and there are hard-boiled eggs with mayonnaise, 'zurek' soup and sausages.
After breakfast, which is more like 'brunch', many Poles bring flowers and candles to the cemetery. Here, in the Tricity, the weather was lovely and many headed for a walk on the beach.
Taking part in another nations' traditions is interesting, yet I can't help thinking about childhood Easter-egg hunts, chocolate eggs and Easter bunnies! Happy Easter to you all!
Preparation for today, Easter Sunday, began in earnest on Good Friday, surprisingly not a holiday here, when the supermarket queues saw what looked like preparation for 'Armageddon.' I joined the masses in the '10 items or less' aisle making sure I hadn't exceeded my limit, while the woman behind me huffed and puffed impatiently to such an extent that I let her go before me - she only had 4 items after all! Is it worth the aggravation I ask you?
Queues at the car wash were equally long; it's not unusual to see 10 cars waiting at this time of year. A clean car is part of the Easter tradition.
On Saturday, we brought our Easter baskets to church to be blessed. This is called a 'swieconka' and traditionally contains painted eggs, salt, horseradish, bread and sausage.
Today, we celebrated with the traditional Easter breakfast which usually consists of cold meat platters and other regional specialties. Families first share the food that was blessed the day before and there are hard-boiled eggs with mayonnaise, 'zurek' soup and sausages.
After breakfast, which is more like 'brunch', many Poles bring flowers and candles to the cemetery. Here, in the Tricity, the weather was lovely and many headed for a walk on the beach.
Taking part in another nations' traditions is interesting, yet I can't help thinking about childhood Easter-egg hunts, chocolate eggs and Easter bunnies! Happy Easter to you all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
