You Can Never Have Too Much Polish Pottery...



                                                    

You can never have too much Polish Pottery.....well, actually you can but it's fun to pretend that you can't! I absolutely LOVE the country of Poland and the funny part is that all of my Polish friends tell me that the Poland I have visited (6 times in 3 years) which is a little town called Boleslaweic is not the "real" Poland. They call it the "German Poland" but German Poland or not I love it!

When I first got to Germany I really had no interest in buying any. I had a few pieces that I had purchased from my local T.J. Maxx and a few that were gifts given to me by other sweet military wives and friends as a thank you but other then that I had no desire to fill my home with any of it until I went on my first trip.

To put it mildly I would have to say that I am addicted. I have been on a total of six trips. Two by bus and four with my wonderful and just as addicted Army wives/friends. The first bus trip I really enjoyed and the other was a bit painful due to several reasons.

                                                   
                                              The Millena Glasses ~

                                                    

We did make it to the Millena shop which I kind of forced on the entire bus full of women. My only intention for going on my second bus trip was to finish my final selection of pottery glasses which can only be found at one shop....Ceramika Millena! So after finding out that our bus had no intention of going there I sweetly gave the bus drivers the address which I had written down pre trip and we were on our way to MY shop! :)

I took an entire oversized bus of Army wives, some I knew and some I had never met before, down a road not fit for a Toyota minivan let alone an oversized travel bus. I was scared! Not only could we barely fit down this eye of a needle path but there was no place to turn around. Eventually we found a turn around got back to the shop the ladies got out and every single person made a purchase at this store!!! It was well worth it and I met some pretty amazing ladies who didn't want to kill me by the end of the trip.

My other trips were with my close and wonderful friends. I call these ladies my battle buddies. Once you've endured a deployment together you are somehow bonded for life.

These trips have included...our car in a ditch which was short lived and quickly relieved by 3 strapping Polish men who eagerly pulled over and pushed our car out of the ditch. Needless to say we carried on!  Another time required me to drive without an international driver's license and forgetting my passport. As the words "see there was no need for a passport and an international driver's license" sprung forth from my lips I noticed we were being signaled by the German police just minutes after crossing the border to pull over. Forgetting for an instant that I was safe due to being over the border I for a slight second had that feeling like I could out run the German police as they were signaling me to pull over at the border but through the love and direction of my friends Stefanie and Erica I decided not to flee and pulled over!

Although my last and final trips have proven uneventful I will miss the fun and the memories that were made on each of these trips. My niece Kyrie, who was visiting from the states, even accompanied me on one of them. I will miss the charm of the Blue Beet Root a hotel we stayed and ate at. I will miss hotel Gaspoda and the late night drinks with my girls and the waitresses that ignore the American women and the Polish men that do not!

                                                            


I think what I will miss most about Poland although I did not recognize it until now, is how close I felt to God there. I LOVE Poland. Many times I was cautioned to be careful of the boys that beg for money or wash the windows of your car and then ask for money. On bus trips we were strongly cautioned not to go near them or talk to them or give them anything. However, anyone that knows me knows I do the opposite of whatever I am told.

Over and over the scripture that says "Whatever you do to the least of them you do to me" kept swimming through my head. I could not justify spending 100's of dollars on pottery and yet not give to my brother who was standing and asking in front of me. I do not know what he intends on doing with that money. What I do know is my intention of that money for him and whatever he does with it after it leaves my hand is on his conscience not mine.

Ultimately, I thank God for this life and for the wonderful women He has so graciously put in front of me on this journey. They have become so dear to me that now they walk beside me and sometimes they even carry me. If you ever get the chance to drive to Poland with your girlfriends...DO IT! Do not let fear hold you back and despite some of the bumps that may occur just rememeber they make for the best stories later on down the road!

~ Ringrazio Dio

 Me, Stefanie, Christina, LaDawn and Angela (Eating dinner at the Blue Beet Root)