Christmas has Arrived..Finally

This year Agnieszka, Mati and I ventured to leave the fine comforts of home for the dazzling and exotic location and history to be found in Spain. No more haggling over which herring to cook, or how many cabbage rolls I should eat..we were off to Spain to visit Pancho and Agnieszka.

The best laid plans are those done so in advance..ya bull! Twas two days before Christmas and f-sure without a doubt all airlines should be flying ...flying without ..delay! Our first flight was scheduled to take off at 9:45AM but there must have been an omen when we arrived at the terminal and out of the hundreds of flights leaving that day there was only 2 that were delayed and one of them was to Zurich. Needless to indulge our flight didn't make it in time for our next one which we managed to book for 7:00 PM in the evening direct to Madrid but that didn't mangage to arrive till 45 minutes later which meant we would miss our prebooked bus. Lastly the fact that our main luggage didn't arrive meant we had to see when we might get the few necessary items like..clothes..baby food and presents.

All was not lost or fretted over as adventures are often made of the most unexpected circumstances. We finally managed to stay in a hostel in downtown Madrid and Pancho and Agnieszka would pick us up the next day. As with everything...it all takes time and we arrived home around 7:30 PM. Once we put Mati to sleep we started on the business of the ham. Spain is famous for their cured ham but in the province of Extramadura where Merida lies it is legendary. Pancho just couldn't wait to dig into his 8.9 kg leg of cured ham. The best of the best of Iberian ham. I was a little daunted as Pancho talked about eating the entire thing over the next 9 days. It will last for months as long as the only exposed area is where you are cutting. We had great fun in figuring out how to cut it and what to do. The smell was unbelievable and slowly we are learning what the perfect put means and tastes like! So by midnight we managed to sit down for our Christmas eve dinner which consisted of wine, olives, ham, manchego cheese and bread. Simple and delightful.

On Christmas day we managed to go for a walk and keep Mati entertained. he even had a small amusement ride. The temperature in Merida was about 13C but rainy. Guess we just have to go back to the flat for some more ham.

More to come!!

Click on the pictures for a larger size!

The Holiday Season is here!

Take a look at the big guy from the North Pole and our little Dude almost two years old. Getting ready for a little of the Christmas spirit - by going to Spain!! More updates to follow.

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Welcome to our World

Well its probably about time we started telling a few of you folks how we are doing. When I say we, I mean this to be an auspicious word(did I use that right?) because we are now three instead of just two and a half.

Into the world came our small delight, three and half weeks early with no reason to think that he should do things the hard way. I mean really, who really likes to stand on their head for 2-3 weeks in a scrunched up ball?

Our little Mati, short for the Polish Mateusz, came as a gift of God into the world on March 2, 2008 at 12:15PM. He caught us totally unprepared as Agnieszka and I had most of the ideas settled upon however the coming week was to be the big shopping spree - oh well. Just like our wedding, almost 9 years ago, this was also a shotgun event which lasted only 7 hours from the time Agnieszka was 'alerted' until he was born. Head up and enjoying himself - we opted for a Cesarean which literally took only 7 minutes to get him out. If you think that you have to show up anyways then why not skip all the commercials and trashy advertisements and endorsements - just show up! And so he did ..wonderfully.

We have had him for almost a glorious month and some friends asked me if I felt like a dad yet. It was an insightful point as my friend was also a parent and I remembered in the hospital looking at Mati under the heat lamps thinking..'Now what? Is he really mine?' I think feeling like a dad means you attach routine to your time, what you do and how you act..but at this moment there was just silence and bewilderment..hmmmm how do I slip out the back door....

Agnieszka is doing well having spend 4 days in the hospital with lots of help and encouragement. For her as well, being a mother had no identity until she started to feel she might have a small clue what to do ..pull out the breast! The doctors and hospital staff were most gracious, kind and enthusiastic which for a worn out and scrambled mother..this is a real treasure. I was also very relieved as very few of the staff spoke english so literally this was in God's hands..good luck. Turns out He did a marvelous job:) Now at home, Agnieszka is wrestling with the 'I can't get anything done' demons. Wanting to be efficient and heroic perhaps I see we are in for either a gracious learning or a long road that ends up in the same place...how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Lots of things to bore you non parents with and thrill the new grandparents and parents at large. Its like turning your life 90 degrees and not being able to look back..just new road in front of you - lots of brilliant vistas and stretches with..perhaps only a few bumps. We hope to keep you rather updated in not only Mati's world but also life here in Poland and Warsaw. Time has sure flown and its time that we get connected again. All the best and love to all. Welcome.

Here is our first month with the kiddo in a flash slideshow. Good luck.