Peacock's are loud

We just finished off a nice spring break. There are several holidays at the beginning of May and so we get to take off for most of the week. It was a very busy week. I traveled up north to visit a city called Poznan.  I have a friend who is from America who works/lives up there with her family with another ministry. I enjoy visiting her when I have the time. It is great to catch up with people in the same country but a different ministry. It allows us to see what each other are doing and how we can support each other. I also learn cool tricks to how she is living in a different culture. Also, I get to hear the great things they are up to in their ministry and I learn how I can incorporate some of that into what I'm doing. It's really neat! I live in a smaller town so we don't have the same shops so this is nice to be able to do some shopping as well. I've learned a lot of fun things from her. They were going on a retreat with their ministry and they needed someone to hang with the kids while they had their meetings. I had 6 kids from 3 to 10 years old. This didn't sound difficult at first. :) I quickly learned the challenges of having kids from so many different ages and abilities running around and trying to get them to listen. It was eventful to say the the least. ;) The retreat was in a small town with little cabins. They had pigeons, rabbits, and parrots in cages and then walking around the grounds were peacocks. It was beautiful but boy do they make crazy noises and at all times of day!!! Some of them would be on the roofs in the mornings and and that would be our alarm! We all at first thought they were kids yelling when we first heard them.  After a few days here we headed back to Poznan and relaxed and did a little bit of shopping. It was a lot of fun. I won't be able to see them again until the fall since I'll be heading to the states this summer.

Peacock with the most beautiful feathers

Kids playing on the playground. 

View from the bike ride. 

The lake where we did a scavenger hunt. 

On Saturday I came back home. On Sunday I attended the first communion for our third grade students. It was a lot of fun and very interesting. This is a tradition that takes place in second grade in the states and her third grade. One of the families I'm very good friends with and they invited me for the party after the service. Being a teacher I was able to sit up right in front...it was a little close for my taste but I got to see first hand how they do everything.  I went to the party later and it lasted for hours and so much food, CONSTANT food, a course and then dessert, then another course, and then more dessert. I took home more food than I will be able to finish. Since I've been on vacation I'm happy that I won't have to worry about groceries right away. The traditions were very different but through attending the ceremony it has opened the door to talk about things regarding church and what people are looking for in church and some of their issues with religion. One family I was able to invite to the church in Lodz.