The Hesskew Adventures

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Green School

Every year each class take a trip with their teachers called Zielona Szkola (Green School). This is considered part of school and along with daily trips each day, they have lessons as well. Kaleb's zielona szkola was a 7 day trip to the Polish seaside. They had 2 teachers accompanying 20 students. They left at 12:40am on a 9 hour train ride, then had another 1 hour bus ride to their hotel at the far northern tip of Poland. Kaleb stayed in a hotel room with 4 other boys (no adults).

Mind you, this is a cultural norm here...................all these details would be a lawsuit waiting to happen in America, but for Poles, this is just what Polish school children do every year !!

I can't say that I like this cultural tradition..(I feel so much better when they return home safely), but Kaleb loves it !!

Here are a few shots we captured at departure and arrival at the train station here in Krakow:

Chaos getting on the train !! Kaleb was so excited and awake despite the fact that it is in the middle of the night..........

Kaleb learned some valuable lessons on this trip, like budgeting out his spending money during those last 3 days so that he had money to buy a snack for the train ride home. He also learned the value of eating whatever you are served at mealtime, so that you're not starving later that day.

Their ride home was a step up from the train at the beginning of their trip. We have a new train line in Poland that is pretty elegant. Kaleb called from the train to tell us about all the amenities he was enjoying -- his own personal reading light, airplane-type seating, bathrooms with sensors, etc. A child's perspective is so precious !!!

Introducing the new Pendolina train........

there he is............our boy, with the blurry wave!

(I was glad to NOT be the only mom there with a camera embarrassing my kid.)

We've heard stories for days................such adventures he had. And I think he actually missed us!! I know we sure missed him! Thankful for the adventurous spirit of our kids that afford them special memory-making opportunities like these !!!

Odds and Ends from Spring 2015

This post is just a collaboration of random photos from this spring to document life and events in the life of our family.

The Polish schools have a celebration called Karniwal, where the kids get to dress up and have class parties for the day. I'm sure this celebration is one of the few that are in no way connected to the Catholic faith, and most don't know the meaning behind this fun celebration. We don't either, but we gladly take part............at least the kids do.

This year, Arin went as Pippi Longstocking:

At Easter, Kaleb got the honor of role playing Jesus in his class program. He didn't have any lines this year as the action was played out while a narrator was speaking off stage. Kaleb really enjoyed the honor he was given !!!

Getting ready to start.............finally, a smile for the camera.....

Jesus, helping God create the world.....

Nailing Jesus's hands to the cross....

The take-home story was that each of us are really the guilty ones, whose sin put Jesus on the cross. Then He conquered and defeated that ultimate punishment for our guilt when He rose again.

We got to celebrate Easter at our Polish church Misja Laski. I was thankful everyone was well................it's been a rough spring on the Hesskew clan as far as health.

_____________________________________________________

In April, Kirstin had the opportunity to attend a women's conference in Naples, Italy. This was organized through a ministry called Pure Joy. They fund missionary women at these retreat for spiritual refreshment and encouragement. They bless us beyond measure and cover all costs except for transport to/from the retreat hotel. It was a wonderful time spent with other women and with the Lord !!! I needed a few days after the retreat just to process all the spiritual feeding!

Here are a few shot of Naples................

Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Polish seaside!!!

In February, the Polish schools have a 2 week "winter break". Traditionally, this is an opportunity for Poles to go skiing. But since we had so little snow this winter, we took this opportunity to head up to the Polish seaside for the first time. It was cool, but we saw some beautiful sights! And we got to spend time with friends who live there !!

We had to see the sea as soon as we got there.............they even had a fabulous playground!!

Before we got there, Arin could not understand why we wouldn't be able to take our shoes off and walk on the beach. She just couldn't comprehend a trip to the beach during the winter. Once we got there, I asked her if she was ready to take off her shoes..................she looked at me like I had lost my mind. It was chilly !!!!

There weren't alot of people on the beach that day......just us "crazies" battling the fierce winds.

We had to do our traditional "shell collecting".... Al said that was the coldest water he had ever touched that was actually still fluid !! Brrrrr!!

We got to see she shipyard !!!

They had an incredible science museum........

They had a wheelchair obstacle course, where kids get to experience the life of our handicapped friends. It was very eye-opening for our kiddos.

Albert and Kirstin celebrated 14 years of marriage while we were at the seaside, so our kids got to spend an evening with friends while we had a romantic dinner overlooking the coast.