Most of January felt like more of the same around here — in a good way. The boys were back in school after a long Christmas break, we continued our Sunday swim lessons with Pani Natalia, and life carried on as usual. The swim lessons are likely coming to an end soon, as Sylwia will take over their training herself — she’s more than qualified.
Damian’s Polish passport is set to expire later this year, so we decided to renew it early at the local office rather than deal with the Polish Embassy in Chicago. It turned out to be a great decision. From filling out the application to picking up the new passport, the entire process took just two weeks, and the paperwork was surprisingly easy — nothing like our past experiences at the embassy.
While we were there, we also applied for Tarnów city ID cards (karta miejska) for the whole family. These cards confirm residency and provide discounts on many public services. Two weeks later, our cards and Damian’s passport were ready for pickup. Damian and I had our photos taken at the office, while Sylwia was able to use an old passport photo. Grayson didn’t get his photo taken until the day we picked everything up, so his city card will take a couple more weeks to arrive. With the cards in hand, we should now qualify for discounts on public transportation, parking, ice skating rinks, swimming pools, pharmacies, and probably more things we haven’t even discovered yet. Oddly enough, after all our time spent in Poland, no one had ever mentioned this to us before.
We also met Marek, who owns a couple of garages down the street from ours. We talked at length about the ongoing parking issues and the signs he installed to prevent people from blocking garage access. He shared some valuable insights and recommendations, including a local company — Efektar — that installs signage. Following that conversation, we visited both the Roads and Communications Authority (Zarząd Dróg i Komunikacji) and the Municipal Police (Straż Miejska) for more guidance. While they weren’t as helpful as we’d hoped, we did walk away with some useful information.
That very same evening, while we were still figuring out a plan, someone parked directly in front of my garage, blocking my exit. I could back out, but I couldn’t make the turn to leave. With no sign of the owner, I had to call the police. Since the driver never showed up, I put the car back in the garage and the owner received a citation. The next day, I bought a sign at Mrówka and mounted it to the garage door, hoping it would deter future offenders. That hope lasted exactly two days. Another car parked carelessly in front of our garage — this time with no help from the police or Straż Miejska, who were overwhelmed due to the cold weather and dealing with homeless-related calls. Faced with a long wait, I left my car outside. The parking situation around these private garages has become pure insanity — a free-for-all with no enforcement and no accountability.
The long-awaited package I shipped back in December while I was in the States finally arrived. We were stocked to the max with all sorts of goodies — including, oddly enough, garbage bags. Yes, we shipped garbage bags to Poland. Babcia had boxes of them from who knows where, and they happened to fit our garbage bin perfectly, so I used them as filler in the shipment. I may have gone a little overboard. We won’t need to buy garbage bags for a very long time.
Grandparents Day (Dzień Babci i Dziadka) came around at Damianek’s preschool. He was a little nervous beforehand but ended up doing great — singing, dancing, and delivering his lines in front of a room full of proud grandparents. Just like last year, Sylwia and I stepped in to play the role of grandparents and cheer him on. This year, though, Grayson wasn’t part of the event since he’s now in first grade. It’s strictly a preschool tradition, and Damianek handled it solo like a pro.
Laura’s mom is a dentist here in town, so we scheduled routine cleanings and checkups for the boys at her clinic. Damian came away cavity-free, while Grayson wasn’t quite as lucky and was found to have five small cavities on his back teeth — one on each molar and one on a neighboring tooth. We’ll need to schedule a follow-up visit to have the fillings done. We’ve been diligent about brushing and flossing morning and night, but the sugary snacks and drinks during school hours are largely out of our control, which is likely the main culprit. Unfortunately, those molars are permanent teeth, meaning the fillings will be permanent as well.
Laura lives right across the hall from her mom’s dental practice, so after their appointments the boys stopped by to say hi and play for a bit.
The boys reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
And the Polish National Anthem (Mazurek Dąbrowskiego) as well.
I pass our local ice skating rink almost daily while getting my steps in around the neighborhood — sometimes with the kids, sometimes alone. We went once last year but never returned because of the high cost of admission and skate rentals, which were also incredibly uncomfortable. This year felt much the same, but the boys kept asking to go. One afternoon after school, Laura’s dad mentioned they were heading there, so we decided to join them.
The last time we saw Ciocia Basia and Wujek Krzysiek was on Christmas Eve, so we decided to pay them another visit. We lucked out — Ciocia was making homemade meat pierogi that day, and the boys happily jumped in to help. The end result was delicious, easily the best meat pierogi I’ve ever had.
A couple of days later, armed with our new city cards and their discounts, we met Laura and her brother at the rink again. Grayson was flying around the ice with barely any falls, while Damianek was still finding his balance and relying on a little penguin helper to get around—but making great progress.
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