Archive for 'Culture'
How money goes missing in the packages mailed to Poland… Posted by Kasia on Sep 5, 2014
For years, Polish Americans have been sending greeting cards (kartki z życzeniami) to relatives and friends in Poland at Christmas time. A great many of them have included “a bit of green” – $10, $20 and even $50 or $100. Before Poland dumped communism in 1989, that was an impressive financial injection. Back then, $25…
ALS ice bucket challenge? A little more about it in Polish Posted by Kasia on Aug 22, 2014
If you are on the social media (and probably 95 % of us are) you most likely heard about ALS bucket challenge. Almost all of social media pages have been deluged lately with videos and pictures of friends, family and random celebrities dumping buckets of ice-cold water over their heads. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge…
Why are there chapels on the side of the Polish roads? Posted by Kasia on Aug 7, 2014
If you are ever going to travel in Poland, it won’t be long before you notice either a religious figure, cross, statue, or a building that resembles a little house or miniature chapel along the roadside. These small religious chapels or shrines are commonly called roadside or wayside shrines (przydrożne kapliczki). These shrines were often built…
Let’s make a toast! What Poles like to drink? Posted by Kasia on Aug 2, 2014
Poles enjoy alcoholic drinks at least as much as other Europeans. You can buy beer, vodka and wine. Although Poland is known as the birthplace of vodka, local beer seems to have much more appeal to many Poles. Another traditional alcoholic beverage (napój akoholowy) is mead. Polish liqueurs and nalewka (alcoholic tincture) are a must…
No “Year in Russia” for Poland any more! Posted by Kasia on Jul 24, 2014
I’m suer most of you follow the news and heard about the horrible tragedy that happened last week to the Malaysian flight. The Polish government has called off preparations for the Polish Year in Russia amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and the alleged shooting down by pro-Russian separatists of a Malaysian jetliner last week. The…
I scream, you scream! We all scream for ice cream! Lody, lody! Posted by Kasia on Jul 20, 2014
Today is International Ice Cream day! Who doesn’t like ice cream? In fact, the entire month of July is known by some as Ice Cream month. What better way to celebrate than with some fun facts about our favorite cold and delicious treat! According to Yahoo! the top five ice cream flavors (pięć najpopularniejszych smaków…
Sto lat, sto lat! Let’s go to a party! Posted by Kasia on Jul 18, 2014
Poles just love to party and the tradition of home parties goes a long way back. They were initially “forced” into existence for lack of reasonably priced restaurants, bars and cafés where larger groups of people could meet without worrying too much about the check to be paid later. Thus the home parties, more commonly…