Moving on to Krakow - May 19th, 2006

I'm finally adding pictures to these past blog entries (6/5/06)!! Here are some highlights of our first day in Krakow!







Last Friday (hard to believe it was a week ago), we left Lodz for Krakow. The drive to Krakow was interesting for both groups, Ann and I went separately from Seth and Jerry. We rode down with Eva, our hostess in Lodz, and her friend. There was a lot of traffic. Ann slept and I watched a movie most of the time. It took us quite a while to find our way around when we got into the city, but we did, and as soon as we were out of the car, we were off!

The District 2230 Conference in Krakow began on Friday night with a social at a pub in the staroe miasto (old town). We walked around before it started and got soaked and by the time we were at the social, we were pretty tired. We had a great time visiting with the Rotarians from the District and were able to spend some time with the Governor, Jan Wrana, and the President's Representative, Sollve Kernell, and his wife from Sweden. We learned pretty early on that Krakow doesn't sleep, ever!!

In Krakow, we had great hosts. Seth stayed with the Governor and his family, Jerry was with the President of one of the Krakow Rotary Clubs, and Ann and I stayed with Anna, a friend of one of the Rotarians. We had a great time learning about the Clubs in Krakow. Earlier, Ann and I had spoken further about the strength of Polish women and how we thought that there should be a women-only club in Poland because the women get things done. In Krakow, there is a women's only club. It is the third club in Krakow and it was very interesting to meet the women who lead it. Especially interesting for me because one of them is an expert in the area of building accessibility for people with disabilities.

I have been blessed to have many spontaneous vocational visits, including speaking with that woman, Hanna. The District Governor's wife is even a special education teacher and she and I had a great time talking about our passion for helping people with disabilities have fulfilling lives.