Daddy's been a bit busy (Jestem bardzo zajety!)

Ain't she a beauty?

Iza on a nice, warm Sunday in October, downtown Warsaw
pic by Matt Kollasch

Greetings from Polska. My god, things have been so insanely crazy since we returned from the states. I wasn't sure if I'd ever get back tot his blog again... but mama and iza are asleep and I'm sipping a bit of my favorite port, as night came too quickly and snow is forecasted tonight or over the weekend. So, what the heck have the Sea/Chi/Mil expats been up to?

Dad quit his job at the end of the year and is officially a stay at home dad (SAHD). I like to call my self the 'manny'. I've never been so busy in my life. It's amazing that this is all that some people want to do with their lives. It is great, but yowza, the insanity/chaos of it all!

Mom jumped back into teaching, full speed ahead with 3 preps/5 classes. The 3rd prep is killing her so we're remedying that next month. Mom is STILL breastfeeding. GO MOM!

Iza is 8.5 months now!
She is fully crawling, well, she drags her right knee (and bruises it all over). She has made it up one step and has fallen down two! She has her 2 bottom teeth and today I saw her top right through her gums... should be 2 weeks or so 'til break through. She has been eating mostly a 'Super Baby Food' diet (by Rugh Yaron). Coolest things she's tried is tahini and mangoes, but she seems allergic to the former. Her favorites are sweets, especially bananas. She's a total shithead at meal times sometimes. It's really hit or miss with avocados.
Iza has said 'da da' a few times to me and 'ba ba' with no reference to anything. She's only screamed 'ma ma'... but never when she's conscious about mom being around :(

Daddy has maintained working with the American school. I helped at a rather intense level with the 9th grade trip to the Jura Krakowska-Czestochowska 'Journey to Adventure'. This was my 4th year helping with this very active trip. I was the sole climber involved and had to maintain the safety of 60 kids and 10 adults in an outdoor rock climbing setting... in pretty wet weather, too. It was stressful but successful. I'm getting paid decently this time, too. Due to the prep and the trip itself, Iza got her first nanny experience with Elzbieta, our cleaning lady. Iza likes her a lot and she seems to eat everything she feeds her... maybe she should come by everyday at lunch!


Dad also got a mini-vacation in 2 weeks ago in the Polish Tatra mountains. Martin, Krzyszek (Kris) and I did/hiked/climbed the ORLA PERĆ (Eagles' Path) http://www.orlaperc.za.pl/galeria.htm for pics... or see my pics from our trip at: http://picasaweb.google.de/pape.martin/OrlaPerc_Jeremy_2007_10
The ladies are Magda, Krzyszek's girlfriend, and Dominika, whom both hiked around a bit while we climbed. The Tatra mountains (Tatry) are quite far from Warsaw, so we took a 6+ hour (fast) train there (and back). Ugh.
The outing was quite nice and the weather held off enough to allow a mix of sun, clouds and light breezes. Krzyszek basically soloed the whole thing and Martin and I stuck together... the slow and steady old men.





The route is basically a 'via ferrata' or 'ironed way', like what we've climbed in Italy and France, but on this one people don't use harnesses and helmets... though I wore my ultralight harness and clipped into one cable at a very scary part... mom and Iza would've been happy with my choice! It wasn't super hard but it did have some very challenging positions and some excellent exposure in places. The views into the high Slovakian Tatras was excellent. Poland really got the raw deal in the border split of these relatively low but very rugged peaks.










One week later I got to back to the Tatras, this time with the ASW Outdoor Adventure Club! Another long train, this time a stay in Krakow, then a bus shuttle to Zakopane got us there. Transit time was shorter but definitely more hectic. And Angie and I had phenomenally bursting bladders on the ride back as we got stuck in Krakow traffic. AARRGGHH!!!

Czarny Staw Gasieicowa lusterka (Black Tarn reflection)

This trip was, in theory, more relaxed but no less strenuous. We were going to do a traverse of the entire Polish mountains via 'easier' trails for a grand tour. We had 13 high school kids, about half of which had never hiked in their lives. Well,... when the mountains came into view, our first pass, Krzyzne, was under snow. Then, during our hike up to the beautiful Murowaniec hut (http://www.murowaniec.e-tatry.pl/index_en.php) we did a day hike in the sleet.

Kids were cold. Back at the hut, forecast was for more snow. And more snow. And then Krzyzne pass had a rescue mission on it... needless to say it was time for a Plan B. Then a kid got sick. Then Plan C. In the end, we stayed 2 nights at this hut, did some nice dayhikes nearby in case the kid needed evac, ate decently well, smuggled some hot mulled wine by the kids... yum, and all seemed to have a good time and none seemed put off of ever hiking again.

The Tatras are gorgeous...
it really is a bummer they're so hard to reach from Warsaw!

So... our days may be numbered here. Jill is starting a new job search, just testing the waters to see if anyone is interested in a K-8 teacher with 2 dependents. We'll be looking at either more mountainous regions, more sunshine or more friendly locals ;-)
Give us a ring if you hear of any jobs on the south island of NZ!
So the clock may be ticking here if you want to get on over for a visit to Polska with free lodging and a guide who can translate the complex (and long!) menus!

Hope everyone is well and again, so sorry for the long, long delay in updating this blog. I'd put up more pics of Iza but my HD is full :(
Here's one I could find, though, from Kris Cummings during our time in Seattle this summer.
Iza has a lot more hair now, two teeth and is a good bit thinner since she's so mobile now!

Cheers/Czessc!