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Name: Shelley
Birthday: 11/27/1979
Gender: Female
Interests: I like serving God. I like to laugh and make people laugh. I love cats. Sadly, I had to leave mine in America. I love traveling and exploring. I like watching movies and talking to people. (but not at the same time- I can't stand when people talk through my movies!) I love Dr. Pepper and Krispy Kreme donuts, neither of which can be found in Poznan. Oh yeah- good Mexican food is also a bit lacking here in Poland. Did I mention I love college football?!
Occupation: Education/training
Industry: Nonprofit
Message: message meEmail: email me
Yahoo: &m=g&t=0) shelley_poland (also on skype)
Member Since:
7/11/2005
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| this made me laugh out loud. i had to share....
It looks like you don't have any
Footprints at
this time - Just keep writing new entries, leaving comments on other
sites, and participating in the Xanga Community - eventually you'll start
getting some
footprints!
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| Well, my time here has been fun. But I've found a new blog.
It's more user-friendly and I like it better. Come check it out:
http://shelleyinpoland.blogspirit.com/
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| Soooooo.... tanning bed standards are a bit different here....
Since I could currently grab the starring role as Snow White and I'll
be in my sister's wedding in 2 months, I decided I would venture into
the world of Polish "solariums". There happens to be one right
across the street from my flat. So I walk in on Monday morning
and say that I would like to tan. The lady shows me right into
the tanning room and tells me which button to push for it to turn
on. She asks how long and I say, "about 6 or 7 minutes?"
She rattles off about something and I catch the words, "white" and
"strong light" and she is nodding in agreement with me that I should
only go for about 6 or 7 minutes. Okay, so 7 minutes it is.
Then she walks out and there I stand. It was slightly unsettling
that they didn't make me read all this paperwork and sign that I knew
the risks in what I was doing, as is the custom back home. When I
got a tanning membership in Austin, it was like signing my life away as
they explained not only the risks of tanning beds and cancer, but also
assured me that their standards and whatever are much safer than
outdoor tanning, etc. I guess I was kinda expecting that little
speech here. Nie ma. And THEN: It was when I
actually turned on the bed that I realized they don't have those
protective eye googles here. That was alarming to me, so I laid
there with my hands covering my eyes. I also noticed they don't
provide a little towel here, like I would use to cover my face so it
didn't burn. Well, needless to say, my face was a bit pink on
Monday. Tuesday I wisened up and took my own face towel, and I
went for 8 minutes. All was well until I woke up Wednesday
morning and could feel the pain of "sunburn" on my back. So I go look
in the mirror, and yep- I have two red lines down either side of my
back. But only on my back. Now, what is wrong with
that?! Hmmmm.... apparently all the bulbs in the bed are not
exactly the same strength.... Okay, okay- don't worry. I'm
not gonna tan for long. Just long enough to get a decent base
tan. If you thought I was white last summer... you should see the way I've faired this Polish winter!
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| Okay, so I was running around this morning... I was supposed to meet my
friend to give her a CD. She sent me a message while I was in the
shower and when I read it, it was a few minutes past the time she
wanted to meet. So I called her, but she didn't answer. As
the phone was ringing, my doorbell rang. So I hung up and ran to
the door, expecting it to be her. That was my first
mistake. So I opened the door without looking out the
peephole. Second mistake. It was 2 girls and I can see
their Bibles in their hands. They say something, to which I
answer that I don't speak very good Polish. Well, this of course,
doesn't impede the JWs so they show me a pamphlet and turn to the page
in English. Well, me being me- I can't resist this opportunity so
I start stumbling through my broken Polish. I tell them that I'm
a missionary too and that I do read the Bible. She asks me if I
understand it when I read it. I say yes. So she starts
showing me some verses from Revelations. I go get my English
Bible and we stood there for about 10 minutes... She was trying to show
me that we believe the same thing about God. It was when she said
that Jesus is not also God that things got interesting. To
everything she said, I had another verse to talk more about it.
Of course, I only understand about 65% of what she said and my Polish
is limited, so it was probably the most interesting spiritual
conversation I've ever had. She finally gave up when I started in
on the verses that talk about Jesus being God. That's when she
said they had to go and they left pretty quickly. Ha! I
scared away the Jehovah's Witnesses and I was barely even speaking
English! I feel rather accomplished this morning.
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| Lessons I've learned in 10 months on the mission field:
1) language learning is about humility, not about communication
2) a sense of humor is an absolute MUST
3) God is way more creative than I've ever given Him credit for
4) Satan is a big freakin' jerk and I hate him
5) Always carry tissue in your purse, public restrooms rarely have toilet paper
6) It's frightening how much we can mis-interpret what God is saying to us (refer to lesson 4)
7) The other missionaries on your team are your life raft when you feel like you're sinking
8) God is NOT safe, but He is good.
9) There's a statute of limitations on the "dumb foreigner" act
10) Your shoes are the biggest give-away that you're a foreigner | | |
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