Krótka przerwa / A short break

Oddalam się do świątecznych zajęć ; do pisania bloga wrócę w styczniu.

Because of   the many activities of the upcoming holiday season I will resume writing my blog  in mid January.

Na razie / so long / à bientôt!

Christmas in Poland

To my International Readers

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Polish customs at Christmas time are beautiful

Here are six of the most important traditions:

1. OPLATEK. Before sitting down at the table, everyone breaks the traditional wafer, or Oplatek and exchanges good wishes for health, wealth and happiness in the New Year. For many it is a deeply moving moment. Oplatek is a thin, unleavened wafer similar to the altar bread in the Roman Catholic Church. It is stamped with figures of of baby Jesus, Mary and angels. The wafer is known as the bread of love and is often sent by mail to the absent members of the family.

2. AN EXTRA PLACE. A lighted candle in the window symbolizes hope that Jesus, in the form of a stranger, will come to share the Wigilia. Hence an extra place is set at the table for this hoped for guest. This belief stems from the ancient Polish proverb, „A guest in the home is God in the home.”

3. WIGILIA is a meatless meal […] Traditionally served  dishes include mushroom soup, boiled potatoes, pickled herring, fried fish, pierogi (dumplings,) beans and sauerkraut, a dried fruit compote, […], assorted pastries, nuts and candies.

4. GIFTS. After the meal family members sing Christmas Carols called koledy. Christmas gifts are exchanged that evening.

5. CHRISTMAS CAROLS […] Polish Christmas Carols or koledy are numerous and lovely. They are performed beautifully in Polish churches as part of the Christmas Eve Mass. 

6. PASTERKA. Christmas Eve Mass is called  Pasterka, which means Shepherds Watch, and there is popular belief in Poland that while the congregation is praying, peace descends on the snow-clad, sleeping earth and that during that holy night, the humble companions of men – domestic animals – speak with human voices. But only the innocent  of  heart may hear them.

Based on: http://www.polishamericancenter.org/Wigilia.htm

Polski prezent / A (very) Polish Gift

Polacy wybierają książki jako prezenty na święta!

Poles are choosing books as Christmas presents!

Badanie rynku wykonane przez Deloitte Central Europe wykazało, że Polacy i Słowacy uznają książkę za najlepszy prezent świąteczny. Ludzie w dziewięciu innych krajach wolą pod choinką  raczej pieniądze.

Market research report released by Deloitte Central Europe indicates that Poles and Slovaks favor a book as a Christmas gift.  People in nine other countries would rather find money under the Christmas tree.

http://www.rynek-ksiazki.pl/aktualnosci/polacy-wola-ksiazki_32951.html

Pamiętaj / Remember

WIELCY PISARZE ZMARLI W ROKU 2012

GREAT WRITERS WHO DIED IN 2012 

3 stycznia/January, 3 – Josef Škvorecký, The Czech writer (ur./born 1924)

http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2012/01/04/czech-dissident-author-josef-skvorecky-dies-at-87/

15 maja/ May, 15 – Carlos Fuentes, The Mexican author (ur./born 1928)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/05/15/152769822/carlos-fuentes-legendary-mexican-writer-dies

Škvorecký i Fuentes nie otrzymali literackiego Nobla. To nic nie znaczy. Będziemy ich czytać. /Škvorecký and Fuentes did not receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. It doesn’t matter. We will read them anyway.

Photo number 1 by David Port, MF DNES

Photo number 2: Reuters

Nomen Omen …

… czyli syn „Szczęśliwego”

… or son of a happy man

Jednym z moich ulubionych autorów jest Rene Goscinny. Jego Mikołajek, do którego ilustracje wykonał   Jean-Jacques Sempé, to jedna z najlepszych książek i dla dzieci, i dla dorosłych. Jest również wspaniałym prezentem na Boże Narodzenie!

One of my most favorite authors is Rene Goscinny. Little Nicholas by Goscinny with drawings by Jean-Jacques Sempé  is  one of the best books for children and adults alike. It would make a perfect Christmas gift!

Teksty z Wikipedii krytykuje się często za zbytnią komplikację  lub uproszczenia, ale tym razem W. daje świetną  charakterystykę Goscinny’ego, zawartą w krótkich słowach.

Wikipedia entries are often criticized for being too complicated or too simplistic.  However in this case Wikipedia provides a short but excellent article about Goscinny.

 

Goscinny urodził się w Paryżu w roku 1926 w rodzinie żydowskiej, pochodzącej z Polski. Jego rodzicami byli inżynier chemik, Stanisław Simkha Gościnny („Gościnny” to znaczące nazwisko,  a „Simkha” – to „Szczęście”) oraz Anna (Hanna) Bereśniak-Gościnna […]

Wiecej: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Goscinny

Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926, to a family of Jewish immigrants from Poland; his parents were Stanisław Simkha Gościnny(the surname means hospitable in Polish; Simkha is his Jewish name meaning happiness), a chemical engineer from Warsaw, Poland, and Anna (Hanna) Bereśniak-Gościnna  […]

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Goscinny

Goscinny stworzył także bohaterów takich jak Lucky Luck  i Asterix.

Goscinny is also the creator of the famous comic strips Lucky Luck and Asterix.

Znajda / Foundling

W Polsce mówi się, że zwierzęta przemawiają ludzkim głosem w wigilię Bożego Narodzenia. Czekam więc, aż nasza suczka Felusia opowie swoją historię 🙂 Jest znajdą; nie wiemy, skąd przyszła. Mój starszy syn dał jej imię „Felicita”, co po włosku znaczy „Szczęśliwa”. Kiedy ją wzięliśmy, była chuda jak patyk. Prawdopodobnie porzucili ją właściciele. Teraz jest w lepszej formie. Stała się delikatnym i szczęśliwym psem.

A co z literaturą?

Istnieje wiele książek o psach.

Spójrz poniżej.

__________________________________________________________________________________

According to old Polish folktales animals are able to speak on Christmas Eve.  So I am waiting to hear the story of our dog Felusia 🙂 Felusia is a foundling; we don’t know where she came from. My older son has named her „Felicita,” which means „happy” in Italian.  When she arrived she was as thin as a rail. Probably she had been abandoned by her owner.  Now she is much better. She has become a gentle and a happy dog.

And what about literature?

One can find a lot of books about dogs.

See below.

21 grudnia! / December 21!

Przygody dobrego wojaka Szwejka Jaroslava Haška są najśmieszniejszą książką, jaka kiedykolwiek czytałam. Chciałabym zaprezentować czytelnikom zabawny cytat z tego utworu.

Wojak Szwejk zostal przewieziony z posterunku policji do szpitala wariatów pełnego pacjentów. Jednego z nich […] stale trzymano w kaftanie bezpieczeństwa, aby nie mógł wyliczyć, kiedy nastąpi koniec świata.

____________________________________________________________

The Fateful Adventures Of The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek is the merriest book I have ever read. I would like to share with my readers a funny quote from this book.

Soldier Švejk was transferred from a police-station to a madhouse crowded with patients. One of them was […] kept permanently in a straitjacket to prevent him from calculating the arrival of Doomsday.

[Illustration by Josef Lada]

My Top List

Dear Friends.

My thanks go to my friend http://orbsdelight.wordpress.com/ for my First Star nomination.

 

My thanks go to my friend http://clanmother.com/, for my first Very Inspiring Blogger Award nomination.

 

I have read the rules carefully and decided to compose my own list of my favorite bloggers and to nominate everyone for  both ” Blog of the Year” and „Very Ispiring Award.”

 Therefore I have the honor to present 15 Best Blogs

1. http://clanmother.com/ The Best Blog About Psychological, Social And Art Problems
2. http://orbsdelight.wordpress.com/ The Best Unique Blog Sharing Empathy And Solidartity With Human Beings And Knowledge About Secret Objects
3. http://maynheymele.wordpress.com/apropos/ The Best Unique Blog For Moving Reflections On Lost Time And Home
4. http://artdone.wordpress.com/ The Best International Art Blog
5. http://85degrees.Wordpress.Com/ The Best Unique Blog Consists Of Outstanding Literary Texts
6. http://janmasyn2.wordpress.com/ The Highest Quality Photo Blog
7. http://grishmanphotography.com/The Best Homeland Blog
8. http://tramedipensieri.wordpress.com/The Best Blog About Literature And Art Being Coupled Together (Full Of Gentleness And Serenity)
9. http://bentehaarstad.wordpress.com/The Best Blog About …  The Reindeer Herders
10. http://theforesterartist.com/ The Best Blog Praising Nature And Art Being Coupled Together
11. http://misterapictures.wordpress.com/ The Best Blog Consists Of Moving Asian Landscapes Showing Human Being’s Fate
12. http://chris13jkt.wordpress.com/2012/12/05/  The Best Blog About … Listening The Nature
13. http://motionphotographyonline.wordpress.com/The Best Blog About Amazing American Landscapes Taking During Family Trips
14. http://sigoese.wordpress.com/The Most Colorful Blog
15. http://tkmorin.wordpress.com/ The Best History Blog

A like following other  bloggers a lot but I have been doing it rather seldom  because of  my improper  email account settings or of being “new in my blogger’s life.”

http://michelinewalker.com/

http://duranvirginia.wordpress.com/

http://moviejoltz.com/

http://manningtreearchive.com/

http://seenorway.wordpress.com/

According to the rules of Very Insparing Blogger Award I have written 7. sentences ABOUT ME:

1. I am proud be a Pole in spite of my former foreing roots.
2. I love Poland because of its long freedom tradition.
3. A long time ago I resigned from my job as a journalist because of real and psychological censorship. Nowadays I like to be a blogger.
4. I am just publishing my new book.
5. I like to be at home with my family, to visit theatre and gallery, to watch Baltic Sea, to admire Warsaw and Cracov, Vilnius / Wilno, New York, Budapest and old Estepona in Andalucia. And Polish villages, too!
6. My favorite thing is a book.
7. My favorite phrase in Latin is Primo vult suum amicum esse et vivere.

VERY IMPORTANT: THE RULES of the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award’

1 The ‘rules’ for this award are simple:

1. Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award’

2. Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3. Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/   and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4. Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

5. You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

6. As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

VERY IMPORTANT: THE RULES of the Very Inspiring Blog Award

Below are the rules for the Very Inspiring Blog Award so please follow carefully:

1.  Display the award logo on your blog.
2.  Link back to the person who nominated you.
3.  State 7 things about yourself.
4.  Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5.  Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

Nagroda i nominacje! / Award and Nominations!

Jako szefowa muzeum literackiego, Dom Marii i Jerzego Kuncewiczów, otrzymałam od Pana Wojciecha Popiołka, Starosty Puławskiego, nagrodę za wkład w rozwój życia kulturalnego Powiatu Puławskiego w roku 2012.

In recognition of my contribution to the development of cultural life of the Puławy Disctrict in 2012 I have received, for my work as head of the “Maria and Jerzy  Kuncewicz House” literary museum, an award from Mr. Wojciech Popiołek, the district’s governor.

____________

Mój blog ALE KSIĄŻKI! / AND YET THE BOOKS! został nominowany do dwóch nagród World Press:

For my blog ALE KSIĄŻKI! / AND YET THE BOOKS  I have been nominated for these two World Press  blog awards:

ORBPHOTOG nad CLANMOTHER: dziękuję! Jedna z nich podaje jako powód nominowania „miłość polskiej kultury”.

ORBPHOTOG and CLANMOTHER: many thanks! One of these nominations specifies „love of Polish culture” as the reason for granting me the award.

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Nominacji dokonują członkowie wspólnoty bloggerskiej.

Nominations for blog awards are made by members of the blog community.

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Chciałabym wyrazić  moją wdzięczność Panu Staroście oraz jego doradcom, a także bloggerom z USA i Kanady za docenienie moich wysiłków.

I would like to express my gratitude to the governor of the Pulawy district and to members of his administration, as well as to the bloggers from USA and Canada for their appreciation of my efforts.

____________

Założyłam blog w roku 2012. Do tej pory miałam 10.000 wizyt bloggerów z ponad 40. państw.

I began my blog in July 2012. So far it has received almost 10.000 visits from more than 40 countries.

_____________

Lista moich ulubionych blogów będzie przygotowana już wkrótce.

The list of my favorite blogs is forthcoming.

_____________

Z poważaniem,

With best regards,

Wanda

Chanuka / Hanukkah

[Hanukkah lamp from The Nadwislanskie Museum collection]

Chanuka nadchodzi.

Hanukkah is coming.

Pierwsza świeca zapłonie w sobotę wieczorem, w wigilię święta.

The first candle will be lit soon, Saturday night, on the holiday’s eve.

Wspominamy w Kazimierzu dużą wspólnotę żydowską, która żyła tutaj od XIV wieku aż do chwili wypędzenia jej i zamordowania  przez niemieckich nazistów w czasie II wojny światowej. Siła wyobraźni przywołuje Kuźmir i jego królewskich Żydów, ich „Ah Lichtige Hanukkah”, radosne święto.

In Kazimierz Dolny we remember a large Jewish community which lived here from the 14th century until its members were exiled from the town and murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War. The power of imagination recalls today the past: Royal Jews of Kuzmir and their „Ah Lichtige Hanukkah”, a joyful festival.

Chanuka, zwana też festiwalem światła, jest ośmiodniowym świętem, upamiętniającym powstanie Żydów przeciwko Syryjczykom w II wieku przed Chrystusem, i ponowne poświęcenie Świątyni Jerozolimskiej. Antioch, król Syrii, rządzący wówczas Judeą, rozkazał wznieść ołtarz Zeusa w świątyni. Tak zrobiono. Jednak zbuntowani Żydzi, dowodzeni przez Judę Machabeusza, odnieśli w walce zwycięstwo. Oczyszczono świątynię, wzniesiono nowy ołtarz. Zgodnie z zaleceniem Talmudu, oliwa powinna płonąć w menorze (candelabrum) zawsze, tymczasem tradycja głosi, że zapas, który mieli Żydzi mógł wystarczyć tylko na jeden dzień. A jednak oliwa paliła się przez osiem, można więc było w tym czasie pozyskać świeżą. Ośmiodniowe święto ustanowiono na pamiątkę tego wydarzenia, ocenianego jako cud.

Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day holiday   memorializing the Jewish revolt against the Syrians in the 2nd century B.C.E. and the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.  Judea was, at that time, ruled by the Empire of Syria whose king Antiochus outlawed Judaism and ordered an altar to Zeus to be erected in the Temple. Jews, led by Judah Maccabee won the uprising.  The temple was cleansed and a new altar was built. According to the Talmud, olive oil was needed for the menorah (candelabrum) in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. The story says that there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight-day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle.

 

[The Power of Light by I. B. Singer]

 

Istotą święta jest wzniecanie płomieni w specjalnej menorze o 9. ramionach, zwanej też Hanukiją. Następna świeca jest rozpalana kolejnego wieczoru, aż do ósmego, kończącego święto. Tradycyjne dania chanukowe obejmują latkes, placki ziemniaczane, i inne smażone potrawy, które mają przypominać, jak istotna jest oliwa. Każdego wieczoru krewni i przyjaciele przekazują sobie świąteczne podarunki, takie jak książki i gry.

The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of  a special, nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah.One additional light is added on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. Traditional dishes eaten at Hanukkah include latkes (potato pancakes) and other fried foods to commemorate the importance of oil. Many families exchange small gifts each night, such as books or games.

 

 

Dzieci bawią się zabawką zwaną dreidel. Jest to czterościenny bączek, pokryty hebrajskimi literami, które wyrażają cud oliwy. Chanuka to radosny czas świętowania w rodzinach.

Children play with dreidels, four-sided spinning tops with Hebrew letters imprinted on each side and which refer to the miracle of the oil.  It is a time for families and friends to rejoice and celebrate together.