I've written before about some of the surprises I got after setting up this blog. I'm going to share another Internet story with you today.
Those who know me well are aware that one of my favorite pastimes is researching my family's history. For me, nothing can match the excitement of finding the identities and activities of those forebears who lived in the 1800s, 1700s, 1600s, and on back through the mists of time. Somehow, cowboys, Indians, and trips across the ocean at a time when a lot of passengers expected to die along the way are more interesting when one's own family was involved.
Both Carl and I come from families who have been in America since the early 1600s and 1700s except for one branch of his family – Gottfried & Beate Ulbrich who arrived in New York aboard the ship Holsatia on May 15, 1873. They had departed from Hamburg, Germany, fleeing the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War. Given that we knew the name of their village, one might think finding their ancestors and what their lives in Germany were like would be a piece of cake. Not so!
When I first began this quest, the Berlin wall was still standing. Their little village of Hammer in Militsch Kreis was originally in Prussia, then East Germany, and ended up in Poland as a result of World War II. The current Polish name is Milicsz.
Since I don't speak German or Polish, correspondence was difficult to say the least. Letters took a long time and answers took even longer. Germany said the records were in Warsaw while Poland said they were in Berlin. I was at a stalemate. Then along came the Internet.
I eventually found a web site for Milicz along with photographs of their town council. Apologizing profusely for my inability to write in Polish, I told the story of my ancestors and asked if anyone would be willing to take photographs of the area for me. Nothing happened for a long time but, just when I had given up hope, I received an e-mail from a lovely person named Christa. Christa is an American from Pennsylvania who fell in love with a handsome Polish man, married him, and has lived in Poland ever since.
Several years have passed. Meanwhile, I have received wonderful pictures and little bits of information that I would not otherwise have had. When I'm least expecting it, along will come a packet of picture postcards, for instance.
Instead of showing you pictures of buildings and parks, I decided to post pictures of Christa and her husband, Marek, as well as the house they bought. I have now known Christa through a major illness, the births of their two children, and the purchase of their home in the old German section of their city. I commiserated when her husband, Marek, fell through a ceiling and injured his shoulder during renovations. She sent me a picture of her pregnant belly. I haven't asked for her mother-in-law's pierogi recipe...yet. Although we have never met face to face, Christa and I are friends.
Now Christa has set up her own blog. It's a great peek at every day life in Poland. Her comments on communism vs. present day capitalism are an education (see Keeping Up With The Kowalskis). Her description of trying to learn the Polish language while teaching the English language is amusing. Her sense of humor shines through everything she writes.
Go to the right of this page and click on "Visit Christa in Poland" for an interesting trip.
