Volcanic Ash? VOLCANIC ASH?

I think if I had to make a list a week ago of 100 reasons I might be stuck in Gdansk, volcanic ash from a volcano in Iceland probably would not have made that list. This is the weirdest thing ever! We are not stuck...yet. We are scheduled to fly to Koln, Germany this Thursday, but the likelihood of that is not high at this point. My friend Ivija's husband is stuck in Oslo because of the ash sitting high in the European skies. He was supposed to fly home Friday.

Many world leaders, including Barack Obama, have canceled their plans to attend the state funeral of the Polish president in Krakow today. I read though, that on Thursday over 1,000 secret service police had arrived in Krakow from the US to prepare for the American President's arrival. They are all still stuck there! I hope they are enjoying their time in the beautiful city of Krakow and doing their part to keep the Polish economy going. The family of President and Mrs. Kaczynski do not want to postpone the funeral. While they may be criticized for that because now many world leaders are unable to attend, I totally understand. The shock and intensity of this event has gone on for more than a week now. The sooner they can have peace back in their lives, the better.

Yesterday, at 8:56 a.m., sirens wailed in Gdansk. That was the exact time of the crash, and the siren marked that one week had passed. At noon the sirens sounded again, signaling two minutes of silence. We watched the ceremonies in Warszawa for President and Mrs. Kaczynski and the others who died in the plane crash on television. There were throngs of people with Polish flags and Solidarity flags. Saturday was beautiful but chilly, and the ceremonies were all outside to accommodate the huge number of people. The high here was about 48. I'm sure it was similar in Warszawa. They named each person who was killed in the crash. As they scanned the crowd we could see the president's (30ish year old) daughter and his twin brother. We watched some very emotional speeches. And while our Polish is seriously lacking, some messages and emotions are universal, thus understood. In the crowd were men dressed in blue Solidarity coveralls with Solidarity hardhats. I found this very moving.

Gdansk has shut down again, but his time it was planned. We knew that our favorite grocery store would be closing at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday and would be closed for the rest of the weekend. So we stocked up on groceries Friday night to get us through the weekend. This is a significant cultural difference. Most retail stores here have now been closed for two weekends in a row. That is unheard of in the US.

The kids have school tomorrow, and we will sit tight to see what happens with that crazy volcano in Iceland!