As some of you may know, I am a biracial gal. I used to think of being biracial as being equal halves, like measuring precisely with cups as if you are baking the perfect cake. Recently, as I have contemplated a lot about my racial makeup, I realized I have always felt 100% both -fully Black and fully Polish. As a little girl, my mom would book my plane ticket to Poland for the summers via a travel agency and then voila! I would end up on the other side of the world with frizzy hair and my Walkman in hand blasting the Pocahontas soundtrack. Visiting Poland throughout the years has always been associated with mostly positive memories like vacations & seeing distant family and friends, plus I got to brush up on my Polish speaking skills which helped me navigate employment in my 20’s but also mainly because it (still) is fun to eavesdrop and then surprise people with a candid response when they are badmouthing you.
Fast forward to 2010, the last time I was in Poland before visiting this year. We were there for a huge family event (my husband’s sister was getting married) and we did our regular trek from the South-West Corner of the country to the North-East corner, covering all of our bases in between. It was an amazing time and we came back to the states with the intention of repeating our trip in due time. Only that it didn’t happen, because…life happens and for whatever reason 2 years turned into 12! Before arriving this past year, I didn’t really know what to expect but I was so excited for everything I felt like I missed out on all these years, especially seeing family and friends. It was a trip to remember, albeit not long enough to truly immerse ourselves into everything, but I came back feeling like I will never let another 12 years pass by before returning.
