Polish Americans Celebrated with a Dyngus Day Parade in Buffalo, Easter Monday

We drove to Buffalo, USA on Easter Monday

Living in Toronto, we are within a couple of driving hours to the U.S. border and we can watch the daily U.S. news on our TV channels.

We watched the Dyngus Day parade in person instead of on TV!

For the past couple of years, I watched the Dyngus Festival held in the city of Buffalo and it looked interesting.

Today, was a fantastic warm spring day.
















At the drop of a hat, we decided to drive to Buffalo and joined the Dyngus festivities in our neighboring city.

Lots of people lining the street to watch the Dyngus Day parade in Baffalo.

The drive was pleasant and the traffic was good. We stopped at the Duty Free shop at the Peace Bridge border crossing. I was a little disappointed as it didn’t stock the brand of skincare products I wanted to buy.

Next time we need to cross at the rainbow Bridge to buy it.

We arrived at the Fillmore Ave  area in Buffalo where the parade was happening at 5pm. We were pleasantly surprised as we found free parking easily.

Polish American parading proudly in their traditional costumes

There were a lot of people lining on the Fillmore Ave parade route.
















Almost everyone was dressed in red, the colour of Poland, I supposed. I need to remember to do the same if coming back the next time.

The parade was just starting.

A creative Easter outfit at the parade

Parade participant were decked out in colorful costumes.

Since the Dyngus Parade takes place always right after Easter, there were a few Easter theme costumes.

There was the Easter bunny.

Parade vehicles were decorated in different themes moving slowly passing by the crowds slowly.















This was quite a party!
















  



In most parades,  participants would just wave their hands politely at the crowds.

But not the same case at the Dyngus Day parade.

The Dyngus Day participants on the parade vehicles wanted action and with the crowds.

People shooting water at parade watchers at the Dyngus Day parade, Buffalo

Carrying water guns and shooting water at the parade watchers, the water gun carriers were also busy refilling them.














Some people on the parade  vehicles even filled pitchers/ containers and pour water on the people below.

I had to duck and cover my camera well since I did not want it to get wet.

Besides shooting water gun and pouring water at the crowds, candies, chocolates, other treats and little toys were also thrown at us. 

 A Kid gathering candies at the parade 

Kids with bags in their hands were giddy, running around picking these treats up from the ground.

I caught a few strands of bead necklaces myself too.

A live band playing on one of the parade vehicles

A band on one of the parade vehicles was playing lively music while others were cheering and dancing .
















There was even a plane at the parade!

















The Dyngus festival is a celebration of Polish cultures in America.

There was a lot of enthusiasm and energy!


















and many different things to see.

The Dyngus parade is a great family event even the little ones can enjoy!

We ended our day visit to Buffalo with a lovely dinner at our favourite American restaurant!









R.T.
Dyngus Day Celebrations
Buffalo, USA
Easter Monday 2019

Preparation for Observing a Class of students at a Toronto Public Library

I love being retired! I have lots more free time than I was working and I can choose what I love to do. What I love doing above everything else is teaching and sharing my thirty years plus teaching experiences with other educators.

I was very busy for the past few weeks as I was teaching a group of overseas school administrators visiting Canada learning about the Ontario education system.

One of the topics I designed and presented to this group of principals was called Learning Beyond the Classroom in which we discussed various ways of how students learn. To add to the experience,I also planned field trips for the group to various community institutions where Ontario students could learn outside of a classroom setting.

While planning for this group of overseas principals to visit a Toronto library one afternoon,  I learned that a Gr. 2 class from a neighborhood school would be there for a class as well. This would be a rare and treasured opportunity for these principals to observe first hand for themselves how Canadian students make use of the public library to enhance their learning.  I  contacted the librarian who graciously agreed to receive us for a library visit and was grateful that the library granted us permission to observe the children's librarian teaching this class on the same afternoon of our visit.

Before leaving the college, I discussed with the visiting principals the proper protocol while observing the students. I made sure that they were aware of the following during our library visit:

 - no picture taking of any of the students in the library

-  no interference with the class

-  keeping a good distance from the students

-  no interaction or conversation with the students

We also would follow any other protocol as set out by the Toronto library. The visiting principals were all looking forward to learning how our Canadian public libraries could benefit our youngsters and community as a whole.

R.T.
Toronto

Is Jehovah Our God a God of Justice?

We went to visit Ann last Sunday.

Ann's husband died exactly a year ago.  Ann looked good, healthy with her hair growing back.
Her son and daughter looked happy, both doing well at school and at work.

Ann prepared a curry dish and we shared a meal together and caught up with life since her husband passed away.  She has renovated her house which looked beautiful and modern with lots of flowers and plants flourishing in her home reflecting her new life since her husband's sudden death last year.

I was happy to have visited her on her husband's first anniversary of passing.

Ann had endured much mental and verbal abuses from her husband for a long time. She had hope of reconciliation and dreams that her husband would one day turn away from what he did and come back to her.

It never happened. He insisted on a divorce which would mean forcing her and the children to move away from the family home.  Ann never wanted a divorce. She kept hoping for a normal family life with her husband and kids.

Exerting constant pressure and demanding a divorce from her, Ann's husband did many unkind things and spoke to her with profane and abusive words in front of her children.  Ann was suffering tremendously in this loveless marriage.

While the domestic situation was worsening at home,  Ann was diagnosed with breast cancer and she had to bear the terrible side effects of the chemo treatment.   At the same time she learned that her husband had been mistreating her because there was another woman in his life.

Things could not have gotten any worse for Ann. However, she held fast to God believing that God would never abandon her.

Ann's husband continued his demand relentlessly to have her signed the divorce paper and served her an ultimatum last February. Unable to withstand the persistent bombardment of harassment,  Ann finally caved in and agreed to a meeting signing the divorce paper at the lawyer's office.

A year ago last Wednesday, she was supposed to finalize the divorce by signing all the necessary paper work.  A devout Christian, Anne believed that marriage was for life and she did not want a divorce. She was very sad and called me to pray with her as the signing date got closer. We did. We prayed crying out to God for strength and justice.

On the Saturday before the Wednesday when the divorce paper was to be completed, a police officer knocked on Ann's door. He informed Ann that her husband had a massive heart attack at a restaurant a few hours before and died at the hospital later.

The Wednesday's meeting at the lawyer never took place. The divorce paper was never signed.  There was no divorce.  Ann was still the wife to her estranged husband, with a legal claim to the family's main asset, the family home in Toronto.

Ann inherited the house; she and the two children are able to continue to live in their family home without having to endure the tyrannical and abusive behaviour of her late husband. Though the younger daughter still misses her dad, Ann and the children can enjoy some stability, peace and harmony at home.

Yes, Jehovah, our God is a God of justice!

R.T.
Toronto

Advice for My Nephew Planning to Walk the Camino in Spain This Summer

Dear J.,

Good to hear from you and glad that you and M. will be doing the Camino in Spain this summer! It is an experience of a life time and we highly recommend it!  We did the Camino exactly 15 years ago when I was reaching a milestone birthday and celebrated it while walking the Camino! I wanted to do sometime spectacular and the Camino was it. 

Uncle S. and I were so glad that we did it then. We walked the Camino Frances. We started our journey by taking a plane to Paris, then a train to the French and Spanish border town, Irun.  We  walked 250 kms over a period of 2 weeks. But Uncle S. was overly ambitious and pushed ourselves too hard for the first few days. He also enjoyed the vino that came with every meal and he finally got sick after 3 or 4 days of our walking trip. So we had to take a few days off from walking for him to recover before we could continue. 

There was medical assistance along the Camino route. We went to see the doctor at one of the clinics who said Uncle S. got sick because he plunged into the daily strenuous physical activities too fast, plus he was not used to the heat as well as too much vino daily!

 So for the first few days, you folks need to break yourselves in gently.  Don't be overly ambitious. I would suggest doing around 15 - 20 kms first, then you can increase the distance after you are used to the walking.

We stayed mostly in the government's sponsored albergues which were quite cheap. At the time, it was first come first served, no reservations needed.

Instead of pushing ourselves to walk as many kms as possible, we learned our lesson. After Uncle S. recovered from his illness,  we did what the locals did and followed a much better routine while continuing the camino.

Suggested schedule for walking the camino in Spain

 6:00am - Get up, pack and leave the hostel. Start walking after breakfast around 6:30am

 We walked and took short breaks every hour enjoying beverages at cafes and conversations with fellow pilgrims. We  walked until around 12pm.

12:00pm  - Line up for a bed at an albergue

As long as we stopped walking and lined up by 12pm, we were able to get a bed without booking. People usually book private or popular albergues. Private albergues are much more expensive.  Please check online and see if you can book albergues run by the Spanish government.

2:00- 4:00pm -  shower, wash clothes,  taking nap / rest

Being North Americans, we were not used to taking naps. We made the mistake of walking in the afternoon the first few days and became very tired, dehydrated and S. getting sick. Then we learned.  After we got our beds assigned, we went out for a quick lunch, then went back to the albergue for an afternoon nap and rest.  The afternoon was very hot in Spain and most shops shut down anyway. We slept in the afternoon for a couple of hours, then we got up, walked around sight seeing. 

6- 8 pm - Dinner 

Spaniards tend to have late dinner. But to accommodate the people walking the camino ( pilgrims), the restaurants offer a pilgrims' special at around 7:00pm. The pilgrims' special was worth waiting for as it included a three course meal and free vino or aqua for 6 - 7 euro only. You will need a full meal as you are walking so much during the day. 

9 - 10pm - bedtime 

We went to sleep at around 9:30pm. Most people walking the Camino do sleep early and get up early to walk. Many of the albergues closed at 10pm.

The Spanish government did a good job serving the pilgrims on the Camino route we were walking.  Uncle S. got a free medical consultation when he was sick. When the albergues were full in some small towns, the local town's council opened up  some school gymnasiums for pilgrims to sleep the night. They would not leave the pilgrims sleeping in the wild and be attacked by animals!  We did not book anything and we always had a place to sleep. We slept one night on the floor of an albergue and one night in a school gym.    When we look back now, It was quite an adventure. We have so many stories to tell for years after that!  

I did not write a blog at the time of our camino as I didn't know how to post blog entries yet. But I did take good notes. A few years ago, I did include our camino experience in my blog. Below are the links:

https://rtam1206.blogspot.com/2014/01/pushing-our-limits-walking-camino.html

https://rtam1206.blogspot.com/2014/01/meeting-interesting-people-on-camino.html

Best wishes to your camino experience. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any more questions!

Love from Aunt R.

A Sample Sunday School Review Lesson to Keep Kids Interested in Class

Recently I received an email from a new retiree who started teaching Sunday School at her church a few weeks ago. She shared her teaching experience with me and I replied and gave her a few suggestions for her class. Here are my suggestions to help her develop her Sunday School teaching skills:


Hi, Rose,

So good to hear from you! I could feel your excitement about teaching Sunday School to these kids!

I can also feel that your confidence and skills are developing rapidly! By the time July comes, you will have become a good teacher for your volunteer teaching in Asia!!!

Love the way you are teaching the lessons to the kids!

May I give you some suggestions so that you can have a break and also add some variety to your  lessons? Every 3 to 4 weeks, you can have a Review Lesson with the students.

In this Review Lesson, you can:

1. Ask students questions and make a fun game out of it  - a fun way to review all the characters, events, places  in the lessons you have taught them. Divide your Sunday School class into two teams. A little competition between the teams will create some excitement for  the children.

2  Invite students to retell one of their favourite bible stories you taught them 

3. Ask students to explain what they have learned from that story

4. Ask students to share how they have applied these lessons in their daily lives

5. Students can draw a picture for their most favourite bible stories 

When we teach, we need to keep students interested and motivated. One of the important things to remember is keeping lessons interesting by providing students with a variety of activities. Surprise students by doing something different or wacky once a while. This will keep them guessing what you would do next so that students will look forward to coming to your class.

This week, I will be sharing a message at your church. You deserve a break to sit and enjoy the message. May I suggest that you prepare some of review questions and ask your helper to do the Review Lesson. What do u think?

Yes, I will bring more games to church this week for you!

Keep up the great job you have been doing!!!

Blessings,

R.T.
Toronto

A Letter From A Beginner ( Happy) Sunday School Teacher

I have kept in contact with a number of my recently retired professional friends who are high achievers and have worked hard for the last thirty plus years in their hectic jobs. Newly retired, with much free time on their hands for the first time in their lives, some retirees are not sure what they should do with their  time.

For some of my dedicated and devout Christian friends, I encourage them to be involved in church, particularly, as a Sunday School teacher sharing their love of God and the bible knowledge with the children.

To support this group of newly minted, inexperienced but enthusiastic Sunday School teachers, I have provided them with some basic training, follow up and ongoing encouragement. I recently received a heart warming email from a retiree who started teaching children at her church three weeks ago.  I enjoyed reading every line of her email:


Hi,  R.T.

Sunday School went well today!  I have been teaching for 3 weeks now. We've learnt about Judges - stories about Gideon and Samson.  This week we learnt a story from 1 Samuel - the story about the Ark of Covenant - why do we need to fear God, the difference between being afraid and fearful.

Anna and Davin are good at reading especially the names of people and places in the bible. Steve and I are not good at that but Steve is good at understanding the bible passages and I'm good at asking them questions. Those questions help the students to fully understand what the Bible verses want to teach us. We are learning from each other.

If you have more games please bring them to us when you come to our church next time. I have found that games and treats are a relaxing happy start to Sunday School for kids. Also, I have found out that when the children like you,  they will listen to you.

Today I taught the kids, especially Davin (a little rascal ) about manner and respect for others.

They listened. Echoed to today's lesson on 'Respect to God'!

Thanks for your help. God Bless!

Rose
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am so proud of how well Rose is doing and the skills she is developing in teaching children about the bible stories. Nothing is more satisfying to a teacher than seeing that your students are learning and improving!

R.T.
Toronto
P.s. names have been changed to protect the privacy of students

A Review of the Memories Resort at Trinidad Del Mar,Trinidad, Cuba

Entrance to the Memories Resort at Trinidad Del Mar, Cuba

While in Cuba, we stayed in a beautiful resort in the southern part of the island.


The resort is located minutes to a large lake from the front of the building with a beautiful beach at the back facing an ocean.

We love walking and spending time on the beach of the Memories Resort

A spacious and comfortable lobby

Guests enjoy hanging out in the spacious open lobby.




With comfortable seating, guests can wait for their tour bus or use the resort's wifi to check their emails.

We checked emails at the lobby

Along the resort's main corridor, there are lounge chairs dangling from the ceiling.















There are abundant beautiful places at the resort for relaxing and napping.

These wonderful quiet places beckon guests to pause and take it easy there.

This a  big resort with a lot of space for various activities.

In addition to a spectacular white sand beach, guests can enjoy sunbathing and splashing in a good size swimming pool flanked by some beautiful outdoor daybeds and lounge chairs.

Most of the resort hotels are 2-3 story high with easy access to amenities at the resort.

Each room comes with a balcony and a couple of patio chairs should guests choose to relax in their own room.


A few things we have enjoyed tremendously at the resort:

Dining Room of the Memories Resort

a. Our daily meals at the resort's  dining room.

We love the abundant fresh tropical fruits and enjoy both the amazingly fresh fruits and juices at every meal.

The dining staff has tried hard to please our palates.

We enjoyed the fresh coconut water straight from the fruit!

There has been something different on many days served to the guests.

We loved drinking coconut water freshly coming out of coconuts prepared right in front of us one evening!

There was no extra charge for that!

Donuts freshly prepared and hung on a donut board for breakfast!

A couple of days, we were  surprised to see a donut board full of different kinds of donuts and bagels for breakfast!

How Canadian was that!

Daily dance lessons at the resort

b. The daily free Spanish and dancing lessons offered at the resort.

Claudia, our instructor has been patient and kind helping us to build our Spanish and dancing skills.















c. The nightly evening free entertainment after dinner.
















We went almost every evening except for a couple when we were exhausted from our excursions.

We enjoyed the variety of the shows
presented to us each night.

These performances have included comedies, classical and pop singing as well as some fantastic footwork in both modern and Spanish dancing.

d. A wonderful friendly staff - everyone is friendly and provides good service to resort guests.

The Memories Trinidad Del Mar - one of the most beautiful resorts in this area of Cuba

We stayed at this building at Trinidad Del Mar

e. A marvelous comfortable bedroom and a well lit resort

Memories is a marvelous resort; some guest told us that it is one of the most beautiful resorts in Cuba. We agree!

Our bedroom - spacious and comfortable.

A different towel sculpture sat on our bed after daily housekeeping 

We also appreciated the entire resort being well lit at night so that we felt safe walking around on well lit paths.












However, there were a couple of  issues. They were:

- there was a lack of  hot water in the guest rooms during the first couple of days of our stay

- difficulty of buying wifi access cards at the resort for the first few days










Other than the above, we loved every minute of our stay and have enjoyed our vacation at the Memories Trinidad Del Mar resort!

 We enjoyed our stay at this Cuban resort

For guests who like to explore the city scene on their own, there is a public bus that goes to the city of Trinidad for 5 CUC ( about Canadian $ 7.00) for a return trip.
So guests can head to the city should they wish to get away from the resort.


We would return to the Memories Trinidad Del Mar resort should we visit the same region in Cuba in the future. I would recommend this place.


R.T.
Memories Trinidad Del Mar Resort
Cuba