December meeting in one word is… Christmas!

We met at the museum in Pałac Krzysztofory in Rynek Główny. Here, we had the chance to get to know a very special tradition of Kraków, the Nativity Scene Contest. Every year in Kraków, all kinds of participants, from skilled artists to kids, can join the contest and try to create the best Nativity Scene of the town. What is so particular in these Nativity Scenes? The traditional Holy Family is mixed with folkloristic elements of the city. It’s easy to spot a Lajkonik, St. Mary’s church, some dragons and many other references to Middle Age myths and legends.

After the visit, it was time to go to Kamienica Szara, a place in Old Town where we often have meetings. Our group is still growing, so we had some integration activities that allowed us to get to know each other better and to welcome Ana, our new volunteer from Georgia.

From lunch on, it was finally time to celebrate Christmas. We had a Polish Christmas lunch and we discovered some traditions. First, people always eat twelve dishes and they have barszcz. It’s a beetroot soup, and it’s eaten with pierogi, Polish traditional dumplings. Then we ate a traditional cheesecake called sernik. In Poland, people always eat fish and no meat.

Then we talked about how we celebrate Christmas in our own countries. People of different religions told us about their most important celebrations. After this, it was time to exchange gifts. We had Secret Santa! We had previously drawn lots and each of us had to buy a gift from another person. It was a great moment, with Christina, our special Santa Claus for the day, delivering gifts!

Happy Christmas everybody!