10th of September to 4th of October, 2021.
When I arrive in EtnoWarmia, I am overwhelmed by its beauty. It seems like a magical place. The peace you feel in here is real, and you don’t need too long to feel it; you don’t need to be alone to feel it; you don’t need to go for a walk or do anything; peace is the air.
There is also a lot of love in the air of EtnoWarmia. And most of it it comes from Kama, Hirek and baby Mia. Of course Nature also it helps but in this particular case, these three beings are the biggest source of love for the place.
I like Kama since I first see her. Her big smile, her strong posture and presence, her amazingly powerful voice. I knew I could trust her and that she is a great person. Hirek surprised me at first sight because of his size. Basically he reminds me of Turley, from The Longest Yard, with Adam Sandler. But his heart is as big as him. He is a very kind person, always ready to help anyone who needs. They are a perfect couple, Kama and Hirek.
So EtnoWarmia is a mix of three places: Permaculture, Art Gallery and Vehicle Repair. The Permaculture is amazing! For sure the most develop vegetable garden I have ever seen. Everything grows so much, and everywhere, spreading so easily and fast. Their Kale leaves are the biggest I have ever seen. Together with parsley, chives, celery, rocket, an many other greens, plus carrots, beetroots, tomatoes, paprika, bell peppers and many vegetables. Everything looks beautiful and super fresh! And it taste amazing too! For me it was a pleasure to work in such amazing vegetable garden. They have this system of working the soil in layers and, apart of good energy and a lot of love, apparently this is their secret to success! The Art Gallery it happens in their huge and super cool barn and they make many different events, like expositions and festivals, because they happen to know many artist in different areas. And the Vehicle Repair is where Hireks does his magic, also fixing regular cars but repairing some super cool old cars. He has a quite big space for that and a couple of guys helping him around.
What was I doing here? A bit of everything but apart of some work with the garden, I was glad to help Kama with the preparation of their most incoming event: an art festival which would take place on a weekend, so two days followed. We would have art expositions from different artists, music and theatre performances, sale of food, goodies and other things. I loved every part of it! I was doing so many things that is difficult to say what I enjoyed the most, but mostly I was happy to be able to help Kama with everything because there was so much to be done. Luckily we had also help from her son and his girlfriend, Jacob and Monica, two also wonderful people who I am so pleased to have met (Maya, their super cute pug helped a bit too); Kama’s mother bakes so many delicious cakes for selling and was always around helping with something. She is so full of love that since the first time I look at her I was already in love. And she cooks like and angel, OMG! Some of the artist helped us to hang their art, some hanged by themselves. And special note for both Annias, who are also incredible people. One, is passionate about Brazil and can speak a great Portuguese! We are always speaking in Portuguese and talking about Brazil. The other, spend both days of the festival cooking some delicious food for us and also some delicious soup for selling. She even gave me one of her arts! I will keep with me and one day I will hang in my wall.
During the two days of the Festival I was doing multiple things. But I would say that most of all, I am making sure everything is always tide up, like taking dirty dishes inside, washing them sometimes, taking rubbish away, helping Annia selling the soup, turning on candles at night, and after all, helping to clean and tide up everything for next day.
The first night we had some music performances but unfortunately because I am running from here to there all the time, I couldn’t really sit and enjoy for a while. I know I should have, but I just fell that there is always something to be done. And there is, always. But still I could and should had stop for 30 minutes and watched this guy playing. There was also this guys who call themselves Vikings. They perform drums in one of the huts. They make a bonfire in the centre and are playing for quite a long time. Because they are playing later night, them I went and watch for some minutes. It is very interesting.
The second day of the festival it is much less busy, with less activities and less people. But it is so nice and sunny! It is a beautiful day!
Since the day before, Kama’s cousins and friends are baking and selling pizza. And what a delicious pizza! Yummy! They are so kind and cute! We laugh together and have some good time. I really like them! Hard work and lovely girls! On the second day, before they leave, they give me a lot of their home made cookies, which they were also selling together with tea and coffee during the two days of the festival. It is so kind of them. And the biscuits are delicious!
For the following week after the festival, I am most of the time just tiding up the place and put things back their right place. We also dig out most of the vegetables we could, for the winter, and selected them for storing. But we also have a lot of rest because after the two crazy days of the festival, we were all exhausting.
Also in the following week, I get very close to one of Hirek’s friend, D. Everything started during the festival, in a very gentle and lovely way. I like to think that for some magical reason, without too much logical explanation, we were attracted to each other, and very soon we developed strong feelings. So for the course of the next seven days, we developed a beautiful friendship and we fell in love. On my last day, on Sunday, Kama, Hirek and D. surprised me with a day trip to Gdansk. I was so surprised! I had no idea! For different reasons, I had decided on not going to Gdansk, even though I really wanted to visit the town. So they decided to give me this gift, taking me there. It is the most wonderful thing somebody has ever done to me, to this day, since the beginning of my travels.
It is an amazing day! We first visit this lovely park and garden, Oliwski Park, and after we go to the Old Town. Gdansk is a gorgeous old town and a must when visiting Poland. It has so much History and had a huge importance in the economy of Poland, because of its port. I can barely describe, you just have to go!
For me it is a lovely day also because I could spend the whole day with D. During our week together, we only had some hours together every day, but on Sunday, wow, it was wonderful to have his company all the hours of the day. In somehow, it made the reality of my imminent departure more bearable. We have a lovely dinner in a local restaurant and after that we take a ferry to visit one of the beaches during sunset.
Next morning, the four of us plus Mia baby go together to Olsztyn. Mia baby has a physiotherapy appointment, so after dropping her and Kama at the clinic, Hirek and D. Drive me to a hitchhiking spot on the way to Warsaw.
I am really sad for leaving. All of sudden I don’t feel like travelling. I am not in the mood of exploring. It is also because I loved my time in EtnoWarmia with Hirek and Kama, but mainly it is because I don’t want to leave D. I like him so much and I don’t want to leave him. But there is nothing I can do. My time in Schengen is almost over, and after my two days in Warsaw, I have to go out of Schengen for at least 90 days. What’s next then?