Shabbat in Krakow- Hope

This post is less about Shabbat but more about what transpired after Shabbat ended. I actually ended up having a great Shabbat. The people I ended up meeting turned out to be great. At last I felt like I really belonged. In this community I was not a ger but a Jew...a Polish Jew...a feeling that I had not had untill then. In America I always get the vibe that people think of me as a convert. It's hard to mask my lack of Jewish upringing- everyone always going home for the chagim or discussing their bubbe's recipees. Oh well, I guess the cultural thing comes with time. After Shabbat I inadvertantly invited myself over to a Mezzuzah Party. This meant that a girl who just moved into a new apartament hung a new Mezzuzah and then we all got drunk and talked till almost 3 AM. I have to say that this was probably the highlight of my trip. It really allowed to dig deeper into the happenings at the Krakow community and into the personal experiences that the individuals in the kehilla had. The next day I was invited to a BBQ at the newly built JCC that Prince Charles and his wife Camilla opened and so generously funded. It was a blast. The evening also promised to be fruitful as I went out to the bar with a couple people from the community. Overall a great time!