Exploring

Last Sunday I met up with two great girls and caught a tram to the train station. Once there we climbed aboard a night train from Krakow to Poland. The great thing about catching the night train was that we could buy tickets for a sleeping car. Which means we got to sleep in beds for the 7 hours it took to get to Krakow. The greatest thing about this is we did not waist a day on traveling. But.... it was an experience of togetherness. The beds were not too bad, I actually slept! But the room was tiny, it had 3 beds on one side, stacked up the wall and then a narrow place to stand and a sink in the corner. It was extremely close quarters! But we each climbed into our bunk, talked for a few hours and then passed out to awaken outside of Krakow. Once we got off the train I had to find a tram that would take us to the other side of the city, with only a street name... We made it to the correct neighborhood, but did not see a street name anywhere. Finally I entered a hotel and asked where the street was. Once we got on the right street I then discovered that the street number we were looking for was at the other end of the street! Finally we made it to the location of the soon to be newest Sweet Surrender Cafe! The building is so cool looking. A great use of metal and brick inside and out! I am so excited to have our shop there!
After a much need rest we set out to explore the city of Krkaow. Once again we had a detour of finding a tram stop, but we made it to the Town Square. We explored the shops and churches around the square. Then headed over to Wawel Castle and the Cathedral! I LOVE Wawel! It is my new favorite place. The sights from Wawel are amazing and there is a dragon the spits fire! How could I not enjoy that? We also explored the mall located across the river from the shop location. After all, I need to know all the great places to shop and eat nearby! :)
After exploring the sights and enjoying eating out on the square we called it a night and headed back to the apartment we were staying in. One of the many located above our future shop. This time I was able to get us the perfect tram and bus routes to get us dropped off right in front of the future shop. The next day the girls took off to Auschwitz and I took off to learn more about Krakow on my own. I was excited about exploring the city and finding great places....and then it started raining.... and I didn't have my umbrella.... But when has some rain ever stopped me before? I explored to Jewish Quarter, saw a synagog and a cemetery! And I even got to try and practice that Hebrew I studied in college.... yeah I don't think I remembered much of it... I toured Schindler's factory and was reminded of the tragic past that Poland holds. I also heade back to Wawel where I explored the grounds in the rain! I may have been soaking wet, but it was beautiful and worth it!
After a day of exploring in the rain I met up with girls and we caught another night train back to Poznan. I loved Krakow! It was a beautiful city! I am so excited to take my Parents and a work team from my home church there next week!

B-n-KayKay's Kichen & Other Random Craziness

This past week was a Blast! A mixture of sugar, caffeine and a new responsibilities!

Our cook is on vacation and since I am the "trained in everything" girl, these next couple weeks I am the cook! At the beginning of the week I was not feeling 100% excited about this but now I am lovin' it! This is only because of the development of B-n-KayKay' Kichen. B is another volunteer that I am teaching the kitchen stuff too. And of course, I am KayKay. We have turned the cooking into a crazy experience. We may not be the most efficient or speedy cooks, but we are by far the funniest! I think any mistake possible has happened while we were making blondies, cookie, raspberry bars! Like when I got into a fight with the whisk..... or got butter all over myself and the counter.... or the time we were going to make a 1/2 batch and got talking and oops it's a full batch..... or how about when the marshmallows boiled over and attacked the stove top....... Maybe not the most efficient cooks, but by far we are the most fun! Our craziness has also ran out of the kitchen and spilt over into the coffee bar. With the development of iced mochas, iced chia tea lattes, and changes to our cold drinks. We began experimenting again and started testing it out on our friends!


Thursday morning we took an early trip the the St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral. I took our 2 new volunteers to see it. Well... one of them is a history guy that likes to explore old buildings. As he was walking around the smaller chapel on site, trying to find a way in he stumbled upon a fence. And behind that fence was a skeleton! So, I immediately became interested. After hearing a few words in English the team digging up the skeleton opened the gate and had a chat with us. They are excavating 2 different sites near the Cathedral. They have found parts of the church, graveyard, and some other buildings. All of these pieces they have found date back to the 15th century. And we got a private tour of it all by the guy in charge of the excavating! One of the volunteers even got to climb down into the whole and check out stuff with them! It was so neat to see the discovery in progress and it was really impressive to see a skeleton from the 15th century being discovered

Finally, we have been given new rules and some new coffee skills this week. As much as I just love rules..... (since when do I follow rules) these ones needed to be adapted.... Well, ok maybe they are good, we just need to find creative ways to follow through with them. So, I have to wear an apron all the time now.... well aprons make great capes! And I am learning how to make the best shot of coffee ever and how to educated the people on the best shot of coffee. And that is a great task for......
Super Coffee Girl!


Yes! It has been a fun week!

Time Flies And We Keep Moving On

I had a realization that I have not written anything in a really long time! We are in some ways really busy at the shop and in other ways things are moving slowly.

We are pushing full steam ahead with the Krakow shop. In a week there will be a meeting with the final contract signing for the building. Once that happens it will be a push of work to get the shop open in October. There is a lot to get done in a couple months! Luckily we have one Work & Witness team coming from Pittsburg! Yes, my home church is coming in the beginning of August to work on the shop. I am excited! I was given the job to be the organizer on the Poland side of things for the Team. It is not as easy of a job as I expected. But, it is going to be a great experience!

At the Poznan shop, things are slowly trucking a long. We had a great Bon Appetite Party! We sold lots of drinks. Everyone loved the food we sampled! The band was great! We changed our hours at the shop and added all the salads, wraps, and baguettes to the menu. However, the students have left the city for holidays and the temp is rising, so our business is declining. We are hanging in there and brainstorming different ways we can build the business back up.

We had a new volunteer couple arrive from the States a couple weeks ago. They are amazing people with a huge passion for coffee and ministry! I am excited to see all of the plans and suggestions they have to bring changes in the shop. I have also had the privilege of showing them different things around Poznan in the mornings before we go to work.

I am now trained in every aspect of the shop! I am now a master behind the bar and in the kitchen! I tried very hard to be fired out of the kitchen during my training the past few weeks. But, no matter how many questions I asked, spoons I dropped, or challenges I made, I was not kicked out of the kitchen! I think our Chef found me more entertaining then challenging. I guess I am destined to be stuck in the kitchen after all!

Please continue to pray for us as we try to find ways to bring business in the Poznan shop back up. Also, pray for the Krakow shop, that we get all the contract settled so we can begin the work of getting that shop open!

Big Things Happening Soon

We are opening a third shop!!!! The missionaries just returned from Krakow with some big news for us. We are going be opening another shop in Krakow. Things are getting started. We have a building secured and connections made. The goal is to have the shop open by October. The only thing that may slow us down is some much needed workers. Luckily there is no major construction that needs to be done. Just a lot of plumbing and electrical work. Plus plenty of painting and decorating! On top of opening this shop we will also starts shipping Sweet Surrender treats to be sold at gas stations. The BP stations here have Wild Bean Cafes in them. They have asked us to package our American treats to be sold in these shops. This will also be based out of the Krakow shop! Big exciting things will be happening!!!!! Now we just need some Work & Witness Teams this summer! Any takers? :)

PARTY

We are throwing a party on July 2nd! We are going to be changing our menu and hours after this party. So, during the party we will be sampling out menu items. Hopefully this will help with boosting the amount of business in the shop.



Side Note- I am beginning to enjoy watching the World Cup... maybe I am becoming European.... :)

Experimentations

This week has been a fun week! Except for the weather. Earlier this week we got up to 90 degrees. I know, I should be use to that because of summer is Cali, BUT it is much more humid here then it is at home. And then when you add in the fact that everywhere you go at home there is air conditioning. I am not so lucky here.... You do not even want me to get into an explanation of the hot trams stuffed with more bodies then should be allowed.

Well, this week I got to experiment with our summer drink menu. I got to create some different smoothy options and cold coffee options. Last night we tried out all of the different drinks on our church group. I got good reviews of them all. I am excited to add them to the menu. We have an iced latte that very much resembles a frappucino, and ice cream coffee, and then what we call freezes- which come in the flavors of strawberry, lime/mint, and pina colada. Along with my drink experimentation there was also some new recipes being tried out. Our summer menu is going to be wonderful!


So, with all this extra cooking and drink making going on we had to make a trip to Makro earlier this week. Makro is very much like cosco. It's where we get bulk supplies of stuff and they have everything, yet not always the same things every time you go. Our shop was desperate for a Makro trip, we were running out of supplies. And as I was pushing the cart through the store and assisting with this trip I felt very much at home because it was just like following my father around cosco. Endless shopping with a heavy over flowing cart. Then add to the fact that there is not a single shopping cart in this city that rolls straight. They all veer one way or another. Well pushing a cart that does not go straight while it is loaded down with food, water, soda, juice, and cleaning supplies can be an interesting task. I had a number of close calls with hitting shelves and other carts that refuse to drive straight! Oh the joys of shopping in Poznan!

Things are looking good for our shop and church group! This summer is going to be good! :)

Back to Work

I have been in Poznan for a week now. I am finally settled in and adjusted. I think I am on the right time zone now. :) I have moved everything back in my apartment and added all of my personal touches. I love that I am back in my same apartment. It makes me feel like I am home again.

Sweet Surrender is open regularly now. Most days I am at the coffee shop hanging out. I last some of my skill at making coffees. They are not as pretty as they were before I left. But, I think as I make more I will be able to get it back. I got to make some more homemade marshmallows! I have also gone back to painting. I thought there was no way there could be anything left to paint in this place. I spent how many days painting last time??? I don't even know, but it seemed like it was a gazillion hours. Well, there is more painting now! There were some flower boxes for outside that were started. We are decorating them. And to go with the theme of the shop they are getting to ever present checkered pattern border. You know when you have been painting that pattern too long when you see it every time you close your eyes. And yes that has happened to me.

I am thoroughly enjoying the COFFEE! It is nice to be back in Europe and pretty coffee! Or, maybe I am just bias towards Sweet Surrender and experimenting with my own creations. Life is GREAT!