Poland's Constitution Day

We came back from Ukraine yesterday (post coming soon) since Alex has been pretty sick with a terrible cold. He still didn't have school today though since Poland celebrates Constitution Day, which is basically the equivalent of the United States' Independence Day it seems. I assumed there would probably be some sort of event going on since I could see police cars blocking the street below our apartment. When you live where I live, all you have to do is step out your front door to join the festivities.:)

I arrived just in time to see the parade of soldiers and military trucks.

Definitely a formidable cavalryman

One of the trucks had unexpected lettering on the side: U.S.A. After the parade ended, I mustered the courage to confront the truck driver and ask in my terrible Polish: "Przepraszam, mówisz po angielsku?" (Excuse me, do you speak English?) He didn't, which I shouldn't have been surprised since he was middle-aged... But then he called to another soldier and in front of the little group of onlookers around the truck they answered and translated to me that the the truck had been left behind when the United States entered during the war. (World War II?) Anyway, it was a brief conversation, but it brightened my day to see a little reminder of home here.

US military truck in Lublin

The next of the festivities were the dancers. Hundreds of people promenaded down the street, stepping to the rhythm of the polonaise (think Chopin). Many were the dancers from each of the Lublin universities, dressed in traditional attire. The rest were regular residents: local government leaders, men, women, and children.

When the dancers finally got to the stage below Józef Piłsudski's statue at Litewski Square, each group performed a variety of beautiful swirling and stomping ethnic dances that slightly resembled the Russian Dance in the Nutcracker Ballet. A live band and singers provided the music.

Some short videos I took of the dancing:

Ever since I was little, dancing and music have inspired my creativity. By the end of the performances I was completely psyched with my new idea for a painting. Unfortunately I waited too long to find one of the dancers, but once I can contact whoever owns the costumes and get one or two dancers to pose for me...

A few more pictures: