La famille Benoit

We had a lovely dinner Saturday evening with la famille Benoit. They fixed a delicious 4 course meal and the kids all enjoyed trying new delicacies including saint jacques (scallops) & auberguine (eggplant). Hervie is French and Ivona is Polish. Both are fun, kind & interesting people. During dinner we asked Ivona to tell us about her life growing up in Poland under Marshall Law. It was a real eye-opener as she recalled getting only one pair of shoes a year using a shoe coupon...one year there were no shoes her size so she had to take a pair a size too small. Food was scarce, but they always managed to find what they needed. For 7 years she never even saw a banana or an orange. The most impressive part of her story was that she said, "you know it wasn't as bad as it sounds. We may not have had money and things, but we were happy. We were learning, helping each other and trying to push for freedoms in our country. Life was still good." It was just a really enjoyable evening...thanks for your wonderful hospitality!
Anna & Olivia