Mission Impossible?

As I wrote about in my previous post, we had our first snowfall. Since I did not bring any snow boots with me because I couldn't find any in July, I had to go and try to find them here. This proved to be much more difficult than I originally anticipated. In fact, it sort of became a mission impossible.

Stage 1: On Wednesday afternoon I braved the snow and the cold in hopes of finding boots. I walked up and down the streets around the Market Square. I went in at least five stores and looked at countless pairs of boots. None were what I was looking for, in that they did not have enough treads or their heels were ridiculous. The one pair that I found that I liked did not come in my size. I returned home somewhat defeated, but with hope and my great rain boots to help keep out the wet.

Stage 2: Thursday while I was teaching I noticed something terrible-a huge slice in my rain boots. I officially had no waterproof shoes! I knew I had to do something about this and soon. After I was done teaching I went to Kaufland's for groceries, but decided to stop in the shoe store that is outside of it. I found a great pair of boots. . but unfortunately they did not come in my size. They were all to small. So close, but no cigar.

Stage 3: Meghan was here for the weekend, so we decided to catch a bus on Saturday to a city about 45 minutes away, Bielsko Biala, where there are two big shopping centers. Riding the bus was no problem, and we found the mall with relatively no problem. The first pair of boots I tried on at the first shoe store was perfect! They were warm and had good treads! My only concern was that they were not waterproof. I was told that they did not have waterproofing spray in Poland, but I noticed that there were lots of bottles of things behind the counter. So by pointing at the word waterproof on a piece of paper and by making a spraying motion, I discovered that they do have it. BIG SUCCESS!

Now I have warm, waterproof boots for the winter. I am thankful that I was able to find boots before the real winter sets in. Luckily, not everything is such a challenge to buy, and I have found everything else I have needed in Cieszyn. However, knowing where else I can buy things is quite the relief. The next mission: jeans.