As I started planning my 2020 trip to Poland and searching for more details as to where my Grandfather was born, I started a family tree at Ancestry. I able to find most of the information that I wanted. I found my grandmothers maiden names, “Gonzales and Archuleta” and all sorts of interesting tidbits. When my grandfather was born, Poland did not exist as a nation as it was occupied by Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary. He was born in Nisko which in 1897 was part of Austria and is east of Krakow, just about two hours by car. In 2020, I”ll spend a week in the Krakow area, soaking up the culture, food and drink before moving on to Italy.
Growing up, I was always told that I was 75% Spanish and 25% Polish. So I decided to have my DNA tested. I ordered a AncestryDNA Kit from Amazon. The kit arrived in two days courtesy of Amazon Prime. I filled the tube with saliva and mailed it to Ancestry and waited for the results.
Three weeks later, The results were in and I was surprised! Here what I found out!
Italian 21%
Native American 21%
Polish 15%
Swedish 13%
Spanish 10%
Irish/Welsh/Scottish 8%
Poland was invaded by Sweden in the 1700s, thus most Poles have Swedish DNA.
I never expected to be part Italian. I call Italy my adopted home because out of the 20 countries that I have been to, Italy is where I feel most at home.
Good thing I never let my ethnicity define me!
“Surprise is the greatest gift that life can grant us.”
~ Boris Pasternak
Life Part II +Encore 