Time To Say Goodbye

The last day of a Global Volunteers program is a bittersweet event. If you've bonded with your students, "synergized" with your team, and fallen in love with the country in which you're serving, as you hoped to do on the very first day, then the parting day is tinted with a hint of sadness. Or maybe more than a hint.

Today was very much like every other, and yet very much set apart. We began the day with our usual classes, trying to finish up activities or cram in new ones. If we listened hard enough, however, we could also hear the strains of a very particular version of "All You Need Is Love" carried on the Zakopane breeze, as Kathy and Steve's combined classes scrambled to learn the words to an alternate version of the song. Or perhaps we heard Steve's class perfecting their Poland sales pitch. Or Sally's Magda and Ania quietly rehearsing their original poem "Zakopane." Or Lori's class trying to contain their laughter while going over the short stories built sentence by sentence by nine different contributors. Or Cyndi and Chris's class combining voices with Sue and Sam's class to sing the Polish song that loosely translates "Don't Cry, Eva" with Chris accompanying the group on Paulina C.'s guitar. Of course, Cortney, the Reeves, and their "Soulja People" managed to keep their rap/dance number--super secret until the night's performance. In regard to the latter, let's just say it's fortunate that Sam and the students had some concept of rhythm!

On what was quite possibly the most perfect day weather-wise of the whole two weeks, several of the American teachers managed to squeeze in a rain-delayed kickball game with a group of enthusiastic students. By the end of the game, the students had gotten the hang of fielding, sometimes retiring a side with no runs. However, the finer points of base-running still eluded many. Maybe next year?

Some forewent the excitement of kickball to spend one last day in town or to pack in anticipation of our early morning departure. By 6:30 pm, we had all gathered for our final dinner. Tonight it was the traditional Polish dish bigos, a stew composed of sauerkraut, sausage, and pieces of meat.

After some last-minute dress rehearsals, everyone gathered in the study area for the final performances by each group of students, as well as thank-you's from Teresa, the leader of the camp, Sue, who spoke for the American teachers, and Greg and Paulina C., who spoke for the students. A small group of students sang a special good-bye song in English to the tune of a popular Polish song.

After the formal program, the students presented each teacher with a gift. There was lots of hugging and address-exchanging before most of us repaired to our rooms to finish packing. Rumor had it that many of the students stayed up late pulling pranks or simply extending their friendships with one final conversation in the darkened rooms and hallways.

One of the American teachers remarked that saying good-bye at this camp was the hardest of any farewell he had ever experienced. Part of the difficulty was no doubt attributable to the fact that the students already spoke very good English, and that we worked with them in small groups. Thus it was possible to develop a very strong bond with the students. As Sue remarked in her closing statement, we could all see that some of Poland's future leaders would likely come from this group.

As luck would have it, we did have a chance to say once last good-bye to the students in the morning, since all of us were up early enough to share breakfast with them. As they gathered on the sidewalk in front of Wanta, we gathered on the landing above. The last sight we had of the students was of them turning to wave good-bye as they headed toward the bus.

Of course, it was equally hard to part ways with each other. At the Krakow Airport, we did so reluctantly, some of us apprehensive about making close flight connections, and others hoping their flights were not oversold as they had been on the inbound journey. Parting was made easier by the conviction that we would someday return to Poland to teach again.