Another exciting day in Poland

Message of the day: Today’s message was shared by a teen who wanted to add a perspective from that viewpoint: “…awful things are survivable, because we are as indestructible as we believe ourselves to be. When adults say, “Teenagers think they are invincible” with that shy, stupid smile on their faces, they don’t know how right they are. We need never to be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are". Attributed to John Green and shared by Sophia.

Today in class, during the third period, the class taught by Eric and Ben, challenged our class to a game of baseball, but with some different rules. The game we played featured: no outs; when the pitcher had the ball everyone had to stop running; and a team would stay at bat until everyone had a turn.

During the fourth lesson period Gary gave a presentation, using Google Earth images, showing some features of Yellowstone National Park as well as his home area in Stillwater, Minnesota. This class ended with the viewing of a very funny video of cats doing silly things.

In the afternoon Lori, Ben, and Eric went to visit the home of one of Lori’s former students, Peter. When they arrived they found a table set with several Polish sweets. They enjoyed conversation for a bit, and then Peter invited Ben to play video games with him.  Peter’s father is a veterinarian and he received a call from a farmer. He invited Eric and Ben to go with him on farm calls and they saw a calf born on one farm and then a piglet on another.  

 

Lori stayed to visit with Peter’s mother and the English teacher from the village school. During the conversation Peter’s mother, a parent now of two adult children who have been Reymontówka campers, said that she really liked how the Americans teach English during the language camps. She also asked what we ate at Reymontówka. She was certain we would not be eating typical Polish foods. When Lori mentioned having milk soup one morning for breakfast Peter’s mother agreed we are indeed eating Polish food. She went on to share that milk soup was one of her father’s favorites – he would have it every morning for breakfast. The English teacher asked Lori to explain more about how the language camps work and why they are at Reymontówka.

In the early evening we all gathered again about the table.  This time we were treated with homemade kielbasa and steamed pierogi filled with blueberries.

Meanwhile back at the camp there were Ping-Pong, foosball, and other tournaments going on. Then the day ended with a fashion show featuring four categories: casual, funny, sports, and evening wear. Greg, Freya, and Lori participated as judges for the fashion show. After the results were announced for the fashion show, the campers voted to select the “coolest boy and girl” in camp.

That’s all until tomorrow.

Journal prepare by Freya with some additional sharing from Lori