Message of day: Give a man a fish and he is fed for one day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a life time (Attributed by some as a Chinese proverb and by others to Anonymous).

Our morning meeting began at 8 AM. Sylvia gave an inspirational quote that most thought came from the Old Testament, but it was later discovered it was actually an old Chinese proverb.

It was decided that there would an exchange of classes for the last hour of the morning. All went well.

Lunch was served at the usual 1 PM time. Afterwards, there was a plan that some campers would go to the aqua park and bowling alley. (Later when speaking with students, the journal editor found no one did this and that some students instead engaged in a ping-pong tournament.)
Dorota arrived with some of the volunteers from the other summer camp about 3 PM. Some of our teaching volunteers had the opportunity to meet with them.

Around 5 PM a tour guide gave a wonderful 3-D video presentation about the Tatra Mountains to the students, teachers, and volunteers. It was about the flora and fauna of the area.
We had our traditional Polish meal at 6:30 PM.

At 7 we gathered for a game of Bingo. It was the first time some of the students had ever played and they really had a great time.

Message of the Day: Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. Composed and contributed by Najalé

On Monday morning we were back to teaching our classes. Four hours went by quickly.

In the afternoon the student campers went to walk in Dolina Koscieliska. However, the rain came again and the hike was shortened. The bus returned the students to the old cemetery in Zakopane. Then they walked back to Wanta.

Meanwhile the volunteers were busy planning American Night. They also met with Dorota and Pani Dyrektor to learn about plans for the remainder of the week.

In the evening the volunteers provided a Fourth of July show. We shared information about states such as California and Arkansas, showed a video about Barack Obama, and surprised the campers with a cake.

Another cool and rainy morning dawned in Zakopane. Some of the students went to church. About mid-morning some students went to the workroom and played English language word games with Lori. They had asked for this explaining they “did not want to waste their time at camp.”
In the mid-afternoon the campers headed off to climb Gubałówka and enjoyed time on the mountain top. They came down via the ski lift.

The volunteers who had spent the weekend in Krakow all returned safely and reported many adventures during their time there. And even reported they had seen sunshine in Krakow on Saturday!

Message of the day: Smile and the world smiles back with you. (A Japanese Zen saying).

During breakfast, which was at 7:15 in preparation for our trip to Krakow, Jackie offered the message of the day (See above). David read his long and interesting entry about the long and interesting day before. The bus left almost on schedule at 7:55 and we arrived in Krakow at 10:10. It took almost as long to get across the city to the parking lot as it took to get from Zakopane to Krakow! Along with the everyday Krakow traffic, this weekend concludes the Jewish Culture Festival, the biggest in Poland, so more than the usual number of visitors is crowding the streets.

After a brief stop for functional necessities, we began our tour. Krakow dates back to the 4th century – we heard much about it from our students on the Polish night. It is the most important Polish city to survive the war and Community era intact, and it was on the first UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978. Our tour of Krakow included the Main Rynek Square and environs in the Old Town --- St. Mary’s Cathedral, with its beautiful stained windows and altar – but we were not permitted to enter the sanctuary because at that time of our visit the church “is open only for praying.” We heard and saw the bugler who toots his horn hourly from the top of the Cathedral tower. We also visited the “Cloth Hall, “a shopping area which consists of hundreds of booths selling jewelry, chess sets, trinkets, slippers, and everything in between.

We went to the Rynek Underground Museum, which opened in September, 2010. Archeological digs uncovered much of what is seen here. The combination of modern technology (for example, interactive screens and a 3-D movie of Poland history) and original artifacts makes for a fascinating display. The museum is “laid out as a journey in time” and it would take many hours of observing and studying to do it justice.

Walking about we also saw the monument to the Grunwald victory (our street name in Zakopane), one of the greatest battles in Medieval Europe between Poland/Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights in 1410. The monument was destroyed by the Nazis in World War II (for Poland/Lithuania won the battle) and was reproduced in 1976. We also saw the Barbikan, a large brick structure which was added to the city’s defenses in the late 15th century as part of the medieval fortification of Krakow.

In our effort to come with a July 4th program that will not embarrass us, David had the idea to get help from the U.S. Consulate in Krakow. We all followed up on that and left the consulate with lots of pamphlets, brochures, and American flags.

We walked back to the bus, got our bags, and parted company—Frank and Spencer to Hotel Polonia, Sylvia and Tom to Unicus Hotel, and David and Jackie to Grand Hotel.
I vowed to teach the students the song: “Rain, rain go away, little Jackie wants to play.”
After settling in at our hotel, we Marlins went to partake in the Jewish Festival. First we attended a lecture by a prominent American scholar, Daniel Pipes, Director of the Middle East Forum, headquartered in Philadelphia. His topic was “Europe or Eurabia: Islam and the continent’s future.” His bio on Wikipedia makes note of his attendance at the age of 4 at the Harvard preschool. It doesn’t make note that Jackie Marlin was his teacher – but I was!
We visited the Jewish Community Center which was hosting a Shabbat dinner for 250 persons. We were too late – they were all filled up.

We then attended a concert by Tzuker-Zis, a U.S. group that plays traditional Jewish music, sometimes in a not-so-traditional manner. There was a vocalist, a bass, a guitar, an accordion, a trumpet, and key board. The concert was very spirited, standing room only, very enthusiastic audience in a beautiful synagogue.

Message of the day: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. (Attributed to Thomas H. Palmer, writing in an 1840 Teacher’s Manual).

The morning meeting with Dorota was the beginning of an incredibly eventful day. We noted that this was the 100th birthday of Czesław Milosz, a noted Polish prose and poetry writer.

In the afternoon, after 4 hours of morning English class, we – volunteers and students—all piled into the bus and stopped first at the Natural Science Museum at Tatra National Park. The museum contains exhibits representing the culture, animal life, and environmental aspects of the Park. The Tatra Mountain National Park borders Slovakia and is visited by 3 million tourists each year. The museum, on the day of our visit, also displayed objects associated with the lives of Witold Radwanski and his wife, Zofia Radwanska. We also watched films about the Park for about 30 minutes.

We then traveled to ChochoŁόw. While driving there, one of the Prus teachers, whose special area is history, explained this village is famous for its actions in the 1846 uprising. In other areas of Poland, this uprising featured battles between Polish peasants and Polish noblemen. However, a wise priest in ChochoŁόw advocated that all the Polish people stand together, so instead here, the Polish attacked the police presence of the ruling Austrian empire. In ChochoŁόw we visited a wood carver and the museum he maintains to show a typical peasant’s life from the late 19th or early 20th century.

Returning to Zakopane we stopped at the beautiful church built by the people of Zakopane to give thanks for the saving of Pope John Paul at the time of a 1981 assassination attempt. Around this inspiration church and down the hill is the altar used when the Pope said a Mass on top of the ski jump in Zakopane.

This bus trip gave us another view of the distinct Zakopane architectural style that is admired around the world. It resembles the Swiss chalet. Some characteristics are the wooden plank outer walls or log cabin style that rises sharply angled to peaked roofs to permit rain, sleet, and snow to be removed. Many windows are triangular, roofs are frequently tile, and a widow’s peak is often seen.

The evening was Polish Day, entirely presented by the 25 students associated with Prus High School in Siedlce. It was funny, informative, and brilliantly executed. It created a standard that we volunteers cannot match on July 4, but we’ll try.

The students began the program by taking us on “taxi rides” through the TriCities of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot. One passenger, Lech Walęsa, tried to get out of paying his taxi fare. Then we were taken for taxis tours also in Warsaw and finally Krakow.

The evening ended with a the presentation of an anniversary ice cream cake for the Marlins for their 50th wedding anniversary—and for which David, the writer of this journal, reports they are touched and grateful.

Message of the day: Do not judge another until you have walked in those shoes (a modern version of an old indigenous saying).

The team is working very well together, sharing ideas and skills, which is an important action if we are to have a successful language camp for everyone. The morning was spent working to improve our students’ language skills by every means possible. We use games, projects, songs, and questions. You are only limited by your imagination.

The students today actually requested two more hours of teaching time from 4:00 – 6:00 PM. This time we switched students. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet some of the other students and learn about them.

After a light supper, we had our evening meeting with Dorota. We made some plans for our Fourth of July celebration. We now retire to our rooms to prepare for Thursday.

Message of the day: I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome in trying to succeed. (Attributed to Booker T. Washington from his book, Up from Slavery: An Autobiography ;)

The volunteers met with Dorota at 7:50 in the meeting room. Sylvia began with the message of the day (see above). Dorota then went over the plan for today.

We enjoyed breakfast in the dining room at 8 AM. We began settling into our new routines. The volunteers taught their taught classes and some of them shared their ideas about successful strategies as they met in the hallways during the 15 minute breaks. We all got to know our students a little better.

Our mid-day meal was served as usual at 1 PM. Many of the students were delighted to see the weather to be rainy as their challenging hike had been canceled. Spencer and Najalé accompanied some of the students for a portion of the afternoon at the indoor water park. Others chose to remain at the Wanta. The volunteers spent their afternoon planning tomorrow’s lessons.

We met again at 6:30 PM for our last delicious Polish cuisine of the day.
We relocated to the meeting room at 19:05. We discussed what each of us did in our morning classes and picked up some great ideas from each other for future use. Dorota talked about the plans for our field trip with the students to Krakow on Friday.

The meeting adjourned about 20:15 PM. Some of the volunteers decided afterwards to support one of the local business establishments and immersed themselves in a little Polish culture and tradition.
“All’s well that ends well” and the day did indeed end well!