Busy Monday

Message of the Day: This is George, a 19 year old who was born without arms. After playing a beautiful song on his guitar, he told us the two words he doesn't like: "I can't."

This photo and message shared by Ben

During breakfast (śniadanie) Connie read her summary of Friday’s activities and treated us by singing a few lines of “Oh what a beautiful morning.” We have nominated her to enter the next karaoke contest at Reymontowka. 

After breakfast, Ben and I conducted our daily English lessons. Our first lesson was all about animals and during our second lesson we played Rhyming Bingo. It seems to me that not very many words rhyme in Polish so I wasn’t sure how well this would go but the kids caught on pretty quick. After that we played their old favorite, Uno. The rule when we play Uno is that you have to say the number and color out loud in English. During the third lesson, we challenged Greg and Freya’s class to another game of Ultimate Frisbee. Just like last week’s game, it was a 3-3 draw. Freya jumped on my back with the Frisbee at one point while I was defending her but wisely dropped the Frisbee before I could carry her into the end zone.

The fourth lesson of the day was a group activity. The kids were divided into 7 groups and were given an oral quiz. The questions were read in English and had to be answered in English in order to earn a point. Questions included “which of our volunteers has a mustache?” (Dick), “what is Ben’s hobby?” (Rubik’s cube) and “what is Freya’s favorite food for breakfast?” Not surprisingly, all of the kids knew the answer to the last one – Polish Nutella. Another question was “name two states our volunteers come from.” Most of the groups got this one right, although we did have to point out to a couple of the groups that Canada isn’t a state.

At lunch (obiad), our team reviewed the goals we set last week and we agreed that we are on track to meet them by the end of our time in Poland. In particular, we agreed that we are all achieving “personal growth,” both literally and figuratively, thanks to the excellent meals we are enjoying daily. After lunch, two girls approached Dorota and asked for Ben’s room number. I thought that was pretty forward, but it turns out they just wanted Ben to teach them how to solve the Rubik’s cube.

In the afternoon, we had some free time. Ben and I played catch for a while and then played some tennis. We also watched the kids play some futbol as well as a game called ringo which is played on a volleyball court with some plastic rings. I have really enjoyed the opportunity for father-son bonding while at Reymontowka since we rarely have this opportunity at home with the distractions of school and work. In the late afternoon Wojciech, Greg, Ben and I made the short trip to Kotuń to go to a bakery where we bought some Pączki Maluchy  (donut holes) to share with the group at dinnertime. Ben loved the smell of the freshly baked bread at the bakery.

Supper featured meat-filled pierogi which were enjoyed by the carnivores in our group. After supper, one of the boys invited Ben to play futbol with them which warmed my heart. A while later, I went out and took some pictures. Ben managed to score a goal with a little “help” from his more experienced Polish opponents. 

The evening activity was a Lip Sync event that they called “Mini Playback.” It occurred to me that all of the kids here are too young to be familiar with Milli Vanilli. The highlight of the show was when the camp director Ula’s grandson danced to “Gangnam Style” which earned him a raucous standing ovation. This was followed later by a line dance rendition of a Polish song by all the boys and even Ben joined in to much applause. Without a doubt, the kids at Reymontowka appreciate having kids like Ben, Sophia and Freya among their English instructors.

Journal prepared by Eric