Thought for the Day: Service is the rent you pay for the room you use while you are here on earth.

As I walk out the door I feel pretty cold. Another delicious meal sits on the table in front of me. Kinga and I made our way to class. Today was a pretty cooperative day where we taught about American Indians first. After, we did some worksheets, word searches, hidden pictures, apples to apples, and played Uno. For the 3rd and 4th lesson we watched “Bedtime Stories”, which I liked a lot.

After dinner Marvin, Marianne, Alice and Dorota went to a folk concert with performers from Siedlce and Slovakia. There was folk dancing and singing. They also met Dorota’s husband. Another great day at Reymontowka.

Thought for the Day: Before you criticize your children, just remember who raised them.


Woke up to a dreary day. Temperature 65 and drizzling. The kitchen staff was able to counter this situation with warm “milk soup” for breakfast. It looked and tasted something like Farina.

When the classes began, my group of nine children wanted to play scrabble and bingo. They also played charades, which we did by timing the two groups for competitive play.

The fourth period was dance, where Mira led her onstage team in Cotton Eye Joe. Most of the campers joined in on the main floor. This was followed by several other dance numbers with the finale being a rousing YMCA, with everyone joining in.

After lunch, the volunteers went in the van to the Open Air Museum. The estate consists of a 260 year main house, which has a slight odor of mold, several outlying houses, a barn and a second smaller manor house. The noble family Cieszkowski was the original owner and most recently it was purchased by Professor Kwiatkowski in 1987. The professor renovated the house and charges guests who want to visit. The house has old furniture and many oil paintings of portraits on the wall. He lives there in a side house. In one of the outlying houses that we went into, we saw huge boots used by the farmer in olden days, a toy wooden horse and a wooden crib. Kamila did a great job translating for us what the ticket collector/guide said in Polish.

Next we went to Castle Liw Armory built in 1429 by Prince Charming. It is now the Museum Zbrojownia na zamku w Liwie. Here the guide spoke very good English. He began the tour by showing us a full body armor suit which weighs 66 pounds. When someone was knocked off his horse, the suit weighed so much that he was unable to get up even if he wasn’t otherwise injured. The walls of each room had displays of rifles, swords, sabers, and of course oil paintings of battles. During World War II, when the Germans came to demolish the castle in order to use the bricks to build the concentration camp, Treblinka, Otto Warpechowski, an archeologist, persuaded them that the castle had been built by the Teutonic Knights Order. The Germans were fooled. Warpechowski died toward the end of World War II in an accident. Our guide told us that this weekend there will be the annual games of the battling of the Knights. Unfortunately, the family of five will be in Belarus visiting Grandpa’s birth place and Alice and Marianne will be visiting the Bialowieza National Park.

Thought for the Day: Do not squander time since that is what life is made of.


Today, it seems we are all “wiser” and came prepared for our class. We have a better feel for our classes and had a better sense of what activities we can do with them. We also learned from our teammates on what worked for them the previous day and used that activity.

For the 4th period, all the classes gathered at the tent and we all sang songs. Dorota coordinated the program. We open it with the song “Wave the Flag”, which was very popular with the campers. The song was led by Eli and Mira. The next song was “You are my Sunshine”, led by Ivy and Dorota. Eli and Kamila did “New York, New York” (new rap version). Marvin did “YMCA” and Mira and Kinga were the back-up dancers. Campers also liked this. Dorota also led “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog.” The campers enjoyed doing this activity.

The volunteers were treated to a special afternoon in Siedlce. We met Pan Bartlomiej Kurkus, Deputy Governor (which is an equivalent of a Mayor in the USA.). We introduced ourselves and asked him questions about Siedlce and his work. We also spoke how we enjoyed our work/stay in Poland. He presented each of us with a book of Siedlce.

After that we visited the Cathedral/Church which was beautiful and did our errands. Alice, Eli, Mira & Ivy stayed in town and shopped around. Alice bought some “wild” place mats and table cloths. Eli entertained Mira and Ivy by trying on different leather shoes and clothes. He was very smart looking.

Marianne, Isaac and Marvin went to the train station and straighten out their train/travel schedules. We then return to Reymontowka.

The day was much cooler and we had a quiet evening.

Thought for the Day: A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.

As we gathered for breakfast this morning it was clear that today was different. The cheese crepes were delicious but somehow everyone seemed a little more restrained. Was it that the bountiful meals were catching up with us? Perhaps. But after two days of nervous anticipation, I think it was the reality that our first full day of teaching was finally before us. Alice read our first journal entry; Marianne shared the thought for the day; then Dorota, with her many years experience preparing nervous volunteers, wisely brought out extra worksheets and suggestions on additional activities for the students, should we need them. Aided by this additional boost of confidence we headed outdoors to meet with our student groups, knowing we could at least get through the first couple of sessions. And so it was. After the first session there was a lot of self-congratulation on having “survived.” After each subsequent session there was a quick exchange of helpful tips among ourselves. This included our younger volunteers Eli (14), Mira (13), and Isaac (9), who were highly valued “assistants” to the Polish teachers. When the fourth and final session was over we gathered for lunch, the main meal of the day, which started with yet another excellent soup. The three Polish teachers joined us and we exchanged tips on what worked and what didn’t work with our groups. We all agreed that the students were wonderful but now that we know our groups better we could do some fine-tuning of the activities. The biggest surprise really was that many of the students had English skills that were quite good. We then talked about combining our groups for the fourth session on the following day so that we could each take a turn teaching them an American folk song. Finally, Dorota briefed us on some of the upcoming activities for the week, including a trip to meet the deputy mayor of Siedlce, a folk dance demonstration, and a trip to an open air museum. Dorota also offered to drive us to the nearby tiny town of Kotun from which we could walk back. Ivy and Marianne took advantage of this chance to get some exercise and confirmed that it’s a doable 35 minute walk back to Reymontowka. Good to know because there’s a grocery store, ice cream shop and bankomat there. In the evening we were invited to watch the initiation ceremony for the first time campers. Marianne and Marvin served as queen and king delivering a certificate of welcome to each child. At evening’s end, we headed through the corridors to our rooms, with the students already feeling comfortable enough to speak to us in passing. We went to sleep with visions of the next day’s lesson plan in our heads and here and there the sounds of happy chatter coming from the campers’ rooms. I for sure was tired enough that I knew I would sleep through the rooster crowing at 4:30am.

Thought for the Day: “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

To back up I do want to mention the introduction we had to Reymontowka. A lovely young Polish woman greets us at the entrance with a beautifully baked round loaf of bread in the hallowed out Center. We were instructed to take a little triage of bread cut into the side, dip it in the salt, and eat it. This was to assure we would never be hungry and always have food in the house. Promptly at 9:00 Dorota began the session where we set out the team goals and characteristics, for an effective team and individual skills of our team.

Our team goals are:

1. To help improve the children’s English.
2. To help the children and others around us learn about America and Americans.
3. To learn more about Poland’s people and culture.
4. To make friends.
5. To experience another Global Volunteers’ opportunity.

Our team’s characteristics are:

Communication

Shared vision

Tolerance

Leadership

Respect

Sharing responsibilities

Patience

Enthusiasm

Hard work

Flexibility

Perhaps we should think of a good name for out team. We were given the daily schedule for class schedules. Then we went to the supply room for a tour and instructions for using the copy machine. Dorota gave us some hints as to which items would be useful for various levels. At 11:40 we gathered for rides to the Old Catholic Church or the village of Zeliszew. Marianne, Marvin, and Ivy chose to visit the village. I attended the Mass. The children stayed behind to catch up on their sleep. The church was packed with people and an equal number stood outside. I was fortunate enough to find a seat near a window as there is no air conditioning and it was a warm day. The service was extra long because it was a feast day of the Virgin Mary. At the offertory precession beautifully decorated round loaves of bread were brought to the altar. The priest blesses them and, surprisingly, kissed them. One lady in particular had such a happy, prideful, look on her face. It was a delight to see. There were many other variations to the Masses in the United States. On our return and promptly at 1:30 a delicious dinner of stuffed baked chicken breast, and mashed potato balls, carrots in a tasty, delicate sauce and broccoli. Fruit for dessert. In fact, a wonderful bowl of fruit is provided at each meal. After lunch Dorota gave us a sheet lesson in speaking Polish. After a break we all gathered in the tent where we introduced ourselves to the group and each child stood, gave his name and where he was from. I was impressed at the confidence with which they did this. Later, Marianne, Ivy, and I expressed our amazement at how many years of English and how well they spoke. We decided we had to radically change our thinking as to how and what we would teach. Marianne commented, Dorota had the hardest work – separating the 69 students into suitable groups. We were able to speak a few minutes with the group assigned to us. Each of us expressed satisfaction with his/her arranged group. There was some free time for planning before supper. Alice and Marianne took a short walk and then worked on their plans.

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.

Thought for the day: Tourists are very useful to the modern world; it is very difficult to hate the people that one knows. Attributed to John Steinbeck and shared by Lori

An early morning begins a full day! We start the day with some bad news. Steve R is still not feeling well and won’t be joining us on the hike to Morskie Oko. We hope he feels 100% soon.

After breakfast everyone who wanted to go on the hike gathered in the lobby to meet the guide and head out. The drive out to the mountain took about 45 minutes and everyone was eager to get on the trail and get hiking. After about 45 minutes of walking, we came to the place in the trail where the groups split up. Sally and Cortney continued with the students and Polish teachers/camp counselors to one of the peaks around Morskie Oko. Meanwhile Steve L, Sue, Kathy and I went with Piotr and Paulina on road straight up to the lake.

While it may sound like both hikes were difficult, the end result was definitely worth it. Morskie Oko was absolutely gorgeous. While some of us circled the lake or caught some Z’s in the woods, Chris and Cyndi walked around the lake and went up to the different lake higher up. It seems like the only inspiration to leave the beautiful lake was the promise for off in the distance of a warm dinner and a comfy bed.

Back on the home front, Lori and Steve R took another dive into American culture with the remaining students and discussed what Americans call football and some rules in the game of baseball.

After dinner of soup and surprise, surprise, port, everyone headed up to their rooms to prepare to prepare for the saddest day of the trip – the last day with the students. Time has flown by.

Journal submitted by Sammi