Monday, June 30, 2008

Day 1

We gathered for breakfast at 8:00, a typical Polish breakfast which was a bit of surprise to some of the team members. By now it seems normal to me! The rest of the morning we did the Global Volunteers ritural, personal goals, team goals, and team characteristics. We met briefly with the English teacher. I walked then with one of the volunteers about 20 minutes to a church where she stayed for mass, while I went over the nearby shop and got a ice cream bar. Oh, they are so good in Poland. About 30 minutes later we were off to a typical midday meal -- obiad. I cautioned the new volunteers when they ladled out the first course of soup, that more was coming. We were all stuffed when it was done.

In the afternoon all the students and volunteers first walked to famous house museum in Zakopane and then through the oldest cemetary in Zakopane. Then we walked along the main street, a walking street only, where there are an immense amount of shops and kiosks. The temperature was approaching hot, so after two hours of walking I was glad to see the hotel. I put Ella Fitzgerald on the I-pod and had a cat nap.

We gathered at 5:30 for a Polish lesson. This was followed by the evening meal, a light meal always. We then met with all the teachers who had come along with the students. The English teacher then gave us a match with our students. There was a bit of time for planning the next day's lessons before everyone went to our planning room, where there is a TV, to watch the Euro 2008 football final. Most everyone was pleased that Spain won against Germany, for Germany had knocked Poland out of the finals.

One of the team members wrote a goal of falling into bed exhausted everynight happy. I believe we achieved that goal yesterday.

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