News from Zakopane

It's Day 3 already. We've finally been able to solve the WI-FI problem in the hotel. On Sunday when I walked to the main street in Zakopane I found these elephants on display. They had something to do with Poznan where I'll be going later in July. I couldn't quite make out what this was all about and planned to take my students along to translate for me. However, yesterday they were gone so it remains a mystery. Instead the area has turned into an outdoor movie theatre, and perhaps on Friday night I'll walk down to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding!

I have a wonderful group of 6 students (12 next week). We been reading from the book, The Latehomecomer, reviewing phrasal verbs, and writing descriptive essays. They all have a very excellent English vocabulary and write very well in English, too. Conversations flow from global warming to the problems in the Ukraine now that the Tartar people who were banished to Mongolia are beginnning to move back. Today we walked along the main street in Zakopane, and I asked questions. I now know that wstep wolny means something is free. That's a good phrase to know.

Monday afternoon was very rainy and not a good day for hiking, so in the afternoo we all went for a very long bus ride up in the mountains. Some of the mountains are still have some snow in the valleys, something I don't remember from last year. Yesterday afternoon, I got my train tickets for next week's adventure. Dorota and I also searched many grocery stores trying to find marshmallows, something very hard to find in Poland. We had success finally. Last evening many of us walked over to a nearby church and enjoyed a concert by a high school choir from England. The singers seemed to be delighted with their reception. I think they were unsure about what to expect.

The food is wonderful. For me, it's enjoying old favorites like pickle soup, while all those new to Poland look at this with wondering. Hope the Internet speeds up so I can write something more interesting another time.