A Tour of Reymontowka

I have written much about being at Reymontowka, but have not well explained what this means. Reymontowka is one of the old Polish manor houses. It has a great history, the last chapter being it was taken from its owner by the socialist government that succeeded after World War II. When it was returned 30 years later to the owner, he no longer had the financial resources to renovate and repair the house. He gave it to the County of Siedlce which now operates this as what we in the United States would call a conference center.

Many events happen here. Reymontowka hosts the Global Volunteers. We stay here, have work space here, eat our meals here, and as I say, "I come to Reymontowka and Poland comes to me." I reported recently about Majowka, we've seen huge wedding receptions, many First Communion family dinners, heard concerts, and are sharing the space with German students on an exchange program with a nearby Polish vocational culinary school. Today the grounds are covered by art students, too, sketching.

I'm sharing some pictures of the house and area, all taken in the early morning. This isn't always the best for light, but was the time I had to take the photos.

Here is the front of the manor house, as I see it three mornings per week while waiting for the ride to the nearby Cisie School. We are at school to teach by  8 AM, so this is truly early morning light!

If we walk through the front door, we enter the foyer.

To the left is the room now called the Red Room, but I persist is calling it the library. That is what is was during my early stays at Reymontowka. This area functioned then as the work room where we planned the classes and stored all the teaching materials.

Now we have a dedicated work room on the second floor. It is full of teaching materials that have been carried to Poland or created in Poland by the Global Volunteers. There is a TV that receives English International CNN and BBC. On the left you may see the glow of the computer on which I'm writing this blog.

Straight ahead from the foyer is a room that for lack of anything better I'll call the Great Room.

On the morning that I took this photo, it was being prepared for the annual poetry recitation contest that features elementary age students. It can be prepared for a large dinner seating 30 some people for an event such as a family's First Communion dinner. Because this room holds a grand piano, it the place for musical events. And during the summer we may put 60 kids on the floor and show a movie.

We eat our meals in the informal dining room. Viewers can see the sun streaming through the east facing window in the middle. The door on the left leads outside to the patio area. The dark door is the one that goes to the kitchen where the staff produce amazing meals.

There is a formal dining room as well. The photo below shows it in a rare moment of not being used or being prepared for any event.

Sometimes during the summer, the table is removed and bunk beds brought it and it becomes a bedroom for 4-6 kids during summer language camp.

Behind the manor house now is a large tent.

During the summer we hold 4 classes within the tent, while other classes find spaces elsewhere on the manor house grounds. The Majowka performances were all held in the tent; it is often the location as well for a wesele.

There is a second house on the grounds, called the Annex.

During this stay, I'm living at the Annex in a very large room, which in the summer would be space for at least 4 students for summer camp.

I'll come back this summer to space such as this in the manor house. The room is small, but quite adequate, and all rooms have a en-suite bathroom!!!

And finally the patio.

One can see this is a pleasant place and a place of lot of informal activities, although the other day I sat there and did a radio interview with the Catholic Radio Station that is located in Siedlce.

Note bar: In the summer the bar becomes a dining hall, too, for campers. Beer is gone and replaced by ice cream!

And so there you have it, a small tour of Reymontowka. Recently at a school, the students asked me about the places I had visited in Poland. After I did my list, one looked at me very puzzled and said,"Where do you live in Poland?" So I answered, "Reymontowka. "