Poland

I just got back from a week in Wisla, Poland with the other volunteers for our mid year retreat. It was wonderful to see the other volunteers in Slovakia, and this time we joined with volunteers also from America and Germany serving in the Czech Rep. and Poland. All together there were about twenty-one volunteers and then the three country coordinators who led the seminars. We spent a lot of time in discussion and talking about successes and failures with our placements, new relationships being built, stereotypes, conflict management, and so on. We also had some free time when we were able to go hiking, see the town of Wisla, and go on a horse and carriage ride (it was supposed to be a horse drawn sleigh but there was not snow!!)

Some highlights from the week:

-“How can you not have paprika chips in America? Are you stupid!?”
-Performing skits about conflicts we may encounter…”I cannot drink another cup of coffee!!!!!”
-Performing skits about Slovakia and the culture-
*“When you go back to America can you tell Weezer I say hello?”
*“You must wear slippers! You will get sick if you don’t!”
*“You must drink more slivovica for your health!”
*“You can’t sleep in the room with the computer, it could make you sick!”
*”Do you speak English or German?” “No, I speak Slovak, Czech, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Croatian…”
-Arm chair beds
-Hair cutting
-Cooking sausages over the fire
-Singing our original song: The Tesco Tribute
-Drawing the stereotypical German and American
-Hearing all about the tiger pants

The week was so much fun and it is always great to spend time with Danka and the other volunteers. After a week of that it was a little difficult coming back to the village, but I am thankful for that time we had.