Poland Day 1 (by Chase)

Leaving England was bittersweet because, from now on every country that we'll visit will not be a native English speaking land. That means that all signs, names, conversations, etc will be in another language – kind of intimidating, huh? Plus, I know that Poland is not as prosperous as the UK or Ireland so there will be some adjustments there, I'm sure. Lastly, as we tried to start getting our bearings on the Polish language (e.g. yes/tak, no/nie, please/proscze, thank you/dziekuje), we observed that it was really hard pronouncing & reading new letter combinations and multiple sounds. Knowing that would mean that any attempt of trying to communicate with the Poles might be reduced to hand motions and facial expressions – thankfully, we have a "drama queen" in our family.
After getting off the plane, going through customs and claiming our bags, we were overjoyed to find a smiling woman with a Global Volunteers sign awaiting us. She seemed even happier to see us than we were to see her, as she outlined our upcoming activities and work schedule. Dorota, the GV country manager who met us at the airport, was such a welcome sight to us when we arrived in a foreign country and, thankfully, she also speaks perfect English.
We're not the only Americans volunteering at this camp for the next two weeks … we also picked up two other ladies at a Warsaw hotel (sisters from Colorado) – Shelly & Elaine. There's also Jim, from Tampa, Florida, who's back for his fourth year of teaching here at the camp – it's great to have him here as he's been showing us the ropes and giving us information about the people and their customs.
When we arrived at our facilities, we were pleased to find that the camp (and our accommodations) were better than I had imagined. I had a vision of worn carpets, dusty cots and dirty bathrooms, but NO – the kids sleep in dorm-like rooms with multiple beds in each, very clean dining areas and a great kitchen that serves good food. The Polish kids, ages 11-15, all seem very energetic and excited to be here. We're lucky enough to be staying in a 2 bedroom apartment with plenty of space for the five of us. Outside, the grounds have a swimming pool, tennis court, volleyball net and a huge tented ballroom for meetings, dances and talent shows. Everyone but me is looking forward to the dancing lessons.
Dobranoc (Good night!)