Well, week three is in the books and what a fun week it was!  From teaching about my home country – The USA – to touring Auschwitz and the beautiful city of Krakow, this week was action-packed and extremely exhausting…

Although I had Monday off from school because the 2^nd grade had an excursion, this week was by far my fullest week of teaching yet.  I had the opportunity to really take the reins of my classes – along with the fabulous teachers, of course – and share a fun and interactive presentation on the USA.  My presentation covered everything from the size and number of states in the US, to our unfortunate reputation for eating fast food.  The kids really enjoyed the “What is America Known For” portion of the presentation during which they could yell out people or things they thought were “American”.

 

I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing that ALL the kids – regardless of age – were able to name each American fast food restaurant that existed in Warsaw…  But, I guess our reputation could be worse, right?!

 

After a fun-filled week at school, I headed to Krakow on Thursday night for a weekend trip with the other Lattitude Volunteers.  There were 8 of us in total and while the 7 others decided to take the train down to Krakow, I gave Polski Bus a try after booking the ticket deal of the century – 1 zloty for the trip from Warsaw-Krakow!

The bus trip ended up taking nearly 6 hours – we hit a small snag when we found ourselves behind a 5-car accident just outside of Krakow – but I arrived safe and sound late Thursday night, ready for a wild weekend of fun!

 

On Friday, all 8 of us decided to tour the former concentration camp:  Auschwitz-Birkenau.  I can’t put into words how impactful that tour was…6 hours of horror is what comes to mind at first, but I think it was important for us to see this history and how it impacted Poland and Europe.

On the way to tour Auschwitz-Birkenau with my fellow volunteer, Bri.

 After a heavy day on Friday, we headed to the Krakow salt mines early Saturday morning.  Although it was an amazing feeling to be 135 meters under the earth, the tour left me wanting more…  Apparently our guide decided not to take our group to the underground lake area, so we missed out on one of the mines BIGGEST attractions.

The Lattitude Volunteers outside the Salt Mines with our tour guide, Sebastian.

 

After wrapping up at the mines, we went back to Old Town to be one with the locals – shopping in the market square, taking a golf cart tour around the city, and exploring the famous Wawel Castle! 

Now onto Week 4!!