After a fantastic weekend in Wroclaw, I decided to “lie low” this week and weekend -- spending some quality time in Warsaw.

 

Well…at least mostly in Warsaw!

 

This week was my first week of teaching with the older kids at Warsaw 306 – and I REALLY enjoyed it!  It’s amazing to me how vastly improved the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th graders’ English is compared to that of their younger counterparts.  Looking back on my childhood, it would have been awesome to be able to speak a second language at ten years old as well as these students speak English!

 

Since this was my first week on the 2^nd floor, I reverted back to the “Life in America” presentation as an introduction to me and the USA.  Just as the younger classes did before them, everyone got really into the lesson...amazing me – yet again – with how much they know about the US!  I can already tell that I’m going to really enjoy teaching these kids.

 

After a fun “first week” I opted to stay in Warsaw for the weekend – save a day trip to Kazimierz Dolny with one of my Lattitude friends, Maddy, on Friday.  Kazimierz Dolny was beautiful, but the foggy and drizzly weather prevented us from taking in the full “feel” of the city.  Nonetheless, Maddy and I had fun perusing the many art galleries, wandering along the banks of the Vistula, and eating the BEST Polish food I’ve ever tasted at a local restaurant.

Maddy and Me in the Kazimierz Dolny market square.

The remaining weekend activities were pretty “status quo” – I saw a movie, shopped for appropriate Polish winter gear, etc. – albeit in much lower temperatures!  Winter is quickly approaching and I’m anxious to feel what -20°C will feel like.

 

Until next time,

Allyson

What a difference a week makes!  Back in good health this past week, I had a great time with the kids at school – learning about American sports! – and a fantastic weekend away in Wroclaw.

 

As I mentioned, this week’s focus was on American sports, which happens to be a subject I am very fond of!  It was interesting to see the difference in knowledge-level between different classes and grade levels when it came to sports in America.  One third grade class was FULL of boys who loved baseball and basketball, going so far as knowing some of the popular professional teams in the US!  Other classes, however, had never seen or played any of the American sports we were discussing.  Each group made for a very different, but equally lively conversation and presentation…

 

After a wild week of sports in the classroom, it was off to Wroclaw for a weekend getaway with some of the other Lattitude Volunteers in Warsaw – Emily, Maddy, and Nicole.

 

We left late Thursday afternoon on the Polski Bus and arrived in Wroclaw just after 10pm.  After grabbing a very late dinner (the bus never stopped for food as expected!), we headed to bed in anticipation of two long days of sightseeing on Friday and Saturday!

 

On Friday we started off with an amazing breakfast – my first meal of eggs and bacon since coming abroad – and then spent the afternoon roaming around the Wyspa Piasek and the beautiful botanical gardens before finishing up the day with a (very tiring!) climb up Mary Magdalene Church’s tower.

 

On the Wyspa Piasek with Emily, Nicole and Maddy.

Day two of our weekend getaway was more on the lighter side.  We got an early start on Saturday morning – with our “Dwarf Map” in hand – and set out to find all 79 dwarf statues scattered around the city.  Let me tell you – Dwarf hunting can be exhausting!  We walked around for 3 hours and had only found 36 dwarfs…feeling accomplished enough, we took a break for lunch and wrapped up our day at the Raclawicka Panorama.

 

In the middle of a fierce day of dwarf hunting!

The trip back to Warsaw on Sunday seemed to take ages – the bus was crammed, the wifi went in and out the entire ride.  But, alas, we finally arrived back “home” at 4pm and settled in for another fun week of teaching ahead…

 

‘Til next time!

Allyson

Well, Warsaw 306 – not much to report on from last week!  Both Beata (my mentor at school) and I were well under the weather as I mentioned in my last blog (Strep throat and Tonsillitis got the best of me), and as a result we both stayed home from school for the week.

My sick week included a LOT of sleeping, and barely leaving the house for 7 days.  But, come Friday I was feeling a bit better and ventured out to see the new James Bond movie, Skyfall, with two of my volunteer friends.  I came away impressed with the movie (it’s great!) as well as the movie theater…who knew you could reserve seats for a movie??  That is a genius idea!

Other than recovering and Skyfall, however, my week was extremely low key and uneventful…hopefully there will be more to share next week!

Allyson

Happy Halloween, Warsaw 306!

I was a bit delinquent last week in my blogging (my apologies!) so this installment will cover two wild weeks in one… 

Last week started off pretty standard.  I spent a second weekend in a row here in Warsaw, finding some time to go to the Warsaw Zoo on Friday the 19^th, and dining at an American/Asian fusion restaurant, called Sphinx, with some of the other Lattitude volunteers on Saturday.  Although the temperature said it was supposed to be in the 60’s that weekend…it was becoming very obvious that cold weather was near!

The zoo was by FAR my favorite part of the weekend, although it was a challenge to find at first!  We hopped on Tram 4 after meeting at the Palace of Culture and after my inaugural tram ride across the Vistula, the four of us finally made it to our destination after asking no less than five polish folks for directions.  The words lewo and prawo were key in getting us there!  Thank goodness for the brief ‘directions’ lesson from orientation week…

With the chilly weather, many of the animals had been moved indoors (read: horrible smelly buildings through which zoo-goers were allowed to walk); but in just over an hour at the zoo we were able to see the vast majority of the animals – save the elephants whom I think have already been shipped to warmer climates for winter.

 

Bri, Maddy, Casey and I having some fun at the photo wall!

Maddy and I having dinner at Sphinx.

 

After our Zoo and Sphinx adventures it was back to school for us.  The school week (October 22-25) was definitely the coldest yet, although still very much bearable.  With some of the teachers having to be absent, and other classes going on excursions, my class schedule was a bit jumbled – with me even teaching my own lesson altogether under the guidance of Mr. Kuvalchek (sp?).

Last week’s topic was Halloween!  And for a country that doesn’t celebrate Halloween with any regularity, I was stunned by how much the kids knew about the fun holiday! After an interactive presentation with each class, we had fun coloring jack-o-lanterns, and completing Halloween-themed word-finds to complete the lesson.

Now for an update on week 2 of this two-week blog post…

If the school week of October 22-25 was considered normal, this week (October 29-November 1) was anything but… 

My “week” started off with a fun weekend trip to Budapest with the seven other Lattitude volunteers from Poland.  We took a cheap flight from Modlin (which is surprisingly far out of town…) and got into Budapest in the early evening on Thursday, 10/25.  All went well with the weekend for the most part – we did a dinner cruise along the Danube, created our own self-walking tours of the city, and ate traditional Hungarian foods. Budapest is really gorgeous; it has a truly eastern European feel to it that I have never experienced before.

On my self-guided tour of the city: Standing in front of Heroes Square!

In front of the rolling his of Buda…

 

But, all good things must come to an end, right?

My “good times” came to a crashing halt on Saturday afternoon as I came down with Strep Throat and Tonsillitis.  My incredibly sore throat, pounding headache and achy muscles made for a less than ideal flight and bus ride back home to Warsaw on Sunday, but lots of rest was in my future... 

Coincidence would have it that my mentor, Beata, was also out for the count after losing her voice earlier in the weekend. With both of us sick, we were given the week off from school to recuperate.  And that leads me to today:  Halloween Day.  I guess you could call my costume that of a sick, pale ghost, but in reality that’s exactly what I feel like.

So until next time – and hopefully with better health! – Happy Halloween, Warsaw 306…