"I can do that. It's my name day."

^ My host family :)

< A view of Krakow's city-center from the bell tower









Oh Wow! Sooo much has happened in the last week since I arrived in Wola Rzędzińska. It has been a fantastic week. I know that I will not soon forget this trip!

Due to the fact that so much has happened since my last post, I am going to stick only with highlights, rather give the play-by-play I had originally intended.

Host Family:

I have had a great time with the Merchut's. They have daughters Natalia (15) and Kinga (11), and have been really great. Natalia has given up her room for me to stay in and helps me at school with translations. She also translates while we are at home, as she is the only one in the family who knows much English. Kinga is super sweet and learning english, (I kinda wish I could just take her back home with me) but the parents know about as much English as I know Polish... not much. If you had a view of the house from outside, you would think that we really like to play charades. We are getting better at pantemiming and figuring out what the other is saying, but I really wish that I could talk to them outright. From the communication we have had, though, I have percieved that they are really cool people. The father even gave me beer and taught me curse words in Polish!

Another thing I like about the family is the rest of their family. Several Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and grandparents live on their street. There are about 10 kids and they range from about 5-12. We have played volleyball over the fence several times and had races in the streets. I miss that.

Last weekend, the Merchut's took me to a museum for the history of Poland and it's dolls over the years. There were some really old ones and it was funny to see the dolls dressed in stereotypical Polish costumes. They also took my to Zalipie... a town in which the houses are pained with flowers. The significance is in the fact that it began in the early 1900's when women would whitewash their kitchens where the strove left soot on the walls. It became a thing, and soon they were painting flowers and all kinds of things. I guess this was the first type of interior decorating. :)

Fear not, I have been fed well while I have been here. The custom is to have a light breakfast, a "second breakfast" around 10, a large dinner around two or three, tea or dessert around 5 or 6, and a small supper around 8. Whew. I suppose that the key is small portions and the fact that the big meal is earlier in the day. I still have to wonder though... "How are all of the Polish people so skinny?"


Location:

Wola Rzędzińska is a small, everybody-knows-your-name type of villiage. It has a church, a school, a covenience store, a small grocery store, a cemetary, a bakery, a post office, and some chickens. That is all. If you think about it, that is pretty freakin small. It is very nice to be able to walk to school or any of the aforementioned stores in about five minutes. The problem is that there is a reasonable chance that you won't find what your looking for. Thats when you hit the bus stop for Tarnow. For about 45 cents, you can go into a larger city, about 10 minutes away.


School:

I have 80 kids! Four hours a day, four groups, separated by age, each for one hour every day.
It has only been one week but I have already learned quite a bit about teaching. Here are some major points:

1. Kids are tiring. I teach from 9 to 1 and that nearly does me in. I am ready for a nap at the time that I normally wake up.

2. Kids do not have patience. Better have something to occupy all of the younger ones at one time or your class will become a free-for-all. This has happened... not good.

3. Letting them do things that they don't normally get to do is they way to go. This includes sitting on the desks, throwing things, running around, and just having fierce competition. (Organized craziness, of course.) They will be so excited that they aren't on a leash that they won't realize they are learning. Haha, sneaky, sneaky!

4. Kids will do just about anything for a sticker. Don't even get me started on pencils.

I was shocked to find out that I have 80 kids! Four hours a day, four groups, separated by age, each for one hour everyday. I have a hard time pronouncing Polish names... like very hard, so I had the kids come up with names in English like we did in language classes in high school. We would brainstorm a bunch on American names and the kids would pick one. The last class is my youngest group. I sent Natalia around to get their names, and it came back that of the 22 kids in that class, we had 6 Emilys and several Mileys. I thought that was a hoot... and I'm not gunna lie, I was alittle bit flattered. The biggest challenge in teaching to me has been lesson planning. It is kindof hard to think up things that they will understand, learn from, and have fun with. Luckily, one of the other voluteers, Piya, is staying just down the street. We have been able to hang out a little bit and share lesson-planning thoughts.

Other Stuff:
The English teacher at Piya's school is 24 and really nice and lots of fun. She invited Piya and I to have drinks with her English-teaching friends last week, and to go clubbing last Saturday. This was a lot of fun! I really like her friends and it is always great to party in another country... especially one that allows drinking by 18.

Last week, I had my name day. Because the Polish are so into Catholisism, each saint has a day of the year, and on the day that the saint with your name has, you get to celebrate. It is like a second birthday! The 24th was deemed "Emilii's" day, so the principal came in with a box of chocolates for me. How cool is that??? I think we need two birthdays in America, too.