Sunday evening in Jastrzębie
And so our first full day in Poland is complete. Breakfast at the church at 8:45 seems like a LONG time ago!
As we mentioned, worship was a special time for each of us. Mason was thrilled that he recognized so many of the chants and responses during the liturgy because of their rhythms, even though the entire service was in Polish!
After worship today, the team in Jastrzębie met with all 25 of the Polish counselors for some get-acquainted games and planning. Roxy did a great job filling in for Jadzia this afternoon while Jadzia went to Bielsko to help them get set up for their first ever Day Camp. The US team all agreed that our one-syllable names must be easier to learn than Polish names since we finished the name game in a very lop-sided loss.
After our 4:00 coffee/cake break (something we should really consider doing in the US!), it was back to work getting our classrooms ready and making final preparations for the kids who are coming to camp tomorrow morning. There were a lot of discussions about how best to teach about the parts of the face using a pizza pan and whether the flash cards for animals were really animals at all! In the end, we deemed ourselves ready!
Toni, Jim, Theresa, Matt, Beth and I will get to see our own children work in a classroom setting in Jastrzebie tomorrow. Everyone is a little anxious about the unknown – how much English will our kids already know? Did I plan enough? Will I be able to sing “What’s Your Name” in front of 13 8-year-olds?
We enjoyed a classical music concert at the church around 6:00 and another incredible dinner was served at 8:00. All of you past Day Camp people will agree that you do not go hungry here! All of our meals are mingled with conversations with the Polish counselors who speak impeccable English. We loved hearing (and were a little relieved) that the boxes of supplies being delivered to our classrooms were called hamsters.
Jim commented on the many benefits of the counselors answering our questions with more than a simple response. He loves that everyone takes the time to make sure we understand and even shares the story behind the story, if there is one.
It was a joy to see all of the small groups of US and Polish kids working together today. It doesn’t take long to bond when you have a common faith and a common goal of sharing that with 100 kids in the next six days.
Everyone is now at their host family home. Some walk, others are driven, Mason and Jim walk across the lawn to the pastor’s home! There were a lot of tired eyes tonight, but smiles everywhere. We look forward to our first day with the kids tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers!
