Time in Poland

What a Week….

I’m writing this on a bus that is zipping up and down the green Irish hills on its way to Donegal. Poland is now behind me, though the rains that hit Poland seem to have followed me here. What’s the deal with that? This has been one of the rainiest summers I’ve experienced in a while. My last week was marked with highs and lows, making it the most memorable yet of my vacation.

First, I hashed with the Warsaw H3 last Saturday. What a welcoming group they were! Witch Doctor had graciously answered all my stupid email questions in advance, I was warmly greeted by Tampon Jelly and ***Nipple?????*** at the Warsaw Marriott and rode to the RV with them and ***DOROTA*****. Hashing is different when it’s not in the middle of a wadi! We were on paths that were also frequented by cyclists and picnickers. There were trees and grass everywhere. There were 13 of us that day, yet the circle seemed as long as our Cairo ones with five times that number! I learned some new songs and saw what happens to departing Warsaw hashers (let’s just say they don’t get a personalized copper mug). They made the virgins drink beer out of their shoes (but we were lucky enough to keep it in the cup!). My favorite part was when Shasta, Witch Doctor’s new German Shepherd pup, was baptized as the new “Hash Hound”. I think my little Howie deserves that in Cairo! The on-on was at Cindy’s, who was a hasher leaving Warsaw. I made it back to Minsk Maz. at 7:15 am on Sunday, thus canceling my plans to hit the free Chopin concert in Warsaw that day!

The last week of camp was fun. I had four quiet girls and seven energetic boys who wore me out every day. Nine were with me last week, while two were moved to my group this week. We learned new words, I tried to get the kids to use English, and I think there favorite part was break and lunch (kids are alike everywhere). The parents had a barbeque for us on Friday night. Let me explain Polish hospitality. Poles feel that you can never eat enough. If you clean your plate, more food is piled on. If you hide your plate in order to avoid getting more food, a clean plate is given to you with more on it. There were kielbasas, chicken, pork chops, salad, homemade bread, homemade berry pastries, and fresh fruit. The parents were nice enough to leave their kids at home, too. It was a fun evening and the parents were very grateful for the program. They shared that their children came home everyday and wouldn’t stop talking about what they did at American Summer. Kudos to Eliza and Cheryl for coordinating the program, and my fellow volunteers Damon, Matt, Steve, and Cory for being such fun companions during the two weeks!

The hash was not the only social event of the week; in fact, I socialized more this week than I have in a long time! On Monday, the group of volunteers played a game called “Ticket to Ride”, where you build trains across Europe. We skyped Joe during the game and chatted. It was almost like old times, when Joe would be in Minsk Maz., too. Next summer, hopefully, he will be able to return.

On Tuesday, one of the assistants, Marta, had all the volunteers and assistants over for a bonfire at her house outside Minsk Maz. We grilled skewers and kielbasa, enjoyed the few hours that the rain stayed at bay. Her grandfather brought his accordion over, and the Poles serenaded us Americans with some traditional bonfire songs, one of which I remember from Siennica (all I know of it is to yell “Hey” during the chorus). Unfortunately, I was not in the best mood that evening due to an unwelcome email earlier in the evening (the low point of the week), so I didn’t stay long. Instead, I took a long walk back to the hotel along along the shoulder of the Warsaw highway and thought to myself, “Gee, I really shouldn’t wear all black at night” and hoped none of the trucks would hit me! It was the only way I could get some alone time (that was something I needed that day, and it’s hard to get when you are with people 24/7).

Wednesday night I was treated to a pub crawl by Dorota from the Warsaw H3. We started with dinner at a Balkan restaurant in Warsaw. What is Balkan food, you might ask? Well, what I ate could have been Egyptian food! I shared mezzes, kebab, kofta, and wine. The food was delicious and the restaurant itself had a lot of character. After that, we went to one bar, but the people we were supposed to meet had already left it (dinner went late). At the second bar, we found Jenna. Just as we got our beers, Jenna’s group was moving on to a disco, so we finished the drinks off quickly and joined them. They played 70x/80x music at the disco that night, which was perfect for me since it was all the songs I used to dance to in my youth. We shimmied until about 2 am, and then caught a taxi to Dorota’s. Unfortunately, I only got about three hours of sleep, because I had to get back to Minsk Maz. to teach on Thursday, which took almost two hours by buses and tram. But the lack of sleep was worth it, since I had fun and it kept my mind off things.

Thursday night was experiencing nightlife in Minsk Maz. We went to a bar for karaoke night. It was great! Fueled by Zubrowka and apple juice, we sang and danced our hearts out. Cheryl did a fine job on the power ballad “My Heart Will Go On” (watch out, Celine Dion!), Matt sang “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, Eliza, Cheryl, and I sang “It’s In His Kiss”, and we all killed “Yellow Submarine”, the Grease mix, “Sweet Caroline”, and “Pretty Fly For a White Guy”. On the last one, I was the only one able to sing the verses and follow the words. Not too sure that’s something to be proud of, but hey, I did lose my voice that night. It’s still not back 100%. I was hoarse all day Friday and Saturday. During karaoke, Matt discovered that by chatting with the guys hanging out around the bar, he could get drinks bought for him. So, I gave it a try and started talking to three fine young men. A drink was purchased for me, and I stayed and chatted for a bit. One of the aides, Agata, came up to me to tell me that one of the guys I was talking to (remember, I said they were fine young men) was in her year at school…so he was only 18 or 19. Made me feel like a huge cradle robber, but also grateful that I still don’t look my age. We stumbled back to the hotel around 1:30 am and slept a few hours before going for the last day of the program. Needless to say, that last day I was working on a combined total of seven hours sleep in two days.

And now, I am in Ireland, watching the rain fall, the cows and sheep grazing, and freezing my doupa off. Hopefully it’ll warm up a wee bit and the rains will cease. I’m looking forward to another great week before moving on to NYC, Atlanta, and Elmira.