Friday, July 31 - Build Day 4

Another successful day of building. I was feeling much better today so I was able to get alot done and see the completion of some things I started on Wednesday and Thursday. Pretty much just more wall building. I feel bad though cause I'm pretty sure Bobby (our Georgia companion) spends most of his time inspecting my walls and fixing them than I do building them. Not sure if that's a sign that I can't build straight and level walls or that I just get stuck with already messed up walls. Regardless it's fun.

We also had the opportunity to visit the Gliwice Radio Tower which is apparently the beginning of World War II or so the story goes. It is also the world's largest wooden structure.

Last night was perogies and barszcz (beet soup also known as borscht) night. It was delicious. After a quick mall trip for another shirt (cause I didn't pack enough), I watched Sam (our new Polish friend who's volunteering on the site for his civil engineering practicum) and Bobbie and Michal (our host coordinator for Habitat) play some pin pong and basketball.

We later decided to go out to a free jazz festival that's going on in town this weekend. The concerts are each night and are taking place in the burned out ruins of an old German WW2 era theatre. It was a really good time; I also got to enjoy my first Polish beer which was quite tasty.

My language is starting to get a bit better that I can make my way around some stores and the job site. I've got my numbers 1-8 down (minus some stumbling through a few) and I can now order a beer or two!

Thursday, July 30th - Build Day 3

Today was a hot one! We continued building walls on the second floor. I found today hard as the heat and physical labour were certainly starting to get to me so I took alot of breaks but still had a good time.

Dinner was delicious as usual. This evening was our ping-pong tournament, I really let my polish partner down with my lack of skill though his was not much better. It was a good time though.

Short tonight as I'm exhausted and really need some rest. I will be sure to share some excitment (and stories of real polish perogies) tomorrow night!

*Me! Building a wall!

Wednesday, July 29th - Build Day 2

Another awesome day down. Tiring and hot day though. I'm certainly not used to working in this heat. Another odd meat and vegetable breakfast. Pretty much just lunch sandwiches for breakfast and then again for lunch. We build walls again today -I love it! Minus the doing it wrong alot, haha. We also did some awesome chain transportation of cinder blocks which can be fun (and it works the abs quite nicely).

Dinner was awesome once again. I was pretty worn out though and the heat was getting to me so I didn't enjoy it nearly as much but I got to hear some great stories from some of our group members. Afterwards a few of us wandered to the mall. Which was certainly not what I was expecting, much more modern, huge and fancy than I'd ever expected to find in Poland. We had a nice wander, some got some icecream and I just picked up a few things (chocolate milk- I'll let you know how that goes) at the grocery store. They don't have refrigerated milk...it's all in tetra cartons and not kept cold... really weird.

This evening we had a bit of ping pong playing. I am terrible at it. Absolutely terrible. Which should be interesting as we're supposed to be having a tournament tomorrow evening. Alot of fun though.

I'm really trying to learn the language here, I have discovered how much I love learning new languages. I'm driving the volunteer intern they've got here crazy with my requests for translations though since he's only been here two months there's only so much he can translate for me. Nonetheless I feel I'm getting somewhere. It's really interesting though: I can hear french in the language! We're teaching some of the kids we're working with some English, mainly: "This wall sucks!"

Tonight I'm trying for a later night's sleep cause I"ve been heading to bed around 9ish each evening (completely aware that that's 4pm at home) but then I"m awake and ready to go again at 3am. So we're trying 11 tonight to see if that works better; so off I go!

*Picture is of the walls we've been working on in the upstairs flats of the apartment complex. They're put together with mortar and cinder blocks and will then be plastered over later on.

Tuesday, July 28th - Build Day 1

Build day one is finished! It was a great day. We had all sorts of jobs on the go: I got to lay insulation (styrofoam so no worries) on the ground floor and then we even got a chance to start putting up the walls on the second floor. It's really neat to be working here cause the materials are very different (cinder blocks and mortar and plaster etc). The language barrier hasn't been much of a problem until now when you've got people telling you what to do and you can't understand what they are saying. We're learning to quicky holler for someone who can translate. It's funny that I've built builds in the states and come to Poland and still end up working with American southerners: there's a young guy here working with the Gliwice Affliate from Atlanta Georgia for a few months. He's quite nice and a help for translating though he often gets confused too.

Breakfast was tasty (though different - sliced meats and veggies!) and we made our own bagged "second breakfast" (or lunch as we know it). My team quickly learned I'm a bit clumsy when I cut myself at breakfast, tripped down some stairs and hit my head coming off our bus. I got alot of glances during this morning's safety talk and I think someone else hit their head this afternoon and claimed to have pulled a "Melody". Glad they're learning to mock me already, haha. I had no workplace mishaps however and don't plan on any either. I had a really good time though. It's really nice to not be in the leader position; it's a nice break.

This evening we wandered a bit after dinner (pork and delicious dumplings!). Picked up some more water and some snackfoods. We had the opportunity to go to a music thing at an old church but I was exhausted and figured I'd probably fall asleep so I'm back home now where I can rest up this evening: I think the jet lag, heat and building is already getting to me. (oh no, I know haha).

Things are going great already, we've been starting to plan a bit what we want to do when we arrive back in Krakow but there's so much I want to see and do and I'm realizing I will not get to see it all (Sorry Mom - no Shrine of Divine Mercy). Anyways, it's incredibly hot up here so I'm gonna scoot. :)

*Picture of the building we are working on; building 8 to house 12 families.

Monday, July 27 2009 9:00pm - Gliwice Poland!

We've arrived! The flights were relatively uneventful. I got stuck by the bathroom again and in a seat that didn't recline so I was grumpy when I got to Vienna but I was really relieved when my flight connection in Vienna went very smoothly (and I got my first passport stamp!). I (and my luggage!!)arrived in Krakow and met up with Lesley and Taia. I was tired but pretty darn excited to finally set foot on Polish soil. After an hour and a half in a hot packed van we arrived in Gliwice this afternoon around 2pm (9am in NB!) and got ourselves settled.

We're staying in a school that's empty for the summer. We've got cots in bedrooms, a gym and a basketball court as well as this wonderful computer lab that will allow me to keep this up to date while I'm here! I took a bit of nap as I was exhausted (discovered I didn't know how to work my travel alarm clock as I slept past our meeting time); it was a good refresher. We then had a bit of an orientation and some introduction to who we'll be working with. They have a guy from Georgia here for a few months so we got to chat about builds in the states and such.

Supper was absolutely amazing! I am so excited for the food here. We had a delicious soup and then something they call goulash (essentially just chicken and gravy poured over mashed potatoes) with a delicious pear/carrot mix and pickle beets. We finished with delicious plums for dessert (somehow they are just better in Poland!)

I'm really enjoying myself thus far: the country is beautiful and the people are nice. Our group is really great and we have a great mix of people; our leaders are also pretty awesome. I'm loving the signs, the architecture and the colorful toilet paper! Not so much a fan of the springy cot I'm about to sleep on or the bubbly funny tasting water but it's all part of the beginning of an amazing experience!

Can't wait to share more!!

*Picture is of the school where we are staying.

Sunday, July 26 2009 7:30 Poland Time - Toronto Airport

So I've arrived in Toronto, the flight from home was uneventful, minus the being seated by the washrooms. I've got until 10:30 Poland time for my next flight to Vienna. I've wandered a bit and now I'm just sitting here waiting for the other girls to meet up with me, who I've been chatting with for a few months now. I'm really excited to finally meet them. I found a nice little restaurant for my New Brunswick lunch/Polish supper. I'm hoping to be able to beat this jet lag as the five hour time difference is quite a hassle. As is my very short connection time in Vienna, here's hoping I (and my luggage) can make the connection!