Malone Service Learning - Poland

Good flight from Warsaw to Amsterdam - through US security check and at gate awaiting flight to Atlanta.

Today was a day to kick back and prepare for leaving.  Don gave us some directions about using the buses, metro, and trams, helped to steer us to desired directions, and told us when and where to meet this afternoon.  We went in different directions in groups, and all ended up at our rendezvous point.  We ate at a Polish Chinese restaurant before heading back to our hotel to pack, debrief, and share communion together.  Now for a few hours sleep, and then it's off to the airport at 4:00 a.m.  Looking forward to seeing our loved ones in about 36 hours!

We arrived in Warsaw shortly after midnight.  We spent most of the day shopping and touring the sights in Krakow, including Wawel Castle and Wawel Cathedral.  We left Krakow at about 6:00 p.m. and drove to Warsaw.  We stopped for an amazing dinner of Polish cuisine (including smalec - bread with lard - it's much better than it sounds!).  We'll be up early for a free day in Warsaw before heading home on Thursday.  Sleep well!

Today didn’t go exactly as planned, but flexibility is part of the plan.  Our original plan was to have a free day in Krakow after visiting the Schindler Museum, but when we got to the museum shortly after opening time, we discovered that we would have to purchase tickets that were timed for entry over two hours later.  So, we hoped a tram back to the center of town, bid goodbye to Betty, who had to take a train back to Białystok, and went  to the center of Krakow for an hour.  This gave us a little time to shop and to scope out the area for a more extended visit tomorrow.  Then we hopped a tram back to the Schindler Museum (after a bit of uncertainty about which tram number and which stop we needed to find) while a bit of a thunderstorm rolled through the city, followed by occassional periods of light rain off and on throughout the day. The Schindler Museum commemorates the occupation of Krakow by the Nazis and the work of Oskar Schinder to protect Jews.  Schindler, raised with the an...

(Posted by Rachel) – Shocker of shockers! Today the team was actually able to sleep in (sleep? what is that luxury?).  After a restful night and relaxed traditional Polish breakfast – of sandwiches and sausage – our team packed our bags and hit the road. We attended church in Sosnowiec, a church pastored by Daniel.  Don Orr delivered the message in English, and used a translator to re-convey the message in Polish (though Don’s Polish is excellent).  Once again, we experienced something incredible – a unity in Christ that goes beyond the bounds of language and culture.  Though we are so different, the God that we praise is the same.  How great is Yahweh! After church we bid Daniel and his sweet family goodbye after sharing an incredible Polish buffet.  We then drove from Sosnowiec to Krakow, and attended another service at Graceland Language School, where a young man from Ukraine (who speaks 5 languages!) led a nice discussion about dealing with temptation, based on the life of Joseph. ...

Everyone is safe and well.  Sometimes, it’s better to start with the conclusion before giving the details, and this is one of those days.  It was also a day that reminded me of Proverbs 27:1, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”  Our Saturday in southern Poland started off with beautiful weather, meeting up with a group of young adults who had been invited by Daniel’s church to go hiking.  Daniel couldn’t join us because his wife was in labor – and we found out later that he and Gosia now have a healthy baby boy, Jeremiah Adam.  Our Polish hosts had planned a day that was a bit more elaborate than we had envisioned, including rock climbing, a competitive race between two castles, and roasting kielbasa in a bonfire. By 11:00 we pulled into the parking lot of the national park, staring straight at the ruins of an old stone castle.  We packed up our gear and headed to the campsite a kilometer away, wending our way around the castle ruins, with alpine fo...

Dr. E. here – I feel bad that I’m doing most of the blog updates as I know you would like to hear from others, but by the time we get back to the hotel most of the students are ready to crash.  Today was a very long, very good day.  After breakfast at our hotel, we traveled about 20 minutes to the town of Będzin,  Several months ago, I had contacted a Polish friend from past trips named Asia (“Ah-sha”) to let her know we would be in her part of Poland.  She arranged to have an English language fair for her high school students, and also invited middle school students.  This was a really big deal.  There was a large bulletin board filled with pictures and information about Malone University, and we found out that Asia has been having her students surf Malone’s website to find out things about the school that interested them.  We were welcomed in the auditorium by the principal of the high school, and engaged in an exchange of gifts.  Dr. Harris and I later met with Asia and the principa...