Zakopane, Summer 2009

The Polish people are absolutely wonderful people. In the two weeks that I spent in Poland, being around them was the best part of this experience. They were so happy to have us there and made us feel so welcome, whether it was at our site in Zakopane or during our free time activities.

The country is beautiful. We were settled in the foothills of the mountains. The weather was fantastic. I can't leave out the food, which was delicious.

One weekend, we went to Krakow. It is a beautiful medival city. We toured the salt mines and had a college student take us on a city tour where we saw the actual site of Schindler's List. There is so much to see an do in this country.

The team I was on worked with high school students. We taught them English. The students are so grateful to have native English speakers work with them over the two weeks. The time they spend in the camp improving their English skills enables them to bring more to a college application/experience. We saw the impact we made over the course of two weeks.

We also saw the bigger picture. Because Global Volunteers has been coming to Poland for many years, students who acquire English skills are able to get better jobs. This, in turn, has helped improve the economy of the country of Poland.

Finally, Dorota is fantastic at what she does. She makes sure every volunteer has a positive experience. She was so excited to be able to share her country with us.

I know the volunteers were able to help the students in so many positive ways. At the same time, the entire Polish experience was good for me in so many ways. I highly recommend this program.