Our weird EVS family - Regionalne Centrum Wolontariatu w Kielcach

Transcription

Our
weird
EVS
family
July 15
2016
Every family is a little bit weird. We can't choose them, so inevitably
there's going to be some aspects of the family dynamic that creep us
out. It’s the same story with the EVS flat-mates. Lucky for us, we all
were little weird, and that made the things to be easier and much more
interesting during our volunteering in Kielce.
9 months of
an EVS
adventure in
Kielce…
Our weird EVS family
MEET THE TEAM !
Hello, everyone! Thanks for coming to
read our blog about our time during
EVS. My name is Jack and I’m from the
United Kingdom. I recently graduated
from University College London and
decided to spend a year volunteering
after spending some time in New York
City last summer researching an
organisation where volunteering was a
crucial part of their success.
I came to Kielce to promote volunteering
because I witnessed how important it is
for people to volunteer. I want to not
only volunteer myself, but inspire as
many people as possible to volunteer
too. When I’m not working, I’m usually
always listening to music, watching a
film, and I’ve recently started to write a lot more, things like poems and short stories.
I’m really happy to be here, I’m learning a lot and I don’t want the experience to be over!
https://sve2015.wordpress.com/
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Olá!
I am Sofia from Portugal born in Lisboa!
Young girl that like to laugh, polish
cakes, cultures, history, music, dance,
internet, calm days in home sometimes,
exciting books and I wish a exciting life
forever!
I am student of African studies! When I
finish my degree I started realising that I would love to share my knowledge with others
and learn a lot from different people so EVS was the best opportunitty do it! Now Im
leaving in Kielce and travelling sometimes around meeting new people and getting a lot
of good vibes and storys from people of different parts of the world! I am Happy and I
like to share that happiness with the others! Adeus!!!
Agathe
Bonjour, I’m Agathe and I’m a young French
student in Performing Arts. I live in ClermontFerrand, the city of Michelin man company (as you
can see: I didn’t loose my roots.) I’m currently in
Poland for 9 months for a deep EVS experience. I
decided to take a gap year in my studies to
improve my English, discover a new country, and
think about my professional orientation. For now,
my English is improving (well.. I hope), I’m
sharing a lot, I discover so many things I would not
have seen before. I’m happy, feeling cold, but I
love this new life.
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JESTEM
FRANCUZEM
My dear flatmates proposed to create
this article in order to allow people
discover us via a short bio.
Unfortunately for me I really dislike
speaking about myself. Fortunately for
you, I really want to improve myself.
That’s principally the reason why I am
participating to this volunteering in
Poland. Doing things I am not use to do, meeting new people, undertaking projects… I
am glad to be able to increase my comfort zone with you today.
My name is Corentin, I am 21, and I come from a small and quiet city calls Châteauroux
in France. I studied multimedia for two years. I like squirrels, sushis, and travelling. I am
an easy-going person, quite introverted, but I am strongly conviced that open us to the
world is the best way for getting more active and confident.
This description is already getting too long in my opinion. Why not rather meet us for
talking together ?
ЗДРАВО / ZDRAVO!
My name is Kristina, and I’m coming from
Skopje, Macedonia. At the beginning, I’ll
have to admit, if a year ago someone asked
me where will I like to go for my EVS, I
would probably not mention Poland in that
list. But in meantime, I visited Krakow and
Wroclaw, and changed my mind. So here I
am now, 9 months in Kielce, living together with 4 other people from different countries,
and it’s really cool.
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One of the things that I really like about my EVS experience, is that together with all the
profesional and language skills that I’m gaining, I’m getting to feel the mix of the
different cultures, and enjoy learning about them. Since my biggest passion is traveling, I
sure want to visit as more places and cities in Poland until I’m here, and even further. I
love music, movies, dancing, beer and sweets, so, I definitely enjoy my stay here in
Poland.
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DISCOVERING THE LANDSCAPES
October 13, 2015
Here comes Autumn in Poland and I’m already feeling cold !! But the weather is so
good… Leaves are yellow, conkurs are rolling in the street (Jack sometimes tries to make
point in the dustbins with some of them..). So let’s discover new landscapes, Kielce’s one
and we have also taken some walks in the woods… In the winter this kind of activity will
be impossible, my feet will be frozen!
So, we went for a walk with a group of students in Maslow. Then I discovered the natural
landscapes of Poland for the first time and I loved it! Tall skinny green trees, yellow
flowers everywhere, lots wheat, I felt at peace with the atmosphere ^^ That’s why I lost
myself in the woods with a student ! It’s not surprising, I’m always lost This moment in
the woods in the top of Maslow was really fun and I enjoyed the nice view of Kielce I had
from the mountains.
I discovered the same kind of natural elements during our long walk though the woods
with Sofia and Coco. I’d like to go to Biesak białogon reserve in Kielce but I didn’t know
it was so far away ! (about 6km walk) So we walked and I met the tall trees again, I liked
them, they make me feel smaller than I am already . Bieasak reserve was a bit dirty, but
the sun was shining, the birds was chirping and all was beautiful. In the middle of the
woods we met people looking for mushrooms and it reminded me of my parents doing the
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same in France We also found many places of religious contemplation (amazing!) But I
have never seen them located in the wood before !
Well, maybe I will discover a new hobby for walking and nature in Poland? Work in
progress..!
Agathe
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SCHOOL PRESENTATIONS
October 27, 2015
Already one month with the association, I think it’s time to speak a little bit about what
we have had to do during the first weeks. Especially the many presentations we have
made in different schools around the region of Kielce.
Presenting What?
The main aim of these presentations is to promote volunteering, and especially European
Voluntary Service to young people. But not only! It is also time for us to speak about our
respective countries, our cultures, and make them discover some universes maybe a little
bit different than what they are used to. And that is great, because it is an opportunity for
young people to see far and learn about others. According to me, they are lucky to be able
to discuss with us (what modesty!), to hear new English accents, and ask some questions
about our ways of life…
I would have liked have this kind of opportunity.
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Do young people really like that?
Actually, it’s not as easy as that, because every presentation is different. And in some
cases, it can be very difficult to arouse the interest of young people. It always depends on
the same things like the age of the students, their number, hobbies, proportion of boys and
girls, and even the behavior of the teacher.
The easiest case for now, I think, is our presentation for a primary class of 50 children
who were around 6 or 10 years old. It can seem a lot, but actually (except the noise!) it
was totally manageable, because children are interested in everything new.
“Is it true French people eat snails?”
“Yes”
“uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh”
On the other hand, it could be a little bit complicated to arouse the interest a group of
twenty boys 13 to 15 years old, only interested in football.
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Finally, I think the most interesting exchanges happen with small mixed groups of 17 year
olds. Especially when their teacher manages to motivate them by asking good questions at
a good time!
Do we like that?
We are repeating the same thing presentation, but I am always impatient to make new
ones in new places. Of course, in a few months, when we will be used to do that, it will
probably be more boring. But today, we always have to make an effort for adapting us to
the class, because we cannot say the same thing in the same way for 7 year old children or
17 year old students. The problem of interactivity is also subtle. How to make young
people participate, we have to work on it too.
The team with Kuba, our mentor
In brief, it is only the beginning of these kinds of activities. Each presentation allows us to
add new enhancements to our speech, and become a little bit more pertinent. And the
visits at the university have just started.
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“THE TRAIN TO KLIMONTOW”
November 2, 2015
We take the train in the the PkP station, a old school transport but super cool. When you
go in the train It’s seems to be in the last century atmosphere until the reviewer of tickets
comes with a gadget from the future that take off tickets of a fancy paper as silk…
The voyage was so comfortable that I fall asleep a lot of times for long minutes, when I
opened my eyes for several times I was always in the middle of the camp, with green
landscapes, tractors, farmers and rustic houses like in the movies.
In each “station”, I saw always a woman or man controlling the traffic of the trains and
the railroad crossing inside of small and simple house.
The day was great in Klimontow!
By Sofia Yala
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ON-ARRIVAL TRAINING IN WARSAW
January 15, 2016
An essential part of any European Voluntary Service programme is to attend two
training sessions during your stay. The first, On-Arrival Training, should occur
within 60 days of you entering whichever country your project takes place within.
There is also Mid-Term Training which should take place somewhere roughly in
the middle of your stay. As we were waiting for the 5th and final volunteer to
arrive for just over a month, we had to wait a little longer for our On-Arrival
Training! Eventually, on the 14th December, just before the Christmas break, the
five of us set off on a Polski Bus to Warsaw to stay in a hostel for the week with
volunteers from other cities in Poland, and originally from many other countries in
Europe.
I have to say that even though I hadn’t set any expectations of the week in terms
of how meaningful it would be for my EVS, I was massively looking forward to a
week in the capital city, and having a break from normal routine. The work that
we do in Kielce is often really rewarding, especially when the young people we
are communicating with seem enthused and active, but to change the schedule a
little bit was something I was very ready for after 3 months of solid and intense
work. I was also travelling with an open mind regarding Warsaw. I had been once
in 2012, and then just for a day in November with the other volunteers to watch a
concert. Both times though, it’s hard to pinpoint why, but I hadn’t really been sold
on the feel and atmosphere of the place. It’s really cool that this city was rebuilt
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completely following the end of WW2, but I just don’t feel at home here in
comparison to somewhere like Krakow, which is one of my favourite places in the
world.
Arriving on Monday afternoon, we met the other volunteers pretty quickly (there
were 25 of us in total) and went to walk around the park next to our hostel in
order to introduce ourselves. I have never said my name so many times in such a
short period of time, but you know what? It actually worked, and I could tell you
the names of all the other 24 volunteers and I’m hoping they’d be able to tell you
mine. We spoke about different topics with different groups and participated in
making some maps out of people about where we’re from originally and where
we’re staying now in Poland. It wasn’t too early to say that we had made new
friends from cities across Poland like Gdansk, Lublin, Warsaw, Wroclaw and
Krakow.
We were staying south of the city centre, but close to a really cool neighbourhood
near to the Metro Wilanowska station where we went for a drink on the first night
(and many other nights after that in the name of team bonding). A guided tour of
the whole city on the second night by a great tour guide already made me see
Warsaw in a different light and I could sense my opinion changing about it. Not
staying in the historic part of the city made me appreciate what life is like living in
this city and to live there every day is probably a completely different experience
to visiting as a tourist. During the week we had many different tasks, like sharing
aspects of our own culture, learning about the different EVS projects of other
volunteers and even getting exposed to some traditional Polish dancing. I
unashamedly won a competition against four others to crack a whip and now on
our living room wall is my diploma celebrating my success in traditional Polish
arts!
Maybe my favourite part of the week was when we had to design our own
research projects, then go out into the city to discover something specific about a
place or an aspect of Polish culture. I decided to join the group that wanted to go
to Praga, historically viewed as a more dangerous part of Warsaw, to gauge local
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opinion of this location and create our own opinions too. I really loved the
architecture of the blocks of flats, with open squares in the middle and dark,
untidy stairwells leading to pretty much nowhere. We discovered that for the
people of Praga, they actually felt a strong sense of community and the opinions
of others were not necessarily the opinions that they had of themselves. A good
lesson to remember, I think. One guy in particular was super happy to talk to us,
and spoke about how he learned English through listening to The Beatles and
reading as much as he could. He was nothing but friendly to us, and we went
back to persuade the others that Praga isn’t such a scary place after all.
It’s hard for me to really put into words how deeply meaningful and revealing the
On-Arrival Training was, and maybe I’ll write another blog post about it later when
I manage to do so, but it really reaffirmed for me the reasons why I came to do
EVS in the first place and solidified in my mind that this is the correct time in my
life for me to be doing something like this. I met so many new friends, learned so
much about myself and about other people, about Poland, about why we’re here
and about how we can improve as we continue on throughtout our EVS project.
So, until next time, na razie!
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MY FIRST FRENCH LESSONS
January 18, 2016
Part of our EVS work in the Centrum Wolontariatu is to create workshops for youth. The
Polish programme, “Przystanek Młodych”, includes free workshops for the people of
Kielce led by the volunteers of the association. I decided to give one hour every friday
especially dedicated to basic French lessons. Such a nice discovery! For the students, but
also for me.. I’m learning more everytime about french grammar construction and to say
the truth, my colleagues give me some advice to improve my Polish ! I really enjoy this
kind of exchange as if sometimes, I have the impression of not being professional
enough… At the end, I know that
it’s not the meaning of those
workshops (fortunately!), and that
allows me to fix some objectives
every week. Every week, I try to
remind my student by a facebook
event to come to my workshop.
Some of them teach me new
things about french language, like
one
student
who
told
me a quotation from Antoine de
Saint Exupery, I was impressed!
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10 REASONS WHY I LIKE MY EVS
IN KIELCE
January 20, 2016
Hi, my name is Kristina and in the past two and a half months, I am doing my EVS in
Kielce.I will have to admit, the first days were kind of hard for me, but it was just a
normal proces of adaptation in the new enviroment.
Now, I can just feel the benefits of the decision to be part of this program. My first post in
this blog it’s going to be dedicated to the things that I really like about this town.
Even though I have noticed that many young people are not so impresed by their
hometown, I think that there are a lot cool things that you can do in Kielce, and enjoy in
them. I know that this will sound like the bigest cliche in the world, but one of the most
important things probably is to be surrounded by the right people, and I think that I was
lucky enough to met this kind of guys here.
The further lines will be a list od my favorite things in Kielce:
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1. Sienkiewicza Street
I realy like this street. It’s definitly the first thing that I noticed when I arrived here. I
especialy like Sienkiewicza in the fridays and when the weather it’s sunny. There are so
many people who are passing by, and make the city look more alive and dinamic.
2. The hot beer
Whoever came with this
invention is a genius! This is
something that I’ve never
tried before, and I love it!
3. The sweets
Makowiec, pączek, piernik and my favorite chocolate trufles…
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Our Christmas Present from Agathe
4. The beautiful natural surroundings
The city park is my favorite place in the center of the city. But beside that, if you want to
enjoy in the nature, you have a couple of places where you can actualy have a brake.
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Kadzielnia, park Krajobrazowy, Mojcza, and many others that we still haven’t visited.
Since they look so beautiful in autumn and winter, I can just imagine how they are gonna
look like in spring, when all the trees are going to be green, and the flowers will bloom.
5. Because it’s between Krakow and Warsaw
Okay, I know that this doesn’t sound really local patriotic, but I have to admit that I’m
glad that Kielce is really close to the most touristic cities in Poland. Beside that, I have
impression that here, in Kielce, we are learning more about the Polish culture, and in the
same time, we are always excited when we are visiting Krakow and Warsaw.
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6. Because of the pierogis
I think that the first two months I was eating so much pierogis, that now I’m kind of
borred of them. Lucky for us, the office of Regionalne Centrum Wolontariatu is really
close to the milk bar, so we can buy a really tasty traditional polish food, for unbelievably
low prices. Beside that, we really like the lady who is working there. Pani Ewa is always
smiled and incredibly nice.
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7. The second hand shops
Before I came here, I was never buying clothes from a second hand store. Doing an EVS
can change your perception about a lot of things, and for me, this was one of them. There
are plenty of good second hand shops in Kielce, where you can find nice and quality robe
for a ridiculous price (We found cool coats in Vive for 11 pln, so now I have six of them).
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We look fabulous!
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8. Because of all the nice people that we met here
As I said at the begining, being sorounded with the right people is one of the most
imporant things in our lifes. I don’t know if it’s just because we are foreingers in Kielce,
but I have impresion that everytime we go out, we are meeting new friends. At my
birthday party here, I had more guests than I have ever had in Macedonia (true story).
Now, it’s kind of hard to feel like a forainger here because everywhere we go, we are with
friends that we met here, or know some of the people that are in the same place as us.
9. The work in Regionalne Centrum Wolontariatu
Yes, doing an EVS it doesn’t mean that we are just parting, or that we came here just for
fun. It means that we have to work as any other person, having polish lessons, and
completing different kinds of tasks. The school visits, preparing and giving presentations
and workshops, are helping me to learn new things every day.Of course, there are days
when I would rather seat at home in my pajamas than go to the schools in Ostrowiec or
some other cities (it’s just an example), but that’s not the meaning of EVS.
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10. My Polish family
This is definitely my favorite thing here. Although we are all having a different characters
and habits, I really like the
chemistry that we have. We
are working and living
together, so naturally, they
are my closest friends here.
They are the reason that I
never feel lonely here, and
the reason that I can feel
and call our yellow house
in Wydrynska “my home”.
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WALKING ON A FROZEN LAKE
January 20, 2016
When I was still in France, people were used to tell me about my journey in Poland that I
will have to prepare me against the cold. “Na! It cannot be so terrible” I was thinking
most of the time. The weather was honestly not my main worry at this moment. But
now I met the wintertime in Poland, I know (and especially my toes) that buying winter
shoes is also an important part of the project…
However, it finally doesn’t matter how hard is the cold. Because we all of us have had the
opportunity to discover something that no one os us had seen before this EVS in Poland.
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THE SIGNS OF THE COL D
Sofia is disovering the snow
Just after our come back in Poland (we all passed two weeks outside of Kielce
during Christmas), we started to feel a little bit change with the weather. Windier,
snowier, and particularly colder. I have never experimented -15°C in my life… but it was
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the real temperature in Starachowice, for our first day of work. Such a terrible experience,
when your are not prepare for it !
But at the opposite, we were strongly excited to see this weather, probably because we
wanted to see the snow, a lot of snow, a mass of snow. So cold, but in the same time, so
beautiful. It is like if the good mood was falling with this frozen water.
B U T T H E R E I S M O R E T H AN T H E S N O W …
We were waiting for the bus in Starachowice (almost paralysed by this new cold), and
Jack saw it. This huge area of immobilized water. All kind of life in this lake looked to be
unabled to move. The low sun was reflecting on the surface. What an irealistic scenery. It
is spectacular.
I would have been able to stay there or hours, just looking this landscape, but of course
Jack did it… It was probably a desire too strong for keeping it inside, so he decided to
walk on this frozen lake whithout any hesitation. At this instant, I just thought he was
crazy, but I finnally understand him. It is like a dream, almost a a fantasy, and the
opportunity was too perfect.
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Come on Guys ! There is fifteen fucking centimeters of ice !
A crazy English
I don’t know if his argument was right, but we didn’t hesitate too long for joining him,
and experiment the cold in Poland.
O N E O F M Y B E S T E X P E R I E N C E I N P O L AN D
Since this day, we found some other lake around Kielce whose one of them is situated at
bout 25 minutes of walk from our flat (in the countryside). The view is always incredible.
It looks to be quite usual for Polish people, but for us, it is really magic.
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Walking on a frozen lake
I would have never thought experiment
something like that during my volunteering. It
is, from my point of view, one of my best
experience, in this country. Sliding, dancing,
screaming alone int this whole lake make me
feel just glad and peaceful. I finaly wish this
cold go on a little bit longer.
Angels in Poland
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NASTĘPNY PRZYSTANEK
January 26, 2016
I’m in Poland since 4 months
now, and I had now the
opportunity to observe the way
of life of polish people, and to
emerge in the heart of this
culture, unknown to me before !
I have lots of different option to
gaze at people and to see how
they are different, how they
make the things differently from
my culture. But I can also see
how polish people can be so
close to me.
A BUS LOVE STORY
All basically began in the bus. That’s seems weird isn’t it ? To tell the truth, I have never
ever passed as much time in buses since I’m in Poland ! Between the Eurolines, the
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Polskibus, the one which link up our house to the office, the other one that we have to
take to visit schools… Trust me: your warrior experience will begin once in the bus !
CLERMONT-FERRAND TO KIELCE: LET’S ENJOY 30 HOURS BUS
One of my longest and funniest bus story must be my “Euroline’s Experience”. Actually,
it’s a real experience, and a kind of struggle against… the hours ! But it’s also the
memory of my departure. Going up in this Eurolines (that I almost missed), 30 hours to
think, to realize that I’m living, watching around and trying to know where are people
going. Not to cry… The discovery really began when I first set next to this cut fat
Portuguese grandpa, the one which scared away my melancholy. Then, when I met this
French girl making a half year of Erasmus in Lublin. She’s the one which made me feel
less alone. I tried to communicate in English with the polish driver: my so romantic
French accent doesn’t touch with the “No English At All” of the guy… I observed the
landscapes, trying to know where I was when I saw… Kielce. 30 hours of bus is finally
not so long… And now, thanks to Polskibus company, I’m always travelling by bus in
Poland! But to come back, I know I will book a flight
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One of the Autobus we use to visit schools
AUTOBUS: OUR EVERYDAY LIFE
Actually, I spend a lot of time in the bus every
week, a precious time through which I can talk
about my experience. Everyday I’m living
home and try to catch the bus in Zagorska or
Sandomierska streets. As, everyday, Iate I am. But I know that once in the bus I will
discover something new. Once standing at the bus stop, I know that I will have a new
story to tell. For example this old lady that I met an evening : she was felling exciting to
talk to a foreigner from…France? In Kielce? The nanny was taking care of me in this
winter time. Looking at my white face… A guy was translating all its interrogations “Do
you have a sister?”-“In which street do you live?” My 15 min waiting were great!
Sometimes I begin to get confused when people manage to talk with me. The only thing I
can say is this sentence that I learned one’s fingertips:
“Przepraszam, nie mówie po polsku”.
Here a broken communication sets up dued to the barrier of language. But it can be funny
when people try to whisper you a “Merci madame”! Such a prestige…
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THOSE THINGS I SEE
Women wearing fur coat-hats fur-sweater fur. A lot of fur in the bus, people protect they
skin against the cold! You also can’t escape to the old ladies and their pretty berets. From
all the sizes, colors, substances… At the beginning, the girls and I were often looking at
those fancy hats, that each of them wear everytime. I see nannies, meeting in those buses
as everyday to talk about (weather?)… And drunk men sometimes, sleeping in the bus. I
like to see the reaction of people when they hear an English accent. Surprised, confused,
interested? Sometimes I’m feeling like stranger in front of their expression- Sometime,
I’m feeling home.
Selling furs in Warsaw
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1 OF JANUARY
February 9, 2016
1 of january after the sylvester everyone is trying to get back the energies to restart one
more year. But also was my birthday, the first time that I passed the day without my
parents. So I was ecited to have a new experience and new views because in the same
time I was travelling since my trip back to poland from Portugal.
Me and Agathe were ready to leave wroclaw and go to a different city,Katowice. But
before we’re looking for hostel, but all them were booked and quite expensive . So We
had the idea of jump in the adventure of couchsurfing for the first time together.
On the site of courchsurfing I send a message to some people but only one had the contact
available. So I contacted that girl, she was amazing and accept as, actually her birthday
were at 2 of january too.
So we get the crazy polski bus in direction of katowice. Industrial city totally different of
the other cities that we meet until now. Was so cold, so when we arrived we took a tram
straight to the area where the girl live. Then already in the area we went to a gas station to
thing, ask for directions and don’t die with cold.
I ask to the women of the store if it’s possible to charge the phone. And she said: Nie. So I
saw some two young girls around and ask them if I can use their phone to make a fast call
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that I’ll pay for it in money. The did stranges faces but onegive me the phone and I call to
the girl and she didn’t accept my money eh eh
After we ask to a guy about the directions to the area and he said that the taxi driver that
was drinking a coffee in the gas station can take us until there. We didn’t had 10 zl so the
guy paid half of the bill of the taxi, so we took the taxi until the house of the girl and paid
only 5 zl.
The door of the house was so old and strange that we started shaking. But when we went
inside everything was perfect and the girl and really nice cakes in home**
Bling Bling
Sofia Yala Rodrigues
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ZAKOPANE
February 9, 2016
When living in a foreign country for an extended amount of time, I think something you
should definitely try to do is to visit as many places as you can whilst you have the
chance. So last week, I invited a friend from the UK over to Poland to spend a little winter
break in Zakopane, known informally as the “winter capital of Poland”.
I should mention that before we travelled to Zakopane, Rich (the friend) came to Kielce
for one night and was instantly introduced to Polish hospitality at the celebratory party of
one of our Polish friends for graduating from university (congratulations, Mateusz!).
There were many offerings of vodka shots and kiełbasa and a bunch of people trying to
talk to us about the English Premier League with broken English by just reeling off the
names of players for respective teams. I think we were both ready to head to the
mountains.
The bus to Zakopane should only take around 4 hours, but as is traditional with the
Polskibus company, it arrived into Kielce around 20 minutes late. Usually, I don’t mind,
but on this particular morning the temperature was -17 degrees and Rich and I took to
walking around in small circles to try to keep our toes warm. It didn’t work. Then on the
leg of the journey between Kraków and Zakopane, our bus driver decided to go full
renegade. He took a definite detour through tiny, country roads before arriving at a bridge
that was half the size of our bus and could only handle a certain weight. The bus stopped
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in front of it for a second, and I could hear the cogs of the driver’s mind working, trying
to calculate whether we could make it across. We couldn’t. So, we turned back the way
we came, adding an hour or so onto our journey, but finally heading towards Zakopane.
The day was still cold when we arrived, but the weather was clear and we got our first
glimpse of the impressive Tatra Mountains, which surround Zakopane on one side, as it
lies in a valley between the Tatras and Gubołówka Hill. Night was approaching though,
so we didn’t choose to explore so much yet. We just walked up the main street of the
town, chose a place to get some food where there was a candle placed between us and we
were given free prosecco (maybe they thought we were on a date, which is cute) and then
went to watch some handball in an underground bar where we could try to get warm.
Page 39
Our experience in this bar, “The Vintage Pub”, deserves a paragraph all to itself, so I will
give it one. Firstly, before I get to the handball match, I would guess that 99.5% of the
British population have absolutely NO idea about the rules of the game, or knew that the
European Championship was taking place over the past few weeks or, in fact, even cared
that it was happening. It is just not a sport that we have adopted. Secondly, on the
weekend that we arrived, the ski jumping World Cup was being held in Zakopane, so
many fans (and many loud vuvuzela type horns) had travelled to Poland to watch.
Thirdly, the handball game that we were about to watch was between Poland and Norway,
so with the influx of fans for the ski jumping, the bar was equally divided between
Norwegians and Poles. And us. A couple of handball-ignorant Brits. The national
anthems were sung, and applauded by both sets of fans, and then the game started! We
got into it by singing “Polska! Biały i czerwony!” (Poland! White and red!), but by the
end of the game were incredibly distracted. We made friends with a pair of incredibly
drunk guys from Łódź, and as you can see in the picture below, I exchanged hats for a
little while with one of them. After an hour or so of me drumming on the tables and my
hat-swapping-friend rapping over the beat I created, Poland lost the handball game by 2
goals. I’m going to blame that for what happened next. I decided it was time to swap the
hats back, I needed my thick wooly one for the upcoming days after all, but the guy I had
swapped with had fallen asleep in his chair. His other friend, who was still awake, saw me
doing this and had anextreme reaction to it. Perhaps he thought the trade was permanent,
but he started cursing at me in Polish and saying some other words that I told him I didn’t
understand, but he insisted that I did. It all turned sour in under a minute, and he left. I
waved to say goodbye, he stuck his middle finger up. The dangers of drinking, boys and
girls!
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Anyway, that didn’t dampen our spirits, we were still super happy to be there, so we woke
up bright and early the next morning to catch the bus to the National Park and take on the
walk to Morskie Oko, the largest lake in the Tatra Mountains. I had asked the receptionist
of our hostel the night before whether any hiking trails were closed because there was a
lot of snow on the ground, but she said they were all always open and it was up to you
personally whether you wanted to take them on. To prepare, me and Rich had read
through the Wikihow page on “how to survive an avalanche”, which didn’t really prepare
us, more terrify us! In any case, despite the snow, the path from the entrance of the
National Park up to lake is in summer, a large asphalt path, so there was no serious hiking
involved. We even felt confident (or arrogant) enough to take a small break in the
avalanche zone and pose for a photo standing next to the warning sign.
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The walk was full of incredibly dramatic and overwhelming scenery, where we would be
walking through snow covered trees in the forest for some
time, before turning a corner to reveal sensational mountain
vistas, with low-lying clouds moving across the tops of each
mountain slowly, hiding each peak before they announced
themselves suddenly as part of the landscape. There was hardly
a moment where you could not pay
attention. The walk takes you incredibly
close to the Slovakian border, with the
mountains forming a natural border
between the two countries. In total, the walk should take around 3
hours but we were constantly stopping to make short videos, play
with the snow, and take photographs. I think the photos of the walk
might be better to express how incredible the views were so here’s
a photographic summary of our journey.
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But, none of these photos yet included the actual lake. If you didn’t know that there was a
lake there, at the summit of this walk, you could arrive and have next to no idea, but that
really doesn’t mean that the destination was not impressive. You arrive to an open space,
with some of the tallest mountains of the walk surrounding your position. Fir and pine
trees enclose this huge, open expanse of snow, which rests untouched, around 2-3 feet
deep, which itself sits on top of 10 inches or more of ice, which has frozen above the
entire of Morskie Oko, stopping this lake and place in time. As soon as we arrived, we
walked out onto this ice and for some time, we were the only two people on the entire
lake. There was literally no noise. It was perfect. We would later cross the lake over to the
other side and climb a small incline to reach a frozen waterfall, but before that, we went
into a small wooden lodge that is built next to the lake for a celebratory beer. That was
perfect too.
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Previous people who had crossed the lake had sort of trodden down the snow on a certain
section to make the walk easier. In contrast, we decided to go where no human had gone
before and cross the lake through the 3 foot snow. And wow! It was so tiring, it was like
having to walk up one of the mountains even though we were on the flattest part of the
entire trip. Then to compliment the avalance picture of Rich, I walked beyond a sign that
Page 45
told people not to walk on this section. Jokes aside, I didn’t venture too far. And in terms
of not venturing too far, we started to climb the face of one of the mountains to reach a
frozen waterfall; this was worth the hike and we had a great aerial view of the lake from
the opposite side, but in terms of going further and to the peak, we had no chance without
hiking poles and spikes on the bottom of our shoes. So, we had to enjoy the short but
slippery walk to the waterfall and enjoy the beauty of its frozen descent before walking
the 3 hours back to the bus whilst lazier travellers got the horse-drawn sleigh.
The next day, we became those lazy travellers! We caught the cablecar to the top of
Gubołówka bright and early again. The view from the top was really great, with a mostly
blue sky to see each and every Tatra and Zakopane sleeping below. We had arrived so
early that almost nobody was at the top yet, and we had pretty much the whole panorama
to ourselves. As we walked 30 minutes across the ridge of the hill, I got into an altercation
with a dog whilst trying to take a picture of a cat and for a brief few minutes, we also
thought the world was ending as we heard alarms and sirens heading our way before we
turned around to see that a fire had broken out behind us. It was weird that with just us
two walking up there, the world really could have been descending into chaos elsewhere
and we would literally have no idea. Anyway, it wasn’t ending, not to worry. We
continued and chanced upon 6 people about to ride snowmobiles for an hour, which we
rapidly made 8. The ride began just as snow started to fall heavily, and I was the
passenger for the first half an hour. I was leaning left and right as we turned (very
necessary) but also just gawping at the open expanses of land, brief glimpses of, you
guessed it, mountains, and incredible (and I promise never repetitive) scenes in front of
my eyes. That part was fun, for sure, but riding it, maybe more so, as I kept hanging back
from the leader as long as I could before going full throttle to reach 60km/h, at least. Not
sure how happy Rich was about that reckless driving though.
Page 46
But I can positively say that we were both beyond happy with the weekend and a bit that
we spent there. I have already written so much about it, but there was even more! The
pierogi, the part where I almost managed to order an entire meal in Polish before falling at
the last hurdle (getting better), the part where we made a snowman called Sidski, the part
where I slipped for 10 metres and almost broke the GoPro, the part where we just watched
a film at home because we were so tired (“NO SHOOTOUTS?!”), our own little walking
tour of Zakopane on the final day and the uneventful return to Kielce, where we both
collapsed into a deep, deep sleep. Zakopane, I promise I’ll be back in summer to tackle
your steepest and highest hikes in safer and much less icy conditions!
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WELCOME TO CAMPOSFERA
February 12, 2016
These are the notes of a weenkend outside of Kielce. A weekend that we probably all
secretly expected in the village of our mentor. A peaceful place that we like for its simple
beauty, and the change of scene it can offer us. This is a weekend in Klimontów.
I really love them. Those old trains equipped with compartments that we see only in the
movies, which ride across the province as slow as possible, for a ridiculous price. This is
the transportation we usually use to reach Klimontów, tiny village situated at an hour of
Kielce, with barely 300 citizens. During this journey, I can feel an excitation generally
stronger than during our simple visits in the diverse schools of the region. Why ? Because
we are going to meet our mentor, Kuba, within his organisation Camposfera.
Page 48
A mentor in a EVS is someone with a relatively important place. Extern to our
organisation, he is our support, adviser, and reference in case of any particular problems.
A sort of guide, who, time to time, offers us a kind of break in our “routine” with inviting
us to participate to the life of his organisation. And this is especially, in my opinion, the
most exciting part of his role.
Klimontów is the perfect place for a change of scene, of habits and mood. When you get
off the train in the middle of nowhere, cross by walk the railway in order to get the
village, and finally cross your paths with chicken, pigs, and old people who are staring at
you, you are feeling teleported in a completly different world. The atmosphere is there,
really chilled, and the landscapes very shooting.
DO IT YOURSELF !
I already learnt plenty of things since the beginning of
my volunteering in september. Improve my english,
express me in front of a class, lead activities are
probably the most obvious. But I absolutely didn’t think
I will be confronted to more manual tasks.
Camposfera is situated in the place of an old school,
today converted into a space able to welcome groups of
young people for trainings of several days. Showers,
dormitories, kitchen, common room, everything is renovated at a lower cost, by
volunteers with a young and dynamic spirit. It is with this in mind that Kuba asked us to
make from A to Z, a piece of furtnitures thanks to a bunche of crates.
It sounded very exciting to me. Create an object so imposing by my own, is something I
have never done in my whole life. It had to be a funny experience.
Sand, paint, varnish, then saw and pierce during the two days of our stay. Maybe at the
beginning, we didn’t really believe that we could be able to arrive at the end of this
exercice. Bu finally we managed it. We organised us in order to find the best
arrangement, we listened to the advices of Dawid to use his tools, and we setted to work
to carry out what we didn’t think we were able to do.
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Finnaly, we finished the day with the feeling to have accomplished something, and gained
many new competences.
BECOMING A DIFFERENT
VOLUNTEER
Camposfera is really a place where we learn to see the world
differently. We take our time, we listen, and we learn with the
pace of the countryside. Observing Kuba cooking the result of
his vegetable garden by all the possible ways, is one of the
thing I prefere (I would have never imagined enjoy a beetroot
steak). Once we are full, we chill out, discuss about our
volunteerings, learn a little bit more about each other. I
become aware that Camposfera is one this place kinda special,
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where the time passes much more faster than outside.
I wish coming back soon. At this moment, who knows, the Camposfera family will be
maybe bigger…
Page 51
TORÚN
April 8, 2016
The city of Nicolaus Copernicus, the older cities of Poland
was the localization of our middle term training. This time
not all the team was there. Only me(Sofia), Coco and
Kristina. Not even the last mates we meet in the first training.
So it was a totally new experience for us.
The Hostel was totally in the midle of the city, in front of a
big church. This time we had different rooms, more comfy
and a pretty bohemian style. I felt really comfortable so I
passed all the training walking around the hotel with socks
while the rest of the team was being polite using shoes.
The week was amazing, we walk around the medieval city, we went to the theater, we did
outside activities like the one in a beautiful museum of photography. And of course, one
more time we ate a lot, that I get sick in the second day of training.
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MY EASTER BREAK
ACROSS POLAND
April 10, 2016
I think that, whatever you can undertake in your life, there is a moment where you get
used of what you are doing. It is called the routine. In my case, even if the things that I do
every day are not similar between them, this routine still exists. I live in Kielce, I go to
school, I work in the office. We are free to create our own opportunies, but apart from
that, it is also nessarily in my opinion to go away for a while. In others words :
Travelling.
D AY 1 : W AR S A W AN D M Y M U M
I got the first bus I could this Friday. I had to be in Warsaw quite early for one very
simple reason : My mother wanted me to take her at the airport. You know how are the
mothers right ? Anyway I forgive her because it is been four months that I didn’t see her.
There is moreover always a kind of disturbing excitation when you make discover this
type of place to your people. I didn’t have been to Warsaw very often, but enough to
bring my mother spontaneously across the different bus, metro, until the hotel where we
had to spend our first night. The sky is dark, only the lights are dazzling, the streets are
full of life, the first impression is very nice.
Page 53
D AY 2 : T O R U Ń A N D T H E G I N G E R
B R E AD
I like Toruń very much. This is small, but there is a life
hidden in each corner of the street. When I say life, I
mean the stories which are the results of the vaste
history and legends that the city wants to share. Be sure
to carefully look around you during your walk, and you
will be surprised about what you can find…
Unfortunately, we came during easter (and we don’t
joke about tradition in Poland), at this period of time
every shop looks to be closed. We somehow had to
find a place to buy this typical ginger bread made in
Toruń. This is how started our race across the city to find the precious cake.
D AY 3 : G D AŃ S K AN D T H E B AL T I C S E A
The place that we both wanted to reach from the beginning was undoubtledy Gdańsk
(which is, let’s be honest, my favourite polish city in term of beauty now). Originally
Page 54
industrial, the city has also one of the most prettiest center that I saw until here in Poland.
That fact, plus the fresh air of the sea, you cannot ask more!
The best thing we did there (Thanks for the advice Jack) will have been the climbing of
the 450 steps of the main church… Hard work, but wonderuful view!
D AY 4 : S O P O T A N D T H E S U N
Very near to Gdańsk, there is Sopot. The train brought us there in a few minutes for
almost nothing, so my advice is to not hesitate. The atmosphere is there completly
different, clearly posher, and makes you discover another face of Poland.
Page 55
We have been lucky enough to be reward with a very pleasant sun. Sopot is small, it is the
perfect moment to take it easy, sit on the pier, bask in the sun, and just watch the seagulls
and the swans live together.
D AY 5 : M AL B O R K AN D T H E C A S T L E
We peacefully continue our trip across the north part of Poland, and start to get away
from the seaside. The next step will be this quite small unknown city (at least for a
foreigner like me) called Malbork. There is apparently nothing special to see in this place,
except a castle listed on the UNESCO World Heritage. Did you there was 14 different
places in this list in Poland ? It is a pretty big amount I think. Malbork have been on my
way, it would have been a shame to miss it!
Page 56
D AY 6 : O L S Z T Y N AN D C H Â T E A U R O U X
If you forgot about my native town, don’t worry I am not furious. Even French people
don’t know it. So if you need a reminder, I live in Châteauroux, which means something
close to “Red/Ginger Castle”. However, there is not any castle with this color in my town.
Right now, you are probably getting bored with this useless anectode… But what if I say
that in Olsztyn, there is a Red castle precisely situated within the aleja Chateauroux ?
Page 57
D AY 7 : G I Ż Y C K O AN D T H E L AK E S
The train will definitly stay my favourite means of transportation. Reaching Giżycko was
a really exciting moment across one of the most beautiful natural region (at least that I
visited so far). You pass your head through the tiny window of the wagon, and you just
observe quietly the landscapes until you get bored. Unfortunately, it can take a while. The
lakes under the sun, the plenty of wading birds made me amazed for the whole journey.
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D AY 8 : B I AŁ Y S T O K AN D T H E B I S O N S
It is maybe not the most exciting city that I visited in Poland, athough there is some
interesting facts about it. Białystok is for example the city where the Esperanto has been
invented (you will thank me one day for this fact). Anyway I think the city is firstly
known for its natural park which is taking care of the oldest forest in Europe, and of the
very famous bisons, official producers of Polish wodka…
Page 59
D AY 9 : W AR S Z A W A AN D
AFTER
Here we are, came back to Warsaw,
enjoying the last days of this trip in within
the capital. We certainly all agree to say that
travelling is an essential part of this
experience in Poland. It doesn’t have the
same meaning for each of us, but the final
purpose is clearly the same: be filled with
wonders
Następny podróż : Wiedeń
Page 60
HOME SWEET HOME…
April 12, 2016
Hi, it’s me, this yellow pretty house in 13 Wydrynska Street. I live surrounded by my
close friends, other polish houses. I was first built as a brothel, I saw a lot of things, and a
lot of people passing under my roof… After a while the people which were first taking
care of me disappeared and other owners adopted me. They changed my look, they
customised me and transformed me in order to be able to welcome new guests. Cos yes,
the time of brothel had finished, I heard that I had to put up young adventurers coming
from all Europe… The owner gave me 5 bedrooms for my future lovely stranger kids…
Now, I take advantage that my new residents are not there to describe you my new way of
life
in
13
Wydrynska
Street
since
the
22
of
September…
I was still feeling stressed when they arrived. I dressed up to the nines, I was so cute that I
still remember this day. When Corentin, Agathe and Jack opened the door, they felt home.
Then I saw Sofia, and I discovered them step by step… But to tell the truth, I became a
really mother for my kids when I welcomed Kristina in November. Then the family was
all present.
Since they are here, they had time to make the bedrooms their own. I can see that they
arranged my walls to their liking. They taped up photos and pictures. I can smell the
perfume of flowers in some of the rooms…
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After the work, I look at them running in the stairs, leaving their shoes in the corridor.
They look like kids after school… And the corridor looks like a real shoe store! Flip
flops, boots, trainers… Then they relax, I’m expecting this time so much cos I know that
at least one of them will put the speakers and share music. By the time, I know that Jack
is used to listen to the music in the second floor. My ears let me hear that Sofia was doing
the same downstairs. Their style is different, but still so pleasant to listen. The funny thing
on it is when Agathe tries to sing like Celine Dion… Believe me, my roof is about to
collapse!
I like observing the guys in their everyday life. When the evening is coming, I can hear
the sound of the utensils resonating in both kitchens. I’m making fun at Kristina’s
experimental food! I just hope that she will never set on fire to my shelfs ! After dinner,
they often meet together in the living room or even in the kitchen. These are my favorite
moments. Looking at the kids growing up together. By the time, they become closer and
closer. I like their smiles, and the sound of their laughs. Sometimes I have to lock my
shutters when they make fun about each other and joke together. The reasons of those
laughs can be so varied and incomprehensible that I close my eyes and let them go.
During the week end, I like to slip on my party dress to welcome new people in the living
room. The guys do their best to organize great moments, inviting guests from all Europe.
Page 63
I feel sad when they go. My adventurers are used to travelling, and sometimes I feel
alone. They leave home with their luggage travelling to beautiful cities… But when they
come back, they share the feedbacks and souvenirs… I feel they are quite bummed to go
back. But it doesn’t last.. Cos they are coming back home. Home sweet home.
Page 64
HAPPY BICYCLE DAY: POLSKA
NA ROWERZE
April 19, 2016
Today, 19th of April, it’s a World Bicycle Day.
Since the first signs of the sun appeared in March, I had the chance to see Poland from
another angle, from the sit of a bike, riding on the streets. And the felling is deffinitly
different, and priceless.
The first time it was somewhere at the beginning of March, when I borrow it the bicycle
of Bogusha, my coordinator. Maybe it was because of the nice weather, but I had a
feeling that Kielce never looked better. I don’t know why the authorities still haven’t
created something like a public city bikes, avalible for renting, but they really should.
Than, we, the EVS volunteers from Kielce, would be able to go together on adventures
trought the supburbes of the city. And I’m sure that that would be really fun.
Page 65
That could be us, but we don’t have… bikes.
When I already mentiond the public bikes, I will share the lovely experiece that I had for
the Easter brake, when I went to visit my friend Zorica in Wroclaw. Thanks to the public
bicycles, we spended three days riding bikes everywhere, and once again, Poland was
cooler than ever! Not that Wroclaw need something more to look nice, but this time was
even prittier than usually.
Page 66
And than, two weeks ago, I had a short stay in Warsaw, where I also had the chance to
expirience the city with a bike. It was a night ride, so the streets were empty, and the city
was light and wonderful. My friend Lulu, who is living there a couple months as Erasmus
student, showed me Warsaw together with all the stories that she learned there trought
this period, about the history and the legends of the places.
Page 67
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And every story, it’s more fun to listen while you are enjoing in a slow bike-ride, together
with your friends.
At the end, I will tell you another story, much more iteresting than my “bike-one”. I will
share with you the story of how this day turned out to be the World Bicycle Day:
“On April 19, 1943, Dr. Albert Hofmann first took LSD intentionally. Three days earlier,
he had absorbed a small amount of the drug either through his fingertips or by
accidentally ingesting it. On Bicycle Day, he took 250 µg of LSD intentionally and,
fearing he had made himself ill, cycled home from his lab. During his bicycle ride, he
experienced the effects of LSD, making this the date of the first ever acid trip. He wrote
about his experiments and experience on April 22, which was later put into his book LSD:
My Problem Child.
This day (for LSD users) is when they celebrate the discovery and first ever use of the
drug.”
Not your first tought, huh? Well, anyway, Happy Bicycles Day!
Page 70
WE IN ZAKOPANE
May 10, 2016
After 4 hours in the bus from Kielce. We arrived to the wonderful city of the mountains. I
was imagining that Zakopane was just one mountain and a really small city. But I was wr
ong.
I think that the city is much bigger that I was planning and the beautiful houses made of w
ood with particular details drived me crazy.
The waeather was amazing shiny and everyone was outside and happy. Our hostel had a b
alcony with a view to the mountains.
I was so excited to try the food of the region that I bought that random cheese. Was a fail,
is really salty and strong.
Anyway out of the experience with the cheese I liked everythink, specially because was m
y first time tavelling to mountains.
Page 71
Authors:
Kristina Merdjanovska
Agathe Huet
Sofia Rodrigez Yala
Jack Watson
Corentin Pagnard
Page 72

Our weird EVS family - Regionalne Centrum Wolontariatu w Kielcach

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