From Blue Sky Days to Blackbird Fields: Farewell to Angloville and Our New Friends...

Saturday, August 26 -- Today we had an earlier breakfast and two last conversation sessions. I did a telephone conversation activity with Anna first. Anna's English is excellent, but she felt that it can still be hard to handle a phone conversation because you are missing the non-verbal cues. We practiced a phone conversation without sitting face to face. In our role play, I am a customer and she was the customer service rep for an Internet provider. After, that I had a session with Wojtek. There were two Wojtek's and this was not the one that I mentored. We had a great conversation and it meandered all over and it was a nice way to end our Angloville sessions.

This is a Polish Buffet Breakfast

Lunch was soup and bread. That was the lightest lunch we had as lunch always started with soup and then we usually had boil potatoes and some kind of meat. It was often accompanied by slaw or a pickle. I had a vegan replacement for the meat item and the soup had no cream added. The one day there was fish for lunch and they served it to the vegans and vegetarians. They defined vegetarians and vegans differently than we do. Most of the time the vegan substitutions tasted good, but their choices lacked protein. Fortunately, I had my peanut butter powder for toast in the mornings and nuts as a snack.

Our last meal at Angloville

This most of our group before boarding the bus to return to Warsaw

We left for Warsaw around 1 pm. There are a few staff and mentors leaving again tomorrow for new venues and another week of Angloville. For many of the young staff and mentors, this is a summer job and soon the universities will be back in session. It is a 3-hour bus trip and I was able to fill out the evaluation form for both of my mentees on the bus ride. Veronica (one of the child participants) wanted me to teach her to crochet a heart, but I did not have time. I was able to make her a crocheted heart. I wrote out the directions in English. Veronica has made friends with Tasia. Tasia has good English skills and will translate the directions for her. Because I was busy the bus ride went fast.

We met our new friends from Angloville for dinner at Nocny Market. This is an area of the city by the old train tracks and as you walk in you can see old trains that were left rotting along the tracks. There is a walkway with parking into the market area. There are various ethnic street vendors serving out of food carts to the right and tables for sitting to the left. It is open air with some protection from weather. There are neon lights, music, and painted walls making it very festive. John and Carly are already waiting at the entrance when we arrive. Roz and Ruby are running behind as they are coming from Old Town. We decide head in for drinks and let Ruby and Roz know to text us "Whats App" when they arrive. We find the bar, order drinks and find a table. This is night the kind of place that requires we wait for the rest to order. There is Mediterranean, Italian, Korean, Japanese, and Mexican styled offerings as well as creative takes on many foods. Carly bought focaccia bread to share. Thom and Carly split a baked salmon sushi burger. It is a rice bun, with salmon in the middle, a seaweed wrap around the rice that has been dipped in tempura and fried. Roz and Ruby arrived and found us without texting. John and Roz split a salmon burger as well. I had a spicy vegan eggplant sandwich. Ruby gets this octopus balls to share. I see Marysia and Vitoria on scooters. Wojtek and Ela were not far behind. They were at Angloville and live nearby in the city center. The join us for the evening. They order calamari, pizza, and smothered french fries.

Parking are and painted walls Nocny Market

Food stalls and tables

Cherry Liquor with a candy mouse on top

The fountain by the Kocham (I love you) sign

The food is good and the atmosphere is lively, but the girls are tired. Ela takes them home and later calls to see if we want to move to a different location closer to their flat. It getting louder and more crowded, so we all agree. We walk with Wojtek and we end up in the middle of new high rises office and apartment buildings. We find outdoor seating in a beautiful area. There is a fountain nearby, a sign reading Kocham (which means “I love you” and food carts as well. This is a very new area of Warsaw. We enjoy great conversation for awhile and a few more drinks. However; Thom and I leave before 11 pm to find a market to get food for the train ride. Good byes are hard after spending the week with these wonderful people.

We have an interesting walk home as the trams were not running out of the city center, only into the city center. So, we walked. But we make a few mistakes and it takes longer than it should. We make it home at midnight. It has been another great day.

Today, as we walked a new part of the city, we are seeing many memorials to those who lost their lives to both German and Russian oppression some during World War II and in previous uprisings. Thanks to Google Lens/Translate, I can translate most of the text.

For each of the following photos I have included information from the plagues as translated by Google lens: