Kiara & Raven: Day 5

Kiara

Greetings from Poland!

What a trip it’s been already and we’ve only been here a number of days. We arrived on the 19^th of July and have been working and exploring ever since. We’re living in a student dorm roughly 15 minutes walking distance from our post at the World Games. Our first day on the job entailed a tour of the grounds and a training detail from our fearless leaders, Jan and Alicja. The grounds we have been working house the American Football stadium, which we’ve worked at everyday, and the fields for such sports as flying disk and beach volleyball. Also on the grounds is the pool for finswimming other water sports. In addition to our location, there are other competition grounds around Wroclaw like Centennial Hall, which housed sports such as fistball, korfball, and boules sports.

Our work has largely been focused on operations surrounding American Football during training and competition. I have been tasked with specifically working in information and logistics, which has required working with a Polish-speaking counterpart at information booths placed 

Synchronized Trampoline Routine 

throughout the grounds. The main objective is to be available for patrons looking for directions or needing a taxi. Additional duties I have been responsible for include working with VIPs to help facilitate transportation from the grounds and working with flying disk to help with team locker rooms and game preparations. I was responsible for aiding in team meals and for assigning/tracking team locker rooms. My favorite volunteer experience thus far would have to be helping on the field for the American Football championship game. Alongside three other volunteers, I worked with the teams to help provide water and nutrition to the players during the game. I worked specifically with team Deutchland to help the team nutritionists and trainers provide water, apple slices, and other game time snacks throughout the game. The players were incredibly nice and the training/coaching staff was a blast to work with. After the game was over, we were able to help with the awards ceremony to pass out medals and gifts to the top three finishers- third place went to USA, second place to Deutchland, and first to France.

Wroclaw has been a different experience from most of my other experiences in Europe but fun, nonetheless. The city is charming with its rustic flare and cobblestone finishes. Smells of fresh bread are easy to come by with bakeries on every street. The city center (Market Square) has been one of our favorite stops in town; Market Square is full of colorful buildings, shops, pubs, fountains, street performers, gnomes, and a rustic cathedral as a beautiful focal point. We were able to find

Centennial Hall

genuine homemade Polish sausage our first time in the square and have been fortunate enough to find amazing food each time we go back. Unusual on the list of cultural items to be found in the Square has been cherry beer- much like cherry soda, this town favorite is a must try for anyone harboring a serious sweet tooth. The people we have met have been mostly very kind, although we’ve discovered a few major cultural differences between the Polish and ourselves. Overall, this has been a fun experience full of learning and adventures to remembered forever.

Raven

For our volunteering we helped the American football teams. My specific group helped with media; with media we helped put up signs, move tables and chairs, keep the photographers off of the field of play, and keep the journalists from taking photos in the stands. We had the opportunity to volunteer during the Poland vs. France game, as well as Poland vs. USA game. During both games the Polish people showed an amazing amount of pride for their country. The people that we have volunteered with have been so sweet and amazing! They have gone out of their way to make us feel at home by telling us good sight to see, as well as making us homemade cookies!

Throughout our trip to Poland we have seen many different sights. Most of our time has been spent in the beautiful market square in the middle of Wroclaw. In the market square there have been many restaurants, museums, churches, street performers, and cones of ice cream. Today we went on a hike in the mountains of Park Narodowy Gór Stołowych. At the top of the mountain there was a beautiful view, we had the opportunity to see miles upon miles of not only Polish lands, but also the lands of the Czech Republic. We also had the opportunity to hear Polish tales from our tour guide about the mountains.

In powerlifting both men and women of all sizes compete by

lifting weights that are several times their amount of body weight. This sport shows the ultimate amount of strength. The sport that I have been assigned has been powerlifting. The gold medalists have been, Sergil Bilyi from the Ukrain for heavyweight men, Ana Castillain from Brazil for heavyweight women, Sergey Fedosienko from Russia for lightweight men, Natalia Salanikova from Russia for lightweight women, Jaroslaw Olech from Poland for middleweight men, and Larysa Soloviova from the Ukrain for middleweight women.