EVS in Pomiechówek

Hello everyone! Some weeks ago two volunteers from the SPW organization visited me in the  library and interviewed me about my different tasks and activities there. They made pictures and filmed me while I showed them around the library. So if you're interested in getting a deeper insight of my work there check  the instagram page of SPW out!  The pictures and videos turned out great so it's worth a look - Here's the link to the interview! To the video! Have an amazing week and until next time!

Hello everyone! Last week I took part in my first ESC training at the Agrykola Youth Hostel. Together with 15 other volunteers from all over Poland, who like me have "just landed" here, I spent a whole week in Warsaw. We had the opportunity to learn and gain a lot of new skills and experiences through this training, but also shared what abilities we have already gained during our stay here.  But most of all, we had the chance to meet many new people and their cultures. There were volunteers from Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine, Latvia, Germany, and Greece. Through this whole week of spending time together during sessions, team building activities but also just eating lunch or going out together we build up lots of connection with each other. We shared experiences or challenges we face in Poland or talked about things like culture shock and how to deal with it.    An important part was also learning more about Poland, its culture and language. In the morning...

Cześć!   My name is Julia, I am the new volunteer in Pomiechówek, and today I have been living in Poland for exactly one month now. First of all, a brief introduction of myself: I'm from Austria, where I live in a small village in the Tyrolean Alps. Recently I graduated from a technical college for art and design, therefore I enjoy being creative, especially painting and drawing are my thing.  I am a bookworm that loves good stories, whether they are told while listening to the lyrics of a great song or watching a charmingly illustrated animation movie. Besides that, I love to cuddle with my cat and go skiing (it's my Austrian duty to serve this cliché ;) ).  I have always wanted to go abroad for a year, and since I have just finished school as well as needing a break from studying, now is the perfect time. - And that's how I ended up in Pomiechówek.    Pomiechówek might seem small at first glance but there are some wonderful places to discover here. One of the ...

Elena Ferrante   L'amica geniale  ( My Brilliant Friend) This book was published in Italy in 2011 by the author Elena Ferrante,  whose identity is still a  mystery. This book, the first volume of a homonymous tetralogy, tells the story of two friends from a working-class   neighborhood  in Naples in the 1950s. Len ú , the narrator, and Lila are both academically gifted, but only Len ú   will continue school beyond the compulsory age. The book mixes macro-history with an almost sociological analysis of the place of women in post-war Italian society with micro-history with the small life of these two families living in Naples. The child's view of the world, which is cruel, also shows the appearance of adolescence in the second half of the 20th century. As you read the book, you find yourself oscillating between different re...

Hello,  Last week end was Easter, I stayed in Pomiech ówek because in my family we don't really celebrate Easter  so I wanted to experience how people celebrate it in Poland.  I went to Warsaw on Saturday  afternoon, to see some friends and the city was so joyful . A lot of places were closing early but we could feel a very nice atmosphere. The next day a lot of Ela's family came to visit and eat. I remember when we where younger we would go hike with my parents and friends and at some point of the walking we would find chocolate eggs. We also learned to make the kite fly.  Ela invited us to have dinner with their family, she cooks so well ! I really enjoyed sharing time with the women in her family, Ela was as always very cheerful, and now I could understand more of what she was saying.  In Spain during this week that we call Semana  Santa we eat an Easter cake : mona de pascua which always have an egg or two on the top.  "Mais le mot P âques, en...

Jorge Luis Borges  Fictions Fictions  is  a collection of short stories published in 1944, by the Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges. This short stories are know for their fantasy, but Borges renews the genre creating what he calls "philosophy-fiction". Pierre Menard, Author of the   Quixote One of my favorite short stories is "Pierre Menard, Author of the   Quixote".  You can read the   English version here : http://hispanlit.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2011/06/Borges-Pierre-Menard.pdf It is the  life sketch and the work of the imaginary writer Pierre Menard, a french writer in the 30's, who tries to rewrite the Cervantes'  Quixote. This short story is a literary criticism, that raises the questions of authorship, appropriation and  interpretation. First of all, the title of the novel seems very provocative, and full of sense, indeed, the word "author" comes from the Latin word "augere" (increase), so here Menard increases the sense, ...

  Marcel Proust  In Search of Lost Time This book is composed by 7 tomes, written between 1913 an 1927. The book won the Prix Goncourt, a very know price in France.  The novel is a   roman à clef, which means real people or events appear with invented names more or less explicitly. The style of the book is know for its very long sentences which want to portray the creation spiral in the making and writing. Proust wants to reach the totality of reality that always manages to outrun the writer. He  attempts to capture life in motion. As the title suggests it, the book is also a reflection on time, and the incapacity to capture the present. The book is the realization of the theory he wrote in  Contre Sainte- Beuve.  In this essay he reply to the XIXth century literary critic Sainte-Beuve. Indeed Sainte-Beuve thought a writing could only be explained and analysed by the life of the author and the historical context. Proust explains this way of analyz...

It's the cold time of the year again. Time to spend nice moments with our family. In Spain, and as I heard in Poland too, Christmas is not over till the 6th of January. That day the three kings come on their camels to bring the Christmas gifts. There is a procession in every city for the children. Were people disguised with Christmas costumes in big chars throw candies and other small gifts.  We had a Christmas meeting with the other volunteers, were we tried the typical food of this period in Poland. I was very happy to notice that most of the meals were vegetarian since the tradition is to not eat meat during those days. So I could try everything ! We also did a secret Santa, where everyone had to bring a small gift and received one too. Sylwia giving out some gifts Bartek and Melina opening gifts with Christmas cards We also had, with Nicole, the volunteer working in the Cultural Center, a Christmas meal with the people working either in the Cultural Center and Library. There wa...