Stories from students, retirees, working professionals, couples, families, groups, solo travelers, first-time volunteers, volunteer veterans and everyone in-between from more than 20 countries around the world. Learn about your favorite country in their own words.
Constance, a volunteer serving in Poland, talks about the experience of team 251: a Team of returning volunteers to Poland. The joy of wrapping one’s tongue around three consonants in a row – how one forgets the difficulty entailed in learning basic Polish words and phrases. But that’s the ending so let’s go to the […]
This excerpt from one day of a team journal describes team members’ daily assignments on a Greece service program. After another beautiful sunrise and another animated discussion with my other team members at breakfast, we all made plans for the morning. When I say animated, I mean a lot of laughing and a lot of […]
“This being the last journal article I want to thank all those involved in making this a pleasant and worthwhile venture. This has been my fourth volunteer assignment in Poland. I have enjoyed every minute of experiencing a new culture, making new friends, cups of tea and interacting with so many students and adults. The […]
WHAT A STUPENDOUS DAY – CELEBRATING 20 YEARS Fond Farewells – Final Glimpses of Our Beautiful City of Monopoli. Everything was happening for the last time – last class, last lunch, last time to shop, but more importantly the last time to feel the soul and spirit of Italy. But, along with the sadness […]
Today started the usual way a real yearning to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep. But what would the Galileo Galilei students do without us or, more to the point, how could I think of missing a day and not see all those smiling eager faces? So, off to breakfast, our morning […]
The volunteers got off to a good start on a brisk, sunny morning. The Galileo School had become a familiar and comfortable environment for us now. We relax in the teachers lounge; share teaching ideas and strategies; walk the halls with smiles; and make new friends with teachers and the hall monitors. We lunched […]
Finally some cool weather! Week two began today with rain and a cooling trend. Could it be that fall has arrived in Monopoli? All volunteers are in a routine and since the heat has finally abated, classes have moved back indoors. Over the previous week each of us has settled into his or her own […]
Message of the Day – “We draw comfort from those who agree with us; growth from those who don’t.” – Marty Nemko Thursday. It’s a word we have practiced countless times with our students over the past 8 days. It’s a day we have both anticipated and dreaded in “mas o menos” equal measure. It […]
Aahh yes, the morning breakfast routine has been established. The excessive heat of the day has already been assessed and the school administration has slightly shortened our day and we will now end at noon. Peter and I first worked with second year/sophomore students. A sense of open conversation increased by a sequence of questions […]
After beginning the day with our morning breakfast of cappuccinos, cafe lattes, fresh fruit, and an assortment of pastries, we took the bus to Gallileo Gallilei for class. My first class went smoothly, working with my mom, Joanna, and Peter with a group of shy second year students. For my second hour, I was taken […]