Przytok: Walking through town

Monday, July 30   We met our students this morning.  Sarah is great with the kids and organizing the classroom.  She said that she thinks the students like me; they think I am a fun teacher.  The students' English abilities range from nearly illiterate to better at English than I am at Polish.   This afternoon we went on a walk through our little town of Przytok.  We walked from one end of town to the other in about 15 minutes.  The school campus is about 25% of the town and there are also two small shops and a church.  Other than that, there are a lot of houses that back up to farm land.   Most of the houses in town have little flower and vegetable gardens right up next to the road.  Sarah is in front of one house with Kyrie and Robin, two of the other TAs.   We also took the students to the two little shops in town.  One was little more than a 7-11 and the other was like a Wawa with some basic grocery items.  We had changed money earlier today and I gave Sarah 20 zlotych (about $10 USD).  She bought some potato chips and some sweet, crispy, waffle crackers (a traditional Polish snack).  They are in front of the store with all the students.   I'm not happy with the exchange rate here compared to when I was here 19 years ago.  Back then I got 1600 zloty for $1 USD.  Today I get 2 zloty.  Dad, you probably got a much better rate when you were last here.  Last year it was about 3:1 and 2 years ago it was 4:1.  The US dollar is weak over here now.  When I was last here I could get a beer for a nickel--now it's the equivalent of $2.  But, I don't drink beer anymore, so that's ok.  But, the prices here are nearly equivalent to what things would cost in the states.  Back in the 1980s, during Communism, I could get a four course meal at a top restaurant in Krakow or Gdansk for about $5.  Now, that would barely get me a burger and fries at a local shop.  So, I hope you saved all the crystal, amber, and silver I brought you 20 years ago because I won't be bringing as many presents this time.  That's ok, because it seems like all the same stuff anyway.   Aside from satellite dishes on top of the houses, this town probably hasn't changed much in 50 years.  I'd like to take the bus to Zielona Gora, a city about 20 minutes away, and see what it's like there.  Maybe tomorrow.   Sarah and I have it really good here.  We get laundry service once a week.  We just take it downstairs.  I did that this morning, but I haven't gotten it back yet, so I'll wait before I'm too impressed.  We eat really well.  We had breakfast at 7:30 with bread, jam, cereal, and tomatoes.  Then, at 10 we had an opening ceremony with a reception afterwards with fruit, cookies, and cakes. Then lunch was at 12:30 with rice soup, turkey, and potatoes.  Dinner was ham sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs.  Every meal also has several assorted side dishes--cucumbers, tomatoes, yogurt, bread, cole slaw, fruit, etc.  And all the left over cakes are now out in the hallway on a tray for an evening snack.   Daniel