Early this morning, a group of our athletes left the hotel by bus for the Proem Church campus to participate in the “Shine” program helping special needs adults get dressed up and ready for prom.

The rest of us went to a local high school to play another game of basketball. Luckily, we were playing outside today. Though it was over 80°F, it was cooler outside than in the school. This time around, we were playing students, teachers, administrators, and even a retired professional Polish basketball pro. With the last game in our minds, we were going out hard this time- and so were they. We played hard, and this time around, we got the win.

After a couple pictures and some volleyball games with a local sand volleyball team, we headed back to the hotel to regroup. Almost as soon as we arrived, we headed back out to another after school program to work with the local kids. The best thing about kids around the world is that they just want to play. It’s been so fun learning from them even though we may not even be able to speak to them.

For dinner, we decided to pass on the dinner provided in the hotel and try some local dishes. We all went to a pierogi restaurant down the street and ate dinner. When I say we ate dinner, I mean we ATE dinner. We, as a group of twelve, ate over 100 pierogis. We somehow still left room for some more of Biedronka’s popsicles that we picked up on our walk back.

After sharing some team devotions, we ended on some spicy Uno and a few games of poker. It was so cool to share different experiences with the group that we split from but see that we are all feeling the same love and energy happening throughout this festival.

With only two days left, it feels like time is flying, but the excitement to get to work is only growing.