Submitted by Margo

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.”

Sunday morning at 10am we met for our official GV orientation with Samantha. Some jet lag still prevailed with those who had traveled far on Saturday. The traditional Global Volunteers orientation includes introductions, schedules, rules and policies, group goals and characteristics of an effective team. We also learned some really useful Greek greetings and phrases for the classroom.

The Group’s Goals were derived from a merging of individual goals – this very compatible group arrived at the following 4 goals to guide our time together:

1. mutual learning
2. explore new places
3. have fun
4. make new friendships

A healthy list of characteristics for an effective team included the following:
RESPECT, EMPATHY, PATIENCE, SENSE OF HUMOR, LISTENING, CONTRIBUTION, TOLERANCE SPONTANEITY, KINDNESS, OBSERVATION, INCLUSIVE, SUPPORTIVE, SHARING, HONESTY, and FLEXIBILITY.

Samantha promised to teach us some Greek songs and Greek dance and we took a break for lunch!

The President from the Department of Education arrived to provide an official welcome and best wishes for our time in Crete. He also brought the list of schools we would be working at.

Upon his departure, Sam described the school settings and number of volunteers for each site. With some mixing and matching, we all received our assignments and instructions. Crates and boxes and bags full of teaching materials were unveiled and everyone fished through to select those items they thought would be fun and useful in teaching at each site.

The rest of the day was free for naps and showers and exploring the area. Some went into Ammoudara, a few ventured to Gazi and some stayed close to Hotel Handakas for the afternoon.

Dinner of lentil soup and cucumber/tomato/feta salad was served at 8pm. The social chairman, Tony, gathered everyone to discuss and map out some excursions for the week.

Alarms were set and anticipation of meeting the kids of Crete was foremost on our minds as lights went out for the night.