Day 10 was a day to revitalize and give our voices a rest. In doing so, we took a 1-hour train ride to Malbork to sightsee for the day and visit Malbork Castle, the largest castle in Europe and the biggest castle in the world that is made out of bricks. It was truly an amazing sight to see and we learned a little about the history of the castle because of a guided tour through most of its rooms and halls. Most of us would've liked to take a little more time in each room, though, as the tour was very rushed.
We saw many armour and weapon exhibitions and we even got to sing The Nicene Creed in an election room with great acoustics. It sounded amazing and other tourists walking nearby stopped to watch and then applaud us at the end. After this adventure of sorts, our enthusiastic tour guide led us outside to the courtyard to end the tour. Then, Pastor Vanderveen gave us two choices. To eat, or not to eat. Those of us starving beings who chose to eat left the boundaries of the castle to hunt for a place for lunch. The others stayed behind to climb up the steep tower of Malbork Castle.
We eventually found a cheap outside restaurant with delicious food on the outskirts of the castle wall. Having satisfied our stomachs, we trapsed back into town and met up with the other group. A certain few of their members bragged about how they got to go up the tower AND eat lunch, and still finish before us. But I argued that we finished long before they did.
After a wild rush to the train station to catch our train back to Gdansk, we settled down on benches and realized we still had plenty of time. The train screeched in sooner than we knew it, and we all piled on, once again causing the panic to rise in the hearts of many other passengers. It took us some time to find seats, and when we did, most of us crashed in exhaustion, while others chattered away. The hour ride back left most of us leaving the train in clumsy steps and with drowsy spirits. I'm sure many of us were thankful that we did not have to push ourselves to get through another night of singing.
Instead of a concert and our usual eating out for dinner, we had the pleasure of a "home"-cooked meal by Elyse and her trusty kitchen crew. The kitchen was a bustle of activity and happy songs as the crew worked together to make spaghetti and salad for over 35 hungry stomachs. Elyse had also recruited a few of the young and able men to prepare the table in the devotions room for eating on. While Tanaya picked flowers to decorate the table with bouquets, Sam made nametags and placed people wherever he wished. This proved to create conflict within a certain few, as they were not satisfied with Sam's choices.
Those of us who were not chosen or did not volunteer to help with dinner preparations stayed out of the way by playing an exciting frisbee game of "monkey in the middle" for a time. When the time came to eat, everyone was more than ready for it. We all filed into the adjoining building of the hostel to enjoy a hearty meal, followed by a mass cleanup afterwards. I took charge of the cleanup crew and began the arduous work of washing the plastic dishes and the pots. Thankfully, I did not have to complete the task alone. After washing nearly half of the dishes, Elyse recruited the troops and an army of fearless warriors charged in to take command of the battle station. In no time at all, the dishes were washed, dryed, and put away.
Mafia quickly became the next activity of the night, but we had many distractions and left the kitchen (which was also our games room) winner-less. After a brisk walk outside before curfew, we climbed into our beds to get our last rest before a long and busy Friday that was to come.
Rejoice in the Lord always! He is good!
~Julia, blogger in chief~
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