Polonia Ensemble Journal

December 8 , 2007

          Our last full day in Puerto Rico has finally arrived. My friends and I were looking forward to a relaxing day at the beach before our final performance that night. During the day we hung out around the beach with our new found friends the Panamanians. We conversed about life, love and most importantly sports. I soon discovered that sports were an international language. To top of the morning we all joined in and played a little beach volleyball before getting ready to go to the performance. As I was putting together my costumes I was mentally preparing myself for the biggest performance on this trip.

          The bus ride to our final performance was the shortest one we had to take. We arrived at our destinations and we were greeted by the festivals coordinator. We put away our costumes and our director guided us toward the church that was near the festival. The church was closed so instead we all prayed by the doors and thank god we had such a successful trip. A man and women were staring at us as we prayed and I thought to myself, who could this be? As we finished praying I was the first one to be introduced to the mystery couple, I shook his hand and he introduced himself as the mayor of the city.

         The mayor was a very nice man, he was very excited that we were there and he told me that we were the best thing that has ever happened to this city. We were very flattered and thanked him for his kindness. My guy friends and I then told him that we were a little hungry and asked him where we could grab some food, since it was Sunday and everything was closed. At first I thought he would just point us to a food stand, instead he led us there, sat us down and then the true Puerto Rican culture began. One after another plates of food were delivered to us, the mayor wanted us to try every single piece of food they had. We were so overwhelmed with the kindness we were receiving. When we tried to pay for it he refused. I have never been to a more welcoming country then Puerto Rico.

          Minutes later the festival began and I waited for our turn to perform. First up were the Russians, amazing dancers and even better looking women. The next group to perform was the Panamanians, they had their own style and their music was colorful and festive. After the Panamanians, it was our turn to perform. As soon as we made our way to the stage the cheering began. We performed four dances and the crowd loved every single one. In my opinion we received the biggest applause. The Puerto Ricans were the final group to perform; their dances were so joyful and entertaining. The finale was the final performance of the night, all the groups joined on stage and it soon became a party. The coordinator and mayor thanked all the groups and we then marched to the town square for their traditional holiday light show. As we arrived at the square it seemed like everyone in the town was there, it was such a joyful and heartfelt experience. The light show took about ten minutes, as the mayor was saying his goodbyes, I knew I was never going to forget this moment; we then made our way to our bus and headed home.  

Kamil Czubacki

Polonia - Polish Folk Song and Dance Ensemble  -  Chicago USA
Northwest Center Traditional Polish Folk Dancers