From my travel to Poland in summer 2006

[Jaga]

here is Baba Jaga contribution from my travel to Poland in 2006 with some nice pictures

culture.polishsite.us/articles/art426.html
Reflections from a visit to Poland, Economical Progress, Crowded Mountains and the Airports

[hollister]

Jaga,
Great article and great photos! Has Ela thought about writing an article (with your help of course) about her impressions of Poland? It might be fun to see it through her eyes. What did she like/not like, whta was different to her and what was the same for her in Poland? Would she want to live there? Why? Just thinking out loud. She has such a unique opportunity.

And for you - how is Ela's Poland different than yours at the same age? Are there similarities? Are you happy you are raising Ela in the States and not in Poland? Does it make a difference?

[zooba]

Holly, let me answer at least in some part.

Poland now and Poland 30 years ago are like two different countries, the difference is so big that it is difficult to comprehend it. I still remember 9although not well) LITERALLY empty shops, especially butcher's at noon. Whatever was for selling was sold within the first two hours after opening. The food was rationed, not only food - vodka, cigarettes, chocolate, shoes (sic!). I don't know how my parents managed to provide us with all what we had. Chinese crayons were a rarity treated as a sign of wealth (OK, among children . Black-and-white TVs and photos, just two TV channels that stopped broadcasting at midnight...
Long, long lines to get cotton wool instead of tampons or sanitary pads, when they didn't want to sell them to me saying I was too young to be menstruating - how humiliating....

Well, that was just a glimpse of what it was.
I'm not saying now it's perfect - but it is much, much better

[Jaga]

Holly,

good idea, I would have to talk to Ela more about it, what she remembers the most from Poland. She had to walk much more in Poland than here in the US!

Zooba is right that the life in Poland changed a lot. The first improvements started to be seens after the prices were freed during the last communistic administration (Rakowski). I remember when I was walking on the streets of Krakow and saw so many new stores, much prettier than ever before. It had to be in 1990 or 1991. In this time I still lived in Poland but this was a shock for me.

Now, when I come to Poland I see too many changes which basically made Poland to be much more similar to other countries of Western Europe and the US. This is of course good but this also makes me a bit nostalgic about the past

[hollister]

Zooba - thank you , thank you for your input! You are correct it is hard to comprehend - especially since the changes happened so quickly - I was chatting with a friend here and she was talking about how her children have a hard time believing her that she was almost 30 before she ate at a MacDonald's! She is also quite amazed that her children can have a banana anytime they want one by simply going into the kitchen and getting one - for her she had only one banana as a child and that one came from her father's sister who lived in England and brought them as a treat during a visit.
Children have a tendency to think that what they are familiar with is the way it always has been - more or less!
She also remembered how her mom was only allowed a small amount of sweets per child each month - but as her mom did not smoke she was sometimes able to trade her cigarette allowance for more chocolate for the kids.
Such a different world.

Jaga,
I hope you do talk to Ela about it - I wonder what the children her class at school think about Poland - I have to admit that the mental image I had of Poland before I visited was much different than the reality. I also find that most of the Americans, who have no real connection to Poland, still think of Poland as a grey, dreary country where people do not smile and still face shortages and back wards policies.