Poland: A Country of Contrasts

Tim and I were on our way home from a walk, about two miles away from the house, when we stopped to take a picture of the "cute," old-fashion mound of hay in the yard of a tiny, decrepit, brick house. As Tim was taking the picture I was struck by the incongruousness of the factory directly across the street with its large complex of rail lines and mountains of paving materials. I realized that we were standing between old, agricultural Poland and new, manufacturing, infra-structure building Poland. While the giant grocery chains from France and England sell food from around the world, the small neighborhood shops and outdoor markets sell only local produce. The roads range from narrow cobblestones to multi-lane highways and the cars, from communist era miniature Fiats to Mercedes and Hummers. Downtown is a mixture of buildings from Stalin, The Hard Rock Cafe, and Times Square style JumboTrons. The older generation dresses nicely every time they leave the house and the teens dress in the international uniform of jeans, t-shirts, and sweat shirts. Older gentlemen kiss the hand of a woman when introduced while the younger generation is talking on cell phones and listening to ipods (these are just beginning to take off here). So much is going on here that it's an exciting place to be. We are fascinated by the juxtaposition that is old and new Poland and curious to see what will survive the changes.