Day 329: Village life
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
329 — Village life
26-Jun-1972
(Mon.)
TRANSCRIPT
POLAND
Good sleep. Good breakfast.
Kitchen. Coal stove, no running water, slightly too
many flies. Amazing how much we take for granted. The
government has not provided the facilities. But I got
used to everything.
Later on, there was a whole mess of kids around. Took
a few pictures and the let everyone take a picture.
Talked to a neighbor who knew German. Strangers are
friendly but perhaps cautious. They ask how America
is and how I find their country.
Dinner. Chicken again. Helped pick peas from the
garden. Raw peas are really tasty. Also, strawberries
are delicious.
Went to Lubin. Moderate size town. Antiseptic and
sterile development. More stores. Bought shoes for 40
zloty. A lot of money, but black market is good. So,
I gave them American money.
Afterward, helped John pump the water by hand for the
field garden. Real hard work.
People here see America as a land of prosperity and a
good opportunity to have things in life. Americans
don’t. A lot of people would love to go there
[America]. I don’t blame them. Here in Poland, they
work, but the government doesn’t do anything for the
people.
Uncle John wants to go [to America] but the American
government won’t let him.
REFLECTIONS
Village
life. Village
life is not easy. If you live in the village, you are
essentially a farmer, growing your own food
(potatoes, vegetables) and raising your own livestock
(chickens, sheep). Some of the pictures yesterday and
today, depict that life. There is no running
water—you fetch the water with pails. The stoves are
either coal-fired or wood-fired.
Lubin.
You will
hear me say that towns look drab or just not
exciting. It is actually part of the construction.
Lot’s of things look the same. Lubin was probably a
fine city but I am comparing it to the U.S. This may
not be a fair criticism. Certainly, the lack of
captalism does change the landscape—compare the neon
lights of Broadway to that of Warsaw and you get the
difference.
The
garden. Every
family has their patch of land for gardening,
essential to keeping alive—you grow your own food for
eating. These are large gardens but much smaller than
farm acreage. I helped uncle John in the garden
today, picking peas, weeding, and watering. Just
pumping the water was not easy. Did I mention that
fresh food tastes great?
America’s
prosperity. A theme
that has resonated for decades has been that America
is the place where you can prosper and make a decent
life for yourself. Thus, everyone wants to go to
America. Unfortunately, most people were not allowed
to go and it was almost impossible in the Iron
Curtain countries. In those days, the U.S. dollar was
highly valued and purchased a good number of goods
compared to the local zloty, especially on the black
market.
Immigrants. My entire
family consists of immigrants. Once immigrants get
here, they learn that living is also hard work, but
you at least have a chance to do better. All of my
relatives have contributed to this country with hard
work and dedication, and their children go off to
college and continue to work towards the American
dream. As I’ve said before, America is built on the
dreams of immigrants. I’m proud of my entire family.
Kids
are kids. The best
part of travel is seeing that kids are just kids, and
act as kids. They gravitate towards the strange
visitor (me) who speaks funny. I take a few photos of
the kids in the garden.
Malomice
photos. The
opening photo is of myself with some of the children.
Cousin Here are some additional photos.
Uncle John in his garden
Cousin
Bohdan
Speaking
with a neighbor
The
kids
Teta M and her father
John
- - - -
