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I realise I said I wouldn't be updating so often, but it seems like I must in order to catch up from not posting at all the first week I was here! So, here I am, and maybe this will be the last pre-dated post! Thanks again to the lovely Linda for comments! Okay, as promised, reflections on Polish culture.
Food and Drink
The long and short of this story is that Poland has in general absolutely great food. I have had different kinds of pierogies about a gazillion times now and it doesn't get old-- just try a different filling. We went to a pierogarnia (I think that's how it's spelled) that our professor, a Warsaw native, actually learned of from the New York Times- it was given a very high rating, in the very low price area. I got the bacon-spinach ones, and that was definitely a good decision, although some friends tried my other choice, apple cinnamon, and it was also fantastic. A kind of standard pierogi is actually Russian style (ruskie)-- cheese and potato. There is also a Polish version of blintzes, nalešniki- well, between blintzes and crepes, and not entirely dissimilar from blini, but, well, those of you who have read my Russian journals may remember that blini hold a special place in my heart (so much so that when chefs in cooking competitions make them I am very critical- both of the blini and the fact that they call them blinis (blini is already plural- one is blin, but whatever😊). (Incidentally, there is a blini place in the Old Town I intend to visit before I leave). Nalešniki can have many different things in them. I tried one yesterday that was called Carbonara- bacon and mozzarella with carbonara sauce. It was good, even if my friend R did liken it to a hot pocket.
Polish soups deserve a mention all their own. They are really good in general, even if they do have a tendency to sometimes put hard boiled egg chunks into them (I really am not a fan of eggs, but it's not too hard to fish them out). I wish I knew all the different soups I've tried, but suffice it to say they are delicious. I had some Polish borscht, too, and it was also good. You can actually order it clear or not (without or with sour cream). Favorite soup I would have to say is the goulash soup in Krakow in a bread bowl. That was incredible, and I think the bread bowl put it over the top. Goulash isn't exactly Polish but it's one of those regional influences, so it still works. There are also nice pastries for breakfast. We also had kielbasa the other day. It was good, but it was disappointing to have only dijon mustard and ketchup as the sauces-- where was the horseradish? The only real complaint I have though is the ubiquity of surowka. Basically, it's cole slaw, although everybody and every restaurant has a different way of making it. Some are alright, but I have never been a cole slaw fan. Oh well!
Now, for drinks. Polish drink tastes are a bit different from American tastes. Like many Europeans, they have a general preference for fizzy water. This preference I definitely do not share. However, I do share the love of black currant juice. This is definitely something we should import to the 'States as a general offering-- it is wonderful. They also have cherry-apple (yum!) and apple-mint juice (likewise, yum). The only problem is all the cups are small, and there is no such thing as free refills. I'm the person whose water glass always gets refilled when the waiter comes around in restaurants. But apparently the water quality is not good, because they only serve bottled water. Oh well-- I'm trying to learn to sip slowly. Oh, another drink that deserves mention is compote- apparently, just a bunch of berries somehow make this lovely refreshing drink, like a berry punch but not so sweet. I heard of a chocolate shop that serves liquid chocolate, and I intend to investigate.
Polish Families
Polish parents have moved to the top of the list for good parenting. I have not seen one poorly behaved child, and this includes a few groups of kids who were on a field trip to the palace we visited on the 7th. Part of the reason Poland gets this 'award' is because, well, there are simply more children around than I've noticed in other trips to European countries. They also get it because not once have I see a child unattended or put on a leash. Everywhere, you see little children walking (not being carried everywhere) holding onto mom or dad's hand and toddling along. They are adorable.
The schoolchildren were interesting to observe. They did frustate our tour guide a bit because there was an increase in noise level, but I watched them and it was sheer volume of children. While walking to different parts of the museums, they were talking amongst themselves, and with a number of them, it did make some noise, but none of them was at an inappropriate volume. Also, they stopped several times (we kind of leap-frogged with them a bit through the museum) and had short lessons in different rooms in the palace. Those children sat still and paid attention to the teacher, who also seemed like a good teacher-- animated storytelling from what I could see. There was no running around in the cloakroom at the end, not even with atleast thirty kids between the ages of maybe 8 or 9 and 11.
I also noticed a young boy being disciplined outside a restaurant in Krakow. Apparently, he had been misbehaving inside and his father took him outside, sat him on the cement block at the bottom of the few steps down, and was talking to him about it. Well, I think his dad took him outside to not chastise him in public, but regardless, this little fellow felt it terribly-- he was not protesting his innocence, or crying and whining, but looked really quite ashamed of himself, that old school decent shame, the kind you feel when you know you've earned it. To his credit, dad was talking very clearly, firmly but not unkindly from his tone. If I understood Polish I might have tried to evedrop a bit, but I only saw them for a few moments walking past. There are families, many of them, and they seem happy and the parents involved with the children without coddling them.
Religious Life
Few would be surprise to hear the Poles are a Catholic nation (hello, John Paul II!). However, it is a bit of a different experience for me, even coming from a statistically highly Catholic area myself. I think I understand now what we American Catholics are missing-- being Catholic in the States can be almost invisible! Not so in Poland.
Undoubtedly, John Paul II's election to the papacy had a huge impact on the faith here in Poland. JP2 was in many ways the Pope of the Youth, perhaps more than any other 'subset' of Catholics. He had always been involved with young people as a priest and he did not forget us as he got older and higher up in the church hierarchy. And to have a Polish pope, elected in the height of communism, who came, and celebrated Masses all over Poland, well, the communists should've denied his visa. As my professor, who went to the papal Mass in Warsaw in 1979, said, when the communists said they would not organise anything for the papal visit, so ordinary Poles did it all, they discovered they could organise huge groups of people without the government telling them what to do. That generation had been born into communism, and with the pope's election, they were borne out of it. The Solidarity strikes in the shipyard in Gdànsk had Mass every morning.
In France, I was saddened to see so few people in Mass, and that the cathedral in Tours split the daily Mass load among three or four churches in the city. I went to a small church in Three Crosses Square on Sunday, and it was small, but it was full. G, a classmate, and I got there around 6.45pm for a 7 o'clock Mass. It was packed! And they were having Benediction. I think they must have Benediction every Sunday between the end of the 4 o'clock and the start of the 7pm. And when they ended, they all sang and many processed, and they had a huge canopy above the monstrance and banners and incense, and people who weren't processing kneeled, many of us on the floor. At Mass, the church stayed full, some leaving from earlier, more arriving, until it was standing room only. There were no hymnals, everyone (except us!) knew all the responses and lyrics to songs were projected onto a screen to the side (2 o'clock position- it was round inside). We also took communion at the rail, on the tongue.
The guide in Krakow and the professor both said at different points that Poland may have ended up secularised like many other European nations if not for John Paul II, and also that the young people are often more religious than their parents. There was a huge boom in vocations due to JP2, and you can see the fruits of it everywhere. I have not been in one crowded place where I did not see atleast one priest or nun, often both and/or several, and different orders. And many of them are young priests and religious. The faith here is fresh, not stale. I wish we could just import many young religious and priests to the US, just to be present. With all the scandals, so many priests are ashamed to wear their clericals, and some don't wear them much just out of preference.
But it makes a difference to see people, normal, everyday people doing normal, everyday things, in the clothing that shows that they have chosen to live their lives for God as part of a religious order or as a priest. Riding trains, eating pizza, touring museums. I bet we would have more people investigate the faith if it weren't so invisible in America-- and the Roman collar is one way to be present. And maybe it's easier in Poland, where a priest may not be treated poorly by strangers for the crimes of others who should never have been priests, but sometimes you have to take wounds you don't deserve. Perhaps the Polish understand this because they as a people have suffered so much. All I know is, these people have not forgotten, and show a lot of enthusiasm for the new pope as well-- this faith is strong.
Miscellaneous
Poland hands down wins the award for Most Polite Driving. I can count on one hand the times I've heard a car horn, and also, they are exceedingly nice to pedestrians! They do not appear to tailgate, in every taxi I've been in the driver always uses his turn signals. If the pedestrian light is green, and a driver from a parallel street is turning where people are crossing, he makes the curve but waits ever so politely, no impatience, nothing. They are so polite it's crazy. They do drive fast if they can, but never at the expense of excellent road etiquette. Public transport follows the same rules. They have only one line for the metro, but gazillions of buses that are generally good and efficient.
The funny thing about drivers is where they park. Except on sidestreets with narrow sidewalks, they always park on sidewalks! It's the funniest thing, really! They just pull right on at an angle or, even better, parallel park! I find it highly amusing, but it seems like a good idea. In Boston, really everywhere in eastern Massachusetts, there is always a lot of parking clogging. If you've got a street that's two ways that isn't that wide and one or even sometimes both streets are completely taken up, then many times only one car can get through. Not so with Polish streets. I do think they have fewer cars than we do, but many many available spots on the sidewalk are taken up regularly. Nor have I ever seen anyone have a problem getting back onto the road. It's really funny to look at, though. I will have to get a picture at some point.
There's not a lot of love lost on the Russians here, both for the reasons many can easily recall and also ones I was not at all familiar with. This I will explain in more detail. We visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum today and it has given me much to think about. My professor, when explaining pierogi ruskie (Russian pierogi), said that 'ruskie' tends to have quite a somewhat insulting connotation. I love Russia and it's people, but I can sympathise with the Poles on this one. You'll understand better when I discuss World War II and the origins of communism in Poland.
Polish Pronunciation, Sort Of
I cannot claim to understand Polish phonetics in any true sense. However, I have learned a few handy factoids.
Let's take the name of famous Solidarity leader Lech Walesa. I have heard English speakers, myself included, say this many many different ways, which I have now discovered are almost universally wrong.
Let's start with Lech. The L and E are straightforward. However, the 'CH' is like a German CH in 'Ich' or a Russian X (transliterated Kh in English), or like Channukah in Hebrew/Yiddish. It's softer than the Russian and Yiddish, but harder than the German. The result is a first name pronounced LeHh, basically.
Now, Walesa. Here's where the alphabet problems begin. See, in Polish, it's actually Wałęsa. But English doesn't really have ł or ę, or ą, ś, or ć, for that matter. And a W in Polish is like a W in German- a V sound. An ł sounds like a W, and e with a squiggle (technical term there) is like an -EN. So, actually, it's pronounced Vawensa.
J's are like Y's, I's soften the prior consonant and/or the subsequent vowel. As far as I can tell, RZ = Zh (like Z in azure) and Ż = RZ. CZ = CH as in church, and Ć = CZ. SZ = SH as in shout, and Ś = SZ. I imagine Poles can hear some difference that justifies what seems to me like a lot of redundancy, but I can't, so those are my best guesses. On the bright side, my professor said I have good pronunciation (ha! must be that "One Minute Polish" podcast). On the not-so-bright side, it confuses the heck out of me.
Okay, well, that's quite long! Anyway, enough for now. Next will be reflections on WWII and the advent of Communism. We're going to Gdànsk early Sat. and getting back late Sun.
goodbye in Polish is very close to Russian, but of course I will butcher the spelling, but here is my guess:
do widienia!
~Nadja
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Victoria
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Wow!
Wow, Poland sounds like a wonderful place! I knew Katelyn loved it there, but she didn't go into all these details to explain why. Now I understand how it charmed her. If a place has great food and friendly, courteous, faithful people (who obviously possess a bunch of other qualities enabling them to be such good parents), what else really matters? (The gorgeous buildings are just a bonus. . . .) I really want to go to Poland now ;) I hope you'll add more to this entry - I can't wait to find out more about it! :)