We have a language teacher who is a very patient teacher. We don't exactly posses a knack for language, but she is putting up with us. The are a few reasons why we're not doing so well. The town is very tourist friendly, english menus, english 'sale' signs, shop keepers and waitstaff that are none too glad to speak english. We are just here 10 more months, hardly incentive to learn the language. And Polish is darned difficult! Sounds that our vocal cords, throat, lips and tongues are not accustomed to forming. And sounds that our brain cannot decifer. After 3 months of lessons there are times that a word or a sound will make sense, but not very often.
Today during my lesson, as she was using pertinent occasions to teach me, I was learning the verbs for must, have, and ability. Any way we got way off the subject after teaching me the correct way to say I must go to the doctor. Started with the health care system, and how bad it still is in Poland. Poles pay 9% of their income to health care but receive minimal care. For example her mother has a heart condition and was told it would be 4 months before she could see the doctor. So the family paid to have her mother seen sooner at a private clinic. I told her it is somewhat similar with the states, and she agrees that it is not like it was during her childhood. The soviet rule was more invasive than I realized.
At the end of the second world war, Europe was freed of the Nazi regime. But in Poland, and the the other Eastern block countries, the soviets began a long occupation that stifled the people. Her sister is older by about 5 years, and she says in their family photos you can see a marked difference in the era. Photos from the 50's have the family dressed plainly. Showing how out of contact with the outside world they were. Photos of the girls in the 60's, after Stalin, show them in fashionable dress, having been more in touch with the outside world. At 25 she almost immigrated to Australia, had her route figured out, but stayed in Poland, so her mother wouldn't be alone and depressed. In 1986 she couldn't imagine a time when Poles would be free to go where they pleased. Had she left at that time, there would be no returning. Passports were difficult at best to get, the authorities would look for ways to have people beholden to them. Such as ' If you receive your document, you must watch your neighbor and report to us', or 'report any underground activity'. They created an atmosphere of distrust.
Money didn't mean too much under the communist rule, there was more bargaining power in what you had. She told me the story of when a relative waited in line for two weeks to get on the list for a washing machine. Once in the store they were told that there were no more washing machines, "did they want a refrigerator?" So they bought a refrigerator, even though they already had one. They put a notice in the newspaper that they had a refrigerator, was anyone willing to trade for a washing machine! She said the paper was full of adds for trades like that and that families had lots of stuff they kept for trading!
The governments response to Solidarity was Martial Law. Between Dec 1981- July 1983 they lived under extreme economic and civil liberty restrictions. This meant curfew 10 pm until 6 am. Only employed people could be on the streets. She was a student during this time and always watched the clock so to be home before 10:00. Mail was censored, borders and airports closed, and food rationed. The typical stories we hear about the long lines for bread is true. Each person had a ticket, with their ration amounts for the month, one kilo of sugar, one stick of butter, one bar of soap, one bottle of alcohol, 100 grams of chocolate, ect. Her sister lived in a mining town and actually had a ration of 2 bars of soap!
When she tells these stories I am amazed. We heard the news of communist rule, but to actually hear her relay these stories, I am astonished. I can only begin to imagine what it must have been like. After hurricanes Wrightsville Beach some times will impose curfews, and the National Guard will patrol the streets. We remember sitting on the porch at night and hearing the soldiers walking the street, seeing their silhouettes, with their guns across their shoulders. But they were there to protect our property, not to restrict our freedom.
