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Picking up where I left off last time, let me discuss the food in Poland.
I cannot honestly say that Polish cuisine is my favorite among all those I might choose from, but it is well worth
sampling. I often did at a proletarian-style cafeteria on the corner (Strszewskiego/Pilsudskiego Sts.) near my
school, which serves completely authentic Polish food, despite being inexplicably named the Barcelona, with all
the Spanish motifs inside to match. There I would sample golabki (cabbage leaves stuffed with minced beef and rice),
pierogi (raviloi-like dumplings stuffed with either cottage cheese or minced meat), barszcz (strained beet soup,
similiar to Russian borsch), or buracki (cooked, diced beets). Next door at a jadlodajnia,(budget eatery), they
feature a vast array of nalesniki (cream-topped pancakes filed with cottage cheese or jam) which I avoided for
fear of a catastrophic hypoglycemic reaction, plus several cross-cultural standbys like spaghetti bolognese. But
my favorite Polish dish by far is bigos (a thick stew with sauerkraut and beef), which I encourage you to enjoy
at Piec's on Szewsk Street.
Regarding the beer (piwo), the most popular brands you see everywhere are Okicim, EB and Zywiec. I liked the first
two, but found that tasting Zywiec evoked for me images of waking up face down in a swamp. Vodka is extremely popular
in Poland, and to my surprise I developed a liking for an occasional glass of Zubrowka.
Poland is very easy on the budget, as one can easily fill up on grub for less than a two dollars. A tall glass
of beer is no more than $1.50, a weekly tram/bus pass is $5.00. I often grabbed a delicious falafel or kabob sandwich
from street-side vendors for $1.50, or obwarzanki (ring-shaped bread rolls, often with poppy seeds) for less than
$.25 from street carts. Word of caution though; only buy them in the morning as by afternoon they have the consistency
of a hockey puck!
Another warning: when you go to a movie in Poland in a group, make sure you that you specify that you want to sit
together, no matter how obvious it might seem. Failing to do this, four us watched Gladiator from distance reaches
of the theatre. The good news is that, like Sweden, they use subtitles and do not dub the dialogue in Poland, which
they do in France and Germany.
How can I talk about about a city or country without mentioning the people. I find the Polish people to be easy
going, helpful and very friendly, although clerks and others in the service business are at times almost laughingly
brusque. Some of the older people do seem to be suffering from some kind of post-Soviet negativity hangover, walking
around as if in a daze. The younger Poles, though, are very lively and quite eager to visit and practice their
English. But there seems to be a bit of a collective inferiority complex among them, as I often heard their expressed
opinion that people from other countries perceive them as being lazy drunks. That deeply saddens me, plus I think
about the traditional stereotype of Poles as being stupid (how many "Polack" jokes have we all all endured?!?),
especially when one realizes that Poland has been home to one of the richest intellectual and literary legacies
of modern Europe. Living in one of the poorer countries of Europe, young Poles yearn for the relative prosperity
of the West, and I discovered that the native students I spoke with had totally bought into the American Myth,
as if the characters of the TV programs "Friends" or "The Bill Cosby Show" represent absolute
reality of life in the utopian USA.
And now as a public service to my male and lesbian friends, I must include the obligatory review of the women of
Poland (inquiring minds are always wanting to know!). There is a saying that if you come to Poland as a single
man you are in paradise, and if you come as a married man, you won't be for long! Evidently the "life expectancy"
for men remaining single here is maybe a year. If you stay longer than that, your status as single and available
is probably doomed. I have seen evidence of this from other expats I have met, and I must say that the women here
are from some kind of exotic gene pool the likes of which I have never seen. The fact that they favor tight clothes
and very short skirts, and that there are about 50,000 coeds attending Krakow's universities, makes people watching
here a world class event!
I like Krakow very much, but it's certainly not paradise. Air pollution is a definite problem here, largely thanks
to the nearby Nowa Huta steelworks, which, despite post Soviet cutbacks in production, still belches out enough
crap to make me want to blow my nose or wash my face a few times a day. There is also a significant alcohol problem
in Poland, and it is difficult to walk very far without a "career drunk" accosting you for a handout.
Almost all are older men, many of whom lost their "jobs for life" under communism when the "iron
curtain" collapsed and they were forced to compete in an open market. And the pigeons are so plentiful that
trucks often drive around unleashing a sound akin to a sonic boom, designed to scare them all off to congregate
and shit in some other neighborhood.
I hope that you have been patient with my slow pace in writing. Besides my schedule, I've also been impeded by
excrutiatingly slow technology here... clearly a test of patience.
In my next On the Road, I will tell you about my unforgettable 20 hour, overnight bus odyssey from Krakow to Stuttgart,
and share with you my first impressions of living and working in Germany.
 Love and piwo,
-------------Fast Eddie
Some websites with more information about Poland and Krakow:
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