Tamara Unleashed

When I decided to be a part of this small effort to help Ukrainian Refugees in Poland (and support the Polish people providing the support), I really had no idea what this experience would be. I had never tried to raise money before. While Teresa had told us US dollars go a long way in Poland, I had really no idea how that would play out. I reached out widely to my friends and family. The response was so tremendous that I did not have to send out reminder emails to those that did not respond first time around.

In our conversation with Tamar Jacoby, the author of the book Displaced, she asked us what we were going to do to continue our efforts given our fundraising ability and all that we have learned about the needs here. Prior to coming Mary, Kay and I were thinking of this as once in a lifetime experience but that may be evolving.

The Polish people and Ukrainians we have met are very concerned about the winter and an anticipated influx of more refugees as a lot of the infrastructure that will provide heat is not there in Eastern Ukraine. Of course no one knows how long the war will last and there is a real sense that Poland and Ukraine are in this together.

Through our contacts with the Krakow Rotary, there will be ways to provide support by transfer of funds from the US. To help the Krakow run Central Pomocy Ukraine (Ukrainian Refugee Centers) support is best provided on the ground though purchasing of gift cards and supplies. We have learned of smaller organizations that are providing targeted help to the in-country Ukranian refugees and those that are fighting Putin’s army. I don’t like to refer to them as Russians as I don’t think (nor do the Polish and Ukrainian people) think the rank and file Russian people support this war.

I will start putting together a slide show that we can use with Rotary Clubs in the US as a starting point.

It is very helpful for both the Polish and Ukrainian people to visible see the support of the Americans. None of us anticipated how comfortable we would feel in Krakow and while it is very helpful to be able to speak Polish, you can easily be here without speaking or understanding the language.

Time will tell…..

This is day 11 of this trip. 4 days until we return home. I am the first one up today and I started reflecting forward. What it is going to be like to be back home for me. It will be challenging to go back to a quiet life after this camaraderie and shared purpose.

When I realized my trip to Iowa to receive my Distinguished Service Award from Luther College was shortly after I returned from Krakow, I thought it would difficult to turn around and get ready to travel again. Now I realize that getting ready for the car trip to Iowas will pull me out of the crash that is to come.

When I came back from the 10 days in Seattle, I was unprepared for the deep sense of loss I felt after having so much time WITH people. I am a profound introvert and have always needed time alone to recharge so I was expecting the same to be true after Seattle. But that was not the case. I am going to make sure I have a contact with the outside world planned for every day when I get back from Krakow.

The two women I am sharing the AirBnb with had not met (except on Zoom) prior to meeting up at Dulles. I knew both of them well and thought we would all get along and that has been the case. We have had many laughs. Doing laundry has led to many. Kay has a new rule. Never buy new underwear before a trip. As her laundry was new, she couldn’t tell what was hers versus others.

Yesterday evening, Mary asked if anyone had seen her pair of panties that were white with some black on it. Kay walked over and pulled the top of her pants down and said “like these”. We laughed so hard tears ran down our legs.

This morning Kay decided they had the same taste in panties. I do not think this will be the only adventure the 3 of us share.

While we were layered up in gray, windy Krakow yesterday with temps in the low 60’s our homes were in the mid to high 80’s. We read headline news and are glad QE is buried so that can stop dominating the new. None of us are Anglophiles.

Since kitchen renovation started in April, Carli has spent a fair amount of time with Brady my son’s dog who is now nearly 3. At the beginning, their interactions were limited to Brady wanting play and Carli nipping at her. In the backyard, Brady would chase toys and Carli would occasionally chase Brady – having no interest in the toy. Carli is clearly not pray motivated. The first time I dog sat Brady last fall – they each found their spot around me.

Starting a few months ago, Carli could be encouraged to play tug of war with Brady and would last 1-2 seconds. It gradually progressed to Carli holding on long enough to be drug around the floor by Brady.

They can now be found lying next to each other and more recently have wrestling matches that last for quite some time once to twice a day.

It is fun to see Carli learning to be more dog-like. She has a quirky little personality – lots of love but no interest in playing with toys or going for walks which makes her interactions with me pretty much limited to snuggling, eating or going outside (but not for a walk). She may have a new personality when I return.

The Auschwitz museum aspect of the tour Auschwitz-Birkenau was intriguing for several reasons. The tour wound through several of the existing “barrack” structures that existed prior to WW2. There were photos of the prisoners at the beginning but as the volume of Jews increased they could not keep up with photos so they turned to tattooing the numbers and their names disappeared.

The museum exhibits were of items found when the camps were abandoned including drawings done by the Nazi’s such as the one above depicting a doctor injecting phenol into a man’s heart to kill him. There were also photos that the Nazi’s took of their own activities that a prisoner discovered hidden in a wall before they left. They took the photos with them and kept them for several years before turning them over to the museum. They wanted to make sure they did not get into the wrong hands and get destroyed.

The prisoners from Auschwitz were used to build Birkenbau including the gas chambers and crematoriums. Most of them were worked to death. There was a never ending supply of new prisoners to do the work. The amount of resources that it took for the Holocaust was immense – both in manpower and physical resources to create the camps to try to keep what he was doing hidden as much as possible. It makes you wonder what might have happened if Hitler would have slaughtered people in the open or been satisfied with land/ resource acquisition without trying to create the perfect Aryan race as well.

The steps on the stairs between the floors between the exhibits in the museum were so worn in places by shoes, it was almost necessary to use the rail. While these steps might be a couple of hundred years old, they felt like were a thousand years old. It didn’t seem like soldiers or prisoners could be responsible for this.

There were 24 people in our group with one guide and the tour groups were spaced about every 5 minutes apart. Do the steps represent the wear and tear of millions of people who have visited the museum over the past 75 plus years bearing witness to this horror story of history?

After shopping for the pet supplies yesterday at the Galleria, which looks like any indoor shopping mall in the US – except perhaps more beautiful desserts we were walking to Airbnb on a different street and I found this piece of litter. It was day 6 of our trip and walking around in Krakow and the first piece of litter I have seen. I picked it up and threw it away. The lack of any trash on the streets is a bit disorienting.

There is also very little obesity and I have seen nothing I would consider morbid obesity. In general the vast majority of people young and old are normal weight with some overweight but obesity is very uncommon. Why? Perhaps they walk more and don’t eat while they are walking creating litter. Certainly the diet does have a fair amount of starch. The piergi are quite good – nice texture and some flavor. They do have quite a few without meat, but I think much of the flavor of Polish food come from meat and meat broth.

This is Polish borscht – beet broth with mushroom and cheese dumplings. I did get some sense of taste from the broth and dumplings. It was one of my more positive eating experiences here.

We discovered a shop on outdoor market that does only loaded baked potatoes – several without meat. The Polish really know how to do a baked potato. They seem to pretty much mash the potato in the skin and then load it up. The large one was 3 meals for me. It wasn’t as flavorful as I hoped but I had brought some Tony’s seasoning with me and that really helped.

Polish beer is quite good. There is a variety of other foods here as well. There are a lot of Pizza places, a few sushi, Indian, Vietnamese and vegan places. There are lots of desserts and ice creams. My companions are really enjoying the Polish meat dishes.

After seeing a fair bit of Old Town and new Krakow, we had not noticed anything that looked like low-income housing so we asked Teresa where the slums were and she emphatically indicated there were no slums in Krakow. We have seen a total of 5 homeless men in 6 days.

It almost seems too good to be true. It has only been 30 years since Poland became a democracy. Perhaps they have not had enough time to create the concentration of wealth we have in the US.

This is day 5 in Krakow and I feel adjusted to the time. I took a walk on my own in the city and felt totally comfortable. We are staying not far from Old Town. Old Town is surrounded by and narrow park and walkway. I walked around Old Town and then walked through it. It was gray and the mist turned to light rain. Aside from not being able to understand the spoken language, it is like walking around city in the US except that everything I much older. The population is primarily Caucasian with a smattering of black people and Asians. I have not picked up any sense of fear amongst the Polish people. Poland borders western Ukraine and all of the fighting is in eastern Ukraine.

From discussions with the Refugee Center director yesterday, I think the social safety net here is pretty good. I have seen only one homeless person in 5 days. He was sleeping on a bench as I walked around Old Town. There are trams, scooters bicycles and pedestrians all sharing the streets and sidewalks pretty seamlessly. Cyclists with helmets are rare. Pedestrians have the absolute right of way in Krakow except if there is traffic light with a pedestrian signal – which pedestrians obey.

Krakow is a clean city and this is spite of having these small public waste containers that have almost nothing in them. Can you imagine what this would look like in the US – overflowing to be sure. How can this be? I did not see one person walking while eating and few people were drinking so there is much less trash that needs disposed of.

These pictures at one end of Old Town made me imagine what it would have been like in medival times.

The keyholes in the walls above would protect the guards head while providing room for him to aim/fire a weapon.

This tower sits at the opposite side of Old Town on one edge of the Plaza

I found a coffee and dessert bar while walking and asked for 2 traditional Polish desserts to take “home”. We had a big Polish lunch so dinner will be dessert. There is not a lot of flavor associated with Polish food especially since I do not eat meat. I know I will enjoy the chocolate of this dessert.

I am done buying souvenirs for myself. I saw this ring today made by a local artist. It reminded me of large pearl I once had. I really loved the setting so I decided to get it. The prices here are reasonable compared to the US.

I am definitely going to have to start getting my nails done to help this ring look fabulous on my hand.

Tomorrow is a guided tour of Karkow and Saturday we will be going to Auschwitz. The weather for the remainder of our stay is cloudy with rain predicted on most days. After my walk, I can imagine how beautiful this city would be in the spring with new flowers and sunshine.

Krakow is a beautiful old city that seems to be thriving. We have not detected any sense of fear associated with a shared border with Ukraine. This may in part be due to the fact that the shared border is on western Ukraine – far from the war activity. Ukraine is a very large country with a series of lakes running north to south pretty much in the middle of the country.

My rash decision to color my hair did not take into consideration the possibility that all of the Polish people were “behind” the Ukrainian refugees. As in the US, there is a spectrum of feelings about the influx of refugees that are being supported by the their government. I have been mistaken for a Ukrainian which is clearly dispelled the minute I open my mouth. I have not noted any overt hostility but there may be comments that I cannot understand.

While I am at the stage of my life that I am downsizing and do not want to accumulate any more things, I realized that it is important for us to support the Polish economy while I am here. Amber is a very BIG deal here. The yellow/gold/brown of amber is not anywhere in the colors I wear so I was in a quandary until I found some red amber in a uniquely designed earrings. They do not take up much space.

Today we will do our first visit to one of the refugee centers. We will see if the hair color brings smiles to the faces of the refugees which is the hope.

My undergraduate college is Luther College in Decorah Iowa. It is a great small liberal arts college that had a great acceptance rate for the University of Iowa Medical School. Between my junior and senior year of high school I took Biochemistry 101 with college kids on campus. I had a blast and decided to go there. It was a great experience. Earlier this year, I was informed that I would be receiving a Distinguished Service Award during Homecoming Weekend for the Class of 1977. I had to do the math to realize this is 45 years since graduation and I was shocked by that. The award presentation is October 7th, shortly after I return from Poland.

Last night, I had the idea of getting the Ukrainian flag colors (solid blue on top of solid yellow) put in my hair when I got it cut today. Fellow traveler Kay decided to do it as well. She has longer hair so she was able to mix the colors which was my vision for my hair. But with my short hair that had to be pulled through a special cap, having blue hairs next to yellow hair would likely lead to some green hair during the 30 minutes of processing. So I have the flag – blue on top of yellow. This is a picture while waiting for the blue to process.

The yellow was put in on the sides, processed for 30 minutes and then hair was trimmed. Everyone in the salon was entertained and heard the story behind the colors. We had a blast and after we got home it hit me that this was permanent color so I will be accepting my DSA with blue and yellow hair. Oh well.

We truly hope that this will bring as many smiles to the faces of the Ukrainian refugees as we had getting it done.

After starting the 4women4URS.com blog, I realized how much I missed blogging. I am driving toSpartanburg SC today, the first leg of my journey to Krakow. I had a goal of having my home organized before I left and while I have fallen short, I have unpacked all of the boxes/containers that I brought from MD, redistributed a lot of it butI am not quite done. What I have is all organized in containers so I can attack one container a day and hopefully be done by the end of October – in time for my planned bathroom renovation. I am hoping to convert my Jack and Jill into 2 complete bathrooms which is one thing that will increase the value of the property. I have pictures up on the walls.

I have been through so many photographs. I digitized many and disposed of more of them than I kept. I found my diary from my trip to Malta the first semester of my senior year of college. I have not read it yet, but I will. I found letters from a resident named John who was in Flint MI at the time and I have not been able to access any memories of who he is. I am guessing he was someone I met when I spent a month at Gundersen Clinic in LaCrosse, WI my sophomore or junior year in college. I have not come across anything else that I have drawn a total blank on.

My life has been nothing like I imagined it would be. I think I was 18-24 months in the picture above preparing to ride off to a new adventure as I am today. Over the next weeks most if not all of my blogging will be at 4women4URS.com

I have a hernia in my right lower abdomen on the right. I have had it for at least 15 years and it hasn’t bothered me enough to fix it. Habitat has changed that and I have a support I wear at Habitat. Wednesday there was an extra work day for “finishing activities” so I didn’t wear the support- bad decision. Within the first 2 hours I had to lay down on floor twice “fortunately they were carpeted) and reduce the hernia. I was so uncomfortable I thought I might have to leave.

Then I decided to try to come up with something to substitute for the support. I came up with 2 plastic coffee cup lids carefully placed over the area of hernia and held it in place with 2 layers. Fortunately I wore my workout leggings that day. IT WORKED GREAT. I was very comfortable for the rest of the day.

I had it evaluated by a surgeon two years ago (pre-Habitat) and he thought it was not causing me enough problems to. warrant fixing it. It is clearly causing me problems now, but if it is fixed, I will likely still wear the support at Habitat to protect the repair. So I think I will wait awhile and keep my coffee cup lids handy.