Minsk to Smolensk, Afghanistan, Bulgarian wine and the Olympics

After a leisurely breakfast we get moving at 11:00 o'clock. We drive around downtown Minsk, and find it rather forgettable. The high points of the tour are a couple of huge monuments to Lenin and to victory in WW II. Good weather tough, warm and sunny.

One policeman stops me because I am trying to make a right turn from the middle lane of a wide boulevard. I did signal my intention to turn (I think I did) but anyway I was very careful and waited for the road to be clear before turning. He is initially a bit brusque but we start speaking Polish and it all ends with big smiles and a pat in the back. Again, I think he was just curious to meet funny-looking foreigners in a yellow beetle...

We hit the road again in the direction of Smolensk after a quick lunch, and it start raining heavily.

Once in Smolensk we are very warmly greeted by a group of students who run the camping site where we will spend the night. Banter and casual talk accompanied by Bulgarian wine drag on for several hours.

Only a couple of times the discussion is a bit tense, when we touch Afghanistan (they insist Soviet forces are providing brotherly help to socialists threatened by imperialism, pure party line) and the Olympics, (they insist sport and politics should be kept separate, and here they have a point).

They also believe that China (Moscow's Communist rival) got a bloody nose in Vietnam (Russia's Communist friend) last year when it launched its "punitive" campaign following the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. Here the truth is somewhat more blurred, and lots of people on both sides died for no reason when the Chinese pulled back.

The point I take away from this conversation is that the young people we have met actually still believe in Communism and in the leading role of the USSR, in one way or another. Not ONE Pole we met does.

Dunajec river cruise and promises of liberation

Day trip to the Dunajec river, on the border with Czechoslovakia. We drift down the river for 18 km on a big wooden raft piloted by some quite deft local sailors. It is very cold and windy.

We stop for lunch at a local eatery along the banks of the river, al100 for a hearty meal of sausages and potatoes, hot soup. Cheap, tasty and filling.

During the boat ride, we often get very close to the Czechoslovak bank, and a few people here and there come down to have a look at us. It is very embarrassing to hear Pat get up on our raft and yell at them from the top of his lungs: "Hang in there, we'll come to liberate you from Communism!". Once, twice, three times... If only... He is being silly and if he weren't silly he'd be irresponsible.

People here have memories of such promises in the past, when it was Western (especially American) government agencies, such as Voice of America, that gave false illusions to the peoples oppressed by the USSR. Especially when Hungary rose in 1956, many brave Hungarians actually believed that NATO could come forward and liberate them. But it did not, and they were crushed by Soviet and Warsaw Pact tanks.

In the evening we are back in Krakow. Good lunch in a local restaurant,      always lots of meat and potatoes. Andrew and I take a walk to the Wawel, hoping to catch a night view, but it is closed and watched by threatening dogs, so we turn around and end the evening with a chat in the cool wind.

More studying and eating

In the morning we get a phone call in our collective corridor phone. It's the Orbis travel agent: our Soviet visa has arrived! Or rather the confirmation from Moscow that we are going to get our visa. Good enough, I hope. Apparently we are the first Western group of students in an exchange program with SGPiS to get a Soviet visa, everyone else who tried before us was turned down.

Written exam on CMEA. Nonsense, but easy. All we have to do, really, is to praise the glory of the socialist brotherhood of nations. We also interject some mild criticism to make it more credible. What a joke.

Then another lunch at Borzena's home. Her hospitality is really incredible. Yes she obviously has much to gain from her friendship with us, but still, she goes far beyond what would be expected or even hoped for. It is difficult to think of reciprocating. Her mother almost moves us to tears every time for her efforts in the kitchen. But that is not the point.

After another pantagruelian lunch back home to pseudostudy Polish foreign policy with Ann. We then go for a cosy dinner at the Canaletto restaurant of the Victoria hotel.

Exams and study

In the morning we go for our Political Systems exam, very easy.

Afternoon to study the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, or Comecon. This was once believed to be the USSR's response to the Western European Common Market. But it's always been anything but. Anyway, relations are mostly regulated bilaterally.

Moreover, many countries wanted to join the Common Market, there was a waiting list and no country ever left once they joined. While no other European country I was aware of wanted to join the CMEA, while more than one member state would have likely left already if they had had a chance to do so. Albania actually did.

Never seen so much nonsense concentrated in so few pages like in our course material.

1 may: International Workers' Day celebration

Unfortunately today my folks have to fly home. So they will miss the great celebrations of international workers' day, especially important in a socialist country. Preparations have been underway for several days and the city is full of fancy decorations, ideological banners, red flags and big stars.

Andrew at the HQ of the Communist Party

Marco with the school's flag

After taking them to the airport I return to school and join the SGPiS students for a long walk to downtown. Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life converge to the Marszalkowska avenue and parade in front of a grand stand with General Secretary Gierek, the Politburo of the communist party, the government, foreign diplomats etc. Stefan is with them, as representative of the students!

Warsaw is red today.

I take lots of pictures. At one point I want to take a picture of Andrew with his arms raised up in a parody of surrender in front of the headquarters of the communist party. It looks a bit ironic, we have been mocking the party aloud and maybe they heard and understood us? Anyway the zealous officer wants the roll of my camera. I am a bit upset and start arguing when Borzena comes along and persuades him to let us go. Phewww...

Romek

In the evening back to the parents flat to study for exams with Ann. At 11pm I prepare some spaghetti arrabbiata to appropriately see off a very red day! And a hot evening...

Elections for Parliament

Morning walking about Sandomierz without any particular goal in mind. By lunch time we say goodbye to Elzbieta's family, but not before we are treated to another pantagruelic meal.

It so happens that today is election day in Poland. People are called to vote for the new Parliament, the Sejm. There are few political posters in Sandomierz, I guess because there is no need to campaign, really. The outcome is well known in advance. One poster does exhort voters to participate: "Support the party: vote!"

Just for fun, we go and have a look at a polling station. People walk in, take their ballot and drop it in a big box. Not one of them goes into a small booth to mark anything on the ballot. Not that there would be much choice. Only the Communist party and its allies are allowed on the ballot. A blank ballot is taken as a vote for the list of communist candidates printed on it. And anyway, in Poland, Parliament's role is maily to rubber stamp the Party's decisions.

We then set off to Kazimierz, a small medieval town with a pretty castle on top of a steep hill. We climb up the "Hill of Three Crosses", on top of which there are ...three crosses and from which we can enjoy a great view of the town. It's very cold.