Why Poland?

My Mom passed away this spring and I wanted to do something with my Dad. I like to travel, and immediately I thought of Poland, since my Dad has never been there, even though all my grandparents - both my Mom’s and Dad’s parents - emigrated from Poland in the early 1900’s. My Dad met my Mom at a Polish-American Club in N.J. Now are you beginning to understand why Poland? My parents spoke Polish to each other and their parents. Why a religious pilgrimage in Poland? My Dad is also very religious – he goes to church everyday, prays all the time (before meals, at night, etc.), belongs to religious clubs, has been an Eucharistic minister for the past 34 year, etc. While I am no where near as religious – really far from it - I though it would be a fun trip. Something we could do together.

I was in Poland once before in 1987, on an agriculture exchange program. I worked on a government farm shoveling potatoes and distilling vodka. At that time the country was still under communist rule and plagued with shortages of basic necessities like toilet paper and bread. I remember villagers waiting in line for such items to be delivered to the rural store near the house that I lived in. Today, if you have the money, you can buy also anything that you can buy in the U.S. This most notable visible change: rampant consumerism. I didn’t take long. Other than the consumerism, a few new skyscrapers in Warsaw, and a much more enthusiast generation of young people populating the cities, the country hasn’t changed much.