Sunday, June 19, 2011

Stories before "The Transition"

I've enjoyed speaking with older Poles and hearing their stories / memories of what life was like during the Communist era.  Several in particular stick in my head:
*  There were hardly any goods in the stores to purchase, and if there were then there were huge lines.  I was one of four kids, so when we went shopping, my mother had each of us stand in a different line to get the items that we needed and save a little time.
*  I was able to get a "chocolate like substance" (chocolate was not available during this time), that the son of the janitor really liked;  so in exchange for some of this "chocolate like substance" he would give me several rolls of toilet paper, which we couldn't get on a regular basis.  It was a good trade.
*  I remember taking Russian in primary school, but after the end of communism, no one wanted to take Russian anymore, everyone took English, or German, or something other than Russian.

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