RAVENSGATE KEEP REALM OF MYSTERY

July 21, 2002

Poland—What a truly interesting country. There is amazing beauty here. I wonder what it would have been like if Roosevelt and Churchill hadn’t ‘sold’ it to Stalin at the end of WWII? I have only been here two and a half weeks, but am already stifled by the old Soviet way of doing things, and yet the young people of this country are amazing. They are quite intelligent and very friendly. And, they are changing things for the better. Poland is scheduled to join the EU in 2004. I have met some really nice people and been helped by some incredible people (Artur) , but it doesn’t change the fact that there is a lot of unnecessary red tape involved in so many of the processes in this country. For instance, after having arrived here, we were able to get our dog shipped to Warsaw, a three and a half-hour trip one way from Krakow. There was a very nice lady named, Grace, who helped us with this ordeal, but the various offices and stamps and ‘go here, go there, come back here’ were in evidence. Our dog must have caught some kind of intestinal ‘bug’ in transit because she needed a vet a day after we got her. We had only been here a day, so we didn’t know anyone. Some people put us in touch with a vet and he came that same day (made a HOUSE CALL). Can you believe it!!! He was very nice and gave her some medicine. He CAME BACK two days later to check on her and gave her some more medicine. She’s fine. That was VERY impressive.