History /
An American studying medicine in the PRL 1978-1985: my story [142]
Kraków was mystical. Period. I was hooked. This country-bumpkin was quickly and soundly seduced. For the most part it was the people. Those ever-curious, always bowing-in-politeness Cracowians quickly won me over. However, there were times, where I was overwhelmed. Most notably in the beginning, I felt like a piece of red meat thrown into a river of piranhas. These people were as hungry for knowledge as those Amazonian creatures were for flesh! It was very hard at first. I had never been a rock star before. Every encounter with a Pole was another interview. I had no clue as to how one behaves. It was all so new, so strange and so very, very cool.So how much does a worker make an hour"? "How much does a loaf of bread cost" "How long must the average American have to work to afford a car?" We "from the west" were bombarded with these and many, many more questions each and every day.
MarkRoommates. I have had absolutely no luck with roommates ever in my life. Upon our arrival in DS Piast we were assigned a roommate. I got Mark. Marek was a medium height, skinny guy from Albany, New York. He was pleasant with a goofy laugh and a goofy moustache. I don't remember what his major was in college but sociology or art history come to mind. He was a gentle soul to say the least. His feathers
never got ruffled(until one night that I'll share with you later).....My roommates sense of style was neat,neat, neat. To this day whenever I see a pair of freshly pressed slacks I think of Mark:)....Getting dressed was a ritualistic experience for him. It took him at least 15 minutes to put his pants and shirt on. It was something akin to a Japanese tea ceremony. Pants were extricated from the closet and laid on the bed. The shirt was removed from the hanger and gotten in to. Next, the pants, with creases sharp and tight, were climbed into. The care and time he devoted to tucking his shirt into his pant was beyond belief. I tried many times to get my shirt to fit into my pants as he but never could do it(still can't)....Mark went about his life in Krakow as did I. Our lives only intersected in our room. I never knew what he thought about sex, religion, politics, etc. He was a closed book; very difficult to know. Later in the summer I brought a girl(an American from New Jersey) back to our room. We started getting affectionate and Mark became very upset kicking us out of the room. He was raging! He was mad at me for a week! Shortly afterwards I found PT, who was roommate-less, just down the hall and willing to take me in.
