We went to the home church where our friends worshipped. Wendy was kind enough to translate the songs for me, and someone translated the sermon into English which we listened to on earphones.
After church
we went to the local shopping mall so that Kristen could replace her jeans and her sandals. On the way back we drove past the 14 bronze statues at the street corner of Pilsudskiego and Swidnicka about a mile south of the Market Square. An internet search informed me that the official name is “Transition” by Jerzy Kalina. These statues, the prototypes of which we had seen in the museum, are apparently symbolic of the Polish resistance and the proclamation of martial law in 1981. 
we went to the local shopping mall so that Kristen could replace her jeans and her sandals. On the way back we drove past the 14 bronze statues at the street corner of Pilsudskiego and Swidnicka about a mile south of the Market Square. An internet search informed me that the official name is “Transition” by Jerzy Kalina. These statues, the prototypes of which we had seen in the museum, are apparently symbolic of the Polish resistance and the proclamation of martial law in 1981. 
A Polish couple came over for dinner so that we could talk to some real Poles. It was very interesting. I believe they were in their early 40s, so they would have grown up before 1989 when everything changed.
I don’t remember the entire conversations, but here are a few things that jumped out at me:
*Poland wasn’t communist; they were socialist. (makes me interested in understanding what Communism really is; I wish I had thought to ask him.)
*Americans are good at organization but they don’t take the time to get to know the culture they are interfering with. He excluded our hosts from his general caricature.
*What Americans perceive as confidence, the Poles perceive as arrogance. Poles walk in with eyes down to show they aren’t arrogant.
*He dismissed the Germans summarily: “ What do you expect with a country who elects a man like Hitler?” Neither the Germans nor the Russians treated Poland well in the past, so it is not surprising that hard feelings still exist.
*The wars in the Middle east are bad. We should let countries sort out their own problems. Yes, people will die but not as many as would die from the resulting war. Americans are too impatient and should let people sort out their own problems. I would have liked to have asked about WWII, but I was interested in hearing his perspective, not in arguing.
*The Europeans would have done a better job of protecting civilians than the Americans have.
*Americans only think of the future, never the present or the past.
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