Poland: First Impressions

Poland is a quiet and peaceful country, beautiful too. Even in the most crowded places all you hear is the friction of people's shoes or luggage with the ground.  There is no noise pollution, just natural voices and sounds.  Loud speakers are not loud enough for me. I have to tune in carefully to grasp the train announcements.

There are too many churches in every corner, and they are not just historic or cultural sites.  People are truly religious here.  Every major street of any city is called Al. Jana Pawla II (John Paul Second) after the Polish Pope.  People stop at the churches on their way to home, work, or groceries, kneel down, say a prayer, shed some tear drops at times, and leave.  The silence in the church is usually too heavy, too spiritual, easily capable of breaking one down to tears should you stay there long enough.  Some churches were hospitals during world war II.  Some were ruined during that era and have been rebuilt.  Maybe it is the spirit of all the wounded, killed, painful memories, that contributes to the heavy silence.  I feel like they hear my every breath in the churches, I do not dare to click on my camera for a photo, I walk as slowly as possible not to interrupt their prayers. During communist era, Polish people could not express their religion and pray freely.  So, being religious was a rebel against government.  Being religious was being in opposition, being part of the uprising movement, in contrast to the current situation of Iran's government at surface.  Now Poland proudly celebrates this right and freedom to worship and be religious. Sunday masses, or any day masses for that matter, are crowded and a testimony to this celebration. Songs and prayers are soothing and nice.  They say prayers, knee down, pray some more, at the end greet their neighbors with whom they were sharing the pew by shaking hands.  At the end, some money for the church is also collected. There is a special mass for children, giving them religious education, with the priest asking them questions and encouraging them to go forward and join the discussion by throwing some coins in the air for them to come and collect.

There are reminders of war everywhere.  Statues of unknown soldiers in every corner, and almost all of them are always decorated with fresh flowers.  The war might be over, the communist era might be gone, but there is no way you can forget what this country has gone through if you walk in any street in Poland.

I have not figured out the silence here yet:  is it due to them being peaceful and spiritual, or are they going through a depression and grieving period as a society because of all they have gone through during World War II?  Are they simply happy and content with their lives, or does their silence signals indifference, lack of ambition and goals?  Is it the result of the communist era and them not being used to expressing themselves loudly and clearly, always being cautious?  Or is it simply the fact that cities here are not as densely populated as other large famous cities?  After all, Warsaw's population is 1.7  million people only.  Or have I got too used to the wild wild west?  I do not know.  Maybe all of the above.

I am not complaining about the dominant peace and quiet.  It is very soothing and pleasant.  In fact, I appreciate it very much considering how I always dislike loud TVs, loud radios, and in general too much noise in the U.S.  Their peacefulness and kindness radiates and transfers to me and gives me a calm feeling.  It is just enigmatic.