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Trip to a Conference in Lviv
 
TRIP TO A CONFERENCE IN LVIV Submit a Tale here | More Tales
Olesia was so nice to let me know about the conference on Polish-Ukrainian relations in Lviv-Lwo'w. I was invited there by Lviv's AEGEE organization. So with great enthusiasm I bought a ticket to Przemysl and from Przemysl to Lviv. The train to Lviv was scheduled on 3.01 p.m. (see - very precisely, not on 3 p.m. but 3.01 p.m.) But when I came to Przemysl I was told that this train goes just on announcement ....which has NOT been announced....I asked where the announcement was valid and the answer was - NEVER... Well... it was my first reflection on Polish - Ukrainian relations - they are like this train - scheduled very precisely, but never really put in the right way....

So I went to the border by bus and then crossed the border on foot. Well, at least here there is some progress - a few years ago I was almost shot when I insisted to cross the border on foot... Then I hitchhiked to Mostiska and went from there to Lvov by train. Through windows, among poverty I saw quite a lot of nice villas (most of them being built) most of them probably built by people doing business on trans-border trade. I was sitting with two women called "mrowki" ("ants") - a kind of smuggler crossing the border on foot many times a day with alcohol and cigarettes. They didn't have tickets so they got in trouble with the conductor. I had a ticket but I wanted to help those nice women. When I was talking with the conductor it turned out that he originally came from Tomaszow Lubelski - not so far from the place where my parents came from. It was so nice meeting Polish and Ukrainian "krajany". Of course I saved the women from paying fine. But one thing made me angry - he told me that "Pilsudski kicked out his family". I explained to him that he was kicked out by communists. He answered "maybe you are right" (I wonder if this is they typical conscience of Ukrainian people or just "simple people"). Anyway we gave each other a hug and he went away.

Finally I reached Lvov - one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Maybe some things are not OK, but the city looks much better than few years ago- at least in the centre. And it is still true what they sang before the WWII in a Polish Lvovian song - "a panny to ma slodziutki tyn grod jak sok czykulada i mniud" - "this city has the girls so sweet - like juice, chocolate and honey" - Sorry , the English translation is not so good. I came to the centre and found the office of the AEGEE. I paid 10 $ registration (well I see that one of the roles of this organisation is as a cheap travel office) Me and some guys from Poland were accommodated in the suburbs. There was one inconvenience - the hot water lasted for just a few hours a day. Anyway - as I remember, a few years ago the problem was getting any water in Lviv....

Lviv is a really wonderful city. The centre has a unique character. It was the same a few years ago, but now new private cafes and shops have appeared. But in the place I was living there were only state-owned shops and as a vegetarian I had problems with buying food. There were no cheese and vegetables and the bread was from the previous day. I was eating old bread with chocolate butter.

Anyway I didn't complain. The conference was quite interesting for me. It took place in the University of Ivan Franko. The first day started with speeches by the AEGEE officials, representatives of the University and officials from the Polish and Ukrainian embassies. Vasyl Kujbida , the mayor of Lviv was supposed to come , but he didn't. Then there were lectures about the safety problems in Central-Eastern Europe and Polish-Ukrainian relations.

In the evening there was a nice party in "Lalka" club. And V.V. with its "vesna, vesna pryjde" was the king! And a lot of beautiful girls.... I got a bit too drunk. I was drinking with a businessman from Lviv. He told me that Polish businessmen used to be very successful in Lviv few years ago, but finally they got feeling of being "gods" and this usually proved fatal for their business. Then I was drinking with a 30 year old. major in the Ukrainian Army. I told him that if he is so clever he should become the Ukrainian general Pinochet but he told me he was not interested in it. Then we started discussions about Chechnya and we started the quarrel because he told me that "Dudayev got crazy". Anyway we didn't fight.

Next day I didn't come to the morning session because of hangover... In the afternoon I made a speech about "Poland, Ukraine and geopolitics of central Europe". The next lecturer, Oleh Mal'sky discussed possibilities of the development of Polish-Ukrainian relations. He told us that the entry to NATO by Poland could be bad for P-U relations. I replied that this is a possibility but might not necessarily be the case. It depends mainly on us. I mentioned the USA as a member of NATO but also other treaties (eg ANZUS) and bilateral agreements

Then after a walk around this beautiful city, eating dried fish with a beer we went for a party to the "Picasso" club. It was also very nice, but I was dancing more than drinking that time. On the last day I went to Lychakiv cemetery and the cemetery of the defenders of Lwo'w. I was thinking about that bloody fighting and how much conflicts were caused by this city... If it was avoided, the agreement of Pilsudski and Petlura would probably have taken place 2 years earlier and the history of XX century would be totally different. Anyway I understand those people who were fighting (not only on the Polish side). This city is really wonderful. But, well, we Poles should accept that it remains on the other side of the border. But Ukrainians should stop being offended by Polish sentiment to this city. And it was my last day in Lviv. I had to come back to work, although the best length of time to spend in Lviv is about a week. But..."moze uda sie i powroce zdrow i zobacze miasto Lwo'w"

Cheers Klaudiusz Wesolek
___________________________________

Klaudiusz Wesolek
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7803/
ul.Kozia 3/5 m.8
00070 Warszawa
Poland
tel. +48 602411937