Be On Your Way
After an eighteen-hour flight, we finally arrived in Krakow, Poland.
It didn’t take me long to realize that the city carried a certain feeling that differentiated from that of Florida or Ukraine. It wasn’t bad; it simply felt like a muted state of living. Or perhaps it was a peaceful kind of living that I wasn’t used to.
Despite our jet-lagged state, our first and foremost plan was to visit some of our friends that had evacuated to the region of Nikiszowiec – which dwelled in a similar state of standstill peace as Krakow.
The unfamiliar feeling in the air was quickly overcome by witnessing the unwavering support that the Poles held for Ukraine. As we drove to our temporary home from the airport, the signs bearing Bible verses and words of encouragement made me beam.
Countless job ads for refugees were put up along the city, and a few days later, when we made it out to a local mall, a sign bearing the proclamation in Polish and Ukrainian read, “We are not all from Ukraine, but we are all together with you.”
This heartening message was put up on every bench within the mall.
“Solidarity with a free Ukraine”
When visiting a nearby cafe, my mother spoke with the waitress and discovered she was a young Ukrainian woman who had evacuated from Mariupol. She had accustomed well to Poland: obtaining a job, learning the language, and generally flowing well within the community of Katowice.
These factors could have only been achieved through the cemented aid the Polish had established with the Ukrainians.
To know that amongst the uncertainty of the lives of refugees, there are people who are genuinely willing to help those in need was beyond reassuring.
The mix of the calmness of Poland and the unwavering support that the country held for the people of Ukraine is something that I will never disregard. Krakow showed me that the process after losing everything may not have to be experienced alone.
Knowing there is help when one searches for it was a truth that made me feel content for one of the first times since the invasion began.
