Good morning USA! While you were sleeping, we began the trek to the Ukraine border. We’re a little more than halfway there at the moment. It’s a 5-6 hr ride and we’ll fly back to Warsaw this afternoon.
Par for the course — it’s a gray, dreary, cold, rainy day in Poland. Right or wrong, that’s how I’ve always envisioned Poland in my head so I’m not fazed or disappointed. We’re not really learning much about the history or culture or daily life of Poland but that’s not the purpose of the trip.
I am curious how Poland will deal with millions of refugees long term should they decide to stay in Poland. But no one is truly thinking long term at the moment — they’re just starting to ask questions about the long term impacts and needs, and will be addressing all that over the next several months as the war continues (or doesn’t).
In 2020 there were about 38 million people in Poland. Are they able to absorb 2 million more? By comparison, there are 330 million people in the US. What would happen if, in a matter of months, we got 17 million new people? It raises a lot of questions.
Anyway, I’ll write more later. Enjoy your Hump Day!
Brian
