Posted by Constance
(here)
In 1989 when I visited Czechoslovakia, communism was just in the throws of being dismantled. These were my impressions and personal experiences whilst there.
Upon my first arriving by train into Prague, it was eerie standing on the platform. It wasn't like any other train platform that I had visited, not the usual hub bub my travelling eyes and ears were used to. It was hushed and quiet, even though it was busy. The atmosphere felt heavy and depressed. I felt like I had suddenly stepped into the twilight zone.
As soon as we had started to walk towards the exit, myself and others were surrounded by the local Czechs. All held up crudely written signs in english inviting us to stay with them. There was one woman in particular that caught my attention. She was a tiny slip of a woman. She was so eager to have us stay and pulled at my sleeve gently, her english non-existent. But we understood each other. She looked so ill and tired and worn out. My heart went out to her.
The person I was travelling with agreed with me that we should stay with her, and so we followed her. At one point, we were walking down one of the Old Town streets. Again I was struck by how busy it was on both sides of the street but how quiet it was! When we finally got to the womans house at the edge of the city, she warmly invited us in.
Her apartment was tiny and sparsely furnished. The furniture also looked tired and worn out. She was living in abject poverty. She showed us to our bedroom and we placed our things in there.
I soon realised that this was the only bedroom in the house and when she showed us the kitchen, there was a tiny cot in the corner of that tiny kitchen. That tiny cot was to be her bed whilst we stayed there.
I was resolved not to take her bedroom from her and I signalled to her that we would sleep in the kitchen on the floor (we were equipped for that) but she was having none of it. We both felt terribly guilty about sleeping in her bedroom but what to do? She needed the money...
When my friend and I went out the next day on a food expedition, we were struck by the odd juxtaposition of the Old Town Prague in all its ancient beauty and the newer communist-built blocks of buildings alongside.
The Old Town buildings had been spared of any war time bombings. They were beautifully handcrafted, slightly worse for wear, but solidly built. The newer buildings on the outside perimeter of the Old Town were a sharp contrast; ugly, grey and uniform. There were rows upon rows of the same buildings stretching as far as the eyes could see.
We entered a few stores looking for food. I was surprised to see how little was available in the way of fresh produce. Not much in there for a vegetarian! There were cabbages and potatoes and that was it.
There was not a supermarket in sight. Instead, you would walk into a store where rows of cans of food were displayed in a long glass cabinet behind the serving counter and you had to line up and point to what cans you wanted. It all felt completely surreal. The walls and floors were void of any kind of decorations and the atmosphere was very depressing.