el Presidente

I may pack light, but I always keep an oxford in the bank. Had to look good for today’s meeting with the President. Whoa, whoa… that may seem SUPER impressive given the American definition of “President,” but in Poland, a President is like a Mayor. So it’s not SUPER impressive, but still- impressive… I mean, she’s the woman in charge of this metropolis, and we got to sip bubbly water in her oval-ish office. We had fifteen minutes to ask her anything… and once Philip turned on that ol’ charm of his, we were talking policy until her staff started banging on the door 45 minutes later. Really cool woman with a lot of good vibes to get out about her city. It’s just too bad we couldn’t understand it. For her own ease, and probably to speed up the interview, she’d switch to Polish once the cameras started rolling. Of course, I could be sitting here all proud of the interview while our translator could come back with a transcript saying something to the effect of “you Detroit punks can suck it.”

After our view from high upon the city throne, we traveled underground, literally and figuratively. Beneath a run-down train station, we met with Wiktor Skok, a champion of the underground DJ scene. His picture of the city wasn’t quite as rosy. Same goes for the graffiti artist we spoke with. But they've still got hope. And when times get this tough, that's all you really need. Hope. Like Obama's campaign slogan. He's President too.

...okay, now I'm just trying to force the whole full-circle thing. Sorry.