Diversity in Warsaw

I am beginning to see more and more people of various ethnic backgrounds in Warsaw. I have always seen one or two Africans in downtown Warsaw during the workweek. However, over the past few weeks, I have noticed that there are more and more people of various "colors". I have had the thought before that this kind of diversity was on its way to Warsaw. Now I feel I am actually seeing and experiencing it and I must say that it makes me feel good. I have many good friends here in Poland. I am grateful to have such people in my life. But the lack of people of color here sometimes "got" to me (see previous posts). I would feel so very different on some days ... feeling like a "fly in a bowl of milk". This is changing. I see Asians, Africans, African-Americans, people from the Middle East, and South Americans. I am open to the belief that I am now only starting to notice this diversity. Maybe I was blind for the first few months I was here. Or maybe I did not "get out" enough. I am not sure. I am sure though that I se an increase in a colorful population here and that can only mean that this city will thrive.

I am interested to see and hear and feel how native Poles react to this influx. Many European countries are experiencing often terrible consequences with the sudden mixture of people from different and various ethnicities. Change can be threatening and fear causes people to behave in strange, dumb and sometimes tragic ways. We begin to become selfish and fear we will lose something we have or not get something we want. Fear is a "boogeyman". It is not real. It can motivate and energize in a positive way, but often it does so in a very negative way. I see it in politics all the time. The beauty of Obama's election in the States is that he did not campaign with an agenda of instilling fear. Hope was his message. I hope that hope is the message of this cultural diversity that is creating a different and exciting Poland.