Finding Warhol in Slovakia

By William Schreiber

“I come from nowhere.” –Andy Warhol

Standing outside the colorful Warhol museum in Medzilaborce, Slovakia. Photo: William Schreiber

MEDZILABORCE, Slovakia – Welcome to nowhere, two small Slovak border towns called Mikova and Medzilaborce, but more widely known as the obscure Eastern European genesis of America’s most famous pop artist, whose mother was born nearby.

Surrounded by monuments to the Red Army and overshadowed by an Orthodox dome, the museum built in Andy Warhol’s honor appears painfully out of place. When we arrived at 3 p.m., we were the day’s first visitors.

Dispatch From Abroad: “Polish Alaska”

By William Schreiber

Instructing a class in Bieszczady, Poland. Photo: William Schreiber

“Polish Alaska” – that’s how Janusz Krajnik describes the region of Bieszczady to me.  Janusz, like many others of his generation, studied Russian and not English in school, but even I am hard-pressed to think of a better description. Bieszczady is a wild paradise with mountainous terrain, packs of bison and wolves, log cabins and even natural oil. During the winter it even looks like Alaska.

Janusz is the directior of the Jan Pawel II Gymnasium in Tarnawa Dolna. For four weeks I’m teaching English classes to 60-some students in this village.