My husband was not happy about my going a second time to Poland, even if it was with our mutual friends, Craig and Martha. I would have stayed with Martha to get away from my husband, but there was much I needed to do in the U.S. to help businesses in Poland, and I did not want to stay away from my sons for any longer. But I went back to some rather interesting Studibert developments.
Studibert was not happy about many things where I was concerned: He was not happy that I went with Craig and Martha to meet with all of HIS exclusive contacts (Solidarity). He had already warned me about doing business in Poland without going through him first – and this last trip did not go through him. Craig had had meetings with Studibert before we left and so he was aware of what we would be doing, but when he found out about the 4th of July party, Studibert's attitude towards me did an about-face.
After we had been home for awhile, Craig later told me that Studibert had confided in him about his plan to ruin me and anything I would try to do in Poland. The first thing Studibert did was to take a letter I had written to all the original trade-mission attendees and turn it around to condemn me to all those people. I had quoted an East Berliner calling the Berlin Wall: "the F#$&*^% Russian Wall." Studibert went to great lengths to make sure everyone knew that he thought this was unacceptable language and he had no part of it, and would not tolerate this kind of language in anything to do with him. It really had nothing to do with him, but he used it anyway.
Remember, I was just an ordinary housewife caught up in a changing world that rivaled WWI and II – The Russian had said it, we thought it – I wrote it. Studibert’s turn on me caught me by surprise. I was almost devastated, but not deterred in what I needed to do to meet my commitments to Solidarity, and I continued with my contacts at USAID, The Department of Commerce and the State Department.
I soon learned that there was a party planned for all our Solidarity friends at their Embassy in Washington D.C., and Studibert at first decided to exclude me, because he was jealous of the friendships I had formed with them. While trying to push through his Cause Credit Card deal, he had naturally been in touch with the Solidarity Foundation, which was run by Andrjez Kozakiewicz and Julian Skelnik. Unfortunately for me, Andrjez raved on and on about our 4th of July celebration at the Marriott, and our efforts to get the word out that Poland was open for business. Studibert could see that I had formed alliances above and beyond his, and he was not going to stand for it. But I thought of these “alliances” as friendships. I had become close friends with Kuba and Andrjez, but I had also become even closer friends with their respective wives, Hannah and Barbara. I could not imagine anything else, but Studibert not only imagined everything else, he plotted and planned to turn these friendships into everything else.
By excluding me from the upcoming party at the Polish Embassy, Studibert could show me once and for all how insignificant I was, and that my only hope for helping Poland was to beg for his mercy and work through him and his foundation (which wasn't really his -- but Judd Blakeley's). What he didn’t understand about me and Solidarity was that I knew I was insignificant, and that I had to try all the harder to meet with the CEO of Kaiser Permante in Oakland; Barbara Cheney at the State Department, etc., etc. My tasks were daunting because I had no connections, save for my friendships in Poland, and now Studibert would throw up a wall to deter my efforts.
As he thought about it a little more, Studibert finally came to hatch an even more sinister and devastating plan for me. The invitations to the party at the Embassy were already sent, so he gave Fred his own invitation and told Fred that he and I could use that to get in to the party. Studibert’s ultimate goal was to expose Andrjez and I together at the party – passion and all – while at the same time, he could perpetuate the rumor that there was something going on between us. He had theorized to Craig that if there was something going on, Andrjez would vehemently deny it and throw me under the bus; and if there was nothing going on, Andrjez would still deny it, and he would be forced to distance himself from me in any case to avoid future rumors and any resulting harm to his marriage and public image.
Studibert was so pleased with his scheme to get me out of Poland and the confidence of Solidarity, he just beamed with delight when Fred and I got out of the cab at the Polish Embassy. He had no idea that Craig had revealed the scheme to me, so I pretended to be glad to see him, too. I was determined to spoil Studibert’s plot to destroy me by being so polite to Andrej, Julian, and Jerzy at the party, that I would appear as a perfect stranger to them in the eyes of any outsider. I would distance myself from Solidarity, and never give them a chance to be the brunt of such an awful rumor. I would be so reserved that Studibert would think he was meeting me for the first time.
Just as Studibert greeted us, a limousine pulled up and my three Solidarity friends stepped out laughing and joking. They were so amazed to be in America in a LIMO, no less. They could hardly believe their great fortune! Andrzej spied me, and ran up to me and picked me up and swung me around, set me down and kissed me on the cheeks three times (as was Polish custom). So much for my plan.
Andrzej then turned to Studibert and thanked him profusely on the limo. Unfortunately for Studibert, the only witnesses to Andrjez’s enthusiastic greeting to me were his friends, Studibert and Fred. The rest of the night was all pomp and ceremony as Studibert kicked off his “cause” credit card venture. In fact, as the night wore on, it became apparent to everyone there that the only reason there was a party at the Polish Embassy was to aggrandize Studibert, and to use Solidarity to his own advantage. I was happy to converse later on with Andrzej and find out about his family, especially Basia (Polish nickname for Barbara).
I learned that Basia had been chosen to intern at Congress to learn how a Congressional government operated. Poland had a Parliamentary government, and so this would be useful information for her country as it continued down its path to democracy. I was excited because I had a close cousin who lived near Washington D.C., and I could stay there and visit with Basia and take her to dinner, etc. I would make sure she had some entertainment when she came to D.C. I then told Andrzej that I would be returning to Poland to find out more information about my healthcare project. He promised me that Kuba would assist me when I came back, and that I would get all the necessary meetings I would need. Looks like Studibert’s little scheme backfired on him. Andrzej and I were better friends than ever, and we had forged a real bond.
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