In early 1981, at the height of the Solidarity revolution, I was accepted by lREX to spend the spring 1982 semester in Warsaw for my project on the development of the workers' movement and the formation of Solidarity. My family and I were to fly to Poland just after Christmas of 1981. But on December 13, martial law was declared, and the Polish borders were sealed. I had taken a leave of absence from Butler University, and we had already rented out our house, so we were stranded.