Sunday, June 23, 2002

The Star Tribune 
Minneapolis, MN

Catching up:  Letofsky conquers India, Turkey
By Chuck Haga

Polly Letofsky was in Turkey early this summer--for her, definitely the right place at the right time.  The people of Turkey were delirious over the strong showing of their national soccer team, which reached the semifinals of the World Cup.  "They are going nutzo," Letofsky wrote in her journal.  "the noise and honking and partying all night long--it's fun to be here while Turkey is in that mode of unprecedented celebration and unity."

But even better:  Turkey had just started a national breast cancer campaign.

Letofsky, who grew up in Minneapolis, is trying to walk around the world to raise awareness of breast cancer and boost support for research.  She started her walk Aug. 1, 1999, near her home in Vail, Colo.  After walking to the West Coast, she walked through New Zealand and Australia, then started walking west through Asia.

"Getting into Europe was as much a culture shock as anything else," she said in an email from Greece.  "The prices of everything shot up.  Sending an email, which used to cost 70 cents an hour, now costs a whopping $5...so for the next few months, I'll be eating bread and apples and sleeping under trees.  But I am getting caught up on all the ancient history I snored through in high school."

She plans to take about five months walking through continental Europe--Greece, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Holland--then stroll through Great Britain and Ireland before heading to the East Coast of the United States.

She expects to reach Minnesota early in 2004, maybe in the depths of winter.

"It would be amusing telling the world about it," she said.  "Do people still plug their cars in at the shopping mall?  Are the sidewalks heated?  Are the skyways?  And I can't miss the Spam museum in Austin."

India was a rough three-month crossing earlier this year, Letofsky wrote in her journal.  "After one look in the mirror, I knew I needed a break," she wrote.  "My clothes were ragged, my legs were knotted, my nerves were frazzled, my face was hollowed."

Arriving in Istanbul, Turkey, in early May she grilled a young guide provided by the local Lions club.  "As a woman, can I wear shorts and t-shirts? (Yes.)  Is there plenty of ice cream? (The Coronet Super is to die for!)"

The Lions organization worldwide has made breast cancer awareness one of its primary activities, so Letofsky has received material and spiritual support from clubs throughout her walk.

The Lady Lions joined Polly in dipping their toes in the Aegean Sea at the end of the Turkey part of GlobalWalk.

"The Lions here in Istanbul are taking good care of me," she wrote in May.  "They're letting me rest.  I'll be here for a solid month before starting my walk down the Aegean coast on June 1."

In late June, Letofsky reported having mixed feelings about Turkey.

"A lot of  the days, I'm followed by the police, the military police and the Lions, all of whom ironically put a damper on my meeting people because I know if I so much as stop for a cookie, I am stopping six people who are watching me like mother hawks," she wrote.

"So one day I ditched them all by going down a road...It was a fabulous day walking through small villages of farming people who invited me in for tea and backgammon."

One problem:  Being alone exposed her to occasional harassment by men.  But when one man tried to pull her behind a tree, she screamed and waved her arms and "scared the living hell out of him."  He took off running, "but my adrenaline was such that I actually ran after him."

She set her sights for Greece and Italy, anticipating more "Mediterranean-men hassles," but with more concern for their well-being than for her own.  "Those poor fools have no idea how wound up I am," she said.

Check in with Letofsky by email at  pollyswalking@yahoo.com or at her Web site, http://www.globaalwalk.org.

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