Time gets away from me

I don't know how it got to be Thursday or how it got to be so many days since I've blogged.  I've walked daily and feel good.  I've settled into the rhythms of Kyiv.  I've seen a few friends.  And time still flies away from me.

I've carried my camera with me without ever pointing it at anything.  I've easily settled back into my easy way of life here, remembering that things we take for granted in the States take more effort here.  For example, procuring tickets for train or bus.   I am leaving in a few hours for Mikolayiv where I have a wedding tomorrow.  I was going to go by train until I found out that the train takes 12 hours and the bus takes 8 and a half hours.  Deciding to go by bus, I found an online site and arranged round trip.  I found out a few hours later that my trip had been canceled.  No explanation.  I checked with my bank to see if the problem was a declined card.  My card is fine.   So I found a different online site and successfully got tickets.  I received confirmation vouchers which still required that I go to the main bus terminal to exchange voucher for tickets at Cashier Window 6.  I took the metro to the terminal and found that Cashier Window 6 was unoccupied.  I went to Window 5 but was told I had to go to Window 6.  I waited for about 15 minutes and the woman from Window 5 took pit on my and moved to Window 6.  She issued my ticket to Mikolayiv but told me I had to get the return ticket in Mikolayiv.  I failed to mention that I had to put the voucher documents on a thumb drive and then find a print/copy shop to have them printed.  It cost one Hrivnya (12.5 cents) for the two pages.

On Tuesday, I met Zoryan and Bogdan for lunch at Glossary.  They both just started new jobs at Amnesty International.  It was good to see them.  Zoryan is an old friend but Bogdan I had only met once before, coincidentally on my birthday last October.  I hung around at Glossary for a while more and drank cappuccino before heading back to my apartment.

Something about the kitchen of this apartment inspires me to cook. It could be that it's so clean and has usable cookware.  Good knives does not appear to be part of standard kitchenware so I'll shop for one at the mall across the street.

When I post this, I'll tidy the apartment and shop for bus food.  The excellent market downstairs has some nice baked goods.  My favorites are the stuffed breads: flaky pastry filled with good things.  I think I'll get one bread stuffed with caramelized onions and one stuffed with sauteed cabbage for the trip, plus a big bottle of sparkling water.  That should tide me over.  The bus will probably stop twice for about 15 minutes along the way.   We don't leave Kyiv until 3pm and are supposed to arrive at 11:35pm.  I don't know how the roads are.  I'm in seat 21.  There are two "types" I hope I don't have as seatmates.  One is a little old lady with many bags with her or rabbits or chickens.  The other is a large sprawling sweaty hairy man who will sleep and snore and fall asleep on my shoulder.  It would be kind of nice to have an intelligent conversation with someone who speaks a language in common with me.  We'll see what the reality is.

Andrii will meet me at the bus station in Mikolayiv and take me to my hotel.  I'll return to Kyiv on Saturday.

A running joke I have with Jenia is about shoes.  He keeps shopping for shoes for the wedding but still hasn't found the perfect wedding shoes.   Watching the preparations for his and Kate's wedding on the 28 has been an eye-opener for me.  The attention to details is great.  Through it all Kate shows no sign at all of any tendency to being Bridezilla.  She is happy and excited and smiling through it all.  They are a great couple.

OK, I have to make the bed, do dishes and shop a little.  Til Later.