unexpected pleasure

It started out a relatively uneventful day.  I rose at 5am  and spent the morning reading.  Shortly after noon, my friend, Anna, called to say she had given my name to two young people from Dnipropetrovsk who are part of an organization called "Chrome" - хром.  They are in Kiev for a few days audio-taping interviews on a variety of LGBT issues and wanted to interview someone about LGBT and Religion.  So, I met Katya and Stanislav at 8pm to share a meal (at Glossary, of course).  What wonderfully delightful young people.  We had a great time with the recorder in the middle of the table while we asked and answered questions and generally just talked together for almost two hours.  I walked (downhill) with them to the Metro station at Khreshchatek St.  They were laughing that I know Kiev better than they do.  After I left them, I walked home.  It was pretty far but it was a beautiful evening and I don't know how many more of them we'll have. They invited me to visit their city next year.  It is about 5 hours by express train from Kiev.

I also had a conversation this afternoon with a friend in Donetsk.  Because the leader of the LGBT Christian group there is seeking asylum in Holland, the group fell apart.  My friend is considering reconvening the group.  If he does, I will try to visit Donetsk towards the end of October.  My friend called me a bit later to say there are two women who want to marry there if I come.

As an aside:  I think I've mentioned that my apartment is on the 9th floor.  How the heck to mosquitoes get to the 9th floor? 

Jenia was not at Glossary, of course, since his wedding is tomorrow.   Vitaly was working in his place.  He was very attentive and took good care of me even if it wasn't the level of service Jenia spoiled me into getting used to.  I sms'd Jenia to tell him that Vitaly did a good job.

bells, bells and more bells

When I have talked about the Cathedral of St. Volodymyr, I haven't much described it.  It is in a little square of its own, just of one of the main streets of Kyiv - Boulevard Taras Shevchenko.  Behind the cathedral, there's a parking area and in front, there's a plaza with a few benches.  The bell tower is on the right side as you're facing the church and one can see the large deep-voiced bell and five increasingly smaller, increasingly higher-voiced bells.  Today, I visited the cathedral after lunch and after my visit, was sitting on one of the benches outside.  At 4:30, the deepest-voiced bell began tolling once every minute.  We were lucky today, there was a ringer for each bell and soon all the bells joined in the joyful announcement that a service would begin.   I just sat for the half hour of the bell chorus and listened and watched so many people coming and going from the church, making brief visits.  It brought me back over 50 years when churches were open and people would often drop in for visits.  We seem to have lost that in most places in the west now.  I went in when the ceasing of the bells indicated the beginning of the service and stayed for a while enjoying the singing and the service.  I then walked home.   It is a mild day today and it was a pleasure to feel the warmth in the late afternoon sun on my face.  It was a very pleasant half hour.

When I got back to my apartment building, I waited with a woman for our elevator.  It's an old elevator and if you don't mind literally rubbing elbows, there's room for 4 people in the elevator.  Elevator protocol is to announce what floor you're on (I'm on "dev'yat - 9).  The reason for this is that everyone can't just push the button for their floor because there's no memory in the elevator.  The lowest floor goes first, then the next person pushes a higher number, and so forth.  I hope the day doesn't come during my visit when the power is out to the elevator.  I can't even imagine walking up all the flights.

One other thing about my building, a common feature here.  One doesn't sort trash/garbage.  There's a chute on each floor behind the elevator.  You drop your trash down the chute.  Several times a week the trash person goes through all the trash sorting for recycling.  Not a job I'd sign up for.

And finally, today is the last work day for Jenia because of his and Kate's wedding coming up Friday.  Kate is getting a little anxious.  She has done remarkably well until now.  Jenia will be off for a week after the wedding.  They won't go away but have time off together.  The night before the wedding, they will sleep in separate apartments so Jenia won't see his bride until the ceremony.  As in many countries, there are religious and civil ceremonies.  The civil ceremony/registration is what makes it legal.  The relgious ceremony doesn't.   Jenia is always worried when he's not at Glossary that I won't be taken care of adequately.  Today he introduced me to Vasiliy who will work while Jenia's off.  I heard him instructing Vasiliy about how I'm to be treated.   And then he told me that I can always call him if Vasiliy isn't doing a good job.  Yeah, right.  I'll call him during his honeymoon to complain! Not!

things that caught my attention

I don't think I've ever been anywhere where they have more frequent fireworks.  All national holidays are a given for fireworks.  But then there are one or two nights a week where I can hear them and sometimes see them from my balcony.  I asked a Ukrainian friend why there are fireworks so often.  He looked puzzled at my question.  His reply: "Well, maybe is holiday, or someone's birthday, or a wedding.  Maybe just feel like it."  Good answer.

Speaking of weddings:  my dear friends Kate and Jenia will marry on Friday (weddings are only held Fridays and Saturdays) this week.  They are getting excited.  No drama involved which is refreshing.

As I was walking along the other day, I saw a sign  "Datining service"  when I saw the website listed with the word "wife" in the internet address, I called to mind that the Russian/Ukrainian bride market is a big one.  Sometimes it's women who want to get out of the country for a better life, sometimes, it's quite frankly sex tourism.  On my flight from Amsterdam my seatmate was coming to meet a woman.  It's a big mess.

Speaking of big messes, here's a picture of my favorite drinkable purne yogurt

More snippets...

So, I thought I'd share with you different things I saw in my wanderings today.  I have four photos to share.

The first is of Zoloti Vorota - the Golden Gates.  There used to be three different gates to the city of Kyiv.  The Golden Gates, now a museum, is the only one still surviving. It has obviously been restored. I like the iron gate and the log cabin construction.  It was built from 1017-1024.  It happens to be literally across the street from Glossary Organic Cafe.

As I approached Golden Gate, I witnessed an "action" which here means a public political demonstration.  Many young people wearing traditional Ukrainian costumes (the ones in white at the top level of the picture below) were demonstrating for the Ukrainian Language.  Although there are many native speakers of Russian in Ukraine, a parliamentary move to make Russian an official language alongside Ukrainian, has met with fierce nationalistic opposition.

On a nearby corner, work is underway to restore the facade of a beautiful old building.  Over the years, I've watched the progress and it always interests me.  Here is the current state of the renovations:

And finally, about two blocks from my apartment is this bank building that I really like:

Kyiv is really an interesting city.  It's full of wonderful architecture and, of course, has a long long history.  It is the origin of all the Rus and from here Christianity spread throughout the region.

Saturday morning rambles

Although it may seem like it, I haven't really done a catch-all post where it's mostly stream of conscious.  I feel like that today.

I've blogged before about how people walk in different countries.  Here, if people are walking in the same direction as you, it's all good.  But if they are walking towards you, it is a different scene altogether.  Imagine a cross between bumper cars and the Invisible Man.  People walk aggressively towards you and only yield the minimum space at the very last second and grudgingly.  It continues to be disconcerting.  Sometimes when faced with a stampeding herd aiming right at me, I actually just stand still, hoping the mass of people will flow around me instead of trampling me.  I know you think I'm exaggerating.  Please visit me so I can show you I'm not.

The insight I had this week is that people drive and walk the same way.  There are no lines or rules.  You aim instead of proceeding in an orderly fashion.  Crossing the street is often thrilling.  At some intersections, there are traffic lights and it's pretty ordinary to cross the street when the light indicates that it's your turn.  At other intersections there's a striped crosswalk.   You're never sure cars are going to stop when you start to cross.  In fact they won't stop at all unless you walk right out in front of them.  I love how daily life is an adventure.

I was in a restaurant the other day and two very fashionably dressed. came in.  One had a dress like I've never seen.  I don't think she wore a bra under it and her breasts were almost entirely visible.  I say almost.  I won't go into more detail.  I said to the waiter,  "I wonder what her mother would think about that dress."  He laughed so hard, he spilled most of my coffee all over the table.  He told me the women were prostitutes.  I'm pretty sure he was telling me the truth.  It was an area where many foreign businessmen are seen.

If you think this is one of the strangest posts I've written, you may be right.

Church Bells

St. Volodymyr Cathedral, Kyiv, Ukraine

So, I've been lying low since Sunday, mostly because my back and hips were incredibly painful.  I even took ibuprofen round the clock which is very unlike me.  On Tuesday, I decided I had to go out.  I was getting sick of the apartment and I needed to food shop.  I walked up to Glossary Organic cafe for lunch.  It did my heart good to be in familiar surroundings with friends who seem always glad to see me.

On Wednesday, I had lunch with my friend, Anna, who works for a German Foundation, for gender issues and women's rights.  She just changed jobs and is happy with her new work.  We ate at a Ukrainian cafeteria.  I had whole wheat berries boiled with meat and onions.  It doesn't sound very good, I admit, and is kind of heavy and plain food, but I really liked it.  I also had a bowl of Solyanka which is a kind of soup with various kinds of meat and sausage.  Very tasty.  I drank a glass of compote with my lunch.  Compote, in Ukraine, is water in which fruit has been boiled.  It is strained and served as a light and refreshing drink.  Very popular.  After we ate we walked around the corner to Glossary to have a coffee and continue our visit until it was time for Anna to go back to work.  I hung out a while longer and read and visited with Jenia and Chef Sergei.

Today, Thursday, I puttered around the apartment in the morning and did some laundry.  I also read and drank a fair amount of coffee (instant, I'm almost ashamed to say).  I headed out around 2 to have lunch at Glossary.  I noticed a large police presence on the street and asked Jenia what was going on.  He said that the President of Poland was arriving for a State Visit and would visit the Golden Gate which is across the street from the restaurant.

Around 5, I walked over to the Cathedral of St. Volodymyr. The picture is at the top of this post.  The bell ringers were up in the tower, vigorously ringing the bells announcing the start of a service.  Today the service would be Great Vespers for the Feast of the Nativity of Mary which is celebrated tomorrow.  Everyone was waiting outside the church and the clergy and servers in their vestments were waiting at the entrance of the church.  I never did find out what they were waiting for because at 5:15, the head priest must have decided that their expected dignitary wasn't coming.  Everyone entered the church for the beginning of the service.   I was fascinated listening to the bells and watching the bell ringers create the sounds.   Click here for a clip of the bells ringing.  I recorded it on my iPod.

Buses are not for the faint of heart

Once again, I slept like a rock at Techno Hotel.  I woke at 8, read a bit, showered and went down to breakfast.  Breakfast is included in the price of the hotel.  There's no menu, no one speaks English, and there's no indication of what's possible for breakfast.  I ordered coffee and an omelet. After a few minutes, the waitress came back and asked "a sausage omelet?"  I said "sure."  Now understand that there's no equivalent of breakfast sausage here.  This kind of sausage is mild and looks like a hot dog.  It is sliced into the omelet.  It was served with two slices of bread, not toasted.  It was very good and I was hungry.  I went back to the room and packed and then checked out. 

I waited on the steps of the hotel to be met by Julia, one of the LIGA staff, who would come to the bus station with me.  Andrii would have come but he had university classes and Julia kindly offered.  She waited with me at the bus station and even got on the bus to make sure I was settled.  While we waited for the bus, we chatted about our lives and ideas about Ukraine and the future.  She told me about her husband and 4 year old daughter and her satisfaction with her job at LIGA.  The bus came and I immediately noticed that it was a newer, fancier bus than I had arrived on.  Each seat had a small monitor with options for movies, music, television.  We even had a woman (I guess the equivalent of a flight attendant) who brought tea or coffee as requested.  The bus was only a third full.  All along the way, there were the equivalent of roadside stands.  I say equivalent because it really was a lot of individuals, sometimes four or five in a row, selling onions, potatoes, apples, hot peppers, and watermelons.  There were several selling different kinds of honey.  We stopped twice for brief periods to get out and stretch and walk around.  There's no way a bus trip here is pleasant.  Sitting for that long re-aggravated back and hip pain and each time I descended from the bus, it took a few minutes to be able to walk without wincing.

The good news was that we arrived 45 minutes early.  I had thought I'd take a taxi from the bus station, but for some reason, I decided without deciding to take the metro and then walk to the apartment.  Of course it was raining, lightly but steadily.  I guess I thought that the walking would loosen up my back muscles.  I was wrong.  I got to the apartment a little after 9pm, dropped my bag and backpack and went back downstairs to the market to pick up a few things.  Then I had a cup of coffee, a cheese sandwich and went to bed.  I slept restlessly and couldn't find a comfortable position.  The pain all seems to have settled into my left hip.  I'll soak in a tub of hot water before heading out today.  I want to stop into Glossary for a cappuccino.  Later I'll meet Sergei and we'll wander the city.

Last night, after I settled in bed, I hear fireworks.  I don't think I've ever been in a city where they have fireworks more often.  It's kind of cool.