Good times

Two awesome weekends in a row – woohoo!

Independence Day weekend was great, but more than we could handle. Igor and I went to the Kyiv auto market on Saturday afternoon (completely unrelated to the weekend festivities, but an interesting side adventure on its own). Not a lot going on, being a holiday weekend in late August when most of the country is on vacation at the sea. But I learned some colorful new words as we walked around among the rather tough-looking men who seem to spend a lot of time there. I tried one out and got a shocked look from Igor – will have to save them up for moments when shock factor may be needed.

We had “dinner and a movie” night at Sasha’s, where we watched the hilarious “One, Two, Three” with James Cagney. Sasha said it’s hugely popular in Germany, but none of us Americans had even heard of it. Some of the jokes haven’t survived the test of time, but for those of us who grew up during the Cold War and still sometimes find it hard to believe we now LIVE in the land of the former Evil Empire, it was a fun flick to watch.

Being the popular people that we are, Igor and I went to an Independence Day party after movie night, hosted by a Ukrainian-American woman. Igor and I find the diaspora crowd very interesting, but that really deserves its own post. The party was interesting, let’s just leave it at that for now.

Sunday we went to the Flower Festival, where different neighborhoods around Kyiv create beautiful works of horticulture art. The theme this year was Fairy Tales, and most of them were really impressive.

This seascape, with an octopus king and little fishies, was my favorite.

But the crowds of people were really too much for us. It was difficult to move around, almost impossible to see some of the displays, and truly impossible to walk back up out of the park against the flow of people coming down into it. We scouted out an alternative route down and along the side of the hill, and ended up just below the Lavra, by the holy spring I had heard about but had never walked down to see.

There was a lovely rose garden, and a heck of a lot less people, so we enjoyed the elbow room and a calm walk among the roses.

Bill enjoyed the bench.

Smart guy – we still had the hill to walk back up!

We rounded out the day with dinner at our favorite “Sushi Ya!” restaurant, which always hits the spot. On our way home, Igor and I stopped at the grocery store for a couple of things, and were intrigued by a special display of Indonesian and Vietnamese teas. We bought a little of both and dragged our exhausted selves home to try it out. Well, it was as black and strong as espresso, and just one cup get us both wide awake until 2 am! So much for our plans to get up early on Monday to meet Bill and Eilene for the Independence Day parade. We were still asleep when Eilene called at 8:30, and although we felt really bad for bailing on our friends, we were still exhausted and also not really ready to face another immense crowd of people. Bill and Eilene stuck it out as long as they could, but I guess they eventually had enough of being pushed and shoved and stepped on, too, and left before much of the parade was underway.

We finally got up to watch the end of the parade on TV and we heard the air force jets on their fly by (which sounded quite impressive, I have to say! even though we didn’t see the actual planes, we couldn’t have missed the sound). We celebrated Ukraine’s 18th year of independence at home, quietly yet proudly.

This past weekend we celebrated another holiday – Bill’s birthday! We were delighted that he and Eilene accepted our invitation to visit Igor’s family for the weekend and to celebrate his big day in Korosten with us. Igor went up on Friday, and Dad, Bill and Eilene headed up early Saturday morning. We were greeted, as usual, by a gorgeous table with enough to feed an army. We worked hard on it, and finally we all succumbed to food comas in mid-afternoon. A round of naps was thoroughly enjoyed by all. In the evening we went to the lovely city park, which seems to have something new every time we visit. The weather was perfect, there had been lots of weddings throughout the day, and there were still many families and groups of friends picnicking, strolling, and just generally enjoying the beauty of the park. There were some new signs encouraging people not to litter, which really impressed me. I hope they have some influence!

Sunday we started the day with a visit to the Korosten market. Eilene has been wanting to buy some Korosten china, but the factory recently closed its doors for good and my beloved factory shop has closed down, too. I asked Igor’s mom is she knew anyone with a garage full of china (since the factory was notorious for paying its employees in product instead of with actual currency), but she couldn’t get ahold of anyone right then. She told Igor about a couple stands in the market that usually sell Korosten china, so we went on a mission, which quickly expanded in focus.

Dad remembered that he needed a jacket, since he’d forgotten to bring one with him on this trip. Igor took him to vendor with leather coats and in a matter of minutes Dad was the proud owner of a really sharp leather jacket. Being the full-service kind of place that it is, the vendor walked us over to the nearby seamstress, who within the hour had shortened the sleeves and resewn the buttons – total cost, coat and alternations, under $120!

Bill got a new leather wallet, Eilene got a lovely Korosten china coffee set, we both got cool baskets. Oh, and Campsey’s got a 40-liter pot to make sauerkraut and Dad got a french press so he can finally have coffee at home. All in all, a very successful trip to the market!

The only challenge was packing it all in the car with enough room left for food Igor’s parents heaped on us – bags and bags of fresh tomatoes (last of the season!), pears and apples. No surprise, we somehow managed to get it all in!

We visited Igor’s dad in the village for a few minutes, and were delighted to see a half-dozen okra plants had grown to a decent size and produced a bit of fruit. Bill and Eilene had brought the seeds at Easter time, so it was probably a bit late for planting, but nonetheless, they got a couple handfuls of okra this year, and hopefully we’ll have an even better harvest next year. The American pumpkins were true to their origins – supersized! Next item we want to introduce to Ukraine: acorn squash!

As we walked around the farm, admiring the garden and the growing animals, a little black kitten romped along with us, following us like a puppy dog. Igor’s father said she had shown up a while back and he couldn’t resist her, so he’d been feeding her, letting her inside the house and even trained her to use a litter box. She just loved everyone, purring like a fiend when I picked her up and scratched her. Ivan invited us to take her home, which thrilled me. Igor was a bit reluctant, but with the added pressure from my father and our friends, he caved pretty quickly. She was the most relaxed I’ve ever seen a cat in a car- curled right up and went to sleep for most of the 2 hour trip, purring away. Not in the least bit fazed or nervous. No crying, not even a little peep.

After dropping everyone else off, we stopped to get cat supplies, including flea shampoo, and headed home. She didn’t fuss a bit when I clipped her nails (front and back!), but of course the flea bath was more than any cat could take. But she survived it, and even seemed to enjoy the blow dry a bit. She scarfed down a full bowl of food and spent the rest of the evening curled up with us on the couch, motor running! We were starting to get nervous about whether or not she’d use her box, and so we were quite relieved when we heard her scratching around in it early in the morning. She slept with us all night, and is still curled up close to Igor snoozing away. It’s going to be hard to go to work today!

Ivan was calling her Cheetah, but we haven’t decided yet to keep that name or go with something different. She’s all black, with rusty highlights behind her ears and on the back of her neck, and she’s got one white whisker. Panther seems like the more appropriate namesake, but it doesn’t seem to be sticking either. She’s way to sweet and loving, and just the tiniest little thing, to be a panther, I think. Any suggestions?

Congratulations Scott and Angela!

My brother Scott and Angela eloped yesterday! Yeah!!!!

Igor was especially proud that they chose Ukraine’s Independence Day, August 24, for the event. 🙂

Catching up

My “Aha!” moment of the month was realizing there is a card reader built into my laptop – d’oh! No more excuses for not uploading my pictures because I can’t find the camera cable! So I am finally, slowly but surely, catching up on my photos to Flickr. I’ll post some highlights here eventually.

Last weekend was great. Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day and we went for a long stroll with friends Bill and Eilene, starting at the Lavra and then on to the new Holodomor (famine) monument. I had only seen it from afar, so walking up close and around the plaza I had mixed feelings. There was some controversy last year about the huge amount of money spent to build yet monument to the 1930’s famine. It wasn’t really clear why anothe rmonument was needed not very far from the simple yet elegant monument at St. Michael’s Cathedral. The new one certainly doesn’t touch me the same way. They did a really fantastic job landscaping the hill below the monument, though, with stairs and paths down connecting to the paths all along the hillside. The, honestly, impressed me much more. There are several sets of stairs going down below the monument plaza, which were roped off. We looked over the side of the plaza, down one level to kind of courtyard, where old tools and canoes and other items were strewn about. A man was working on some of them, and we went down to check it out. He snapped at us that the museum wasn’t open, the courtyard was off limits still. I translated for Bill and Eilene, and when the man heard us speaking a foreign language, he seemed to warm up a bit, or at least he stopped yelling. I asked him if the things were old, as we all looked at them closely and admired them. This really won his favor, and he got interested in telling us a bit more. He showed us the flour mill he was working on, and demonstrated how it worked by cranking the handle, which turned the millstone, and he pointed to where you would pour in the grain and where the flour would come out. He invited us to come back on opening day, August 24 (Indepedence Day), and we promised we would be there.

We continued on with our stroll, with a quick stop in the underground shopping mall at Ploschad’ Slava (Glory Square). Eilene and I found a huge box of Ukrainian motif cross-stitch patterns at the Ukrainian book store and we just went nuts! We both bought enough patterns to keep us busy for the next couple of years, I suspect, while still drolling over the beautiful patterns for shirts (which are far beyond my skills, that’s for sure). The walked continued through Marinsky Park, to European Square, past Indepedence Square, and down Khreshatyk. We ended up – tired, hungry and thirsty – at a cafe where we relaxed and did some people watching. We were looking forward to quiet evening at home.

As we were heading home later, a friend of Igor’s from Korosten called to ask where the Fortress is. Turned out he was in town for the weekend with his new girlfriend and wanted to see the place Igor has raved about so much. He tried to explain how to get there, but when Vlad called back about 10 minutes later, we realized it would be easier to just take them there ourselves. Many native Kyivans don’t even know there is a fortress right smack in the middle of the city, so we weren’t surprised when Vlad said he kept asking people where it was and no one could tell him. So we met up with them and took them to the fortress. The main exhibition hall, which has an incredibly impressive collection of Trypillian artifacts was closed for an exhibit change. We were afraid the fabulous collection would be taken away, but the ladies assured us a different exhibit was changing and the Trypillian items would still be on display. We’re curious to see what will be there next! So we suggested Vlad and friend check out the smaller exhibit hall, in a different building. We went to the little building near the exhibit halls where we’ve always bought tickets before, but were re-directed to the actual ticket booth at the entrance to the grounds. Looks like they’re getting kinda fancy, maybe even professional! So Igor and I walked over to the booth and checked out the schedule and prices. We asked for two tickets.

“No,” said the lady in the booth. “It’s too late, we’re closing.”
I paused, checked the sign again, checked my watch.
“It says the museum is open until 6. It’s only 5:10 now.”
“No, it’s too late. You won’t have time for a tour.”
“But we just want to look on our own, we don’t need a guide.”
“There’s not enough time.”
Finally Igor chimed in, tired and grumpy after our long day.
“We can manage it. We’ll be OK. Two tickets please.”

I was getting a bit slap-happy, started laughing and asked the lady if the museum doesn’t need to earn any money? There budget is OK these days? On pretty much every of the numerous occassions Igor and I have been to the fortress, we always get a lecture from the ladies about the poor state of the museum’s finances, so it just seemed utterly ridiculous that they would be turning away 2 paying customers. Then again, I’m sure she was at least partially concerned for us, that we wouldn’t get our money’s worth out of a 45-minute visit (I’ve run into this before, especially from older women,). It’s sweet that she was concerned, especially since the tickets cost 7 UAH each, less than $1. But it still makes me chuckle that the employees of a cash-strapped museum would refuse to sell someone an entrance ticket!

So we passed the tickets on, walked Vlad and friend to the door and headed again for home. His phone rings; another friend from Korosten is in town for a seminar and wants to meet. Igor (much to my guilty relief) sends me on home while he goes to meet Olga. He calls soon after and asks if it’s OK for her to come to our place, she doesn’t have a place to stay the night. Of course! So I whipped together some dinner, and having company was the perfect excuse to bake a chocolate chip cake. It was a fun evening, but man were we ever exhausted when we finally collapsed into bed!

Sunday was brunch at Arizona BBQ, always a pleasure, followed by a quick stop at a arts & crafts booth I like in the underground shopping mall at Bessarabska Square (such a great use of space in a densely packed city – go underground! Wish they’d make some parking garages that way, too). Eilene and I got some fabric and thread for our new cross-stitch patterns, and she loaded up on yarn for the hats she’s knitting for cancer patients. We finally ended up at home, blissfully vegging on the couch until bedtime. Whew!

The week has been equally busy, although with fun social stuff. Saw “District 9” one evening – a lot more gore than I care for, but a good story line. Looking forward to the sequel (will it take 3 years to make?). Also went on a “Caribbean Cruise”, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce, along the Dnipro River. It was OK; the best part was hanging out with Igor and friends Bill and Eilene. Igor commented that there were a lot of “huntresses” on board, or “working devushkas”, as Bill put it. Dad hooked up with a couple pretty quickly and disappeared for the rest of the evening.

Igor and I are in week 2 of a “drying out” phase. We decided it was time to take a break from alcohol – too much of in the past few months, and way too many of the corresponding calories. Considering the main selling point of the Caribbean Cruise was the free “tropical” cocktails, we weren’t sure how our resolve would hold up. But we stuck to our non-alcoholic beer (which was surprisingly thoughtful of the organizers to have available!). When we got home, Igor commented, “Well, we made it through our first event without booze. Kinda boring, but we did it.” I don’t think it would have been more exciting or entertaining if we had been drinking, though. But it was a pleasant evening, something different to do.

The coming weekend will be chock full of fun stuff – Sunday is Flag Day, Monday is Independence Day, so lots of events planned throughout the long weekend. Saturday is the flower festival at the park by Rodina Mat’. Sunday is a flag-raising ceremony at Marinsky Palace. And after the parade on Monday morning, we are looking forward to checking out the new museum at the Holodomor monument.

Ukrainian play at Stratford-on-Avon

I heard a report on the BBC World Service podcast about 2 new Russian and Ukrainian plays being produced this autumn by the Royal Shakespeare Company. I’ll be damned if I can figure out how to listed to the report again from the website, but I did find a brief overview of the play on the RSC website, and a press release from the RSC with a bit more information about the Ukrainian play. And there is a long article in the Financial Times about the play. Very cool!

Five years

Five years ago today, I wrote my first blog post. I’ve been re-reading some of those first posts, reflecting on the path I started down five years ago. In my second post, I wrote about how it just felt right for me to join Peace Corps, and how the pieces all fell into place bit by bit. I often think of myself as following the path of least resistance at that time – I know that sounds strange! But as challenging and frightening as it was to think about moving to unknown lands and embarking on a mysterious 2-year adventure, it somehow was the one thing that seemed most doable, felt most right.

And it was so clearly the right path for me to have chosen. I marvel now, with the gift of hindsight, at how those choices brought me to where I am today. Two years have turned into five, and might possibly even become a lifetime. Those first steps set me in the direction towards Igor – who knew such an amazing man, such a wonderful partner would be on that path too?

Five years….

Moving, moving, moving

We moved over the weekend- I can’t believe how much we accomplished in 48 hours! We are more or less settled in, a few things left to unpack and find just the right spot for. Tonight we’ll tackle pictures! Can’t wait to put up paintings and photos that I haven’t seen for 9 months – the walls in the previous apartment were solid concrete, and although it was the perfect excuse for Igor to buy a snazzy drill, it was just too much to hang up all our pictures there.

One of my favorite things in the new apartment is this:

That’s the view from our bedroom window, a gorgeous apricot tree dripping with fruit.