Sunday, August 26, 2007 7:33 AM
Hello everyone,
Friday was Ukraine Independence day and so I met my friend Genie on Khreshytic (the main street in Kiev) and it was jam-packed. it took us a little while to find each other, she said she was waving her hands but I really couldn't see much over the mass of people. She introduced me to her boyfriend, cousin, and his friend and we all went out to eat. Later I met up with the American teachers at a Chinese restaurant that was literally a hole-in-the wall. It looked like the building had been bombed and people had decided to make a restaurant in the hole from the bomb. I didn't eat
anything but everybody said it is the best Chinese in town.
It was around 12 when we left and so we grabbed a bus and tried to make it to the metro but when we got there it was closed. While we were standing around deciding what to do, a bus pulled up to drop some people off and one of the Ukrainian teachers ran up and got the bus driver to drive all of us to the center of town (the guy was done for the night but bribes go along way in this town). So we had a huge bus all to ourselves. The bus driver turned the music up and everybody had a lot of fun. When we got to the center of town we caught a cab and went back home.
Friday was Ukraine Independence day and so I met my friend Genie on Khreshytic (the main street in Kiev) and it was jam-packed. it took us a little while to find each other, she said she was waving her hands but I really couldn't see much over the mass of people. She introduced me to her boyfriend, cousin, and his friend and we all went out to eat. Later I met up with the American teachers at a Chinese restaurant that was literally a hole-in-the wall. It looked like the building had been bombed and people had decided to make a restaurant in the hole from the bomb. I didn't eat
anything but everybody said it is the best Chinese in town.
It was around 12 when we left and so we grabbed a bus and tried to make it to the metro but when we got there it was closed. While we were standing around deciding what to do, a bus pulled up to drop some people off and one of the Ukrainian teachers ran up and got the bus driver to drive all of us to the center of town (the guy was done for the night but bribes go along way in this town). So we had a huge bus all to ourselves. The bus driver turned the music up and everybody had a lot of fun. When we got to the center of town we caught a cab and went back home.
Yesterday I met up with some American teachers for coffee. I was waiting for them on my front stoop,
sitting not on the bench provided but on the cement steps. An old man sitting on the bench started scolding me in Russian and I kinda guessed he was telling me not to sit there because people drop things
out of their windows all the time. I decided to stare at him incomprehensibly for a while and then chose to
ignore him. A couple of minutes later a red bull can came flying out the window and dropped near me. The
old man looked at me and said, in Russian, "I told you so." Then he started talking to a woman next to
him, gesturing at me, "I told that girl not to sit there but did she listen to me, No!" I did move and
stood under the protection of a tree for the rest of the wait, not willing to concede defeat and join him
on the bench.
sitting not on the bench provided but on the cement steps. An old man sitting on the bench started scolding me in Russian and I kinda guessed he was telling me not to sit there because people drop things
out of their windows all the time. I decided to stare at him incomprehensibly for a while and then chose to
ignore him. A couple of minutes later a red bull can came flying out the window and dropped near me. The
old man looked at me and said, in Russian, "I told you so." Then he started talking to a woman next to
him, gesturing at me, "I told that girl not to sit there but did she listen to me, No!" I did move and
stood under the protection of a tree for the rest of the wait, not willing to concede defeat and join him
on the bench.
I told that story to my American friends and they regaled me with stories of being hit by random things flying out of windows. G once was hit with a bunch of chicken bones. The thing is these people are throwing the stuff on the sidewalk, not the ground or garbage heap. G said she looked up and an old woman (babushka) started yelling at her for walking where she was throwing her food.
I'm still kinda bored because the school that I will be working at is closed for three weeks and there really isn't a lot for me to do until then, which is frustrating because everybody else is in the full swing of their jobs. More teachers come at the end of this week so, hopefully, they can entertain me. And hopefully I will
be getting my own place soon. I still don't have Internet which is also frustrating since I have to take a bus to the nearest Internet cafe and pay for Internet. Its not that expensive but I can't wait to have it in my house. I'm still not sure about the mail situation but hopefully that will be figured out soon too. I miss everyone and hope all is well. Love, Jacy
be getting my own place soon. I still don't have Internet which is also frustrating since I have to take a bus to the nearest Internet cafe and pay for Internet. Its not that expensive but I can't wait to have it in my house. I'm still not sure about the mail situation but hopefully that will be figured out soon too. I miss everyone and hope all is well. Love, Jacy
| Downtown Kiev |
| Downtown Kiev |
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