Sometimes I’m just too nice for my own good. Yesterday was one of those times. A newcomer to the Embassy, who just arrived three weeks ago, desperately needed someone to watch her dog yesterday. Knowing that it was probably going to be a disaster, I went ahead and said yes. I’ve got to have some serious good karma built up by this point - I’m just waiting for it to catch up with me.
Last Friday, while Shawn was at the airport getting someone “special” out of the country and on his merry way, there was excitement in our neighborhood.
In Kyiv, September 1st is the first day of school. This morning the sidewalks were packed with parents walking their children to school. It was easy to see which kids were headed to class for two reasons. First, kids here dress to the nines on the first (and last) day of school. All the girls were in their best dresses with fluffy white bows in their hair approximately equivalent to the size of their heads. And the boys were all wearing suits - I even spotted a couple little boys dressed in tuxedos. Very classy. Second, it’s traditional here to take flowers to your teacher on the first day of class. From small bouquets of 5 roses to huge flower arrangements (again, approximately equivalent to the size of their little heads) - I can only assume that most classrooms look like funeral parlors on September 1st.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever really discussed parking in Kyiv before. All you need to know is that it’s a free-for-all. Pretty much any place will do as a parking space - the sidewalk…the local park…partially blocking traffic… You get the idea. Today seems to be particularly bad in our neighborhood. Laika and I had trouble getting out of our building because of a car parked on the sidewalk directly in front of our door. Then we had to squeeze by two cars that had left just enough room on the sidewalk for me to pass by sideways (there’s a fenced lot next to our building). And when we got to the grassy area where Laika usually “does her business,” there was a huge black SUV parked in the middle of it.
So I finally have some photographic evidence to share that I have done more than walk the dog and watch television all summer. Although I did do a significant amount of both of those things, I admit.
After some very autumn-like weather last week (rainy and downright chilly some mornings), we’re back to mid- to upper- 90 temperatures (F) this week. This has led to some extremely lazy behavior on the part of Laika and myself. Mosly involving laying on the couch and watching the Olympics. Thank you Eurosport 24-hour coverage.
On Sunday, Shawn and I realized that we had forgotten to pick up any American cheese at the commissary for the burgers that we were going to grill that night. Since the commissary is not open on Sunday, we were forced to rely on our local market, or else go cheese-less. Luckily, we found this:
Every single day I see strange things here. For the most part, I’ve become accustomed to them and generally ignore them while muttering mean things under my breath. (Don’t worry - I mutter mean things about people in the US as well, so don’t you call me culturally insensitive.) However, today I’m either seeing weirder things than usual, or I’m just paying more attention. But it sure has been a strange day.
Yesterday was a good day. We got an amazing care package from our friends Janette and Bill (Thanks, guys!) that included Starbucks coffee, Tazo teas, and a whole mess of yarn. Shawn could hear my squeals of delight from the other end of the apartment.
My parents have come, gone, and survived to tell the tale of their adventures in Ukraine. Well, technically, they are still en route to Indiana, but I told them that once their plane left the ground in Kyiv, they were back to being my brother’s responsibility as far as I was concerned. I think they fared pretty well: there was one twisted ankle and I think all four of us suffered from heat exhaustion one day, but no one got hit by a car or screamed at for being American, so I’m happy with that.