To start things off, I thought I’d mention that there is a ridiculous storm going on right now. I don’t know if it’s actually the fiercest I’ve ever seen, but it’s definitely the most intense view I’ve ever had of a storm. My room is on the thirteenth floor facing the center city across the river, and I am seeing lightning bolt after lightning bolt strike all around Kyiv. The thunder is so loud and powerful that it sounds like the city is being bombed.
After two days, I have seen almost every single point of interest in the book Nancy (the foreign service officer) gave me after the exam yesterday. I started off with the Ukrainian History Museum. There was a lot there, but to be honest I found it a bit boring. Too much cave-man pottery for me. Ahead of me walking through the museum was a girl in a shirt from Temple, leading a little boy of about four or five with her. I guess she didn’t understand Russian or Ukrainian, because whenever he asked her what something was she just made up answers, and whenever any of the women working there said anything to her she just smiled.
When I left the museum, I saw two big circles of people on the field outside chanting and beating drums standing around little fires. There was a policeman standing outside the museum, and I asked him if there was some sort of holiday going on. He shrugged and said that they make up their own holidays (I found out later that today is the birthday of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church).
From there I decided to go to the ‘Ukrainian Fortress’. It took me a really long time to find, because there was a lot of construction in the area and even after asking two or three people where the street was, they said they had no idea. A woman selling drinks told me she didn’t even know the name of the street we were standing on. I picked a direction and started walking, and happened upon a synagogue. I have no idea what it was called because I couldn’t find a name anywhere, but I went inside, walked around, and took some pictures. The guard inside had a big map of the city, and when he pointed out where we were I was able to figure out the route to the fortress.
According to the guidebook, the fortress wasn’t so much the city’s defense as a prison. There was a wall around the enclosure, and cannons and slits in the stone for archers everywhere. Inside the actual prison was intense. They had pictures from the turn of the century of prisoners, whips and chains on display, prisoner cells were available for viewing…and they even had one of the solitary confinement chambers open. I went inside and even with the door open I couldn’t stand there for more than a few seconds. I wanted to see it so I had to go in and out several times. The walls were painted white and the corners of the room were all acute angles with a high angled ceiling, and the only light was a small hole in the wall leading to the hallway about 10 feet up. When you went inside, in the dim light (even with the door open) you couldn’t tell where the walls were (the cell was about 1.5m X 1.5m, and while I don’t generally get claustrophobic… I felt extremely uncomfortable.
After the fortress, I tried to go to Bulgakov’s home in Kyiv which has since been turned into a museum, but when I got there the woman told me that the only way to view the museum was with a guided tour, and the next one wouldn’t take place for an hour. I was trying to see a lot, so I didn’t want to wait. I took a few pictures and left.
Then I made my way to the Lavra, a large area with several museums, parks, and monuments. I saw a large memorial to WWII that resembled the Washington Monument with an eternal flame in front, a church built sometime in the twelfth century, and a memorial still under construction to acknowledge the famines. The memorial to the famine was very powerful- they had a large tower in the shape of a candle made of white stone and glass with crosses and golden birds trapped in stone trying to fly upwards, and an emaciated girl made of bronze crying on a pedestal on one side. People had left bread and flowers everywhere. There is going to be some sort of museum underground, but it hasn’t been completed yet so the stairs and entryways were all blocked off.
There was a lot to see and a great view from the park, so I walked around for a couple hours, and then decided to walk back to the Хрещатик to find dinner. I wasn’t entirely sure how far it was, but I felt like seeing some more of the city instead of taking the metro. On my way, I found the Marinskii Park. There were lots of monuments and concerts, and eventually I made my way to the Parliament building and the Presidential guest-house (I saw the courthouse for the Ukrainian Supreme Court yesterday, as well). I have to say…presidents out here know what they are doing. I don’t know if Yuschenko lives there or just goes there when international guests are in town, but this was a PALACE! Of course, it was still relatively small when compared to the Presidential grounds in St. Petersburg… but that’s a completely other matter. While I was taking pictures, I noticed a group of people crowding around the gate, and one of them set up speakers. They started playing ragtime, and as I pulled out my camera again they started swing-dancing. Some of them were really good, too! The more they danced, the more people joined in. they weren’t looking for money or anything, they were just enjoying themselves. I watched for almost an hour, before I moved on and explored the park some more. There was a copeira match going on, people doing tricks on bikes, roller-blades and skateboard and a jazz concert.
Eventually I made my way back to Хрещатик, where like the last two nights, the street was closed and there were people everywhere. I sat down in one of the squares to take a look at my map for an idea of where to go for dinner, and I heard fireworks. There were two guys sitting on the curb across from me, and when I asked what was going on they were the ones who told me that it was the birthday of the church. I found a suggested restaurant in my guidebook, and started down the street. While I was walking, I heard two men speaking in American accents about how confusing the Cyrillic alphabet is and how they don’t understand anyone says. When I heard one of them say that he lives down the block, I walked over, introduced myself, and asked if they knew any good restaurants in the area. They told me they were on their way to TGI Fridays, and invited me to come along. I told them I preferred something Ukrainian, and they led me to a restaurant down the block. A woman that worked there came over and started trying to convince us to eat there, but I told her I only wanted to see the menu. She started telling me about all the great dishes they had and that if I didn’t like my food I wouldn’t have to pay for it, and I told her I wanted to find an ATM and then I’d be back. She warned me that there is another Ukrainian restaurant on the way to the nearest ATM, and said that though the owner is a close friend of hers, the food there is terrible and I shouldn’t stop there. The two Americans said they had decided to join me for dinner, but while I was taking out money they changed their minds. It made no difference to me whether they came along or not, really…and I wasn’t going to spend one of my only nights in Ukraine at TGI Fridays. I went back and the woman (who turned out to be the administrator of the restaurant, whatever that means) sat with me and helped me select my dinner, which turned out to be incredible. I was very fortunate that she helped me, because the menu was printed in Ukrainian and English…I had trouble understanding some of the Ukrainian, and I didn’t understand ANY of the “English”.
After dinner I walked around some more, and while I was standing outside the metro watching as some guy yelling to a crowd about how they are misinterpreting the words of god start to be accosted by a few drunken teenagers, the two guys who I had spoken with earlier about the holiday (the Ukrainians) came by and asked me what was going on. We talked for a few minutes (they turned out to be students in the Kyiv military academy), and then the three of us ended up walking around the city a bit. they took me to the “Friendship Arch” which was an enormous archway with different colored lights making a rainbow, and underneath was a large sculpture representing the ‘friendly relations’ between Ukraine and Russia. They gave me a few ideas for things to do tomorrow before I leave and I asked them a lot of questions about Ukrainian culture. They both got really excited when I told them that I was an American, and said that nobody from home (they are from some distant city in the south) will believe that they met a ‘real American’ in Kyiv. After an hour of so of walking around we parted ways and I came back to the hotel.
I really have no idea of what to do tomorrow. I can’t believe how much I was able to get done in so little time, and as of now there is only really one last museum in the book that I want to see. I need to figure something out, because I certainly don’t want to sit around on my last day. I also need to figure out what I’ll do when I get to Minsk. I found today that I am expected to arrive around five thirty in the morning, and the train to Petersburg leaves around eleven thirty at night. I also realized today that I might have to carry all my things around with me all day… I don’t have a lot really, but I only brought my backpack and I have clothing, a couple books, my laptop and some souvenirs. As far as food for the train, I’ll make sure I don’t have any leftovers to carry around tomorrow. In all honesty, there is probably a storage facility at the train station, but with all I’ve heard about Belarus in the last few weeks I’m very hesitant to leave all my things with them…especially with the knowledge that in the Petersburg train stations, you are expected to leave your passport with the attendant at the storage facility so that they know you are coming back for your things. First of all, I think an American passport guarantees that they will go through my things, and also I can definitely say that there is NO way I’m walking around Belarus without a passport. It could all just be unfounded paranoia, but I’m really very nervous about my day in Minsk. Even the Russians and Ukrainians with whom I discussed my trip were surprised that I decided to visit Belarus. I was nervous about coming to Ukraine, until I stepped out of the train station and saw that everyone was smiling, dancing and eating ice-cream all the time. I feel like there’s not a very good chance of that happening in Belarus…
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