Next Diary
Home Diaries Best Pictures Road Trip
Friday and
Saturday
Next Diary
Home Diaries Best Pictures Road Trip
Friday and
Saturday
January 24, 1999
Sunday morning (early),
Hi Mom,
I'm up early and I just talked with Bim. You and I talked just before I went to bed on Saturday so you are certainly in our thoughts.
The last "diary" was Thursday, just a couple days ago. However, I have some time, and some pictures, so I thought I'd get in another message. (Uncle Bill hasn't given up printing these I hope! -- I'm sure not.)
Friday was a normal work day. I took one picture of the building I work in. This shows that it was a very sunny day and that's good because this building is very dreary if the sun's not shining. It is in an area of "soviet" apartment blocks and the neighborhood is typical of a "modern" (20 years old) residential area. Tons of huge apartment buildings with zillions of small apartments. Our office is in an apartment building that was converted so I can see how small the original apartments were. Each one was about 300 square feet with a kitchen, a bathroom and another room which served as everything else. It makes for a small office for the three of us. I can't imagine living in an apartment that tiny.
On Saturday, we mostly just loafed during the day. We didn't even do the weekly shopping (that'll be today I guess). We did walk quite a bit just to get out during the relatively mild weather. There's still ice on the sidewalks in many places but it's more manageable than it's been in a month or two. After all this walking, Marianne even took the day off from cooking and we ate at a Pizza restaurant just around the corner. We're regulars there and they can even handle English -- sorta. But it's quick and relatively cheap - for Kyiv. I'm not sure why, but restaurants are generally as expensive here as they are in San Francisco. Our friends have visited other places in Eastern Europe and they say Kyiv is the most expensive place to eat. Oh well, eating isn't optional.
Saturday night, Marianne's school (PTA) held a "Fifties" party as a fund raiser. It was for the whole school community and it was a lot of fun. Everyone got into the theme despite the fact that most people (including parents) weren't even ALIVE during the Fifties. "Our" group, including Marianne and the Administrators' wives, are the exception but we consider ourselves as Sixties people -- at least.
Some of the girls must have studied their history books for the period because they showed up in "poodle skirts". And the Hoola Hoops were the hit of the party. Big Kids (parents and teachers) tried to remember how to use them and some succeeded. The winner among the older set in the Hoola Hoop Contest was actually Mike, the School Director. When did he have time to practice?
The littlest kids invented their own game with Hoola Hoops and formed a train that weaved around for an hour or more. It's really fun seeing these littlest ones and they definitely were the most photogenic. Two precious little girls ended up heading the train.
Marianne ran a bubble gum contest for part of the time. They would feed the kids saltine crackers and then give them bubble gum and tell each kid to blow a bubble. I never saw a successful bubble but there certainly was a lot of effort.
The grand finale was a special presentation by the Almost-Supremes. These three guys are teachers at the school and they surprised everyone -- even their wives and girlfriends! We're not sure this was a career-enhancing performance but it's proof that small communities like ours appreciate even struggling new acts. And we appreciate simple things like a Fifties Dance at the school gym.
****
Mom, take care and I'll be calling later today.
Love,
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Next Diary
Home Diaries Best Pictures Road Trip
Originally emailled January 24, 1999. Re-formatted for website May 29, 2001. This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.