The past few days have been amazing. I still am slowly realizing that I truly am not in my homeland anymore. Many things that I take for granted are so different here. This is truly a fantastic benefit of living with natives. Even when doing touristy things, our hosts do things that are natural to them. When visiting Bahdan (Bow-dahn) Hill yesterday, there was a barrier that, to me, suggested rather strongly that we shouldn't cross it to go see a fort. We were told that we should pass it anyway.
I also found interesting the trip to tea after seeing the ruins of the Subotiv, we went to a little house that had no sign suggesting it was a restaurant. Interestingly, our guide suggested that we should not look into the kitchen as "we may see things that we would not like." We did sit and have tea. Our host ordered some vodka, that was apparently very special and expensive. The vodka was made with special herbs, and sweetened with honey. It was very strong, but did not taste strong. I only had very little.
Last night, I visited Alex's parents home. His brother (Vladislav) was visiting from Eastern Ukraine (very close to the Russian border). I met Alina, his brother's daughter, Vladislav's wife (Alla?), both Alex's parents (Olga and Anatoly), and one other person (Svetlana), perhaps a sister of Alex? I was surprised to find out that when I asked for a toilet, I was directed to the backyard, where an outhouse stood standing proudly, a testament to many years of fine Ukrainian meals.
The highlight, I think, of today was when I entered the supermarket in Cherkasy, and the security guard at the entrance did not stop me with the water bottle that had been purchased earlier. So on the way out of the supermarket, I was stopped when leaving by another security guard. Max had mentioned my water bottle in the check-out line being a potential source of trouble so I was slightly prepared, however I was still confused by the rapid stream of Russian being spoken to me by the security guard and apparent store manager. Max explained that the first security guard had not stopped me coming in, and that since I was American I did not need to steal. The security guard suggested we go talk to the first security guard about him not stopping me. At that point Alex, my host, had realized we weren't following him out of the market and came back to see what the matter was. They argued for a moment, I'm not sure about what specifically, Alex then took out his government identification booklet and the security guard rapidly realized that he was seriously out-classed. I'm fascinated by the ominous power government officials seem to hold. Alex holds a position of power in Chyhyryn, but it holds influence in a town 60 km away. I'm also surprised that theft is such a major problem here, that even a single half-empty bottle of water is enough to stop someone and make an issue.
The apparent age of things is fascinating to me. Depressing, somewhat, but the locals don't seem to care or notice much, unless they are shown a stark comparison of modern to old. Mostly they are happy just living the way they live.
Money is interesting over here.. $40/month will rent you a two bedroom flat in downtown Chyhyryn. (Note: $600/month will get you a ratty one bedroom in Kiev) Many, if not most, people build their own homes here in Chyhyryn, to save costs. Many don't have cars. Alex has no car, and borrows his parents car if needed, otherwise he had a driver that brings him to and from work.
My reading of cyrillic characters is progressing and I'm adding more and more words to my vocabulary everyday.
It was great seeing Max today, it was a great thing to see him and have the roles reversed. I think he enjoyed it immensely. The picnic in the park was interesting, being in a completely dilapidated and unmaintained park was an experience. Parks in the USA are impeccably maintained in comparison, even the poorly maintained ones, as they are still maintained.
Alright, that's it for now. Wash, food, sleep. I'm exhausted.
