Wishing to wander more often, to try new things, to go more places, with changing faces. Have a car, but will travel by plane or train too; have a violin, will perform for food and couch. Wish to help out? Donate to my food fund. Write me a comment. Would love to hear from everyone!
Now I'm back in Ukraine. I do like it here. Albeit, I'm staying in a tiny town called Malyn, about and hour and a half from the outskirts of Kiev.
This welcome sign sums it up well. Welcome to the thriving metropolis that is Malyn.
Obviously not my photo, but the best I could find since I've failed to take a picture as such of the bustling main road through town. This photo looks toward the city center. It hasn't gotten any busier since 2008 either.
The city center...aka....town square.
Needless to say, I don't get to the Kiev much. But it is refreshing here. The forest is literally right out the door.
Looking out the kitchen window toward the woods.
And I work out to T25 in the forest 6 days a week! Killed the last double workout of month 1 today!
Pre workout selfie. Made sure to get a bit of my Vibrams in there :)
Panorama of my view while I'm trying to keep the sweat out of my eyes 8-/
My Workout Tree. Under this tree is a great shady place to workout during the day.
Looking up to the sky collapsed after my double workout!!
Now that I've worked out for and hour and stretched for an hour I'm back to happy and showing off the bottoms of my Vibrams again :)
There is also a nice lake and a dam just a ten minute walk down the road. You can watch beautiful sunsets while providing delicious dinner for mosquitoes.
Enjoy my filter happiness and love of my camera :)
Dynamic Art
Cross Process color
Expressive
The water was mesmerizing with hues of orange and pink and purple!
Really enjoying the cross process color filter on my camera that creates so many blues and pinks.
I get to practice every day and eat tasty home cooked food and study Russian and Ukrainian with lots of practice because my Ukrainian momma doesn't speak English.
That's right! I'm ready to scarf down this cake made from scratch right now!!
Fried zucchini with traditional cream. Love <3
Ukrainian specialty dish called Borsch. It's a beet root soup with carrots and chicken here. Oh was it super duper tasty. Ate it everyday for almost a week!!!
Those pastries on the right in the bowl, called Rogaliki, are my absolute favorite thing. I sometimes accidentally eat them for an entire meal or two.
It's idyllic in many ways.
There are downsides as there always are in life. The other day the water randomly shut off with no warning. I was instantly transported back to India and my stomach turned into knots and my stress level skyrocketed. There was no one to call and no way to know when life could continue. This is semi normal here.
Another down side for me is the lack of activities. This is a tiny town so the biggest thing to do is go swimming in the lake in the evening. There's no music concerts to attend, no dances to go to, no movies to sit through, no impressive churches to tour, no sports activities to participate in, no social life whatsoever. For me, it's ok for a short time, but not long term such as my life is now.
There is still no job, no contract offer. I wait and pursue and wait some more. Phone calls, emails, internet searches for other people to contact are my daily life as time continues to pass and no jobs surface.
Recorded two different demos here in Malyn. One with just a pianist, the wonderful Nataliia, and the other with a fellow violinist. Enjoy watching them!
I'm very thankful that while I'm reaching the very last cents in my bank account and soon will no longer have the luxury to keep waiting, I have a wonderful Ukraine family where I feel at home and loved.
I spent two weeks between a small town named Malyn about two hours outside Kyiv, a few days actually in Kyiv, and a few more days in Lviv in the south western region.
Malyn was nice for a respite from the bustling cities I've been touring. It was a very small city with a lake and a town square basically. Families would go to the dam to play in the water or fish or ride bikes. The town square was a meeting for all the buses. Malyn is an old city that hasn't been rebuilt. The buildings destroyed or rundown are still in states of decay. Lots are overgrown and sidewalks are uncobbled. But there is an old charm to be had. The people were helpful, friendly, and smiling! None of them spoke English so I was fortunate to have a translator with me :)
One of my favorite encounters was with a shoe repairman. My heels were coming badly apart and I didn't want to fix them in Hungary or Austria, so I had waited till Ukraine. One morning, my friend and I went to the town bazaar and the shoe repair guy. What a trip he was! A row of gold teeth on the top, skull belt buckle and rings, tattoos everywhere and wild unkempt hair. But he was grinning and happy and helpful and when he found out I was American, he wanted to repair my shoes for free since I was the first American he'd encountered. He wanted me to bring him back so he could repair shoes in America!
My new friend, the shoe repair man in Malyn.
I don't have many pictures from my time in Malyn. Mostly I went to doctors to get check ups that I could now afford and had the first experience ever of a dentist telling me my teeth were perfect. They didn't need cleaned!! (I haven't had a teeth cleaning in over a year so I'm going to get a second opinion on that). At the end of my time in Malyn I recorded a couple of videos with my new friend, pianist and sister. You can watch them here and if you know anyone interested in hiring us, please send them our way!
After Malyn I took a small vacation to Kyiv to see the sights. Kyiv is a great city and very large. I hadn't been in a city so big since leaving the US. I'd been learning Ukrainian while I was in Malyn so I got to put it to good practice as I took buses and trains around the city (it was far too large to walk).
Independence Square
My new favorite costume!!
Panorama of a very small part of Kyiv
Dreaming of the ocean.
Panorama looking over the Dnieper.
Statue of the Motherland
A life size scale of a mammoth bone hut at the Natural History Museum.
After Kyiv, three of us trekked to Lviv for a mini holiday; my friend, pianist and sister, Nataliia and a dancer friend, Richard.
It rained or was cloudy and cold the whole time we were there. Didn't enjoy that but the city was lovely. Walked around and around and around as Lviv is much much smaller than Kyiv. It's similar in size to what I am used to for European cities.
I wasn't hungry or I would have totally tried the black bun burger. The third one is green, although it's hard to see in the picture.
This elderly lady stopped by the statue for a moment to cross herself and pay homage. It was a touching photo.
Nataliia's new "baby"...a 5 month old puppy at the string instrument shop.
The opera house in Lviv. No opera was playing while we were there so we didn't get to see a performance, but the hall was beautiful.
We went to a cat cafe. Unlike Japan, the cats and human food are in the same place. Nataliia had a very interested party in her food choices lol!!
Reaching for her share of Nataliia's plate.
I have so many more cat pictures but I'll refrain from posting them
all in the blog and make an album separately.
Some fabulous shots, funny, beautiful, and downright laughable.
I finally got to see an organ concert. Was disappointed when it was electric, but it was a nice program. No, I did not use flash to take the picture.
Found a statue platform with no statue so naturally....
What a grand time was had in Lviv!!!
Despite the weather in Lviv, I had a grand time and I look forward to my next trip to Ukraine. Besides, I had just started getting the language down so I can't stay away too long or I'll forget everything!
I'll write soon of my following adventures in Krakow Poland.
