Meanderings

When we go to visit the older boy, we have to travel about 16 miles (in a taxi-van) to a village. Leaving the bigger city behind we have been able to see what it looks like in the smaller communities. Since the average monthly income in Ukraine is around $300, extravagance is not something you see. In the smaller towns, there are masonry houses nestled inside of fencing with 2-3 out buildings. We noticed some homes appear to have orchards in their yards and all have the remnants of last years garden visible. Grape vines appear frequently too. Some towns have visible yellow natural gas lines going to the houses for heating and cooking, while others are dependent upon wood heat.
The houses are small, single story structures…guessing 600 to 1000 sq ft. White or gray is the dominant color with accent colors of bright blue, green spattered throughout the town. (Older homes/buildings have orange brick; the newer homes use white/grey brick. ) We have seen a few thatched roofs, but most of them appear to be corrugated metal (though it looks better than the corrugated metal in the States).
The roads, this time of year, are icy ruts and bumpy. Public transportation is available all over the area, although you might have to walk a bit to the bus stop in the rural areas. You don’t see isolated homesteads scattered around the countryside as in IN; in fact, I cannot recall seeing a single, isolated house along the entire 16 mile trip. Guessing collective farming moved all those folks into the towns post WW2. The topography is similar to central Indiana-flat with wooded areas.
Between the two towns that we frequent is a lot of wide open space, now covered with snow. I imagine that since Ukraine is the bread basket to Europe, there are various grains already planted in the fields awaiting the warmth to start growing. There is a bill-board along the way with the picture of a verdant countryside; here’s wishing we could be here again to see that!!!
The D’nieper River is very wide at the point where we cross. It takes almost ten minutes to get across the bridge/causeway. The locals use the frozen river to do ice fishing. There are always a lot of folks out their doing that (I estimate that we see anywhere from 80-200 total depending on the day). Some with little tent like structures, some without. None with the wooden houses I have seen in MN or WI. Yesterday we saw someone on a bike riding across the frozen river. These folks are hardy!! Only once have we seen anything motorized out on the ice and that appeared to be a small moped.
In the city, there seems to be no zoning. There are the older, perhaps pre USSR, buildings that have more architectural features, mixed in with the bland designs of the 60’s /70’s. Spread all around town are 9-12 story apartment complexes. Our long apartment building has 9 floors. There are 4 entries; each serves its own set of apartments (in other words, there is only one entry/exit for our apartment). On each floor served by each entry, there are 4 apartments, so, 4 entries x 9 floors x 4 apartments/entry = 144 apartments (and, yes, Mike wrote this section). Usually they are also of that bland white masonry with some accent color on the “front”. These are purchased apartments. There are playgrounds located nearby as are small (think of a 2 car garage size) grocery stores. On our building there is a grape vine creeping up to several balconies. We are told the folks here like to make their own wine. We have noticed some two story houses mixed in with the older homes. The yards are very small and always fenced in.
The area where McDonalds is located is very modern. There is a big video screen in the plaza that flashes advertisements and videos. The main thoroughfare is a boulevard with trees/ shrubs lining the road. It is more picturesque in the other three seasons; I am sure.
Public transportation is vital to their economy. You have your choice of electric bus, natural gas powered bus, diesel, or taxi. The town supports 200 taxi drivers per shift. We use the taxis as it is safer than the buses (pickpockets lurk out there). Walking is also an option that we use frequently. It takes 30 minutes to get to most of the places we go but the walk is good for us. Unfortunately for me (Doris), my pedometer hasn’t worked since we left IN. All those steps and not getting credit for them, arggggg!!!!
We are the town oddity (as has been frequently cited in earlier posts). We are approached from time to time by folks asking for money. I was on the phone with my buddy, Brian, 2 nights ago. Two boys, about 7 and 9 years old, stood in front of me and watched me for the entire call. They were fascinated. When their mom caught up to them, they pointed to me (she shot me a short glance) and they were hustled off. Another older beggar lady had quite the conversation with me (OK, it was a monologue). Even my weak “ Oongleeski” (English) did nothing to deter her diatribe. I think she even called her sister over to marvel at what she found. The sister hung out nearby for the next 15 minutes until my family was done shopping and showed up again. Then she began talking to me and gesturing towards the girls. I eventually understood that she was asking if these were my girls and my wife. After taking a small donation, she left.
Becca is most fascinating to watch during these encounters. The gesturing lady produced the most unusual facial response in Becca- something between horror, “you must be joking”, and “What? I won $1,000,000?”. I imagine I would get a similar response if I announced to her that I had agreed to an arranged marriage for her using some online service.
In every restaurant, store, street, taxi, or apartment stairway, we get the same response. We are trying to keep a low profile but not sure it is working. As we walked through the outdoor market the other day, I noticed a teenage boy say, “American” as we walked by. None of us were talking, we were just walking through the market, we must really look distinct!