Dave sez,
So, today was another day. Completely
different from yesterday. Maybe you're feeling the same way for one
reason or another. Yesterday, there was rain in the morning on our way
to see Shani. Today has been sunny and clear, but cooler and windier. We
caught the Number Eighteen bus up the street from the apartment to
Independence Square and the subway station. The bus had no conductor,
but a lady driver who exchanged fares for bus passes. There was a little
slide tray for the fare. Away went the fare and in return came the
passes. The driver is in an enclosed compartment from the passengers. We
made the complete ride to the Square. I was kidding Cathy that
apparently it takes a lady driver not to have an accident in the rain. I
have no idea if the driver yesterday was man or woman, but the
difference today from yesterday was noticeable. Most of the bus drivers
we've seen on the 507 bus from Holosiivska station have been men.
Yesterday,
we were able to "mall walk" our way through the closed underground
shopping mall below Independence Square, but not today. I would imagine
that the mall opens at nine in the morning and we were passing through
at about eight. Young Gandalf, the security guard, said in Ukrainian,
You shall not pass. That is not intended as s slur, more as a point of
reference. On our ride around to the Square, we pass the police and fire
station. We must have passed right after roll call, because all of the
officers were rolling out onto their beat. We saw them walk across from
the station house passed the Hyatt and the apartment we stayed in last
year. We've seen a lot of police officers while here on our journey.
Mostly on the weekends when there are families out and about; on the
street, on the subway platform and waiting to get on the bus. It doesn't
matter where, the hardest working people we know where blue; police,
fire or security. The only people that we've seen work harder, work in
public transportation.
We Skype with Justin three times
a week. Last night was one of those nights. Eight hours ahead, his
seven o'clock is our
oh-dark-what-were-thinking-we're-going-to-be-so-dead-in-the-morning-when-we-HAVE-to-get-up-ay-yi-yi!
It is a credit to twenty-some-odd years of marriage that we can keep
the irritability to a minimum. If you've been married as long as we
have, you know that means Cathy tells me to shut the **** up and not
bother her until she's had a chance to wake up - and, I do it. That's
why God invented the iPod. Of all the things that I have on mine, from
Country to cool movie soundtracks, what I'm listening to is actually
Justin's favorite albums by Big Time Rush. Nothing else works for me
right now, not even Brad Paisley, Little Big Town or The Band Perry.
I've actually tried listening to my collection of Bond songs and only
Paul McCartney and Wings, Shirley Bassey and Tina Turner are the least
bit tolerable. Every thing else is like fingernails on a chalk board.
I'm not sure why. Our gracious host recorded an album, but I'm not sure
our machines are set up to download them to our iPods. I think we're a
different zone. We've seen a video that is pretty awesome!
Today
was another day working with Shani on his English. But, today, I
decided to change it up and have him start with some basic sentences, to
incorporate the basic words he's learning, like his new name; who
Cathy, Justin and I are and what we are becoming. The sentence that he
finds most challenging is: "All four of us are a family." But he is
writing his words out three times each, so the repetition is helping
him. Hopefully in a couple of days he'll have those sentences down.
Right
now, we're just counting down the days until we are all together again.
Today puts us one day closer than we were yesterday. Which is why I
didn't mind the cold or the wind as long as there was both the sun and
our son.
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