cultural gems (or i'm making friends!)
the last two days have been rich historically and culturally, but also productive and socially fruitful, yay! what a turn-around from yesterday's morning mini-depression & loneliness.
after catching up with a childhood friend in the main square, i stopped in at one of the cathedrals on the way home. yes, it seriously is on the way. it's from the 12th century - called st. michael's monastery, but was redmolished by stalin in 1937 and rebuilt in '99. it actually annoyed me that it had been rebuilt in the original style because it wasn't. too much of a slave to authenticity, what else is new? i happened to walk in right during a service and it was kinda cool, but also stifling. the frescoes were ok, though they looked cool all together everywhere. i liked the altar most of all, all shiny and precious-looking. they were burning incense or whatever for the service, which not only smelled cool, but released smoke that played off the sunlight in a mystical way. then on my way out i noticed there was a little museum devoted to the monastery and well, i had nothing better to do, so i checked it out. entrance a pitiful 40 cents. they had neat relics and fragments of the ancient frescoes and jewels and such. the museum extended for about 5 halls, recounting everything up to the present, where it talked about the restoration (the idea for which was brought up only 30 years after the demolition.) that's where i learned all the info about, also that it is or used to be the 3rd "holiest" place in kiev. not too bad. then the janitor gave me a head's up to run up to the belltower in time to hear the bells toll. (dude i just talked about the tolling of bells...) that actually ended up being the least exciting thing - instead i was amazed by the view of the city from the belltower. it's not even very tall - 3 stories max - but it's got great views in every direction: the center of the city, st. sophia's belltower/cathedral, my favorite bridge in kiev, and st. andrew's church. just about all my favorite places visible from one spot. didn't have a camera on me, so i'll have to come back.
spent the evening at my mom's best friends' (olya's parents.) she was there too. such yummy food but more importantly a warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy from being around such utterly familiar people who are almost like second parents to me. we showed each other pics, watched tv, etc. olya may take me to another movie, w00t.
this morning i put in a couple hours at magazin. kept working on the same sort of thing i was doing on monday. natasha said again that i draw well in illustrator (unbelievable compliment, dude.) also that i have a trendy style unlike theirs that is fresh (double dude :D). guess they did teach me well at--what's the name of my alma mater again? oh, it also turned out she knew (of) my grandfather 'cuz she graduated from the university he teaches at. that inevitably won me points--i've never felt like such an important, privileged shit before, being in this city where my last name means something (even if in a tight circle). don't have anything else to say in particular, except that i really like it at this place and the feeling i get from working on graphic design/magazines...sorta a perfect combination, actually. i'm terribly blessed. *grin*
ran to my russian lesson from work, then met my old friend marina to go to the open-air folk museum with her friends jenya and another marina. i remember loving this place as a kid and there was even a folk holiday going on today. it was exactly the same but also totally different. same windmills, peasant huts, wildflowers. we got in there half an hour before the museum closed, so we didn't get to see much. the school was one of the only buildings we saw the inside of. on the way to the festival marina weaved a wreath, which in theory all the unmarried women were supposed to make, to float down the river at the end of the night, to discover their future husbands (where the wreath docked would indicate his location/homeland). each of us took turns wearing it, heheh. the other folk tradition is for couples to jump over a bonfire together while holding hands, and if they remained hand-locked then their love would last as well. we didn't get to see this but we saw a bunch of young people singing in traditional dress and performing some traditional dances and games and such. very colorful and kinda fun to think about as a celebration of youth and summer, as silly as some of the customs were. we didn't have too much energy for that part but it meant more to me to bond with the girls and joke with them and act like i had friends. kissing them goodbye on the subway was a strange feeling, just for all of us to part so abruptly and yet unofficially... i liked 'em though and hope to see them again soon. here's a pic if you're too lazy to view the entire 7-photo album:
i call her "show me a quainter view" :)
after catching up with a childhood friend in the main square, i stopped in at one of the cathedrals on the way home. yes, it seriously is on the way. it's from the 12th century - called st. michael's monastery, but was redmolished by stalin in 1937 and rebuilt in '99. it actually annoyed me that it had been rebuilt in the original style because it wasn't. too much of a slave to authenticity, what else is new? i happened to walk in right during a service and it was kinda cool, but also stifling. the frescoes were ok, though they looked cool all together everywhere. i liked the altar most of all, all shiny and precious-looking. they were burning incense or whatever for the service, which not only smelled cool, but released smoke that played off the sunlight in a mystical way. then on my way out i noticed there was a little museum devoted to the monastery and well, i had nothing better to do, so i checked it out. entrance a pitiful 40 cents. they had neat relics and fragments of the ancient frescoes and jewels and such. the museum extended for about 5 halls, recounting everything up to the present, where it talked about the restoration (the idea for which was brought up only 30 years after the demolition.) that's where i learned all the info about, also that it is or used to be the 3rd "holiest" place in kiev. not too bad. then the janitor gave me a head's up to run up to the belltower in time to hear the bells toll. (dude i just talked about the tolling of bells...) that actually ended up being the least exciting thing - instead i was amazed by the view of the city from the belltower. it's not even very tall - 3 stories max - but it's got great views in every direction: the center of the city, st. sophia's belltower/cathedral, my favorite bridge in kiev, and st. andrew's church. just about all my favorite places visible from one spot. didn't have a camera on me, so i'll have to come back.
spent the evening at my mom's best friends' (olya's parents.) she was there too. such yummy food but more importantly a warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy from being around such utterly familiar people who are almost like second parents to me. we showed each other pics, watched tv, etc. olya may take me to another movie, w00t.
this morning i put in a couple hours at magazin. kept working on the same sort of thing i was doing on monday. natasha said again that i draw well in illustrator (unbelievable compliment, dude.) also that i have a trendy style unlike theirs that is fresh (double dude :D). guess they did teach me well at--what's the name of my alma mater again? oh, it also turned out she knew (of) my grandfather 'cuz she graduated from the university he teaches at. that inevitably won me points--i've never felt like such an important, privileged shit before, being in this city where my last name means something (even if in a tight circle). don't have anything else to say in particular, except that i really like it at this place and the feeling i get from working on graphic design/magazines...sorta a perfect combination, actually. i'm terribly blessed. *grin*
ran to my russian lesson from work, then met my old friend marina to go to the open-air folk museum with her friends jenya and another marina. i remember loving this place as a kid and there was even a folk holiday going on today. it was exactly the same but also totally different. same windmills, peasant huts, wildflowers. we got in there half an hour before the museum closed, so we didn't get to see much. the school was one of the only buildings we saw the inside of. on the way to the festival marina weaved a wreath, which in theory all the unmarried women were supposed to make, to float down the river at the end of the night, to discover their future husbands (where the wreath docked would indicate his location/homeland). each of us took turns wearing it, heheh. the other folk tradition is for couples to jump over a bonfire together while holding hands, and if they remained hand-locked then their love would last as well. we didn't get to see this but we saw a bunch of young people singing in traditional dress and performing some traditional dances and games and such. very colorful and kinda fun to think about as a celebration of youth and summer, as silly as some of the customs were. we didn't have too much energy for that part but it meant more to me to bond with the girls and joke with them and act like i had friends. kissing them goodbye on the subway was a strange feeling, just for all of us to part so abruptly and yet unofficially... i liked 'em though and hope to see them again soon. here's a pic if you're too lazy to view the entire 7-photo album:
i call her "show me a quainter view" :)