Weekend Report: Issue 2

So, Friday evening, after having dinner with our kids for the last time, shedding a few tears and saying many more goodbyes, we jumped on the bus headed for Kiev to catch a train. We were all pretty cheery, looking forward to spending the weekend away from Kiev and away from Boyarka. While walking to the train station, we made several stops, most noteworthy being a stop for ice cream cones--dipped in chocolate. While trying to find the right platform at the station, we ran into one of the kids from our camp! His name is Phil, and he is super cute. He was one of the younger kids so I never taught him, but boy, can he dance! We caught our train with a few minutes to spare and found that it was unbearably hot. Unfortunately, the windows refused to lower, no matter who tried to pull them down (I'm thinking mainly of the rather large fellow that sat on one of our benches while his seat nearby was occupied). Oh, it was so so hot! The car we were in was a sleeper car, but it was a cheap sleeper, so our compartments didn't have doors, and one of the beds was across the aisle next to the other window (parallel to the train tracks, rather than perpendicular like the other beds...make sense?). The car was full, too, so not only was it hot, but it only got hotter as more and more body heat was emitted. We were all sweaty and gross. Bleh. Haley, Branda, Dena, and I shared a compartment, while Aubrie, Holly, Mykaleen, Julieanne, and Sarah shared the one right next to us. We talked for a bit and watched the countryside go by for a bit, but we were too hot to do much else, so we set up the beds (we were all given clean [and somewhat scratchy] sheets) and went to sleep. Sort of. It was so hot, and the train stopped several times to let more people on that I didn't really get much sleep afterall. We were awakened by the train lady at about six a.m. and our train pulled into Kamyanets Podilsky at about seven or seven thirty. Tanya, our coordinator, had arranged for one of the managers of the hotel we were staying at to be waiting for us on the platform. ...well, to make this long story a bit shorter, he wasn't there and so we had to figure out first what the name of the hotel was and second how to tell the taxi drivers to take us there. There was a young guy at the station who stopped and helped translate; his English was just good enough to help us. Thank heavens! So, after having to pay that extra money for the taxi, we arrived at the hotel to start the next charade. They found our reservation in the computer, but the price they told us it would be was almost three times as much as we had originally been told. Not cool, since this trip was already going to cost more than I could really afford. Oh yeah, and check in time wasn't until three...it was eight at the time. Being semi-loopy from the train ride, I couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh or if I wanted to cry...I didn't do either because in the fifteen or twenty minutes it took us to figure things out (by calling Tanya and having her talk to the hotel people) I couldn't decide which one would feel best. We got checked in and took a few minutes to change our clothes and settle in a bit, then headed out again. We were hungry, and we knew that if we took a nap right then, we'd sleep all day. Kamyanets Podilsky is a very cute, very old town. It was first mentioned (in writing, I'm assuming) in 1062. The architecture in the town was charming, although many of the buildings are undergoing restoration, so we couldn't see them very well. One of my favorite things about the town was the landscape it was built on. The Smotrych River flows right down the middle and has carved a wide canyon right through it. There is one main bridge (at least that I saw) that spans the gap. Down in the canyon are huts and farms. On the higher levels are the more city-esque areas. There are lots of churches and cobblestone streets. The highlight of the town, though, is the castle. It's very picturesque. This weekend made me think a lot about Marky Poo (my little brother). I imagined him (being the dork that he is) running around in the castle courtyard like a spy, climbing up the towers and hanging out the windows yelling, "The enemy approaches! Hold your positions!" I could just see him hiding behind the walls, dodging between between the parapets, scurrying up the ladders, jumping off the ledges, and all sorts of other adventurous silliness. I felt the urge to do the exact same thing, and I'm sure if it was just Mark and I in the castle...well, it would be epic. The Ukrainians think we are crazy enough as it is, so I surpressed the urge as best I could. I did climb to the top of the towers, though. I felt very surpressed, though, because there were lots of hills and trails to explore...and across from the castle was a circular stone platform with big rocks circling it. Um...that was a terrible explanation, so I will just refer you to the picture. It was very Narnian-looking and I just wanted to spend the day roaming around in it all. After exploring the castle, we were pretty tired. We stopped at an "American" pizza place for lunch, and it was really good, actually. After that, we went back to the hotel for a nap. The absolutely fabulous thing about this hotel was that we had semi-personal space. Only two people to a room, instead of our usual nine. It was so amazing to only have one person to share a bathroom with. I got stuck with Haley, of course. Sigh. Baha, just kidding, I wouldn't share a room with anyone else. After our nap, we went straight back to the pizza place for dinner. We stopped by the castle again, to see it in the different light and without all the tourists around. Very beautiful. My memory is failing me, because I can't remember if we did anything else after that other than walk around for a bit. I think we went back to the hotel relatively early so we could get a good night's sleep. Oh! I forgot one very important part of the day. Heh....I'm not sure I should share this because it may freak some of you out, but just keep in mind that Haley and I are on top of things and know how to be safe. So, when we got to the train station and were waiting for the man to show that never did, we saw a Ukrainian (an Ukrainian? That sounds funny to me for some reason) get off the same train as us. One carried a keyboard, another an accordian, another a guitar. One was Uzbeki (we found out later) and was on crutches. Several of the others sported a mullet (did we mention how hideously popular mullets are here? They are starting to grow on me, frighteningly enough. Maybe I'll cut my hair into one...) We ran into the same group when we were at the castle, and again about three more times. More details about them when we write about day two. I will just leave you knowing that they don't know how to find us, they were very nice, and very un-creepy. P.S. my camera was having issues this weekend. On the first day I ran out of battery and on the second day I ran out of space on my memory card. Sigh. So, once again, Haley will have to post more pictures (my camera decided to be unavailable just as things got interesting, so the best pictures will be on Haley's camera).