scraped knees, why I'm here, and Les Miz

Last night, I went over to the Y house for laundry, showing Germany pictures, and getting a good dose of family. Vitaly and I swapped music (Oleh was ecstatic that I had Christian rock), Serojia insisted on reading his alphabet book to me, Snizhanna curled up on my lap and bopped me on the head, and, in retaliation, Valery bopped her on the head so hard she cried (Nadia, loosely translated: "Valery, if Snizhanna is causing problems, you need to tell me, not take it into your own hands."). And two-year-old Alosha was running a fever and was cranky.

It was a good evening.

Of course, it was not without its (literal) downfall. The kids recently got a scooter, which we were all taking turns riding around the cement courtyard, and I was trying to turn upward on a downhill slope (with more mass than the kids)...

I now have a lovely scraped knee, bruised shoulder, and a cut on one foot. Honestly, I don't think I've scraped a knee like that since I was 10 or so. But I came up from my fall laughing, was bandaged up by Nadia (who has a large stock of bandaids for such occurences), and reassured the kids that I was okay and might even be willing to try the scooter again once I heal up.

(Peace Corps requires us to wear helmets if we ride bicycles. Should they require knee pads for scooters?)

In answer to my mom's question: if September 1st is a Saturday or Sunday, I assume they would start school here on either Friday or Monday. Although we did go to school on Saturday once last spring because we'd had both Monday and Tuesday off for holidays.

My Ukrainian Independence Day ended up with me going to the square by the Palace of Culture for a concert-type thing along with some people I know from the church in the center of town. I talked with Alosha, who is currently getting his Ph.D in physics in South Korea and speaks fluent English. On one hand, it was nice to talk to someone in English, especially someone who knows what it's like to move to another country. But he didn't believe me when I said I liked Ukraine, and that really annoyed me. Everyone seems to think that I can't really like Ukraine, that I'm just saying I do to be polite. But I do love it here. Granted, there are things about the US that I miss...hot water, easy access to English books, chocolate chips, Chinese food, etc. And I miss my family and friends. But when I think about the opportunity I have to be in another culture for two years, the chance I have to help with cross-cultural understanding from both ends, and all the people I've come to know and love here, it balances out, or maybe even comes out ahead on the Ukraine side.

~*~

I've spent the week listening to the Les Miserables soundtrack (thanks, Tif! The CDs were great!) and absolutely loving it. I saw Les Miz when it came to Wharton my sophmore year at MSU, and I'm struck by the power of the story, even in the songs I have. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good story involving history, love, grace, and redemption.

And so now I'm rereading the book on my computer with the Project Guetenberg version. :)