Journey to the Country

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When I first came into Kiev I thought it was one
of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. A huge river, the Dnper,
runs through the city. The river is very wide and there are many
beautiful islands with sand beaches. Though the river divides the city
into two parts, a bridge makes traveling from side to side easily. On
one side of the river the city is as flat as Moscow. However, the part
on the other side of the river is breathtaking. It is nestled on low
mountains. Enormous ancient trees block the view of most buildings.
Now the trees are in their fall colors of brilliant yellow and orange.
The only structures rising above the trees are a statue of an angel
with a sword and sever beautiful golden domed churches. Yesterday I
met Tatyana at the airport. After quickly dropping my stuff off at the
appartment and having a quick meal of borsch (beet soup) we headed off
to see some of Kiev's sights.
We saw many old churches. One of the churches, St.Sofia is almost
1,000 years old. It was built in the year 1037. The walls of the
church are completely covered in biblical paintings. Some areas were
left unrestored so the paintings are difficult to make out but it gives
you the feeling of how old the area is. The church also houses the
sarchophogus of Yaroslavl the wise, a national hero of Kiev. He died in
1051 ad. We saw many other absolutely stunning churches and then spent
some time walking around the center of Kiev. The center is very hilly
so you are always walking up or down. On the streets were vendors
selling beautiful Ukrainian souveniers-hollowed out eggs painted in
intricate designs, matryoshka dolls, and Ukrainian traditional
clothing.
We returned home for dinner. We again had borsch, which is a staple in
both Ukraine and Russia. With the borsch they served me black bread and
sala (pig fat). When I first saw sala in Russia I thought that there
was no way I would ever eat it. In the streets it is sold as huge
blocks of fat. But my family cut the sala into tiny pieces and cooked
it so it looked more appetizing. They said the sala is from a pig from
their grandfather's farm so I had to eat it. It was actually quite
tasty. The family has been so wonderful to me. I think I'm going to
gain some weight here though-I don't seem to be able to eat fast enough
to satisy them. They keep on telling me to eat more and ask how I like
things. No more time now, will write more la

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