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Published: August 22nd 2009
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Three schools
At competition So, I was on my way in a minibus to Chemerivtsy where my American couchsurfing host lived. Of course I got some attention from the driver, as there are not so many travelers going to Chemerivtsy. But that was lucky encounter, as he said he was going to Kaliningrad the next day, so I can have a ride all the way to Warsaw.
The mini bus was full of people and very warm. A woman nearby started talking to me. She came to minibus earlier and heard me talking to driver, so knew that I was foreigner. Apparently she used to be a journalist and worked in Middle East a lot.
It took just 40 minutes and we were in this little place Chemerivtsy, so much different from magical Kamenets-Podilsky. Driver gave me his phone number, the woman wished me good luck and I crossed the street hoping that my host would come soon, as I came a bit earlier than expected. But he was already there, greeting me in Ukrainian and waving his hand. Adrian took my big backpack and we headed towards his home. It was so interesting to meet him and get to know his experiences. He came
to Chemerivtsy with Peace Corps program and had to live there for 2 years, he was half a year there already. He is originally from Los Angeles and came to this 5000-population middle-of-nowhere Ukrainian town. He had initial training, but now he was alone there in very typical Soviet style apartment (very small and even with a carpet on the wall), with Babushka's Kitchen manual for cooking and nothing more. As for Eastern European most things there were more or less familiar, though there were some surprises, but for him... There is lots of joy and frustration in discovering culture like that, from very deep inside. And in this case it was almost like going back in time - town even has Lenin statue and people put flowers there.
In evening we went for a some food and some beer. One of his acquaintances was there too. Bar was a bit shady, bu the beer was good. It was all very nice to chat and chill until some people came in and made party with some very bad 90s music. At that moment we went home. His place had posters with Ukrainian words hanging everywhere. He had internet and it
all was cozy. We watched a movie and talked geeky stuff. At that time I wished I had a bit more time to spend there, as I felt really nice and relaxed. And I guess some wishes just come true unexpectedly...
So the next day we went to school in the morning. I got to know the teachers of school. They were really interested how I got to know Adrian. I was third guest of his in those three and the first one who could communicate to them, as I spoke Russian (others were Italian and Canadian). They did not understand how and why do those foreigners come to Chemerivtsy, especially as they are not friends of Adrian. I tried to explain concept of couchsurfing to them, but I guess they understood only the part that we met through Internet. And that does not sound so good especially when you live in small Ukrainian town and have culture where people think that if a man and woman stay at same place there is something more going on. And if they met through internet... Well all in all I did not know what they though about me and couchsurfing, but I did not really care. As I thought I was going away this afternoon. Adrian told me that at least once a week they remind him that he is not married yet and will for sure come back to US with Ukrainian girlfriend.
So we went to bus station after school. Ate lunch and waited for my driver. And guess what - he called me and said that his car broke down 5 kilometers away from Chemerivtsy. He, of course, was irritated and I was surprised and happy. Although I did feel it was kind of my fault that they broke down, as that was me wishing to stay there at least one day more. I told this to Adrian and we both came back. That day he had basketball training for kids. Just few of them came, but we had nice exercise playing girls against guys. We went for a walk after that to the hill near the little lake. Surrounding was peaceful and calm, I felt like I was there for at least a year, not just 2 days. It was hard to think that the next day I will be leaving for sure. And most probably never coming back to this little place which became so special to this one person and now he was making it special to others who come to visit him.
After walk I bought cake and milk. Day before I said that if I stayed longer, I would do that. It was chocolate cake and we ate big part of it watching movie. The cake was good and it served as breakfast the next day. And that was the evening when water came back. Every week on Tuesdays (or was it Wednesdays...) they do not provide water to whole town, but this week water stopped running for longer and that was frustrating. We were so happy when we saw the water running form the tap, I guess never before I felt so happy over this.
The next day there was school play going on and Adrian had part there. He was acting "The American tourist meets Ukrainian police" dialogue. He had 3 lines there and did good. My driver was being late so I could see most of acts. That actually was a competition among 3 schools of surrounding towns. Adrians school won second place and my driver was still not on his way. Eventually he did get to Chemerivtsy and after short goodbye I was on the road. There were 2 other men and the driver. One of them was old and tried to pick up conversation with me, but I was not in the mood for that. Especially as he was talking about Obama, how he is too young to know anything and will not do anything good, and how he bought his granddaughter a golden cross for her Holy Commune. The last drop was when he asked if I believe in God and go to church. I said no and he was oh-so surprised. I respect older people, but that was moment I told him I had no interest in talking about politics nor about my personal feelings towards church or anything else with him. When he asked what can we talk about and I said environmental issues and put my earphones on. He looked at me few times more and then lost hope for more conversation and shifted his attention to the driver.
That was a very long ride, especially at the borders. The driver knew someone there so we moved faster than most other cars but it still took more than 3 hours to pass it. I managed to watch quite a few series of some Russian TV show (good one, by the way), as driver had TV installed in car.
When we came into Poland and its name was surrounded by EU stars, gosh it felt really like coming back home. I traveled just two weeks, but it seemed more like two months. Of course this feeling worn of when I came back to dormitory. The next day Ukraine seemed more like a dream. It is always like that, so relative.
P.S. Chernivtsy is another town not far from Chemerivtsy. Adrian emphasized that in his profile a lot for his guests not to get to wrong town. In minibus driver asked if I am really going to Chemerivtsy, not Chernivtsy. I was sure.
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Bohdan
non-member comment
LOL ! Chernivtsy isn't so small town like our Chemerivtsy. But I like Chemerivtsy, my native Chemerivtsy !