A Conversation In English On The Metro
Yesterday was pretty hot and humid and generally oppressive, so I just stayed in all day. But I did play around with Google Earth and managed to find the Circus and the Hippodrome (which we hope is the race course). They're both very close by - the Hippodrome is right next to Gorky Park (I'm afraid it may be a place to ride horses, rather than a place to see horses run), and the Circus is very near the Central Market on the other side of the River. The tram that stops right in front of our apartment can take us to either one.
Today I went over to Target to get more of that fabulous soft toilet paper, which I have not been able to find anywhere else. This time I got an 8 pack instead of a 4 pack - it's just such a schlep to go out there. I wandered around looking at the stuff that is available in the store (pretty much everything), but it doesn't make sense to get things there and carry them back on the metro, even if they are slightly less expensive. They have the most inefficient check out system I have ever seen - there are no express lanes, and everything is a cash transaction. You get on line, and wait your turn, and when you get to the register there's one person sitting by the till with a computer in front of her (it's usually a girl), and there is another person on the same side of the counter as you are on. He takes each item and swipes it over the scanner while the girl at the register just sits there!!! She does look at the computer and makes sure that the item is successfully swiped. In my case, a box of aluminum foil just wouldn't register on the scanner, so she had to send the guy back to find out how much it cost - it took so long that all the other people on line got really impatient but she couldn't close out the transaction and ring them up while I was waiting, so I finally just said forget it (in pantomime of course) and paid for my stuff and left.
I had just gotten on the metro when my cell phone rang - it was Ed, just checking in. I told him where I was and what I had been doing until we got cut off as the metro began to move. I happened to glance over at the woman sitting next to me who was reading a book (I don't see many people reading books on the metro) - and it was in English!! I just blurted out "You speak English!" and she said that she did in fact speak English. I told her that I was looking for someone to hire to engage in Ukrainian conversation with me - did she know anyone? Well, she said, she might be able to do it. She is an English teacher at the University, and is on holiday now. Russian is her "mother tongue," but she is also fluent in Ukrainian because she is required to translate things from English into Ukrainian when teaching. I asked her rate, and she said that if she were doing this for a good friend she would probably charge $4, but for a stranger she would charge $5. I told her that I would be willing to pay $5, but that I was leaving for a week long trip on Saturday, so I hoped that we could get together and try it out before then. We were both getting off at the same stop, so when we came out of the metro we exchanged names (another Yrena) and phone numbers. She also explained that she will be going on holiday to the Crimea for two weeks on August 1 (we get back to Kharkiv on July 31). All the more reason, I said, for us to try to get together soon. She agreed to call me and said that maybe she could think of someone else who could help me. I told her that this would be very kind, but that I hoped she would want to do it, because I really liked her. She said likewise, that it had "been a delight," and we went our separate ways. But this is what I call serendipity. I really had a good feeling about this woman - I know I would enjoy talking with her. She speaks English perfectly, with hardly any accent at all. I really hope this works out. If I don't hear from her by tomorrow, I will definitely call her and see if she can meet me soon and, if not, whether she can find someone else who can.
Ed has been in touch with everyone about the Project today. Roman (at the Renaissance Foundation) told Ed that he expects the Kyiv office to open at the end of September (of course, we'll be in the States at the end of September for Ed's cousin's wedding!). I have no idea what that means for us - i.e., when we will be expected to go to Kyiv. I would assume it would be before the office opens, but whether that is September 1 or September 15 or October 15, when we get back from the States, is a complete unknown. We'll have to tell Boris that we want to keep this apartment longer - but again, who knows how long. Given my craving for certainty, this does not please me! But there's nothing really that either one of us can do about it. Arkadiy and Gennady confirmed that the Kharkiv office now has furniture and the computers are being installed tomorrow and Wednesday, and that all the lawyers will be meeting at the offices on Thursday. At that time Ed hopes to establish the procedures for assigning cases, familiarize the lawyers with the data they will need to collect from the clients, and tell them about the motions he hopes to have them bring, whenever possible, challenging the pre-trial detention activities of the police. We don't know whether the office will actually begin to take cases right away, or whether it will take a bit of time to get some cases in the pipeline. If the past is any predictor of the future, nothing will happen before we get back on July 31, and that will be nice for Ed, who really wants to be in on everything at the beginning.
All in all it looks like we will be here for another 6 to 8 weeks - which doesn't thrill me, but doesn't depress me either. First of all we have our trip next week to look forward to. Second, we'll be going to Kyiv the weekend of August 11 for the opening of Susie's friend's art exhibition there. Then Jodi and her dad will be coming in early September and I, for sure (and, if it's over a weekend, Ed too) will go to Kyiv to show them the sights. I might even try and squeeze in a trip to see Michael and Jeremy in Umbria in August. Not so bad!!!
Today I went over to Target to get more of that fabulous soft toilet paper, which I have not been able to find anywhere else. This time I got an 8 pack instead of a 4 pack - it's just such a schlep to go out there. I wandered around looking at the stuff that is available in the store (pretty much everything), but it doesn't make sense to get things there and carry them back on the metro, even if they are slightly less expensive. They have the most inefficient check out system I have ever seen - there are no express lanes, and everything is a cash transaction. You get on line, and wait your turn, and when you get to the register there's one person sitting by the till with a computer in front of her (it's usually a girl), and there is another person on the same side of the counter as you are on. He takes each item and swipes it over the scanner while the girl at the register just sits there!!! She does look at the computer and makes sure that the item is successfully swiped. In my case, a box of aluminum foil just wouldn't register on the scanner, so she had to send the guy back to find out how much it cost - it took so long that all the other people on line got really impatient but she couldn't close out the transaction and ring them up while I was waiting, so I finally just said forget it (in pantomime of course) and paid for my stuff and left.
I had just gotten on the metro when my cell phone rang - it was Ed, just checking in. I told him where I was and what I had been doing until we got cut off as the metro began to move. I happened to glance over at the woman sitting next to me who was reading a book (I don't see many people reading books on the metro) - and it was in English!! I just blurted out "You speak English!" and she said that she did in fact speak English. I told her that I was looking for someone to hire to engage in Ukrainian conversation with me - did she know anyone? Well, she said, she might be able to do it. She is an English teacher at the University, and is on holiday now. Russian is her "mother tongue," but she is also fluent in Ukrainian because she is required to translate things from English into Ukrainian when teaching. I asked her rate, and she said that if she were doing this for a good friend she would probably charge $4, but for a stranger she would charge $5. I told her that I would be willing to pay $5, but that I was leaving for a week long trip on Saturday, so I hoped that we could get together and try it out before then. We were both getting off at the same stop, so when we came out of the metro we exchanged names (another Yrena) and phone numbers. She also explained that she will be going on holiday to the Crimea for two weeks on August 1 (we get back to Kharkiv on July 31). All the more reason, I said, for us to try to get together soon. She agreed to call me and said that maybe she could think of someone else who could help me. I told her that this would be very kind, but that I hoped she would want to do it, because I really liked her. She said likewise, that it had "been a delight," and we went our separate ways. But this is what I call serendipity. I really had a good feeling about this woman - I know I would enjoy talking with her. She speaks English perfectly, with hardly any accent at all. I really hope this works out. If I don't hear from her by tomorrow, I will definitely call her and see if she can meet me soon and, if not, whether she can find someone else who can.
Ed has been in touch with everyone about the Project today. Roman (at the Renaissance Foundation) told Ed that he expects the Kyiv office to open at the end of September (of course, we'll be in the States at the end of September for Ed's cousin's wedding!). I have no idea what that means for us - i.e., when we will be expected to go to Kyiv. I would assume it would be before the office opens, but whether that is September 1 or September 15 or October 15, when we get back from the States, is a complete unknown. We'll have to tell Boris that we want to keep this apartment longer - but again, who knows how long. Given my craving for certainty, this does not please me! But there's nothing really that either one of us can do about it. Arkadiy and Gennady confirmed that the Kharkiv office now has furniture and the computers are being installed tomorrow and Wednesday, and that all the lawyers will be meeting at the offices on Thursday. At that time Ed hopes to establish the procedures for assigning cases, familiarize the lawyers with the data they will need to collect from the clients, and tell them about the motions he hopes to have them bring, whenever possible, challenging the pre-trial detention activities of the police. We don't know whether the office will actually begin to take cases right away, or whether it will take a bit of time to get some cases in the pipeline. If the past is any predictor of the future, nothing will happen before we get back on July 31, and that will be nice for Ed, who really wants to be in on everything at the beginning.
All in all it looks like we will be here for another 6 to 8 weeks - which doesn't thrill me, but doesn't depress me either. First of all we have our trip next week to look forward to. Second, we'll be going to Kyiv the weekend of August 11 for the opening of Susie's friend's art exhibition there. Then Jodi and her dad will be coming in early September and I, for sure (and, if it's over a weekend, Ed too) will go to Kyiv to show them the sights. I might even try and squeeze in a trip to see Michael and Jeremy in Umbria in August. Not so bad!!!
posted by Susan Spivak at 4:29 PM
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