Workin for the Weekend

My first weekend in Kiev is off to a great start.  Yesterday was our last day of teacher training and after receiving an enthusiastic round of applause, our instructor produced a bottle of vodka.  I’m still too scared to drink straight vodka (inspired by my mom, who has never had a beer, I’m ok with my limitations), but he was kind enough to also bring grape juice and pistachios, both of which helped get it down.

So I was already a little tipsy at around 4 pm when Sasha, my dear friend from Bard, arrived at the hotel.  She was here visiting her grandparents, as she has done every summer since her family emigrated from Ukraine.  We went to Independence Square, had a drink and talked about do’s and don’t’s for living in the former Soviet Union.  My friend Jason (he did arrive, though not on my flight), assessed it very well, “It’s nice to hang out with someone who is both fully American and fully Ukrainian.”

In the early evening, we were invited to a Fulbright program director’s apartment for a cocktail party.  This was an event both lavish and comfortable.  His apartment is gorgeous, furnished with old Orthodox artwork and modern conveniences.  The food and drink were delicious and plentiful.  But the best part was a private concert held in his living room.  It was an American company, I forget their name, that organizes international tours for anyone who wants to sing.  Everywhere they go, they learn the regional folk music, and then perform it along with an early American repertoire.  The singers were of varying ages and backgrounds but, let me tell you, they blew us all away.  Especially amazing was a Ukrainian girl, a student of their contact here, who sang even the English songs with so much soul, I could tell, as we say in my family, “She’s been here before.”  I went to congratulate her after the concert and was so moved I ended up kissing her as fondly as if she were my kin.

After the evening, we tried, for hours, to find a club and dance.  Discos are not my scene, and from the get-go I had a bad attitude about the prospect.  But I did want to hang out with everyone and sample the local night life.  So I went along, if begrudgingly, on what turned out to be a wild goose chase.  Ultimately, we peeked into a bunch of different clubs and every time decided they were too expensive ($20 cover for girls, $30 for boys) and, as I had predicted, nasty.  I guess some of the kids who had more energy than I did eventually find a place to dance, which I’m sorry I missed, but maybe tonight I’ll take a disco nap and try again.  Really though, I had a great time walking all around the city, seeing everybody in their Friday night finery.  I could tell this city has a great night life, even if I was only watching from the sidelines.

Today, the top priority is the beach.  There’s supposed to be a good one by Lavra, so maybe I’ll check out the monastery too.  But if it’s too crowded there, I have the luxury of an extra week here with nothing to do, so I might save most of my sightseeing for then.  Tomorrow is Independence Day, which sounds like a nationwide party.  We are really lucky to be here for that, and even luckier to have the following morning free, implicitly to nurse what I’m sure will be a memorable hangover.  So that’s my plan.  Check back in to see how it actually turns out.