Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Meanwhile back in Lviv

While Erik is sitting in interviews all day in Kyiv, Lea and Carter have stayed behind in Lviv. They have located seemingly the only other English-speaking toddler in the city. Yesterday, Lea and Carter went on an adventure with Thomas, 3, and his mother, Jani. They recommended taking the tramvai out to meet them, but Lea was unsure of this, recalling the Moscow buses and imagining hauling the stroller on and off a moving tram, as it is a walk to and from the tramvai. Well, it turned out to be quite easy, with no old ladies pushing you on or off, and no prepaid tickets to hunt down. Jani and Thomas came into the center of town to help Lea and Carter with this test. They helped lift the stroller onto the tramvai, and a woman came around and collected the 50 kopecks, equivalent of $.10, for the ride. They then walked from the tramvai to a beautiful park, Stryjski Park, where there was a swan with her nearly-grown babies and other urban wildlife for Carter to feed (pigeons, rats, stray cats). This website, http://www.lviv-life.com/lviv/autumn, tells you a little bit about the park, and Ivan Franko Park, the park Lea and Carter also went to today and frequently visit. Carter and Thomas fed the birds, played ball, and ate a small picnic while Lea got to speak to someone in English!

Today, it is hot in Lviv. Fall has not arrived, as implied by the link, and it is unseasonably hot here. Accuweather (renamed inaccuweather by us for obvious reasons) reports that it will hit 93 here today, which sounds cool to those of you in Lawrence, but consider that we do not have air conditioning or fans. This morning, we went to the playground at the park near the university, where Carter swung, played, and of course, stopped to feed the pigeons. Walking along Prospect Svobody today, we saw many blue and yellow flags which we expect are early signs of tomorrow's independence day celebrations.

No comments: