"I'll stay here with my babushka" Kiev, Ukraine; October 2, 2015

We wandered Kiev for our last day, waiting for our night train.

Yesterday, J had shown off his extensive linguistic skills by purchasing us two night train tickets to Lyiv - in Russian. The guy never fails to impress. He did such a good job, even if Russian "hurts his brain sometimes" as he claims. 

We stopped in at a Contemporary Art Center that had interesting photographs and weird avant grade film pieces. But the best part was the...bathroom. We decided to use the facilities before we left, so we each went into the proper gender door, only to find ourselves looking at one another - again! This time it was a clear glass portion separating us, but it was still hilarious. Who knew that Ukraine had such a sense of humor about their washrooms?! 

We arrived at the train station to find it closed and surrounded by security and police. It was nearly midnight and everyone was milling about in the dark and cold. All speaking a language that I couldn't understand. J went and talked to the police keeping people out. They said that they had closed the station down, but the trains were still running underneath the station. That felt a little...shady to me. But we went downstairs to wait...and it was deserted until the chain-smoking teens came out of the internet cafe to...well, smoke. Then there were some young men with obvious drug and or mental issues wandering around her and there. J wanted to use the restroom, so I told him that I'd wait with our luggage.

He hesitated and looked around. "I don't want to leave you down here alone." 

"I'll be fine," I said, indicating the old woman in the long coat and scarf who had propped herself up against a gate. I settled in beside, while J looked skeptical. "Look, I have my own babushka protector." I finally convinced J that he could go, and she and I sat together in silence. I offered her a piece of candy, which she declined.

J came back and we made our way to our train and our compartment. We were paired with a young Ukrainian couple, and J managed to negotiate a bottom bunk for me. We started our rumbling towards Lviv. I dreamt of earthquakes the entire night as our big Ukrainian companion snored away.