This is a little old, but I’ve been far away from the internet for a bit.
In less than a week, my family is coming to visit. Today, I went and bought our train tickets out to L’viv. I hopped the mashrutka to the train station, the only place you can buy train tickets here, armed with a list of every evening train between Kiev and L’viv and almost an entire month’s salary to pay for our tickets.
Everything went exceptionally well, at first. It seemed like the line melted away for me. I got to the front and, even though this is last minute to buy train tickets, they had what I wanted: four seats in the nicer section of the train all together. On a whim, I decided to buy the return tickets as well. It would be nice to have at least one part of the journey completely sorted out.
I asked how much the tickets were. Each one was about 160 UAH. I did some horrible math and decided that the amount of money I had, just under 1,000 UAH would cover the eight tickets. Unfortunately, horrible math eventually gets corrected and I was left standing at the ticket window, tickets printed and no way to pay for them all. The woman impatiently told me the amount again; I had done the math for only four tickets.
The woman and I were at an impasse. She didn’t want to let me leave because I might not come back and she would be responsible for the cost of the tickets. I didn’t really want to give her the money I had since she might pretend not to know what I’m talking about when I get back.
I recently read a quote from another PCV that Ukraine always wins. It’s true. I left over 900 UAH at the ticket window and ran to find an ATM.
Luckily, the story has a very happy ending. I got back to the ticket window, she instantly recognized me and finished selling me my tickets. I feel like that situation isn’t as rare here as it would be in the states.
Now, with train tickets in hand and a reservation for a L’viv apartment on the way, all that’s left is to clean my apartment and wait. It feels so strange to know that my family will be here so soon. I’ve spent months gradually adapting and becoming used to life here. I know I’ve changed, but it’s been so subtle that it’s hard for me to see. What is going to happen when my family, who has been living their same lives all this time, comes into this world? How are they going to get along with the new me?
Posted on August 12, 2010
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