The street is lined with stalls of all kinds of Ukrainian crafts: pottery; embroidery; painted eggs, boxes, plates, platters, jewelry, traditional Ukrainian shawls, blouses, shirts and skirts, thousands of old things from World War II including: Russian uniforms, caps and medals, propaganda posters, old photos of Gorbachev and Stalin––new ones of Putin and George Bush; antique Russian cameras and modern tee shirts with photos of Lenin giving the finger. You get the idea. But there were some real gems in all the bad paintings and kitschy kitsch. I found one photographer whose work reminded me of Josef Sudek. When I said the name Sudek, the photographer beamed at me and was very proud of being associated with the great Czech photographer. So, I bought one of his photos.
Eventually Jim and I got smart and settled down at a coffee shop while the souvenir buying marathon went on. Olya and Andry kept running back into the coffee shop for more Grivnas. As it turned out they were buying surprise presents for all of us that they gave to us in a special ceremony back at the apartment. We all got matching Ukrainian T-shirts.
Jim and I missed a special moment that the others had listening to a singing concert of a twelve-year-old girl with a voice like an angel. I hear she was dressed in a white lace dress and gloves and had a hot dog in one hand. Speaking of angels, I broke down and agreed to stopping at another church on the way back from the souvenir street. However, I insisted on a condition––that I could sit in the car and wait for them. I was exhausted from the day. You need to know that we started at ten in the morning and did not leave until after five in the afternoon. So while I didn’t write much about this day, it was a long day, believe me.
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