A Tale of Two Sunglasses

 

First of all: Happy Easter! Christ is Risen (I'm listening for your traditional Orthodox response, He is Truly Risen!). We did not go to service. In truth, we did not think about it until 9pm on Saturday and, as the services start at midnight... well, we couldn't even find a church with a service. The "Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist" (really.) down the road in that park that was once a cemetery, has a website, but it did not list any Easter festivities. We wished we had thought of it earlier in the day so we could've made appropriate plans. In any case, we wish you all the blessings of the season. Enjoy your "pasha", frosted cake with raisins, and egg "knocking". 

It has been unrelentingly sunny and warm here (no complaints, mind you). We have had one day of rain since our return from Germany in March; In fact, this region is in a drought. As a consequence, whenever I wore my contacts, I was blinded by that yellow ball in the sky (me, stumbling, looking for shade, trees and obstacles all at once). Coming out of the metro at the Barabashov Market (largest in Europe, bu the way) we found a young woman selling sunglasses for 20 grivna (US 2.50). So, I picked up my stunning AC/DC brand shades. 

Jason started humming and hawing about his, so we stopped by metro-girl again. No luck. However, coming back to the market from Crossfit one afternoon the trolleybus dropped us off in front of an entire hallway of sunglass sellers. We stopped at the first booth run by a burly African. Jason found some sunglasses he liked, so the negotiations began. First in Russian, then in English, and finishing in French. They involved a group of three other Africans sitting on the sidelines nearby. In the end, Jason paid 100 grivna for his (US 12.50). I'm thinking they should not have gone through English between Russian and French. 

Oh! and the instant we paid, another man swooped in and took the 100 note. No idea what that was about, but I'm not going to dwell (protection? coop?... sigh, me not dwelling).

As some of you may not have heard, my parents "last trip to Europe" a few years back was not actually their last trip. They are going to join us in Paris and sherpa luggage for us on the Loire Valley bike tour (with Elizabeth) from Orleans to the coast. No panniers for us- hoorah!