Nikolaev - Thursday

After a short night's sleep, we met early to drive to the LIGA office (LIGA is a very successful LGBT advocacy group in Nikolaev - this was their 4th Pride and they are really good at it.  Their executive director, Oleg is a wonderfully funny guy.  I first met him in 2009 in Timisoara, Romania at a conference for activists.  He's the one who started calling me "Jimmi").  We waited until everyone was there and began walking towards our target site, a monument, where we would have a flashmob for IDAHO (international day against homophobia).  After a brief speech, white balloons were released and then we disbanded back to the office.  The balloons stayed clustered far far up into the sky.  It was beautiful.  The international observers sat apart from the activists to make sure there was no problem with authorities or anti-gay groups.  There was no problem.  Here are various Flashmob pictures:

These are some of the international observers.  from left to right Edwin, Dutch Police Officer, Marisia, 1st Secretary of Embassy of Netherlands, Yury, UNDP, Tim, Dutch documentarian 

Jochem, Tim and Nikolas, all Dutch.

The flashmob group walking towards our site:

Oleg, director of LIGA at monument

The flashmob group approaching the monument:

Getting the balloons ready.

The international observers from left to right: Joel, Edwin, Ellie, Marisia, Yury

The front side of Joel this time, Edwin and Ellie

the speech about combatting homophobia has begun:

Preparing to release the balloons.

I missed the balloons flying because I wanted a picture of Ellie taking a picture of the balloons flying.

And after the Flashmob, we went back to the office and then to the conference hotel.

like the butcher who backed into the meat grinder...

I got a little behind in my work.  Get it?

I'm sorry I'm days behind.  It's been intense and I didn't always have great internet in Nikolaev.  First of all, here's what I thought of this morning and acted on my thought:

On Wednesday, my driver picked me up at 06:20 to take me to the airport for an 08:25 flight to Odessa.  Andrii had come to meet me.  It was about 9:30 - short flight.  He told me we had to stay 4 hours at airport because three Dutch participants would come from Vienna and one French participant from Warsaw.  We had a good chance to visit and catch up on news.  Our colleagues all arrived on time.  Edwin and Ellie are from an elite police section called Pink and Blue from Amsterdam.  Of course they are police officers.  Jochim is a diplomat of sorts.  Joel is from ILGA-Europe and is Senior Policy and Programs Officer.  A very congenial group.  We had a nice time on the two hour drive to Nikolaev.  I was excited that I would see Ellie and Edwin in their Police uniforms!  maybe a small fetish...  The First Secretary of the Netherlands Embassy would arrive later from Moldova by train.

Opening ceremonies were in the evening at a nightclub upstairs in a private room.  Of course we had speeches and welcomes and we international observers had to sit in the front row.  I was sitting near Joel who's a really nice guy.  His face, in repose, always has a slight smile and he has a very welcoming manner.  Part of the entertainment was an entertainer.  I suppose he was a kind of drag queen but I really don't know what to call him.  In the course of the entertainment in which he boistrously sang Russian pop songs, he plopped himself in Joel's lap.  Joel was a good sport about it and I didn't envy him.   but shortly the performer decided that if one lap was good, two were better and plopped into my lap as well.  It was a really fun performance and really engaged the crowd.  Here he is.  Sorry for the quality, the lighting was odd.

We ate after that.  It was my first meal of the day at 9pm (21:00).  After eating there was dancing and we went back to the hotel about 10:30.  It was a really nice hotel but no elevator.  I was on the third floor.  It was a challenge every time although I'm starting to feel more strength and less ache in my legs.  In the course of this first day, Ellie and I became fast friends.  She is so awesome.  I will try to keep her.  I will pick this up later.

A very satisfying Sunday

It was downright chilly Sunday morning and I ran around closing windows when I woke up.  After a week of constant sleep, I decided that I needed to make a rising time and stick to it for the most part.  So I chose 07:00.  I got up and showered and picked up the house.  Bishop Vladimir arrived around 10:30 and we did preparation for liturgy.  Fr. Melkizedech came in followed by Boris and Ivan.  We expected others but they were no show.  That was fine.  Boris had made the bread for communion (prosphora).  I didn't bring an Orthodox stole but had my riasa, outer cassock which was made for me in 1967 to use in Baghdad.  It's still in perfect condition after all these years.  We celebrated Divine Liturgy together in a reverent yet relaxed way.  Volodya (nickname for Vladimir) gave a sermon on the scriptures which were the Samaritan woman at the well and Jesus walking on water.  I have several photos taken during and after the liturgy.  This is such a wonderfully comfortable group!  Melchizedek wanted to try on the rainbow stole so we all posed and laughed acted a bit silly.  I'm sorry some of the photos are out of focus but I think some of the fun shows through anyway.  After we broke our fast, Boris and Melkizedech decided to make borsch so Ivan and Boris went shopping.  They took over the kitchen and the smells of onion and garlic wafted through the house.  Finally it was done.  And it was worth the wait.  Home made borsch has to be one of the best foods ever.  Ivan had to make a market run because we realized we didn't have any of the essential ingredient smetana - sour cream for the soup.  I spent a quiet evening.  Volodya came back around 22:00 because he had forgotten his house keys.  I was up reading anyway so no problem.  I had hoped to get up to Glossary for a cappuccino but never made it.  I had borsch for breakfast and as a bedtime snack at midnight.  I've got about two servings left which I'll finish before I leave Wednesday to Nikolaev. 

Here are the pics:

Bishop Vladimir communion for the priests

Our dear Volodya does love to pose!

Melkizedech wanted to try the rainbow stole.

Some of the comments started getting funny right about here.

And then we lost control.  Melkizedech has a wonderful big laugh.

Some of the expression on Volodya's face are priceless.

Imagine this

Imagine walking down a wide boulevard.  The temperature is perfect at 78, the humidity is low, there's a soft breeze, the air is filled with sweet scents from the flowering trees and bushes, and it seems like a warm snowfall with the millions of fluffy cottonwood seeds blowing everywhere.  I can't imagine a more  beautiful early evening.

Today is the first day since Monday that I feel well.  The walk to Glossary was not an ordeal and it was a welcome walk stretching muscles with a sense of healing rather than pain and weakness.  I was not nearly as short-winded as even yesterday.  I've been careful not to overdo.  Kate texted this morning to see if I needed her to do any shopping for me.  Jenia texted from work to hope he'd see me today.  It's funny how some foods don't tire me, like the cabbage salad that everyone makes fun of me for.  We just don't have tender young cabbage at home as they do here.  Something smelled good so I asked what it was and found that it was the chicken meatballs in a spicy oniony garlicky tomato sauce served with steamed whole buckwheat grains.  Normally a cookie is served with cappuccino and a pot of turbinado sugar with cappuccino.  Early in the week, I asked Jenia to not bring sugar or cookies since I was trying to get my blood sugar down. Instead of bringing nothing, today he brought two perfectly ripe strawberries with my before-meal coffee and a slice of a kind of white melon I've never had before that tasted like honey with my after-meal coffee.

Friday night was a repeat of last Friday night.  Bishop Volodya, Fr. Melkizedech, Boris, Ivan, and Igor came over and hung out with me till 11:30 when, once again, they had to scurry for the last metro.  Lots of planning and laughter.  Melkizedech is a young priest (32 on Monday) who is very bright and very large and very jolly.  He has a great laugh.  While they were there, Volodya got a call from another priest friend in another part of county who is a Facebook friend.  He and I had a chance to hear each others' voices for the first time.  We decided that we will make a united religious presence in the Pride parade.  They are a little afraid, but I told them I will walk with them so they shouldn't be too afraid.  Hopefully we won't see stones or eggs thrown at us.

Early this afternoon, Volodya and Boris came to drop off the items we'll need for divine liturgy tomorrow which will be at my apartment at 11am.   It will be the first time I have liturgy with them as an Orthodox priest.  It is also the first time I will see several of my friends since I arrived.

It's been a good day.  For the next days I will walk more and more to build up my strength.  I will enjoy my friends and thank God for life and health and family.  Oh, here are some photos from today.

This is an adventitious chive.  Don't know how it got here but it's a survivor:

And here are the colorful buildings along my boulevard.  The yellow one is part of the library of the National University system and the red one is the Red University you saw in one of the photos I posted the other day.  The late afternoon sun makes the colors incredibly vibrant.

And finally the national opera house, also on my street.  I pass all these things daily on my walks.  I never get tired of their beauty.  There are always people, young and old, lined up to buy tickets or to attend a performance.

Signs of life...

So it's late Friday afternoon and I think I might live.  I thought that prematurely yesterday.  I was more cautious today.  I got up late, had breakfast, felt better than I had so I went back to  bed to read.  Around 3, I got up to shower, dress and go out.  I knew I'd see how I was doing by my uphill climb to the cross street I had to reach to go down to McDonald's at Lva Tolstoho metro station.  I had to take it slow but I did all right.  I hadn't eaten meat in many days so I had a Chiken becon meniu.  Meniu is meal.  The fries are really different here.  Actually they taste more like home made than ones you'd get at McDonald's at home.  Must be the oil.  They use a lot of sunflower seed oil in Ukraine.  I don't know what McDonald's uses.  It's a big square sandwich, a chicken patty, a piece of bacon, shredded lettuce.  The bun is toasted and the top has both sesame seeds and small embedded pieces of pork product.   It's kind of ok.  Not as good as I'm used to here.  The meal combo coast just under $7.  It was more than I'm used to eating at one time here.

The walk home was a bit more challenging.  I had to use the street underpass and the many steps to the surface were tiring.  I had to stop a few times.  Likewise, the hill was a challenge and I had to stop a few more times. When I got to the corner of my street, it was all downhill.   Add the heat which returned today after a few days of cold, chill off and on rain, and I was a sodden mess by the time I collapsed in my chair feeling quite triumphant, even though it sound anything but.  I really feel like I'm on the mend.  Daily walks and hills and stairs will do this body good.  It was a hard winter on Lupron and my recovery time is slower this time.

Jenia called this morning, yelling at me for not calling him to tell him I was sick. (You know I'm not good at that.)  Jenia's comment was "I am your family in Ukraine.  Why you didn't call me?  You can always call me if you need something." (I really do need to get better at that.)  Vladimir called also worried about me.  We were supposed to go someplace together this morning and I had to cancel.  He and the same friends as last week are coming over this evening.  It will be good to see him.  He felt sad because he met some former students who used to listen to him but when they found out he is gay, they reviled and rejected him.  It will do him good to sit among friends tonight.

I promised to send some pics of my apartment, so here they are.  I decided not to pick up the place but show you as it is.  I'll pick up before my friends come tonight.

Entryway:

















Kitchen:

Bedroom:

Bath:

Living Room:

an unexpected view

Let me put the view first:

that is the light fixture on the very high ceiling of my bedroom.  I have been staring at it since yesterday since I've been flat on my back.  You wouldn't think that the simple act of rising from a chair could cause one's back to go into spasms.  And there was an added problem when I woke up this morning: there was no food in the house.   I lasted as long as I could and then showered around 11:30, dressed and literally hobbled to the market a few doors down.  I got what I needed and the bag put my off balance so get back to my apartment (thank God it was close) was just plain sad!  I ate and undressed and went back to bed.

Now, don't think I'm complaining about any of this.  Some of you have come to know that self-care is not my strongest attribute.  I'm usually pretty good at taking care of others.  As I reflect, I know that I have been working for a long time without a break and the past several weeks have been very emotional and transition-filled as well.  I really have become bone tired and have not acknowledged that.  I hit the ground running in Kiev two days after leaving Open Arms.  God/Nature/Universe knew that I needed to stop and also knew that I wasn't smart enough to choose that.  So when the plague wasn't enough to stop me, another intervention made it so I can't get around.  I am still in pain but improving and I feel much better for the enforced rest.

There have been requests for pictures of my apartment which I'll take tomorrow morning..  I have another day of rest tomorrow and then Friday I will try to resume my schedule.  I have a planned trip to Pechersk Lavra with Bishop Vladimir.

red chestnut

This is a picture of the red Chestnut tree outside my living room window.