The wheels on the bus...

....go SCHRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH. Yeah, they really do. Several times a day I'll hear the sound of tortured metal echoing off the walls of this concrete jungle. It's the nails-on-the-chalkboard equivalent of brake pads well passed their useful life. And if you're lucky enough to be sitting over top of that axle as they make that lovely sound, check for loose fillings and potential hearing loss.

     Anyways, on to my real post. How many Ukrainians can you fit onto a marshrutka? Wrong. There is always room for one more. Always. Standing-room-only isn't really a concept here when you have the ability to make people fill every conceivable space on board. My language tutor said they have an equivalent saying to "sardines in a can" here but with a different fish. The feeling is the same.
     Thursday was my language lesson. I went out at my normal time to catch marshrutka 437 for about a 25 minute ride. When it rolls up, three people plus me climb on board. I was last in line and had the joy of riding in the stairwell by the main door. I thought it was packed tight when I got on. (read the next sentence in your most deadpan, humorless voice) I was wrong. One person got off but three got on in the front. I think someone got on through the back door too. So I shuffled back through the mass of humanity to make room for them. For the first kilometer or so, the main thought running through my head was morbidly comforting. "If we crash, I won't move very far." I spent the whole ride standing.
     That brings up an interesting question. What's a comfortable personal space for you? A one-meter radius? A little less? Imagine that space being occupied by 14 people. That's not a typo. Fourteen people. That's a rough estimate of how tightly packed we were in that marshrutka. The last time I was in a situation that closely packed, I almost didn't get off at the correct metro stop during rush hour. Thus concludes my Halloween themed (scary) story for the year.
     So that was one of my lessons this week. Learning to cope in a country with a minimal concept of personal space. I've known about this for a long time now. Thursday was just an excellent reminder of that lesson.
     OK, time for other things. Bible study on Thursday night went very well. There were only five people, including me. We really should have more people attending. But for me, it's a lot easier to lead with a small group like that. Unlike last week where I had nine people. The section we studied was also a lot more encouraging than some in the past were. It focused on attitudes and reliance on others.
     Friday, I went to get my first haircut in over 3 months. Yeah, I was getting a little shaggy. It was mostly painless. The guy cutting my hair scared me for a few minutes. I thought he was going to ignore my instructions and do his own thing. But it came out mostly as I wanted. Just a centimeter shorter than I was expecting.
     In other news, I was asked earlier this month to speak to the Big City Church youth group on Sunday the 1st of November. I'll be telling them about the progression of gay-"marriage" in American churches and how to avoid it here. When I was given the list of suggested topics, it was at the top of the list. I think they really want to hear about it. There has been a recent attempt in the Rada (the government body here similar to the Senate in the US) to legalize prostitution and I have a feeling they will try to address other social topics like gay-"marriage" in the future.
     I spent most of Friday morning working on my outline for the talk and found something interesting. That topic really makes me angry. I won't go into all the details. Suffice it to say, there are a lot more liberal churches in the world than I thought.
     In separate, music-related news, I'm really enjoying the new album by The Oh Hello's. It's called Dear Wormwood and is an awesome representation of modern bluegrass/folk music with modern touches and Biblically-influenced lyrics. If you've never heard of them, I also recommend their debut album Through the Deep, Dark Valley. To me, both albums would be the perfect driving music for traveling around Pennsylvania's coal country.
     OK, that's all I have for now. I've got to finish my outline before tomorrow and do some more studying for Monday. Have a good weekend.