Have You Ever Seen the Rain... (UPDATED)

...'cause I have. Quite a lot of it actually. I can count on one hand the number of days in the past two weeks where we didn't have rain. Yesterday, thanks to the humidity, David and I were reliving memories of places we used to live; him in Georgia and me in Maryland. I'm looking forward to summer when things dry out. From what I remember of last year, it was a lot less humid once summer kicked in. Granted, that wasn't until almost August and we've got a little time before that.
     I wanted to do a little writing today so I wouldn't need to do such a big catch-up session on Friday. That and I've got time now and don't want to spend the whole day watching Youtube videos.

-- (UPDATED: Fixed photosphere link) --

     I had a lot of fun on Saturday. It was a long, busy day but fun too. Last Saturday (the 21st), I went shopping with two people from church to get supplies for an upcoming project on the 4th. They invited me to go along with them and a small group to a place north of Kiev called Kalancha. It's a steel tower used for spotting forest fires. Technically, it's still within the city limits but the location is in the middle of a big forest.

      Before I get to the part about the tower, I wanted to say that Saturday was my first time riding on a tram in Kiev. These are truly relics of history. It's just that people still use them. The one we rode on was about 40 years old. (With those two sentences, I just unintentionally insulted half of my readers; relics and 40-years-old).
     The good part about the trams is that they are cheap. Even cheaper than the metro. Three grivna per ride. And our ride was about 20 minutes from the Kontraktova Ploscha metro station to the Kalancha stop. It's interesting watching the change from city to forest. In the space of about a kilometer, I watched it go from downtown to shops and stores then residential and finally the forest. After we got out of the city, it's like riding through a tunnel made of trees. Also, you really should know where you want to get off ahead of time. The stops don't have very obvious signage.
     From the stop, it's a short walk up the hill to the clearing where the tower stands. After the "outsider" feeling I got in Pripyat, this forest was much more comfortable. I've grown up going hiking and camping in the woods. Being there was, quite literally, a breath of fresh air.
     Standing 141 feet high (43 meters for the rest of the world), it provides an excellent vantage point of the whole northern line of the city. But getting to the top is the interesting part. You have to climb up three, only partially enclosed vertical ladders. By the time you reach the top though, it's worth the effort to get there. You can (sort of) see the view in this photosphere I took up there. I still need practice or some better equipment. Once I was up there, I didn't want to go down. Mostly because of the view but some, too, because I was tired from the climb.
      From the top, you have an unobstructed view in all directions. With my camera and 55-200mm lens, I was able to just make out the shape of my apartment building on the other side of the Antonov Airport. Standing there, it's hard to keep still. The tower sways slightly in the wind and when people are climbing it. Looking out over the forest reminded me of being at Pripyat. The only difference visually was the lack of buildings. It's as if you climbed to the top of the tallest tree in the forest to look around.
     Back down on solid ground, the rest of the group was setting up the picnic. We all brought food and drinks along to eat for lunch. In total, we had four people from Big City (including me) and two people who have visited the movie night and English club. Activities like this are a great way of building relationships. It helps to show that the Protestant church in Ukraine is not a cult; that we're not weird or different from regular people.
     Have I ever said that Ukrainians like to play games? They really do. This Saturday's activity will be building Penny Hockey boards. On the Kalancha excursion, we started playing games on the tram and even played as we sat and ate lunch. After lunch, we tossed a frisbee around and asked questions of each other (get-to-know-you kinds of things).
     Going on the excursion was a lot of fun. Yet again, it's another place I'd recommend for you to go if you ever visit Kiev. When we left, the skies were starting to look threateningly wet.
We only had to wait about five minutes for the tram to come around the corner. After boarding, its wasn't five minutes before the rain started pattering down on the windows. As typical of the rain storms we've been having, it started heavy and then tapered off leaving humidity, puddles and the threat of more rain in the evening.

     And rain it did. Later I mean. I went back to my apartment to rest and get it cleaned up. The youth group was planning to meet there while the office was occupied. I also needed to pick up some things. I ended up at the office a little after 5:30 to help set up for the party.
     Since David is leaving for the States next month, he wanted to have an end-of-year party for the English clubs. Liberty's was on Saturday and Big City's will be tonight. They plan was to have an "American" evening. American food. American games. American dancing. We played games in English. We ate Domino's pizza and brownies (and other non-American things) and drank Coca cola and Sprite. And David taught them how to dance the Virginia Reel. The orange room in the office was sweating from all the warm bodies in there. I mean, condensation was forming on the cold floor and causing people to slip by the end. David even gave them a little talk on the main purpose of the English club.

     By the end of the party, I was worn out. I had walked, cleaned, talked and photographed all day long and now needed some rest. But it wasn't to be. David dropped me off at Zhytomyrska metro. I got off at Nyvky and started walking what I thought was going to be the last for the night. But about 300 meters from my final destination, I got a phone call asking me to go back to the office to lock it up. It wouldn't have been a problem if I'd been staying at my apartment. But I had to make the trek all the way back to the office from a lot farther than usual. I didn't get back to the Eide's house until after 11PM.
     Sunday was another long day for me. Since I'm watching the Eide's pets, I left for church a little later than usual. They live closer to church than I do. The extra time gave me a chance to wake up and suppress (not eliminate) a headache that I'd been fighting since Friday. It's finally gone.
     Since it was the last Sunday of the month, in the evening was Liberty church worship. I mad the trek over there to help set up but decided to not stay. An upsetting conversation earlier in the day and the long two days made me want to just sit and relax. So I went back to some familiar territory (my apartment) and did just that. I watched the storm front roll through. I watched it dump yet more rain on the city. I even sat and did nothing for a bit. I knew I'd have to go back to the Eide's in the evening but I held off as long as I could. Even then, the rain was still coming down. I made it back around 9PM and just vegged out for the rest of the evening.
     That brings me up to now. I'll be leaving for the office in a few hours for another big party. But for now, I have to get back to studying. Have a restful Memorial Day. If you have the chance, thank a veteran for the freedom you enjoy.