Today's post is short as I am writing it two days late and I can't remember what I did. Perhaps it was a lot of sleeping. I did Ukrainian dance at some point. Photo below.
At night some people put on a performance. I think it was about local traditions. Afterwards a fire show. After that, a game called "homlupo" or 'warewolf'. The basic story is, a small village is being attacked by warewolves. The village need to get rid of them.
Then a storytelling card game, then bed.
The word of the day is the name of where we are staying.......I think. I am not even too sure if I have spelt it correctly. It is kindof hard when I don't recognise the alphabet! The are 32 letters in the alphabet. I have met Europeans who have travelled all over Europe, and this is the first time they have been somewhere where they don't recognise the alphabet. Next year the event is in Japan! That will be even worse!
I am getting better at Esperanto. I had a conversation with someone who does not speak english well. I recon only every third person here can actually speak English well. So much for "everyone speaks English"! The people who say that need to keep in mind, a person who does not speak English, will not talk to someone who only speaks English. I find it amazing how many languages people actually speak! It is also amazing how similar everyone is! What do you recon happens when a group of young people get together in an oversized house for one week? The only thing that may be considered abnormal is the working language, but even that becomes normal here! Then again, many people here recognise that they have 'strange hobbies'.
Today, after breakfast, we continued to do very little. I went to an Esperanto beginner course. Themselves out, I am not a beginner! I probably should have attended the Ukrainian language course.
Afterwards, we went to the local lake. This time we went swimming. I found a dead fish! I also spoke to the only other Australian for a while, in the middle of the lake, in Esperanto! At some point in the day, I found the local wifi access. I think I posted a weeks worth of posts. I have also heard of a fourth Esperanto event straight after the third. It is Festival in France.
The photos: Esperanto classes,inside the restaurant,and me with Jasmyn
Today the kongreso officially started. The two phrases of the day are "kio okazas" followed by "mi ne scias". In English, "what's happening" followed by "I don't know". Registration was suppose to occur in the morning....... it didn't. Lunch, well...... mi ne scias. The small group I was in got Ukrainian surprise to eat. When re got back to base we discovered that everyone had disappeared to the opening across town. The trip took 3 taxis and an hour to get the group across, but only cost 20 somethings per person. I will mention, the only reason I have not written the name of the currency yet is because I can not spell it!
We missed most of the speeches, but but caught the start of the concert, so it worked out alright. The concert consisted of Ukrainian bands, they sounded fantastic.
We got back to base on public transport, and got to tea late. Again, this worked out well as we got the executive lounge! Big table, comfy chairs well decorated room, bonega! After eating we watched Ukrainian news. kindof strange as we did not understand the language. After a while, we saw what we wanted to see, the ijk on national TV! For a brief moment, my face was in it!
Night time consisted of games, card games (sortof), disco and lots of........ never mind.
an interesting book for communication,the only photo I took with my phone today.
I had an early start today; 10:30. The sun was shining, so we purchased some food and went to the island. To get there, you need local knowledge as the access is not sign posted, and down a few paths. We got to a river crossing and saw the raft that would take us across. It is made by lots of water bottles tied together with some wood on top. The island is used by locals as a holiday spot. There are hundreds of people camping on it, but it is big enough that you don't notice them. The people we met up with are local esperanto people
We went swimming; the water is actually quite warm. Then we ate, and talked, and sometimes lay down. One bloke grabbed a guitar and started sung some songs. I could almost see the esperanto equivalent of Nariel Creek folk festival.
Esperanto is starting to sound familiar, but I can still only understand the general flow of the conversation, I still cannot get the details. Staying in a country where I don't speak the language, attending an event where I understand only half the language, makes me realise how much can be communicated in body language and hand gestures alone!
In the evening we had food at another restraint. The meal was quite big and cost about 65 somethings, about 6.5 euro. Then we went to the supermarket again. A bottle of what I think is whisky, or similar, is only about 40 somethings for 250 ml! The prices here could be dangerous for me if I stayed too long.
More people arrived at the venue today. The main event gets started tomorrow.
A photo of the raft is on the camera, not on my phone. Shame. It is actually quite good.
The photos are: lunch,swimming and the bottle of what I think is whisky.
Another midday start. We didn't get to bed until 2 am. Too many interesting conversations. We cheated by speaking English. There is a word for somebody who speaks another language when we are suppose to speak esperanto; kokadilo, or crocodile.
It rained today, actually it was a thunder storm, so we stayed indoors playing card games. There are few new games that I have never heard of.
In the evening, we went into the city..... I think. We found another restraint. Again, it was highly decorated inside. A bonus was that many labels were in English. This was a relief as I was getting sick of not knowing what I was eating. I normally asked for something that was 'bongusta' or 'very good', or if I had no local around me, I would just point to what looked interesting. Whatever I got, I am calling it "Ukrainian surprise". Anyhow, this time I new what I was eating. The process is quite simple, we grab a tray, then place plates or bowls of whatever we want on it, then pay at the cash register.
Someone on the bus thought we were Ukrainians studying international language. I guess tourists don't normally get on the bus.
The photo is some random building. I only took two, and the other was of the footpath parking.
Midday start again. This time it applies to 3 people, not just me. A woman woke me up in the morning. It took me a while to realise she was speaking in esperanto. This was an issue as I was replying in English and she ne komprenas. She became our tour guide for the day. First it was the shops for supplies, then a bus trip back to a park. There was a lake where people swim. We didn't, we were not prepared. We stayed and ate a little bit, then had half a nap while talking. After a while, we walked to a nearby church, highly decorated. We even got inside. It looked amazing inside, but I did not know if I could take a photo, so I didn't.
From here we walked to a grove, where there was a natural spring. Of course, there was religious stuff everywhere. There was even a pool where people get baptized from the spring water.
Back to base, then to the neighboring restaurant, and back to base for more.......... never mind.
Photos are: the park, the church, the restaurant and the beer.
I made it! I am in Kiev. I probably woke up a room of 22 people at 3 am because I was slow at turning the alarm off. I caught the plane at 7.00.
Kiev airport is where the fun began! 3 people and 3 languages. Ukrainian, esperanto and english. I am starting to understand the difficulties of English. I can understand their English well, but I need to change my own speech so they understand me better. Turns out, I skip letters, merge words and mumble! My esperanto is alright for now. I seem to understand a bit more now. I am surprised at how many words in Ukrainian that sounds like esperanto! There have been a few times when I thought the other two were speaking esperanto. A 4th person, an American, came a few hours later.
On the first bus, a normal bus, I thaught "how are going to get back on the left?" Then I realised, they drive on the right. The second bus was a whole new experience. How many people can fit on a mini bus? Turns out, about the same as a full size bus! The fare system appears to be on an honesty basis. Someone up the back hands money forward, through about 6 people. The driver (sometimes passenger at the front) takes the money, places it into the cash tray, takes the change, then passes the change back through the bus to the original person, no ticket required!
Street parking can be on the foot path.
The accommodation we have looks acceptable, but with some curiosities. The beds are the old spring bases like what the shearers once slept on. The toilets are a ceramic hole in the ground. There is no toilet roll holder in the cubicle, but there is one roll holder outside, but with no paper. The showers have no hot water, no door, and no separate male and female sections. I don't know how this is going to work.
On the up side, Kiev has an amazing CBD. Amazing architecture, lots of open space, lots of water features with water in them! They close the whole street for Saturday and Sunday so people can walk freely around.
We got food at this highly decorated place (i found myself in the Egyptian room again) where we take what we want, then pay. Mine cost 52 somethings. I wasn't too sure if that was expensive or not. I think it is about 5 euro's.
At the end of the day we caught a taxi. No ID, no meter, just a yellow sign on the roof. We got home for the cost of 80 somethings between 4 of us. The price was negotiated before we got in.
Oh, and my esperanto still has a long way to go. I only understood half of the conversation.
Only 2 photos for today as I used my other camera. The blue sign is for the toilet in the airport. I did guess he correct door. I have also found out that 'WC' is the international sign for toilet. The second photo is the CBD.
