Yes, we know we’ve been slacking
on our blog posts…but we’ve been busy busy busy!
Last weekend was a flurry of
activity. On Friday night, the shorter (and better-looking) one of us went to
the Virsky concert. Because his second-best friend didn’t join him, he shall
now write a bit in the first-person narrative.
Andrijko: Virsky, as I expected,
was magical. There’s just something about seeing top-level Ukrainian dancing in
Ukraine that makes your heart glow. Most of the dances I didn’t recognize, so
it was nice to see a different repertoire, rather than the same one I saw last
year in Winnipeg. Except for the Russian dance and some random “Great Patriotic
War” propaganda dance, I thoroughly enjoyed the show from start to finish. What
I enjoyed just as much, or perhaps even more, was the live orchestra with three
(count ‘em – THREE!) accordion players. I offered my services. No dice. Two random
thoughts from the Virsky show:
-Ukrainian women are the most
beautiful on the planet. You can take that one to the bank.
-Mikhas Chabluk—you are good
enough to dance in Virsky. Zenon Ciz, you are not.
(Back to both of us writing…)
Saturday night, we went to Docker’s
pub to watch the match and see Mad Heads, one of Ukraine’s most popular bands.
There were about twenty-five of us - all CYMivtsi (from Canada, USA, and
England). We even let some Plastuny join us as well. :) It was an entertaining and very
high-energy show. Docker’s is a pretty small place, so the intimacy of the concert
was what we really enjoyed. Mad Heads did two full sets of about an hour each, and
we were right in the front row clapping, dancing, and drinking water. Best song
of the night? П-п-п-Повний Aвтобус - Буратін! What the heck
is an Avtobus Buratin? Anybody know?
Sunday was game day #3 for us. We
had tickets to the Italy vs. England quarter-final. Lots of people we knew had
tickets to the game, and we ourselves went with Roxy Luciw and Yuri “George
Herbert Broadman” Broda. For the second time, we were in the very last row of
the upper deck. Still decent seats though, and it’s better to be higher up to
watch the beautiful game. Luckily, the penalty kicks that decided the winner
were shot into the net on our side, so we had a perfect view. In front of us
sat two men cheering for Italy, waving an English flag, wearing Ukraine
jerseys, and speaking Russian. Globalization at its finest.
We also hit the beach a few times
over the weekend. Good thing, because our friend Volodymyr told us that it’s a
sin to come to Kyiv and not swim in the Dnipro. Nice sand, hot day, big group
of Ukrainians from a few different countries. Perfect beach days! Sorry to all
the locals that may have been struck by our Frisbee. Also, we don’t think
people here know what Frisbees are. We already get weird looks for our accents
and the way we dress, and now we get stares whilst tossing around a piece of
plastic. “Silly diaspora Ukrainians,” the locals must be thinking.
Since then, we’ve had a full week
of sightseeing and socializing, and watching the matches when they were on. Almost
everybody we know who is in Ukraina has descended upon Kyiv. We’re usually in a
big, fun, rowdy group of no less than twenty. Fun fun fun! Yesterday was Constitution
Day in Ukraine (a national holiday), so we took in a concert at the fanzone
with four of our favourite bands from Ukraine – Kozak System, T.i.K., Mad
Heads, and Oleh Skrypka. The first three were great, but we were disappointed
with Skrypka. We love VV (his band), so we expected to hear those hits. But,
instead, he sang mostly in English, performing rockier versions of jazzy
standards like “Fly me to the Moon.” Weird. He had a big-band type group
backing him though, so that was neat. Andrijko spent the afternoon with the
boys from Kozak System (formerly of Haydamaky), going to their sound check with
them and then for drinks after their performance. No big deal. Andrijko also
met a lady who was with them, who writes adult novels in Ukrainian. Yaryna
Karpa is her name. Apparently she’s pretty famous! After the concert and game
last night, we all went back to good old Art Club 44. That place never
disappoints…we’ll leave it at that.
And that’s been our week! We’ll
post some pictures with the next blog post. We have a lot to go through and
choose from, many of which we’ll have to censor so our mamas don’t see them.
Elton John and Queen tomorrow…should
be a heck of show!
Comment and let us know what’s
going on in Canada :)
One last thing: today is game day
in Canada. Go Bombers Go!
