Train Ride to Vinnytsia

There was rather a circus trying to get my train ticket, which resulted in my actually, in the end, buying three tickets before all was said and done, but I’d rather not go into detail about it. Long story short, I had to change my first train ticket because it left Kyiv too early for me to turn in my apartment key successfully, then I had to leave the apartment about two hours before the train came because I needed to check out by a certain time, then the train I had a ticket for never came… so I had to call the Fulbright office, but the Fulbright staff were on vacation for Labor Day… and it was a big mess. I’ve never been so frustrated by my lack of Russian fluency. I knew enough to ask people where the train was, but no one seemed to know. It was like the train just didn’t exist. Then Inna had me flag down a policeman in the train station and give him my phone so that she could explain to him who I was and what I needed, and he had to take me to buy a new ticket. Then I had to wait two more hours for the next train, and all the while lugging around my huge-ass suitcases… the muscles in my hands and arms were spasming by the time I finally got on the train. And then I couldn’t figure out how to store the darn thing—it got stuck in the box underneath the seat, and the only alternative was to lift it over my head, which took considerable doing.

The (correct) train ticket (Apologies, I cannot seem to rotate it by any method!)

Riding the train was an interesting experience, and definitely quintessentially Ukrainian. Since the train I was on would be going on to Uzhhorod, some people were sleeping on it. Each cabin had four berths, and blessedly the one beside me was uninhabited. I shared my cabin with another lady about my age, and an older man. The young lady was a teacher herself, it seemed, because she was grading papers on the train. They were both nice and helpful, even though I couldn’t speak to them. The middle-aged gentleman helped me get my bag out of the lower bin when it got stuck, and they both helped me to deal with the conductor. The young lady also helped me to be sure I didn’t miss my train stop—although I needn’t have worried because even as I was getting off the train, Oleg, the department chair, was barreling onto it to be sure I got off and to take my bags for me. After carrying them around all day, words can’t say how happy I was to have the help.

Train shenanigans aside, my actual arrival in Vinnytsia went very smoothly. Both Sveta and Oleg kept repeatedly asking me how I was doing and if everything was okay and reassuring me that it would all be all right, and how I would make friends quickly and they were already my friends. I love Ukrainians. Since I had come in so late, Sveta had even gone and gotten me some food, water, tea, and sheets for my bed. Words can’t express how glad I was that she’d done that.

My new apartment is as cute as can be, and in some ways even nicer than home.

For one thing, I have satellite TV, what? I don’t even know what to do with that. No internet yet, though. I am typing this offline to post tomorrow when I am able to walk over to the library and use the internet there. There is more storage space—more shelves and closets and drawers—than I could ever use in a million years, even if I weren’t living in the knowledge that anything I buy must be able to fit into my suitcase. And to be honest, after today I really want my suitcase to be smaller on the way back.

There was one other crucial thing I forgot. As I took my blessed shower after the long and sweaty day of lugging my worldly belongings around the Kyiv train station, I realized that I had not thought to bring a towel. So I got resourceful and went into my luggage, looking for the most absorbent clean piece of clothing I could find. While the best interstellar hitchhikers always know where their towel is, turns out that for the rest of us, sweatpants will work in a pinch. :P

As they left me to relax and wind down after the stressful day, Sveta told me to follow Ukrainian tradition—you are supposed to dream of your future husband on your first night in a new home. So, I suppose I’ll go do that now. :)