Success on the road

Today I traveled to Sambir, a large town about 1 hour south of Lviv. This was quite a feat since I had to navigate transportation systems (bus and taxi) and the language itself, having no relatives to fend for me.

The bus was a small, fairly comfortable vehicle but packed to the roof with passengers and their belongings. I got a seat thankfully, because about 15 people didn't and stood shoulder to shoulder for the entire trip. A Ukrainian cultural oddity puzzles me. I wasn't expecting air conditioning but the refusal to open windows has been surprising. I've been in many homes on very hot summer days. We sit at the crowded table loaded with countless goodies, surrounded by functioning windows, with sweat literally pouring down our faces yet no one ever lets in some fresh air. It was the same on the bus. A skylight was right over my head, bringing in a delightfully refreshing breeze. Suddenly a very burly man,preferring to swelter, reached up and closed my salvation. Thankfully, the weather has turned pleasantly cool.

When I got off the bus, I started showing locals the Internet printout of the Boiko Museum that I cleverly thought to take. Each person sent me, yo-yo like, in opposite directions. Finally I realized a taxi was my only hope-actually I wouldn't have found the place without the driver since it was tucked in a side street behind some buildings.

The museum was small but fantastic. The staff was intrigued that I, an American Bioko, had made the long trip to check them out. Halting English was spoken but they went out of their way to demonstrate various items so I feel certain that I didn't miss anything. Even better, they let me take photos to my heart's content. Now I can go home and post what I found-one of my wishes for this trip.

I can't get over how friendly and helpful Ukrainians are. I think it is very important to them that visitors see their country in a positive way. I have not had one problem.

The only flaw to my adventure was the inability to get something to eat. I sat in a cafe in a lovely little park in Sambir, waiting to order. The staff studiously avoided looking in my direction until finally I got up and left. This has happened before-in fact, I have not eaten out on my own at all. Either I'm doing something wrong or the staff is hesitant to deal with a foreigner, as I obviously am. No problem, it was only an hour back to my hotel where I had a relaxing meal sitting outside on the patio.