Not so great of an idea, but interesting nevertheless

Yesterday was our first year wedding anniversary. I thought to myself, 'I would like to do something different, memorable and nice for that.' However, being in Donetsk made that a bid difficult since I don't speak the language. But I know Laurie likes live theater and so I thought it would be nice to watch a live show here. I asked Ludmilla one of the translators at UBI to call the drama theater here to see if they had any shows playing on the third. They did but I would have to go there to buy the tickets and so I did but afterwards I realized that I had just bought tickets to something I had no idea about. However, the theater is very elegant and so I thought to myself they must play respectable shows. I kept all this a secret from Laurie hoping that the surprise would enhance the whole experience.

So we started our outing with a trip exploring some new territory. Natasha told me about a nice park that is on the other side of downtown so we went and found it. Thus far it is the nicest area of Donetsk we have visited. Big lush trees with many fountains, gardens and such. Afterwards we had a nice dinner at a restaurant downtown and then walked around a bit afterwards before the show began. Downtown Donetsk is quite nice. Lots of shops with a large flowery park/boulevard that I'm sure will be more beautiful in the summer when more of the flowers are in bloom.



When we entered the Drama Theater I was surprised by how busy it was and the variety of people there. Many young, old and middle aged people all dressed respectfully. 'Oh, this must be a popular show if its packed out like it is,' I'm thinking.

The show was fairly easy to follow even though we could only understand a fraction of what they were saying. It started off good. About two amateur musicians trying to get a gig...one playing the sax and the other a cello. They get rejected by some and then they get in trouble. The local mob boss sends in his cronies to get rid of another 'rival' I assume since they are all shot. However, the musicians were in the washroom of the place where all this happened. Of course they heard everything and came out just after all the shooting stopped. The mob boss is going to pay them off when the police come and everyone flees the scene. Now the Mob is after them and they need to hide.

And this is where it gets interesting. The two musicians then dress and act like women to avoid the mob. Then they join an all female band and tour with them. The musicians then struggle to hide their identity when they are attracted to their coworkers and want to 'get to know them better.' The play seemed light hearted and fun I gather for the audience laughed quite a bit but I felt we had to leave at the intermission because of two reason. First, the ladies dresses/panamas were not too modest...and secondly just before the intermission the two musicians striped down to their tightie whities after getting soaked and chased one another around the stage. Now was that really necessary?!?

We then enjoyed a nice walk home and talked about the interesting aspects of the show. I also promised Laurie that I will not buy tickets anymore unless I know what we are getting ourselves into but it did end up being an unforgettable anniversary.

Doing errands around town is still a little awkward for us. This is because our understanding of Russian is not the best. It is getting better, but I'm finding gestures to be very helpful. For example, I wouldn't have been able to pay our phone/Internet bill if it were not for hand gestures. I used our map and the address on the bill to find out that the phone company was right in downtown. So I verified with one of UBI's translator that I could pay the bill there and off I went. The company logo was nice and big so the building was hard to miss but that was the easy part. I enter the first door I see that reveals a security guard. I showed her my phone bill and then she said something quietly to me. I must have given her a confused look because she repeated more loudly but this time gestured with her hand to go out and turn around the corner and said dva (two). 'Oh, around the corner and then the next entrance with the two doors,' I thought. As I go outside I check my dictionary to make sure I know how to say “I want to pay my bill” I got it and go into the next set of doors. Here, there are four counters with four receptionists. This must be the place I'm guessing. I say my phrase and show a receptionist my bill. She looks at it and then says something...I have no idea. I think she thinks I'm hard of hearing because she repeats what she says but louder and points to the left...Hmm is it the next counter? I wait for the lady in the next counter and I get the same results but this time her hand gestures indicate that I need to go out and turn left again. Oh, thats what the security guard meant, down two sets of doors. I walk out a bit embarrassed but our bill did get paid that day. It's a little bit frustrating because Russian is a language that blends their words together so that a sentence may sound like one word. So Laurie and I need more practice with listening to distinguish words. This week will give us more opportunities to listen as we prepare for a new adventure.

This Wednesday we are off on a bit of a holiday. Laurie's parents are flying into Kiev on Thursday so we are meeting up with them there. Kiev is the capital of Ukraine and we are told it is very beautiful so we are going to spend a few days there exploring and checking out some tourist areas. It should be very interesting. It will be the first time her parents have left North America and the first time we will have ridden an overnight train. We are excited for this experience.