Wild Strawberries

Yesterday, we were getting a tour of some of the catherdals of Kiev and I noticed a billboard on top of a building. The sign had one word, and it was in Russian, and I was able to read it and understand what it meant!! It said Corona! Yes it's for the beer, but that doesn't matter, I could read the sign! That was my first Russian word to read, not counting my school work!


Well here's a little cultural story about an experience we had tonight:

So tonight, Julie and I had made our way across Kiev to hang out with our co-workers at a coffee house they host every Thursday night. We were taking the Metro home, and it got a little crowded after we transferred over to our line. Julie and I were the last ones to board the Metro and we were smushed up against the glass! We had to lean in and push people back so our purses wouldn't get shut in the doors. I didn't even have to hold on when the Metro took off because the bodies surrounding me held me up. At the next stop, we had to get out of the way and let some people off. When we got back on, we were still right in the doorway, but we had a new person standing next to us. He was probably my age, he had hair to his shoulders that he pulled back into a ponytail, and he was wearing hippie clothes. He had an empty water bottle in his hands, and he had cut the top off. I noticed that he kept bringing the bottle to his face and smelled it, and then he would glance in my direction. Yes, it was weird; I thought he was high or drunk. Then I realized that he saw me looking at him and he smiled. I smiled back at him, and then he said something to me in Russian and shoved the water bottle in my face. Here's the thing, I couldn't move backwards because people were literally up against me, and I couldn't move my head back because I would have knocked heads with the person behind me. Both of those were my gut instincts, but since I couldn't move I just stood still and didn't breathe in any air, I was afraid of what he had in there. So I just smiled and said, "I don't speak Russian." He said, "Oh berries." Then he shoved the water bottle back in my face, and said, "Smell." I smelled the berries and they smelled like strawberries but didn't look like them, so I asked him, "Strawberries?" He looked at this older woman that was with him, maybe it was his mom or it could've been his girlfriend, and they started talking in Russian and she told me that they were wild strawberries.

All this time, Julie was standing right there with me, while this guy kept looking at me and putting the water bottle in my face wanting me to smell, and it was weird and awkward, so I said to him, "Let her smell them" and then nodded toward Julie. I could tell in her eyes that she didn't want too, but I wanted her to join the fun! :) He finally looked away from me and reluctantly let her smell them too, but then he offered them back to me to smell. Thankfully at this point we had arrived at another Metro stop, and he got off with his girlfriend/mother, whoever she was. It was weird, but I guess that's what happens when you ride the crowded Kiev Metro!