Living on Jewish Street

Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014--Odesa

I wrote from my last city that I was staying in a Jewish hotel with the synagogue next door.  Well, here in Odesa my apartment is on Jewish Street and the synagogue is across the street at the end of the block.  As I left this morning, I noticed two young men wearing their yarmulkes.  And as I returned this evening, lights were on and people entering for some other activity.  I've wondered if the people living in this building and maybe this same apartment were taken away and killed at the camps, since the building is from the 1800s. 

Part of my plan for today was to go to the beach at Arcadia about 6 km (3 1/2 miles) away.  It is considered to be the better beach for the area.  I walked to the street where I was supposed to catch the #5 tram and got on it.  Just beyond where I entered the car, it turn a different direction and I could see that the continuing tracks toward Arcadia looked unused.  I stayed on it a while, but the tram eventually turned back toward town.  I guess it just makes a loop in the inner city now.  I got off and gave up on the idea of going to the beach.

Instead, I headed to the City Gardens, a nice small park downtown, planning to read.  When I arrived, however, there were people in native costumes.  And soon, they went onto the stage of the gazebo and started singing.  There were, in fact, several groups that performed there.  I enjoyed watching and listening to them.  Most sang Ukrainian folk songs, but some of the younger groups sang more modern sounding tunes.

It was another warm day.  I just wore a t-shirt and shorts.  I can see that my arms have gotten tanned now.

I'm cooking here tonight.  I bought some fresh, dirty new potatoes at the store, and they are boiling right now while the two meatballs I bought are warming in the skillet.  I'm looking forward to them.

Завтра, я залишу тут Києві, моя остання зупинка в Україні. Мій поїзд не приїде в Київ до 22:00, так що це буде пізно, коли я перебуваю в квартирі. Власник квартири буде зустрітися зі мною на вокзалі і супроводжувати мене в квартиру.

That last paragraph is in the Ukrainian language.  I thought readers might find it interesting to see what it looks like.  Here is the original text which was translated to Ukrainian from English by Google Translate:

Tomorrow, I will leave here for Kiev, my last stop in Ukraine.  My train won't arrive in Kiev until 22:00, so it will be late by the time I am in the apartment.  The owner of the apartment will meet me at the train station and accompany me to the apartment.