Since I wasn't going to be in school anyway, I decided to hit the road early. My flight to the States is Monday morning from Warsaw, which means a bus to Odessa, a train to Kovel, then another bus to Warsaw Saturday night. Well, a few more days in my site meant a few more petchkas; a daunting task in these few feet of snow and with my lungs burning in the cold air. You see, we've had unprecedented amounts of snow the last few days. Literally, I woke up Tuesday morning to a white blanket at least a foot deep. It's very beautiful, and very uncommon (that one foot was more than I saw all last winter). But still, my house is cold!
So yesterday (Wednesday) I decided to head up to Kovel early where I could stay in a centrally-heated apartment. I left my house around 11:00 am, hiring a taxi instead of trying to lug my suitcase thorough the powder for the 20-minute walk to my bus station. I hopped on a bus right away, and we were off! In the next town, however, we pulled over and waited. And waited. And waited. Two hours later, the verdict was in. There is only one road that links the southern part of the Odesska oblast to the rest of the country, and it was CLOSED. There is, however a train that goes from Ismail to Odessa every night at 11:50. I decided to try that route. So, back to Ismail, which is further south than my town (by an hour). Here's a map to clairify things:
My town is in the middle part between Ismail and Moldova.
After six hours on the bus, I arrived in Ismail to discover that they were sold out of tickets for the train. Trying not to despair, I met up with a married couple who are placed in Ismail. They fed me a delicious dinner, I had a wonderfully hot shower, and walked me back to the train station where I hoped to beg a conductor to let me on.
When we got to the station, however, it seemed that about 100 other people had the same idea as I did. NO ONE had tickets! Every now and then, though, someone would walk in announcing they had a ticket they would sell, only to be bum-rushed by those of us who were near-panic. I surprised myself at my own skills in this area, as I competed for a ticket 5-6 times in this fashion. This cold has pretty much robbed me of my voice, however, which meant that I got shouted over and didn't get the ticket each time. Then the thing I love the most about Ukraine happened: it's people.
I had been kind of hanging around with some people who had been on the bus with me to Ismail, and soon enough, my new friend Yura told me to come over; he had bought two tickets! He sold me one for the same price he paid (and the ticket value) with a smile. I was SO relieved I could have hugged him! Instead, we drank some cognac and had a mini-picnic. I took a picture, but can't find my camera cord at the moment so I will upload it later. The train didn't arrive until 3 am for us to board, but we made the best of it for sure! Today, Thursday, I arrived in Odessa at 9:45 am and will be in plenty of time for my train, bus and plane. I am blessed!
I hope the best of outcomes to you as you slog through whatever life (and storm patterns) are throwing your way!
