On a bright and warm Friday morning, I decided I would walk all the way from my mom’s apartment to my school where I studied for 9 years before coming to the US. Normally, my walk from school was 10 minutes but because my mom’s new apartment is a bit further away from the center of Lviv, the walk was going to be 30-40 minutes.
First thing that I was reminded of was that people WALK in the city. So many people! Some pass you without even looking up, others glance at you, and some even stare. But this is city living. People do walk here a lot.
Secondly, it was so strange to see some old buildings that I remember still having remnants of the Soviet life and at the same time be completely renovated in some parts (like the first floor).
First thing that I was reminded of was that people WALK in the city. So many people! Some pass you without even looking up, others glance at you, and some even stare. But this is city living. People do walk here a lot.
Secondly, it was so strange to see some old buildings that I remember still having remnants of the Soviet life and at the same time be completely renovated in some parts (like the first floor).
Lots of shops on the bottom floors of the apartment buildings. It was not like that at the end of the nineties.
Still hanging their laundry to dry. Very few people have dryers actually, and these people also don’t have a balcony, so this is what they do.
Stray cats and dogs are still around. But I can’t say these cats are stray necessarily because a lady came out of that shop nearby and gave them some food and milk.
I was walking and enjoying the weather and the views...my memories hugging my heart.
This is the playground by the building where I lived till I was twelve. I knew it like the back of my hand.
The trees are so tall now, it’s amazing! When I was a kid they were so tiny, there would have been no way to climb them or seek shade from.
And this is the back of the building where our windows faced--on the seventh floors. I spent so many hours sitting on my window sill in the living room reading and looking out to the wonderful views of the city. We were the closest modern apartment buildings to downtown (a mere 20 minute walk to the Opera House), so these were super cool!
And here is me in front of another apartment building just next door, where we moved when my sister was born and we lived here for a few years.
I also passed the “sadochok”, daycare, where I had to go for three years as my mom was a working mom.
And I kept on walking and walking. This was a bit of a shock to me--to see this building in such a bad state. Yes, the windows are all new but the walls...
This is the building right around the corner from my school. I seriously remember this rounded balcony through so many transformations in 1989-1999.
And here is a dangerous intersection where we HAD to cross the street but there was no painted crosswalk until my dad decided to take charge and get some authorities to paint it once my sister started school. The paint is almost all gone now...
And then this is my school’s yard. A lot has changed here--lots more space to run around and play sports actually. The beer brewing plant is still situated right next door though:)
Here is me at the entrance of our fancy “Prestige” school--they renamed it after my time. It used to be called simply School #53.
And this is the inside! When I was there, we had all ten grades in the same building, it was squishy as each grade had 100-150 kids...and probably not super safe on the stairs of this very-very old building. Then ten years ago or so they changed things and now only the older grades remain here and the rest of the kids have to go to another building not too far away.
I made my way to the classroom that I remembered--my World Literature classroom, where Tetiana Yevhenivna Murzo taught. In Ukraine, we don’t call teachers by their last name, like Ms. Something. We call them by their first and middle (patronymic) name as a sign of respect.
I found Tetiana Yevhenivna and chatted for an hour at the teachers’ lounge. It was lovely to catch up! I remain one of her favorite and most memorable students to this day:)
A few other teachers walked in that I remembered. One of them was my teacher of Ukrainian Language and Literature--Oksana Petrivna.
After visiting the school, I walked a few minutes towards the famous Silpo food store.
Oh. My. Goodness. I couldn’t believe it! So many yummy things! And so many HEALTHY things! Look at all those desserts and pastries but also look for all those beans and seeds!
And man, they had so many different kinds of bread! I got three kids of small baguettes!
We did not have stuff like this growing up! Oh no...
Another thing that was very interesting is that people who were working at the stores are a lot younger than they were when I was growing up (and not only because I am older). I feel like a lot of younger people are given an opportunity to work while in college or instead of college.
Oh, and last thing, as a whole, the younger male population just looks so much better than what I remember! The boys are taking care of their clothes, their hair and just look good!
I was meeting my mom in the center of Lviv (carrying all my yummy bread around:)). I thought I’d snap a picture with the famous monument to Taras Shevchenko, amazing Ukrainian poet.
Lviv looks wonderful!
Our famous Opera Theatre.
Cafes on every corner...cobble stone...
Pharmacy with a sign “leeches for sale”.
Very creative decorations at a layered pastry shop.
Notice the light that’s hanging on the wall too.
This was probably the first time in twenty years that I came back to Lviv and thought to myself that perhaps I could live here. This was an awesome fill of Europe for my soul.
The day was still young... and I had another event to go to.
To Be Continued...
Lyana.
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