We arrived in Kyiv about 12:30 am Monday morning. We slept until 4 am, got up and took Katrina to the airport. We came back and slept another couple of hours and then began a more normal start to our day. We got breakfast and headed across Kyiv to go to Kenyazachee where Pastor Ramon and his family live.
We didn't get very far before we were stuck in another traffic jam. I don't think a person can expect to drive a vehicle in Kyiv, these days, between the hours of 6 am and 9 pm and not get caught in a traffic jam. Today's Kyiv has almost as many malls and stores as an American city. Throw in the bazaars and add multiplied apartment buildings and you have many major roads in Kyiv with this kind of scenery.
So what do you after you have sat a few minutes and are totally bored looking at dirty cars and trucks all around and smelling diesel fumes? WELL . . . here starts the foundation of a new blog!! I got out my camera and started snapping pictures.
I started watching to see what I could see. What was the cause of the jam, this time? What were other people doing?
At times people in Ukraine wait with more patience than I've ever seen. At times, when it comes to driving, often they don't want to wait for anything. Today's solution . . . drive your vehicle on the sidewalk!
Regular cars . . . at least they shouldn't break up the sidewalk too badly!
Small trucks . . . hm-m.
I missed a small bus going by.
This truck can't be called small!
There were those that went on anyway in spite of obstacles on the sidewalk. This is where steps lead under the road for a pedestrian crossing.
This guy was a little TOO big. He got tangled and pulled down, it appeared, one of the wires attached to this pole and had to back up and come back down into the stalled traffic.
"Look! look!" Dave called my attention to this one. A smaller car had been trying to ease its way off the curb and high-centered. Its front driver's side wheel spun in mid air.
And I missed a four-wheeler going down the sidewalk. Dave and I decided that that might have been the most appropriate vehicle for the occasion!!
Or you can be in a merging lane of traffic, see the snarl, make a U-turn on the ramp and head back to where you came from--going the wrong way. Or you can make a new road across the grass!
But what were others doing to pass the time? besides running on the sidewalk?
A lot of people were talking on their cell phones.
A few people were easing their nerves by taking a smoking break.
I saw one person reading a newspaper. We saw one woman pull out a list to check it. We saw a trucker watching a small TV. . . and I was taking pictures, hoping that I wouldn't make anyone too upset!
What was the cause? A couple of vehicles had broken down here and there. A truck had parked in the lane of traffic at the edge of the road. An hour and a half later, having gone about two miles, the traffic freed up, the children shouted for joy and we were on our way. This picture was taken through the dirty windshield.
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