REMINISCING

I had a "Day of Rememberance" yesterday.  Not on purpose, mind you; it just happened.  In the first Algebra class I had of the subbing day, there was a student from Djubouti.  He was pretty cool, and we chatted a bit about living in another country.  We got on google maps, as he wanted to show me his house on the vast African continent.  We found it.  Crazy!  Technology today.  As he went back to working on his x & y-intercepts worksheet, I continued to explore Google Earth.  I couldn't help but check out my former home in Lviv, Ukraine.  It was weird at first, as it's hard for me to think of being back there, but then I was flooded with sweet memories of walking to the outdoor markets & the parks, trying my Ukrainian at the corner store, exploring new streets, trying out a new cafe, and wandering around the souvenir market buying another superfluous pair of earrings.  I found myself missing it.  I actually miss my apartment, the privacy and ownership of it.  I miss speaking Ukrainian most of all.  I actually had the opportunity to speak some Ukrainian in class yesterday.  Granted it was to show an insubordinate student that I too could speak a language he didn't understand.  My desired outcome was accomplished with the added bonus of getting to flex my Ukrainian language muscles that I worked so hard to hone.  I really miss speaking, understanding, and reading Ukrainian.  I miss a lot of things--besides the obvious wonderful friends I have there--about Ukraine, which left me surprised and a little sad yesterday.  Isn't it funny how we long for something different-- something that maybe we used to have--when we are in one place, but when we are given what we longed for, we actually then long for what we had?  Such emotional and fickle creatures we are.   

This is where I lived:

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