There were at least 2 or 3 kids playing in this "tipi". I would have taken photos from the other side, but there was a group of babushkas (grannies) sitting just to the right side of the photo, watching us. A good rule of thumb here - don't make the grannies upset! They started chattering together as soon as they saw us, and then watched us like little hawks. We are so very obviously foreigners... As we walked by on the right side, the kids looked out the "windows" and laughed at us - you know, the snickering laugh of "I can see you, but you can't see me!" Oh, this brought back so many memories of my own childhood! We made houses out of blankets on the clothes line, cardboard boxes and even, out at my grandparents ranch, an old 100 gallon drum (or maybe it was bigger than that - 500 gallon? It sat on top of the pump house until the pump house was hit by lightning and burned down. Then it became a 'house' we 5 played in, rolling it all over the place between the ranch buildings, sweeping sand and tumbleweeds out of it, and having all sorts of great imaginations. happy sigh)
It's watermelon season! We won't be buying any, tho, at least not for several weeks. We were warned when we first got here not to buy the first watermelons because they are full of nitrates from the fertilizer used to get them ripe faster and to the market. I wasn't sure I believed that until I got really sick after eating one. I've had a hard time eating any watermelon here at ll since then - and watermelon used to be one of my favorite fruits! Believe me, it was not a fun experience!! In the little kiosk to the right of the watermelons is a flower stand. Directly across the street from it is another one. Gladiolas are now in season! They are so pretty, in such a wide variety of colors. In the background, all the yellow is one of the new supermarkets - АНТАЛ - Antal (on-tall). And yes, those big huge potholes really are the road that goes between two apartment buildings, and between at least 4 more. There are 3 or 4 more kiosks selling fresh veggies and dried fish just to the right of the photo and they actually extend out into the road, so the potholes are separated by a curb, but people drive with wheels on either side of the curb. We had rain again very early this morning so the potholes were nice and full and the humidity was really high. Fortunately, the temperature was just in the high 80's, down for the mid to high 90's. It's supposed to go back up, tho. Bummer. I miss cooler and dryer Colorado. :)
Flowers in front of an apartment building.
Cat watching us watch her. I like the word for cat in Russian: Koshka кошка I hope I spelled that right and I'm not missing a little myaki znak ь in there somewhere!
The church! They have got a lot done since we were there last week. Yea! The street on the right side is actually dug up all the way down to the water pipes so hopefully they are getting the water hooked up. There is still no sewer line out, however - that will come later. Even after 10 years we are still sometimes astonished over how things are built here... :( . Anyway, the fence is partially up, the roof is almost finished and now the water is on it's way! Soon we will be able to worship there. Yea! In the following photo you can see the end of the wall that is going up between the church and the house behind it. Plus you can see the outhouse, or one of them, that the original house had, rather than indoor plumbing. I think it's still being used for the construction guys. :)
And that is a small sampling of what we saw today. I wish I could take photos on the trolleybus, but I'm just not brave enough to try when there are a lot of people on it. I wouldn't want my photo taken by a stranger like that, so I don't try. But the ride over to the bus stop nearest the church was interesting today as usual. I look at all the faces and wonder what the spiritual condition is of the persons behind them.
1 comment:
I like the little tipi. Was it there the last time you passed the playground?
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