Kyiv - old and new:



This is the neighborhood where one of my best high school friends used to live. When I was there with Marta this time, I saw a man with Down syndrome walking around. Back in 1990, there was a guy named Vovochka there, also with Down syndrome. He used to get teased a lot. Some of the teasing wasn't too cruel: young girls would come up and pretend to be flirting with him, and he would flirt back, sort of. I never had it in me to participate in any of this, but I remember the guy well. Now, I was wondering if this was Vovochka, but he never came too close to us, and it's been almost 20 years, so it must have been someone else.



The truth is, I'm exhausted. On nearly every level I can think of. I wish the summer could wait for me to regain strength and enjoy it to the fullest...