Today I saw a live theater production of “My Fair Lady.” I understood about six words in the entire thing, but that’s what happens when you go to musical theater in other languages, in this case Ukrainian. Nevertheless, I had a pretty good time. I don’t know if the stage version is always different from the movie version (with Rex Harrison and Aubrey Hepburn), but it did seem like the operetta company took a few liberties. Nothing truly awful, but when you don’t understand what is being said, you tend to notice the other stuff. I would be really interested to know what the translations were for the song lyrics; things lined up pretty well, syllable-wise, but it would be interesting to know how all the words laid out. (Of course that’s the benefit of an inflected language – word order matters a bit less.)

I will say that I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed a different show nearly as much. Although it was performed in Ukrainian, since I knew the plot and the songs, I could easily follow along. So if you find yourself heading out to the opera in a country where you have consult a book to tell people what your name is, you should definitely go for a show you already know.

Other than the theatre this evening, there wasn’t much else on today’s docket. I only saw two churches today, including the fist Catholic Church I think I’ve seen on all my trips. (I know they’re around, especially in light of Ukraine’s Polish dominated past, but I don’t think I’ve ever stumbled across one before.) I hate to say it, but I think all these churches (except the Catholic one, where there were a lot fewer Russian ikons) are starting to look very much the same. They are all quite beautiful and awe inspiring, but how many times can your breath really be taken away?

Two interesting things to note, though. First, LOTS (and I mean nearly all) of the churches in Kiev have been rebuilt at one point or another. I see plaque after plaque indicating that this church or that was rebuilt after this event or that occupation. A couple of places seem to have been totally destroyed, as there is sometimes a display showing the last standing bit of wall or an excavated cornerstone. So even though I may be getting jaded on the churches themselves, I can still appreciate all the restoration work that’s been done over a relatively short amount of time.

The other thing – and this is what made the trip to St. Michael’s church much more interesting – is the ongoing national narrative about the Great Famine. To be honest, if I had learned about this in school (and I don’t think I did), it only came back into my knowledge about Ukraine recently, i.e. within the past year. The early days of Soviet collectivism had a devastating effect on Ukraine — and it was probably very intentional on the part of the Communist Party. Between 1932 and 1933, around a third of the country’s population died of starvation; in some areas the percentage was even higher. Of course it was all covered up until around the collapse of the Soviet Union, so it has only been recently that the world has become widely aware of yet another of Ukraine’s tragedies. On the outer wall of St. Michael’s was a good timeline (in both English and Ukrainian) outlining the events of the two years.

I hate to end this post on such a down note, but I’m too tired to come up with anything pithy to change the tone. I’ll try to be a little more chipper tomorrow.