Eating in "the Lunchroom of the Cosmonauts"

Following my lecture at Kiev International University, Olga and I walked some distance from campus through the snow and caught a private bus to take us to the campus of the National Aviation University, which is very far from any Metro Station, and is thus the most difficult to get to of any of the five schools. The small bus was extremely crowded, with single seats down each side, packed with people, and at least twenty others standing in the narrow aisle, like pop cans in a vending machine. Since Olga and I entered the bus at the back door and there was no chance of working our way up to pay the driver, we sent the fare (one and a half hryvnia) up to the driver with the other passengers, who conveyed it hand over hand all the way to the front. I soon saw that this was de rigueur, and as other passengers entered and sent their money up, I saw that the driver would even send coins or bills back as change. Later in the evening, as we returned part way home on a similar bus, I marveled at the multi-tasking skill of the man, negotiating horrendous traffic, while also making exact change.

At the National Aviation University, we went to a large lunchroom where we ate and visited for an hour or so, while waiting for our next class. The National Aviation University is a very large school, with a student body of about 35,000. Under the former Soviet Union it was one of the chief training schools for pilots, members of the air force and for the Soviet space program. Thus, my very tasty lunch (Chicken Kiev, bread, with both mashed potatoes and rice) was partaken in the lunchroom of the cosmonauts. Seated around us were many University students wearing uniforms with wings. Olga explained to me that when the Soviet Union fell there was a great dearth of attorneys and law schools. It was in the early days of independence that a law school was formed here, as well as in many other major Ukrainian Universities. Thus, the need for lawyers and the schools to train them is a necessity (or, as ill-informed critics would say, a curse) of a free and democratic society. Notwithstanding all of the jokes and horror stories, without lawyers to stand up for the little man, there could be no true access to the courts and the constitutional protections they afford.

Over lunch, Olga and I also continued a most interesting discussion about the history of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, its relationship to the Russian Orthodox Church, and the history of political manipulation and suppression of the various churches by the Soviet authorities. Olga has agreed to accompany me to a Ukrainian Orthodox mass in St. Michael's on Sunday morning, which I am looking forward to with great anticipation and joy. Olga also agreed to accompany me to the ballet on Friday evening (provided we can obtain tickets), and she gave me a gift today of a beautiful presentation book on Kyiv. She is a most excellent guide, confidant and "handler of American Judges."