Thoughts on the Metro

Early in the week I did not ride the Metro, as I was commuting to and from Kharkiv. Now that I have ridden it several times, I renew my sentiment that the Metro is my favorite mode of transportation. It is a mammoth system which must have required enormous allocation of resources to build. It also serves a vast segment of the population--hundreds of thousands of people ride every day.

I have always been fascinated by the demeanor of the people riding the Kyiv Metro. There is mostly silence as the throngs descend into the cathedral-like underground structures of the Metro, and as they ride. As you descend on the long escalators, you can see the faces of thousands of people pass by you coming up. It is almost as if you can read the history of the people in the eyes of old women, workers, the young and fashionable, the handful of small children. I find the Ukrainian people generally very open, friendly, happy and even joyous--but not on the Metro. Perhaps it is memories of darker years which the Metro may symbolize. Perhaps it is an odd feeling of solitude and detachment one feels in the midst of a sea of strangers. Whatever the source, riding the Metro is a unique experience.