Saturday, November 11, 2006
Scenes from Pylypovichy--Our Village
This morning we went for a walk through the village and some people actually smiled at us. We said good morning to several people and got various responses. One lady found out we were the new Americans and acted very friendly then asked us for money. We stopped in one of the three tiny stores just to see what they had. The lady there was very, very nice and we had a good “conversation”. I am so proud of Richard. He does very well putting sentences together. I on the other hand. . . Let’s not discuss that one.
This afternoon we went for a ride on back roads. It is really beautiful even without leaves on the trees. I can imagine what spring will look like. It snowed the other morning and there were some snowflakes in the air today but not much stuck. Our village is Pylpovichy (that’s the name on the bus stop in the picture.) There are three small stores in the middle of the village and another one on each end. There are about 2000 people—we have heard that anyway—about the size of Cle Elum, Washington where we come from. The streets were paved this summer because a big factory is going in behind our house. It is a large area. We have heard that it is an automobile factory. May be very loud but we hope it will make house values go up. We hope to buy the land that the house sits on in the spring but it may cost too much by then. We own the house and the buildings and rent the land.
Garbage is dumped in holes along the railroad track. There are several garbage “dumps” around the town and actually everywhere you drive in the country. Many people in the villages still use horse and wagon transportation. It is very picturesque but I think it would be cold riding in the wagon. This last picture is the view from our kitchen window.
