Serendipity

It's been a wonderful, satisfying, lively, but somehow peaceful end to this year. School was over last Friday but I had to go in several times this week to pack boxes and download my personal files from the school server. This morning I walked along with two Ukrainian staff members, the accountant and an administrator.

"School's out, why are you here?" they asked. "I've got to finish up a few things. It's easier to work when the kids aren't here." "It's easier to work when the TEACHERS aren't here," they said, and we all laughed. Complaining, picky, critical ex-pat teachers (as some of us are) must be an annoyance for these local staff members. They're paid a pittance compared to what we get (between $200-$400/month); there must be resentment, but since I don't know the language I don't hear about it.

All this week I kept running into people who dragged me off to tell me stories. (you could say "gossip" but I prefer "stories.") Some of these encounters seemed more than coincidental, more like providential. For example, Pat and Roman were flying to Lviv on either Monday or Tuesday, I wasn't sure which. They were my first and have been among my best friends this year; I really wanted to see them before they left. I tried calling them on Sunday, no answer, dang.

On Monday, I visited Michael and Masha and their new baby Andrew, or "Androoshka" or "Andrivska" these loving Russian diminutives. When I left their apartment, Michael walked out with me to direct me to the metro. Along came Pat and Roman, WAY out of their usual "tunnel" between school and their home. They'd tried to call me all day Sunday, but we missed each other. Now here we were. We all turned around and went back to Michael's and Masha's.

Serendipity or providence? "was MORE than wonderful" as Father Guido Sarducci used to say on Saturday Night Live.