A Night Owl’s Day

Hi everyone! My name is Ksenia. Am a freelance journalist living in Kiev with my husband and cat. This is a story of how I spent my off-day on Thursday, February the 9th.

Am a night owl and am proud of that. Am glad to be a freelancer because I have the unique opportunity to wake up anytime I want to. So my morning begins at 11.40 a.m. and its quite charming. The first thing I see is my laptop. I have computer and internet addiction, name it, but the first thing of all is my Winamp in the morning.

The view through my window is of a church and a park. Its wonderful at all seasons except during Baptism where lots of believers in the wee hours of the morning queue for the Holy Water. I always wake up from their loud screams and prayers from the loudspeaker.

My next challenge is to release the cat. She wakes me up every morning and whoops a lot. This time round my husband locked it up in the kitchen. She is fully blown.

Still standing is our Christmas tree, I think its high time we got rid of it. The pink closet is my pride. I painted the handles personally. Though the whole thing was supposed to be orange.

As I get myself clean, the cat takes a drink.

For my morning exercise I head for the park. Thats the advantage of living near one.

Its already 12.15 p.m. The thermometer read -10 degrees but I ignored the reading since the sun was shining on it. On the streets I have to ski faster since the temperatures are low. But yet still its lively on the track.

Came back from skiing and its time for breakfast. For breakfast is some vitamins, condensed milk and a sandwich.

I love these ladybirds. They are ever crawling to some unknown place like they are looking for food.

As I hit the showers, the cat follows me. Unlike most cats she likes to hang out and play with the water in the bath tub. She also likes bringing back stuff she has thrown away. Sometimes I question myself whether somewhere in her geneaology there was a watchdog.

Time is really flying! I should be working already at this time. But I will instead prepare dinner.

For dinner, we will have corn porridge. Its quick and easy to prepare and most of all one should know one small secret.

The secret is that the gruel is wrapped in a cloth or newspaper then put under the pillow and by evening it will gain a sweet taste as it cools down to the evening.

Now am getting ready for work. I have some hard drives which have video content. I have to edit the footage. With me is a reader which I carry everywhere I go. I have some books in there which I have to give to a friend in the evening. The cat comes in handy and assists in gathering the stuff.

That’s me.

And time keeps on flying! Am ever getting late.

I arrive to be met by Sergey’s stern look.

Sergey’s cat. Find 10 differences from mine. I literally can’t find any.

Already working on the script. Here am reading the text in household conditions. The sound quality is fine.

This is how my coice looks like in digital form. By the way most pople do not recognize their recorded voices. It differs from what we hear ourselves. But the truth is others hear your voice just the way it sounds as when its recorded.

After half an hour its time for rest.

Now I can relax by smoking some hookah. Mounting and editing of the video can be done with my absence. Sergey does all the work and shows me the end result.

As he works, he shows me how to adjust the intensity of the flash in a photo. That means the quality of my photos at home will improve.

Its time to leave. A sadness fills me up. The stop is empty and the buses seem not to be coming. Its also cold outside and treking all the way will be cumbersome. The schedule is hanging but the buses are not coming.

I paid Alica and Kirill Andreevich a visit. They both pose for a photo.

Kirill Andreevich has recently developed a habit of looking at Disney cartoon screensavers- the cartoons that were popular in the 90s. Chip and Dale gives me such a nostalgic moment.

Alisa has recently learnt how to make paper roses. She will now be offering her handmade gifts to everybody. Since I arrived she showed me how to make them.

This is what I came up with.

Meanwhile Kirill chews on his bread and looks a little upset. He is not allowed to play around with the roses.

Meanwhile it’s around 6 p.m. Time for Alisa’s husband to arrive home. He has to be fed too. And he takes me from her. I have to get back to the public transport.

And they came to pick me up.

Its 8.30 p.m. not the good time to go to the hypermarket, but there is no other option. I must buy stuff for tomorrow since am going to Krakow to visit a friend. I need snacks for the trip.

As expected the parking lot is full. It took time to get a spot.

And here are the purchases; some sausages for sandwiches, Krambambulya- as a gift. Its a great Belarusian drink. And in the basket were a bunch of assorted cheese curds and some Belarusian shampoos. They are good.

A little snack for me – a tortilla with cheese and cheese.

After shopping we have to leave keys with someone who lives nearby for him to go and feed the cat during the weekend. He rents a private house. I am fascinated by the idea. Its not that far from the city center and someone lives in a private house.

We arrived back home and its time for dinner. The porridge is still warm. Its our family tradition to watch a movie or TV series during dinner. This time round we decided to watch X-Men from the year 2006.

Time to begin packing for tomorrow’s journey. On the foreground is a candle in the shape of fat made in the Belarusian city of Uzda. I was there last week on a business trip and decided that for our Ukrainian friend living in Krakow, it would be the best gift.

It is nearing midnight. Last preparations; I have to find my passport and I open my “magic coin box.” Here I keep all the coins from every trip I take. It is good to have some local currency when you visit another country. Its sad that in Poland they don’t use the Euro. I have more of them than the local currency.