Day 52: Post Monday Exercise
I became the layering queen, taking up a style of fashion I liked to call “hobo chic”. In other words, it was a collection of mismatched odds and ends that kept my bones from freezing. I often looked like this:
When I was all bundled up, I popped my earbuds in and spent the next 45 minutes or so wandering around the frozen sidewalks, trying not to break my shit on a patch of ice as I blasted Metric from my blackberry. Life moved differently to music. Even though I may have been plotting my exit from this winter Hell, I actually enjoyed my 45 minutes a day in my own personal world.
Iconic Architecture & Automobiles
I am quite happy now that I forced myself to take the big camera out for one of my daily walks because I really think I captured a bit of the vibe that goes with living in a former Soviet country. Stark landscapes, frozen pathways and giant blocks for architecture may not be “sexy” as my pal Ross once called it, but the scenery really grew on me during my 2008 to early 2009 travels.
Lovers of Winter
We always talked about the weather in my English lessons because it is an easy subject that most anyone can comment on. Those crazy Ukrainians always amazed me with their positive outlook, even in the dead cold. Some of them were just plain excited to be able to go out in the snow to play!
Graffiti in Contrast
When life felt so gray and bleak (no sunshine and snow near gray cement buildings), graffiti took on a new light for me. The bright colors were always in such contrast to the surroundings that I felt like I HAD to photograph it.
This was a bit of my life that I often say now was bittersweet. I hate winter, but then again, the moments above could only be truly appreciated having it been during that time.
Great post Brooke! In fact, you’ve inspired me. It just snowed last night, my toes are freezing cold in the house but I think I’m going to head out for a walk down to the frozen beach.
Aw, thanks
Are you going to take us all on a photo tour?
Hi Brooke, great post! I’m writing from Uruguay; I’m currently reading travelers’ blogs in order to ready myself up to take the plunge into world travelling
That’s how I came across yours.
And since I’m from Uruguay, I must tell you, I’ve never been to Russia; in fact, I’ve never seen snow in my life! As you might know, my country is rather similar to Oz in terms of temperature, but because we have no mountains, there is no chance whatsoever to have any snow at all
(Podría escribirte en español, pero prefiero facilitarte el entendimiento de lo que escribo
)
If by any chance you don’t know Uruguay, would you like to come someday? It’d be awesome to have you around! Here, lemme show you a clip from my country. It’s in Spanish, so train your brain a bit
http://uruguaynatural.tv/video/790455372001
I hope you liked it! Glad to meet you
Cheers!
xx
Hi Anibal – thanks for stopping by and commenting! I tried to watch that video, but it did not work for me. I have not been to Uruguay, but I would love to go someday
Such a pity!
I’ll leave you this one then! Hope you can watch it this time
http://bit.ly/fFVoN9
Cheers!
x
Hey Brooke,
Wanna compare Ukrainian Marshrutka photos? I took this – http://www.kharkovguide.net/images2/marshrutka3-r.jpg a classic example of luxury travel in Eastern Ukrainski, complete with curtains and a few seats still intact too. I am going back next month for a 2 week stay, looking forward to the borsch but dreading the icy roads. I have a 6.5 hour overnight coach journey from Boryspil. Wish me luck, you know how those roads are…
Hi Daniel — I actually have not taken any photos of the marshrutki ! Something I regret. Oh Boryspil is one of the most unfriendly airports. Good luck with your ride and eat some borsch for me!
Very cool (oops, I hate when stupid puns come out) post. I loved winter as a kid, but as a Canadian I quickly tired of it… I love the photos, and even though I don´t have even the slightest urge right now to go out in the cold, shooting some winter photography to me sounds like fun. It´s just too bad winter can´t be warm. Imagine skiing and snowball fighting with warm snow!
Hey Brendan, thanks for commenting on and tweeting this post
Winter as a kid was pretty awesome, but the older I got, the less fun it became. *sigh* I hope you get out to take some winter photos — just have some hot cocoa ready to go for when you get back! 
I spent some time in the Ukraine [though in the summer time] and I must say that I found the positive outlook of the Ukrainians just amazing. Some of the time I was in a small town close to Chernobyl and it seemed as if people didn’t really give that much thought to living that close to a giant nuclear disaster. Here in the US I’m sure people would try and move away as quickly as possible for as long as possible. Though, I’m sure in the mind of a Ukrainian it all makes sense. To them it seemed as if there had been wars famine and death throughout there land for 1000s of years so events like Chernobyl were sad but one supposed to just get over them and keep on living.
Now that is just my 2 cents