My Harmonica and Uni-clap
Since I've been in Ukraine, I've had an itch. No not the itch that James Bond had in the movie Casino Royale either; I have wanted a harmonica. So last week I decided to drop some dough for a Hohner Marine Band 20 special. Though it sounds like some sort of weird laser ray gun, it is just a vanilla harmonica in the key of C.
I've practiced a bit out in the park and now I can just about jam some blues. Not like the guy from Blues Traveler or anything, but I can do a couple of riffs.
Today my friends and I met a woman who had one metal tooth. She warned that today was the devil's day and that we shouldn't go anywhere, buy anything, talk to anybody, or eat anything new. Strange. I made sure to do the same thing I do everyday.
Oh funny thing happened when we went to the Simferopol ballet--yes this town has a ballet. At the end of the show the audience claps in unison, not the big free for all that my American ears are used to. Johanna my friend from Sweden once commented on the fact that American audiences DO NOT clap in unison. I remember laughing at her because she said that an American audience clapping is like fingers on a chalk board for her ears. And here I am commenting on the absolute absurdity of clapping in unison. (BTW I have encountered this the uni-clap syndrome in Norway too).