good fences make good neighbors, and good neighbors make good water?

Having not had Internet access for several days, I had typed up a blog post detailing some of the amusing highlights of my weekend (Carmen ended up being a Ukrainian musical, not an opera!), but I can't get my flash drive to work in the USB port here at the Internet cafe, so I'll just skip the weekend and go straight to L'viv.

I am living in a gorgeous, shabby old house in an old neighborhood in L'viv. The grandfather of my host dad was a professor at the Polytechnic University in L'viv back when L'viv was still Polish Lwow. The family had to leave the house during WWII, but it wasn't destroyed by the Germans, perhaps because they weren't in the area long enough. After that, the family eventually got the house back, but Nikita Krushchev lived for a while on the first floor, in the days before he was the Premir (which I can't seem to spell right now) of the Soviet Union. When the President of Ukraine or other important political figures are in town, they live across the street from me, which has a great side benefit..unlike the rest of L'viv, we get water all day long! (L'viv has a chronic water shortage, as it's not on a river.)

My host parents are in their late 50s or early 60s. Pan Olgert, my host father, is a retired engineer whose interests include airplanes, architecture, and Jules Verne (he's apparently the secretary of the Jules Verne Society of Ukraine). Pani Natalya ("Pan" and "Pani" are terms of respect used in western Ukraine) is a physician. She's cheerful and chatty, whereas Pan Olgert is quieter. They have a son, Pavel, who's about my age and works as a physician in Poland. I haven't met him yet, but he's supposed to be in town for a few days starting today.

There are only four American students in the program here. One of them, John, is also staying at the same place I am. He's in his mid-forties and interested in the Ukrainian folk instrument, the lyra (lira?). He and his wife, whose area of expertise is textiles and fabric, were here last year, but she didn't come this time. The other two students are women about my age--Ally (Allie?), who's interested in energy politics, and Vanessa, who's interested in folklore. I think it's going to be a fun group.