When I speak of the civil society coming into existence in Ukraine, this is what I mean:
Gosh, I grew up around these village bus stops, and they were always the saddest, most depressing places that made you feel like you were surrounded by people who hated being alive. They stank of piss and excrement, the walls were covered with peeling paint that looked like it had been applied back in the 1950s.
But more and more often, the village bus stops are beginning to look like this:
And it isn’t just bus stops. I’ve seen photos of those ugly Soviet residential areas buildings that stood ugly and drab for decades until last year people decided to paint beautiful, colorful images on them. And now the entrances look like sunflower fields or cherry orchards* instead of concrete gray blocks.
* Chekhov was from Ukraine, of course, and his famous cherry orchard was based on traditional Ukrainian imagery.
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