Michael's Visit and Followed by a Stranger...

Wow... it's been LOOOONG since I last wrote! The last three weeks have been insanely busy so I have had virtually zero time to blog!

In my next entry I will tell you about how the ‘concert’ that Jen, Jessica and I organized went, But before that, I should make a quick mention that Michael Hayes, a guy from the University of Toronto who came to Lviv with the Intercordia program to do something similar to what Jen, Jessica and I are doing, came to visit us on a Sunday before the concert (man, all of this happened so long ago now that I am having a hard time remembering which things happened on which days!) I met him at the train station after Mass, and we hung out for a bit while we waited for Jen and Jessica to meet us after their church service. We went to Koza, where we had some of my favourite hot chocolate, and had some great discussions about religion, politics and our placements abroad. He is a really cool guy, and it actually turns out that we had met before at a retreat and that we have many friends in common from our respective Catholic young adult groups! So that was nice. We were later joined by a local guy who heard us speak in English and wanted to take the opportunity to practise his use of the language. He was kind of weird and he made a lot of really awkward comments that made me slightly uncomfortable, lol, but shortly after Jen and Jessica arrived we parted our ways and he let us be lol. At that point, all four of us went for pizza at Cecilia’s. After that, Jen and Jessica went home, and Michael and I went to get some wine for my host family, after which we got semi-soaked with the rain and ended up taking a bus that took us all around Ternopil before taking us back to my house, lol! There, we spent a while watching YouTube Videos and talking, and later we met with Jen and Jessica again at Koza, after which we accompanied Michael to his train back to Lviv. It was a very nice day and I was glad that he had come visit!  So thanks, Michael!

Something kind of scary happened after we dropped Michael off, though. It was already dark outside because he left on a late train, and I ended up having to walk home all by myself. My house is about a 15 min walk away from the train station, so it is not bad. However, a few minutes after I started walking, I felt like somebody was following me. I looked discretely behind me, and there was indeed a man walking several yards behind me. I didn’t think much of it at first, but it did give me a slightly uneasy feeling. Then, however, I started to hear the man walking faster and closer to me. I started to get really nervous, because with every turn I made, he kept following me, and I could tell the distance between us was getting shorter and shorter. It could have just been my imagination (and probably was), but by the time I was half-way through my walk, I was freaking out! There was nobody on the streets, it was pitch black, and I was in an area that there are just businesses, which were all closed, meaning that there would be nobody to hear me if I screamed. I did not want to run either, because I knew that if he was indeed following me, I would give away the fact that I was aware of him. And so, I came to a street on which I have to cross on a bridge to the left, over the train tracks, and I decided that as soon as I reached the bridge I would sprint to the left onto one of the four streets that split from that point. In the pitch-blackness of the night, he would not be able to see which way I went, if I ran fast enough to make it to one of them before he got the chance to turn left himself. And so, that is what I did. My heart was beating so fast, and soon as I reached the corner, I turned at normal pace and then just RAN as fast as I could towards my street. Once there, I saw a few other people and further down there were some street lights, so that made me feel a lot more safe. I still walked as fast as I could toward my house, and in a few more turns I finally made it home safely.

I know, I know. I was probably just being completely paranoid and probably that man was not really following me, but at the time I could not think clearly, and I much rather be afraid of nothing and get myself out of the situation as best as I could, than to walk placidly without a care in the world and end up… in not a happy position. After that, I did not walk home alone much more at all after dark. :P

Don’t worry. I’m safe and everything is fine. The same thing could have happened back in Canada or back in Mexico, where I grew up, so it is not a big deal :P Sorry if I scared you, hahaha. Alright, time to switch gears and tell you about the concert! See you on the other side…

Love you all, miss you all. God bless!