After a busy day of sightseeing, we ended up back at the center of Kiev at Independence Square where a massive steet party was underway. The streets were blocked off, and everywhere, beer was being sold irregardless of age, to people.
A stage was set up on top of the fountain, and everywhere people were dancing the in the water. It was an amazing site to see.
I didn't do the travel through Europe thing that many people do right after high school or college, and in some way, I feel I've seen what that crazy experience must have been like in this one evening. My pictures will never do it justice, and the energy was amazing. Yakov explained that this goes on every weekend during the summer months.
Yakov asked why we don't see more things like this back in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, we would be so concerned about controlling access to alcohol and restricting people's behaviors that it would kill the excitement that events like this create. We would worry about lawsuits and predicting ways that people might hurt themselves. We'd never allow people to dance in the waters of the fountain for fear that they might slip in the water and hurt themselves. This may protect our society, but it also hobbles it. Youthful exhuberance is what keeps a society alive.
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