Memorial Day

I woke up around noon last Monday (Memorial Day for us Americans), went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up, and then got dressed. Around the time I was finishing putting on my clothes, I realized I heard the sound of a jet flying around in the sky, and then heard a dull "boom". I didn't think too much of it, until I heard another dull boom shortly afterwards. I stepped out onto the balcony and didn't see anything at first, but I noticed a crowd of people (mostly journalists and OSCE monitors) gathered in the courtyard of the hotel next to my apartment building. All of them were looking at the sky, with a few using binoculars and cameras to track the movement of the Ukrainian military jet flying above. I continued standing out on a balcony for a while, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. The only thing I was certain about was that there was some kind of fighting going on.

The sounds of war continued for about an hour or so, and I eventually learned that Pro-Russian separatists had taken control of the airport here in Donetsk, and the fighting I heard was the Ukrainian military's attempt to take back control of it.

Later that day, I went to work, feeling distracted by thoughts of what had happened. I wasn't alone in this either. All of my students were also quite distracted in class by what had happened, and I made it a point to try to play more games than usual in my classes to help lighten the mood. Once work was over, I walked home, and during the walk heard more sounds of distant gunfire and a couple of dull booms. I still didn't see the fighter that had been flying around the city all day, but I did see its vapor trail.

This happened two days ago. Yesterday, my school was closed, with it scheduled to reopen in a week. The city streets have been nearly empty, with few cars or pedestrians about. Today, I woke up to hearing a jet flying around the city again, with a few scattered sounds of gunfire, this time very close to my apartment. Thankfully, this didn't last long, but everyone here seems to be on edge, and gearing up for an imminent invasion of the city.