I'm about to give you a brief history lesson instead of preparing my thoughts for Relief Society this Sunday. So you should feel really special right now. Here goes.
The city of Kiev was founded by 4 siblings over 1,400 years ago. Yeah, just take that in for a second. The city that I've been living in existed centuries before Columbus even knew what a map was. These siblings, three brothers and a sister, crossed the Dnipro River and established a settlement, naming it Kiev after the eldest brother and king. In 1982, Ukraine erected a statue and monument to honor these siblings. It became my personal mission to see this monument while here because for some reason it just did.
So I found it.
cool story. i know.
I've thought a lot about these people, these siblings. The fact that the city that is now my home was founded by a family just makes it all so much better to me. Can you imagine the stress and arguments and jokes and fun they probably had while trying to cross the Dnipro River? I mean, Kyi was probably stressed about finding a place to make his kingdom while keeping an eye on his littler sister, Lybid, who was obviously a little bit of a diva-free-spirit see statue pictured above. Shchek was probably always being a goof or flirting with all girls while Khoryv teased his sister and tried to be like his older brothers. But they did it. And that's cool.
Well, I started thinking about what it would be like if the four original siblings of my family went off to establish a city and eventual country of our own. I don't think Spencer would want much to do with the actual establishing, but he would have a significant input on the actual location of our establishment, in that he just wouldn't come with us unless there were giant mountains and cliffs for him to climb nearby. Once there, he'd be in charge of scouting out nearby lands, designating areas to be preserved for national parks, and finding the best ski slopes. All of which are vitally important to making a city. He'd come back once in a while to tell us a story, make us laugh, and take all our food back with him into the wild. We'd always be glad to see him.
No, even though he's the oldest and the only boy, he wouldn't be the one to rule. That responsibility would go to Rebecca. Not because she's bossy or would take it for her own, but because she would know what to do and have a logical plan to carry it all out. We'd naturally just turn to her. She would make decisions logically and be efficient while organizing a healthcare and education system that really worked. She'd also choose the best kinds of holidays and traditions and the palace where she lived would always have the most pinterest-worthy banners and wreaths. Ambassadors would enjoy their visits immensely and always be invited to stay and play a board game or 7. Those ambassadors would always lose.
Caroline would be the communicator with the people because they would naturally just love her. Her honesty, wit, and easy going personality would help her relate to the people in a way that would compel them to give us their money. She'd also be the reality check to the group, teasing us when we got too full of ourselves and quoting Brian Regan during government meetings. She'd probably push for the national anthem to be a song from Brother Bear or Spirit and have the final say in the design of our flag. Which would be tie-die.
And my one contribution to the Weiler-sibling-city would be the creation of a national holiday dedicated to the celebration of cheese quesadillas.
Would you pay us your taxes?
peace and soccer
i'm totally going to the ukraine vs. france game tomorrow. yeah. tickets are basically impossible to get. but my host dad rocks.
rrw
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