the naked men were everywhere.

I realized while looking over my blog posts, that the one that has been viewed the most is the one titled "i saw a naked man." And who wouldn't read that? I mean, the title is intriguing enough. If someone has a naked person story they normally want to hear about it. Anyway, I looked back at this old post and realized that this wasn't even the most interesting naked man story that I have. So, I thought I would indulge you in my most fond memory of seeing naked men while abroad. Because it happened more often than I thought it would.

While in Ukraine, my host dad, Andrei, took Cherish and me on a walk to the ponds near their house. It was a nice little area and he said that if we wanted to go on a run, this would be the place to come. There were trees, ponds, and baths. Yes, baths. When Andrei first told us about them, he made it seem like the teenagers went to them at night for fun. Well, I understood that wrong. Very, very wrong.

One morning I decided I would go on a run. It was gorgeous outside and I had the urge to stretch my legs. 

The path was beautiful, the trees and bushes surrounding me. The air was brisk and cool. 

I stayed on the path, following the curves around the ponds.

That's when I saw them. 

The naked men.

OLD naked men.

Everywhere. 

Walking. Standing. Stretching. 

Everything showing. Out in the open. Saying good morning to the world. 

That was when I realized that while the young people may use them for fun at night, the old people used them after exercising in the morning.

I couldn't just stop and turn because I needed to blend in and act like it was normal. In my head I was in a mix between laughing and screaming.

Just when I thought I was almost in the clear, I saw another man ahead. He was standing near the edge of the pond, stretching. Stark naked for the whole world to see. I was getting closer to where he was, and he just kept stretching. Then, he turned around and started back towards the path. That's when I really started to freak out a little. At the pace both of us were going, we would collide. I picked up my pace and darted past him. 

After I made it through I had to stop to make sure what I saw was actually real. It was. I took off again.

As soon as I got back to our house I jumped on Cherish to wake her up and tell her what happened. All she did was laugh at me. She could do that though. I had been traumatized by saggy old man butts...among other things. Now looking back at it all I can do is laugh.

This is what I get for trying to exercise. I never ran on that path again.