I had written a story about getting my first inner labial piercings and I figured it was only appropriate to write about the next set as well. I have lived in Ukraine for a year now with Peace Corps and have been teaching at a university in the city in which I live. Things are pretty quiet and desolate here, but my life still allows me to escape to Kiev and hang out with the boys at the studio (Crazy Art).
At A Glance Author hallmark Contact flukeshallmark@hotmail.com IAM hallmark When A month ago Artist Yurah Kalmikov Studio Crazy Art Tattoo Location Kiev, Ukraine My first set of inner labial piercings had healed pretty fast. They were sore for a couple of day with minimal bleeding. The pain of the initial piercing was nothing as well. These piercings were the least painful out of all of the work that I had. The only problem that I had here was sitting. I remember sitting down really hard and really fast on the bus the night that I got the first set. My body gave me an instant reminder that they were there. The pain almost brought tears to my eyes...ouch!
I have always healed really quickly with genital piercings. Both hoods and the fourchette healed within two weeks. That area has always been really easy to heal, maybe it is that there is a massive blood supply down there, who knows?
When asked why I got or keep getting pierced and tattooed I cannot seem to give a really direct answer. I know that I have always loved creativity and being able to express it, the fact that I can alter my body on my own terms (how I want) and that I am so use to it that I actually get withdrawals when I do not get pierced or tattooed for a while. I know that many people can relate to that one. I also have a story like far two many people in this world. I went through a rape two and a half years ago and body modification has helped give me the control over my body and my mind that I desperately needed to get back. Body modification has become a way of life, which I know some people can also relate to.
I happened to be in Kiev again last month on a Friday. I went to the shop to see Dima, Jenya and Yurah and see what was new. I got there and we talked for a while and hung out. They were swamped with work so I told them I would be back. We had a conference that weekend and I really had not wanted to go and listen to the same things with Peace Corps so I went down to the square and played hooky. Three hours later, i was back at the shop and hung out with Alooha (another friend) and Dima for a while. I pulled out my jewelry out of it's bag while I was sitting down talking to the boys. Dima asked what I wanted and I told him that I wanted another set of inner labial piercings.
I had been thinking about it for a while and by this time, it was almost time to go to the conference (I really had to go at that time). I loved my first set and wanted another set. I went across the hall and showed him the rings and he asked "more?" I said "yes, I want a second set." He said "when?" I said "I don't know, when you can." He grinned and said "devai zarras" (let's go now). "Treba deset minut." (I need ten minutes). Okay....so I went for a walk and told Dima that we could leave in twenty minutes for the metro.
I got back and met Yurah in the room and we talked for a second. Then I took off my pants and underwear and leaped onto the table. We looked at the first set and he grabbed the forceps and was asking about different piercings. There were a few that I wanted to research on my own first that I had never though about before that day with him. I tried to explain what I thought and grabbed the dictionary, but that really was of no help either. So here I am talking to this guy in broken Ukrainian with my pants off. It is kind of funny when you think about it.
We agreed to do the labial piercings that day with the promise that I would come to the new shop for another piercing in the next couple months. I laid back and he cleaned the area and then marked two spots under the first one. I braced myself and he told me, "Erika, tezj niesh, boode schvidko, pralno?" (Erika, you know it will be fast, right?) I knew. He did the first one in the blink of an eye and the second one as well. We talked about what else we would pierce again and I told him that I would see him soon and thanked him. He just gave me that infamous grin and said "sure, anything for you."
I put my clothes back on and gave everyone hugs and was on a bus to the conference at the sanitorium within minutes. I arrived an hour later and everyone asked where I had been. I told my close Peace Corps friends about the piercings and got a thousand questions.
I took some Neproxin Sodium that night to help with the initial soreness and that's pretty much it. This piercing experience happened last month and it is time for some new stuff. Everything has healed beautifully and I am thinking about a third set and then stretching them all afterwards. I will keep you posted! :)