Saturday, April 30, 2011
Lvov, here I come!
Well, the plans for the holiday weekend here are set. Three of us will leave for Lvov by train tomorrow morning at 04:00. We'll get there, hopefully, in early afternoon and head back on Tuesday - if we can get tickets. It is a beautiful city in the far western part of the country. It is exciting. I know I can't keep up this pace indefinitely but I'm going to give it my best try for as long as I can. Saturday, today, has been a slow day. Lots of lazing around, alternating drinking coffee and kefir, eating oranges. We went shopping at the local markets for a pillow for me and some groceries. There is frozen food in bulk. It's a sight to behold. This apartment high-rise complex is a challence. It's like a rabbit warren because there are so many ways to get in or out. I need to use the Where's My Car app on my phone so I can treat my apartment as a parked car and get led back to it by the gps. Rostek went to run errands and pick up the train tickets at Kostya's. Then we'll eat pasta with fish sauce (a mixed packet of various things from the ocean - frozen) and probably not stay up late since we have to leave here very early in the morning. Be well.
Friday, first full day in Ukraine
Friday was a typical day for me in Ukraine. The apartment is in a place equivalent to "the wrong side of the tracks" that being the "other" side of the river, not the city side. It is six metro (subway) stops from city center and the metro is a 20 minute step-lively walk from the apartment. Perfect!
After sleeping till 9, we got up and had coffee. "We?", you ask. My friend, Rostek, who is a kind of Ukrainian guardian angel, will stay with me. The apartment has three bedrooms so we have a spare room for any guests who happen to wander through. Rostek had to work, so we left just before 10 to give us time to stop and get me a set of keys for the apartment. We rode the subway to city center, Golden Gate area. I had an appointment with Svitlana who is a student in women and gender studies in Budapest. She had been in Ukraine for over a week interviewing people about being gay and Christian. Because of my arrival a day later than expected, I thought I had missed the opportunity to speak with Svitlana before she returned to Budapest. She had already extended her trip to meet me. Thursday night she called Rostek to say she had delayed her return yet another day so she could meet me. We had a wonderful time talking and our two hours was over all too soon. She had obligations before she caught the train to Budapest. I walked back to the Golden Gate and a friend of Rostek's, who came to spend the afternoon with me. Now I have to say this. I do not easily get lost, not am I afraid of being alone in Ukraine, but Rostek and Kostya worry about me all the time, so arranged for every minute of yesterday to be filled. My guide was a 26 year old man who very graciously walked me all over Kiev, starting at the magnificent church of St. Michael and around a lot of spots I had visited last year. We stopped for lunch at a Ukrainian cafeteria (the equivalent of fast food here) and I got to have my favorites: borsch, kvass, and potato vareninki (think pierogi). and then we walked some more. We rode up the funicula - I'm sure there's a way to explain this but it's basically a tram that travels up a steep hill. It brought us back to St. Michael's. We sat and talked and people-watched until Rostek got out of work at 6 and arrived. Our friend left, and we sat in an outside cafe to have a beer and some cheese. About 8 we took the metro to Kostya's apartment and we had dinner together. It was really relaxing. Oh, I neglected to mention that there was another 20 minute brisk walk involved to get to Kostya's from the metro. We left a bit after 11 because the metro stops at midnight. We had to take two metro lines to get to our place and we arrived home around 1. The streets and alleys are really very dark but there is no sense of danger (except turning one's ankle on broken pavement.) It was a splendid first day. I have a sense of where I am in relation to city center now, so I won't need a baby-sitter from now on.
Let me mention the weather: as sometimes happens at home, Kiev went from winter to spring to summer in the space of a few days. Yesterday was gloriously sunny and in the high 70's. Today looks to be the same. I was almost uncomfortably warm but I'll get used to it.
This is a holiday weekend (May Day) so there is a four day weekend. If we can get tickets, we will go to the far western Ukraine tonight to spend some days in Lvov and to visit Rostek's mother in Kalush. It is somewhat doubtful that we can get tickets since Kievites flee the city for holiday weekends. If we can't go, we'll go for a picnic with Kostya and Mikhail (who is a hair stylist in an upscale salon) to some park outside the city. Mikhail told me he'll cut my hair while I'm here. So I not only have new friends, I also have a personal hair stylist. Life is so good.
I am excited to go to Lvov. I hope to make contact with some groups there.
After sleeping till 9, we got up and had coffee. "We?", you ask. My friend, Rostek, who is a kind of Ukrainian guardian angel, will stay with me. The apartment has three bedrooms so we have a spare room for any guests who happen to wander through. Rostek had to work, so we left just before 10 to give us time to stop and get me a set of keys for the apartment. We rode the subway to city center, Golden Gate area. I had an appointment with Svitlana who is a student in women and gender studies in Budapest. She had been in Ukraine for over a week interviewing people about being gay and Christian. Because of my arrival a day later than expected, I thought I had missed the opportunity to speak with Svitlana before she returned to Budapest. She had already extended her trip to meet me. Thursday night she called Rostek to say she had delayed her return yet another day so she could meet me. We had a wonderful time talking and our two hours was over all too soon. She had obligations before she caught the train to Budapest. I walked back to the Golden Gate and a friend of Rostek's, who came to spend the afternoon with me. Now I have to say this. I do not easily get lost, not am I afraid of being alone in Ukraine, but Rostek and Kostya worry about me all the time, so arranged for every minute of yesterday to be filled. My guide was a 26 year old man who very graciously walked me all over Kiev, starting at the magnificent church of St. Michael and around a lot of spots I had visited last year. We stopped for lunch at a Ukrainian cafeteria (the equivalent of fast food here) and I got to have my favorites: borsch, kvass, and potato vareninki (think pierogi). and then we walked some more. We rode up the funicula - I'm sure there's a way to explain this but it's basically a tram that travels up a steep hill. It brought us back to St. Michael's. We sat and talked and people-watched until Rostek got out of work at 6 and arrived. Our friend left, and we sat in an outside cafe to have a beer and some cheese. About 8 we took the metro to Kostya's apartment and we had dinner together. It was really relaxing. Oh, I neglected to mention that there was another 20 minute brisk walk involved to get to Kostya's from the metro. We left a bit after 11 because the metro stops at midnight. We had to take two metro lines to get to our place and we arrived home around 1. The streets and alleys are really very dark but there is no sense of danger (except turning one's ankle on broken pavement.) It was a splendid first day. I have a sense of where I am in relation to city center now, so I won't need a baby-sitter from now on.
Let me mention the weather: as sometimes happens at home, Kiev went from winter to spring to summer in the space of a few days. Yesterday was gloriously sunny and in the high 70's. Today looks to be the same. I was almost uncomfortably warm but I'll get used to it.
This is a holiday weekend (May Day) so there is a four day weekend. If we can get tickets, we will go to the far western Ukraine tonight to spend some days in Lvov and to visit Rostek's mother in Kalush. It is somewhat doubtful that we can get tickets since Kievites flee the city for holiday weekends. If we can't go, we'll go for a picnic with Kostya and Mikhail (who is a hair stylist in an upscale salon) to some park outside the city. Mikhail told me he'll cut my hair while I'm here. So I not only have new friends, I also have a personal hair stylist. Life is so good.
I am excited to go to Lvov. I hope to make contact with some groups there.
Trying to catch up on blogging
Well, I was scheduled to fly on Tuesday. When I got to the airport I found my flight delayed, ultimately missing my connection to Amsterdam. I was stuck in Detroit for Tuesday night and didn't fly out until Wednesday afternoon at 16:00. The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful. I had four hours in Amsterdam so got something to eat and a good cup of European coffee. I expected my flight to Kiev to be KLM but instead it was on a very very old Ukrainian International Airlines. The guy behind me took his shoes off and treated everyone to really nasty feet. I almost moved my seat but he did, instead. Lunch was a sort of pancake filled with sauerkraut and carrot with a small hot dog like sausage. We arrived in Kiev after a two hour flight. Several passengers were concerned that the flight crew didn't pass out the forms we needed to get through passport control. As we approached passport control, there were four lines indicated: Ukrainian citizens, those who need visas, those who don't need visas, and diplomatic. An officer rearranges us by sending us to wherever there was an opening. I pass through the Ukrainian citizen line with no form. The officer didn't ask me the purpose of my visit or if I had anything to declare. He just stamped my passport and in I went. My luggage arrived with me, thank God and I had to put it through a large scanner. There were three officers supposedly watching the scanner but in fact they were just having a conversation. I don't think they looked at all so my bag and I walked through.
My friends were not in the arrival hall waiting for me so I waited, for about an hour. Konstantin had been at a different arrival hall. I tried the ATM. My card was rejected. Fortunately I had dollars so I went to an exchange. We took a taxi to my apartment. Rostek was there "preparing" supper. In fact he had made a stop at the market and picked up some cooked chicken. I had no appetite at all, not having slept for almost 24 hours. I just drank some water.
Rostek had to go back to work (he works for hospice and palliative care) because there was a conference. I went with him to hear about hospice. Although some of the sessions were in Ukrainian and English, the one I attended was in Ukrainian so I didn't get a lot out of it but did enjoy the hospice director's enthusiasm. I never saw someone talk so fast without ever taking a breath. She apparently was very funny because there was a lot of laughter.
After the conference, we went shopping for food and towels and a SIM card for my Ukrainian phone. All was accomplished. After a snack and a considerable amount of Muscat wine (a sweet white), bedtime arrived around 11pm. I slept until 9a.m. Friday morning. I took homeopathic jet lag medication during my whole flight schedule and consequently had no jet lag. Surprising, even though I had experienced it before.
My friends were not in the arrival hall waiting for me so I waited, for about an hour. Konstantin had been at a different arrival hall. I tried the ATM. My card was rejected. Fortunately I had dollars so I went to an exchange. We took a taxi to my apartment. Rostek was there "preparing" supper. In fact he had made a stop at the market and picked up some cooked chicken. I had no appetite at all, not having slept for almost 24 hours. I just drank some water.
Rostek had to go back to work (he works for hospice and palliative care) because there was a conference. I went with him to hear about hospice. Although some of the sessions were in Ukrainian and English, the one I attended was in Ukrainian so I didn't get a lot out of it but did enjoy the hospice director's enthusiasm. I never saw someone talk so fast without ever taking a breath. She apparently was very funny because there was a lot of laughter.
After the conference, we went shopping for food and towels and a SIM card for my Ukrainian phone. All was accomplished. After a snack and a considerable amount of Muscat wine (a sweet white), bedtime arrived around 11pm. I slept until 9a.m. Friday morning. I took homeopathic jet lag medication during my whole flight schedule and consequently had no jet lag. Surprising, even though I had experienced it before.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Ready to fly? not so much
Here we are three days before take-off and I have seven days of work to do! Typical of my life (and procrastination). So, I am going to Ukraine for 2 months on Tuesday. My friend there has yet to find an apartment. He's confident that he will find something suitable by my arrival on Wednesday. I'm not worried there will be someplace to stay.
Are you wondering about the title of my blog? It's the first one of my travel blogs where I haven't incorporated the name of the country in the title. I've been wracking my brain for weeks to come up with a good title. This one came about in a conversation with my friend, Anna, who will be my language teacher while I am in Ukraine. She wanted me to bring her a box of brownie mix. I said "that's silly." I'll show you how to make brownies from scratch. She said, "OK, then I will teach you how to make borsch.". It's as simple as that!
Are you wondering about the title of my blog? It's the first one of my travel blogs where I haven't incorporated the name of the country in the title. I've been wracking my brain for weeks to come up with a good title. This one came about in a conversation with my friend, Anna, who will be my language teacher while I am in Ukraine. She wanted me to bring her a box of brownie mix. I said "that's silly." I'll show you how to make brownies from scratch. She said, "OK, then I will teach you how to make borsch.". It's as simple as that!
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