Today we went to the zoo and walked around the city some more. Colette bought our bus tickets to Kiev, we'll go on Monday.

I've been eaten alive by some sort of bug here, not sure what they are but their bites itch like crazy!

Time to go back to the apartment, otherwise Lyena will think we're out joining some rebel group.

Tomorrow - more exploring! :-)

Last night Colette and I stayed out "late". We were hanging out at McDonald's, where all of the cool, beautiful people hang out. Really. The McDonald's on Pushkinskaya (Pushkin Street, named after the poet) is THE place to be at night if you're 20, size 0, wear pointy shoes, and blonde. I'm none of those things, but it's still fun to hang out there. They eat McFlurry's (McFlurries?), drink large Fantas, and smoke their Koccak cigarettes (which are a little less than 20 cents a pack) out on the patio. If it wasn't for the playground and the bright red "I'm Lovin' It!" umbrellas on the tables you'd swear that you were at a cafe in Paris (although it would smell better and everyone would be smoking Galouises instead - which, according to Wikipedia, have not been sold in the States since 2003 - take that you Freedom-Fry eating Americans!).



This morning we went out and got Cheboureki and strawberries at the market before getting on the metro. We gave an old woman some strawberries and a snack (quite possibly the only thing she'll eat all day) from the kiosk. There are so many older women here who are homeless (or if not homeless, living in extreme poverty). Most are single and have no families, their husbands/boyfriends killed in WWII or elsewhere, and have no children or other family to take are of them. It's heartbreaking to see them. They're not the people who we generally think of as being homeless (e.g., mentally ill, drug/alcohol abusters); these are the women who built the Soviet Union who have had their country and everything that they ever worked for taken away from them. They spent their lives working, enjoying a decent standard of living. Working in the USSR they were guaranteed a decent pension in their old age, but when the USSR fell that was gone. Their pensions are now around $30/mo. These women are everywhere, doing whatever they can to make a bit of money - selling flowers and vegetables from their gardens, standing on the street with a makeshift lemonade stand (a bottle of juice and cups) selling drinks to passersby.



Today we will go to the zoo and buy our tickets to Kiev (EDIT: We did not buy our bus tickets at the zoo.) - we only have a few more days left in Ukraine and will spend our last 2 in Kiev. And of course there will be more walking aimlessly around the city! :)

It's hot. 88 degrees today, the high is expected to be 90 degrees tomorrow. Needless to say, we didn't do much. Went to a market (for about 20 minutes because it was so damn hot!); got yelled at by some lady for taking a picture of her DVD stall in the metro station ("Hey stupid girl, what the hell are you doing?!" in Russian); ate пельмени (Pel-Meni) and various desserts at Target; finished reading Eat, Pray, Love; watched a little bit of Rent; and hung out on the porch and painted my toes green.

The best part - today when I checked my email I got notification that I can teach again this summer! Yay!! Job! Health insurance! ROCK!!!!

SEX in Ukraine

SEX in Ukraine is wonderful. For those who don't know, SEX = Stash Enhancing Expedition = buying a shit-ton of yarn for super cheap. Yesterday Colette took me to this yarn shop on Sumskaya in Kharkiv. Angora, mohair, alpaca, merino...all for less than $4 a skein. I was like a kid in a candy store, literally. I walked around saying "oohh this is nice! I think I'll have 2 - no, make it 3! - of those! And oohh pretty! 2 of those, too!" You could tell that the shopkeepers (and the customers) were looking at me, big fat American tourist with lots of money, like I was crazy. They kept asking what will I knit? Who knows! But do you really need to have a project in mind when you can get a ball of off-brand Kid Silk Haze for $1.50! I spent about 280 grivnas, or about $56. I can understand why they would look at me strangely - that's about half of what a professional (e.g., teacher) makes in a month. I would look at someone strangely, too, if they walked into the Sow's Ear and bought $500 worth of yarn in 20 minutes.

Here's most of it...there were 24 balls total. I'll be back for more.


Being here has made me realize how rich I am as an American. I can walk into a grocery store and buy luxury food without even thinking twice about it. (Like the 11 gryvna, or $2 box of muesli that I bought yesterday...) Or buy $50 worth of yarn.

Here's a picture of Saltovka, where were are staying. This was taken from the balcony of our room. Today brings more walking around the city. I'm lugging my big blue Timbuk2 bag around so I can bring a 2 liter bottle of water with me. Unfortunately, I got the "with gas" kind this morning! I really need to learn how to read the labels!

Hello from Ukraine! Colette and I arrived in Kharkiv on Saturday morning after about 36 hours of traveling. The journey here wasn't as arduous as I had expected - our trans-Atlantic flight was as good as it can get. The seats were huge and comfortable and we had televisions with movies (good, new movies!), music, and video games built in. The food wasn't too bad, either. We watched Toy Story 2 and Children of Men (now I want to read the book - the movie didn't provide enough back story). After the flight we made a mad dash through Amsterdam Schiphol buying Dutch books (Frog and Toad Zijn Altijd Samen!) and food (a case of stroopwafels and 4 jars of pindakaas!) among other things.

After that we had a short flight to Kiev (where I wasn't allowed to knit during take off or landing, the stewardess thought that I would poke myself or something...) followed by a 6 hour wait at Kiev Boryspil airport where I had the realization of "oh crap. I can't even buy a bottle of water because I can't speak Russian!" which prompted me to buy a Russian phrasebook (with much difficulty, since I don't know Russian - thankfully Colette does!) My lack of Russian-speaking caused me to get "Kiev'ed" at the coffee bar - I paid about $6 for a cappucino while the girls behind were saying "how much" in Ukranian and laughing while they tucked my 20 grivna bill into their notebook. Nice. Very nice. Welcome to Ukraine. Luckily everything else is super cheap (a pack of Marlboro Lights costs about $1, a huge meal at McDonald's costs $5, and the subway - which is quite nice - costs 15 cents). I'm picking up some Russian, and can read Cyrillic now!

We're staying in Saltovka, which is a huge Soviet housing complex on the edge of town. There are nearly 600,000 residents, each living in a small apartment. There are hundreds of buildings, each about 6-12 stories tall and surrounded by tree-filled courtyards. Even though all of the buildings are the same the families that live there have taken the time to personalize them - there are gardens with fences created out of blue spray painted tires and benches made out of old shelving units. The concrete is crumbling in some places, brand new in others. Fancy business men drive by in their brand new Land Rovers and BMW's while old men drive their Soviet era Volgas. Women walk around in mini-skirts and 3-inch heels, which makes me feel quite schlubby in my Chacos and linen pants. They drink tea more than water. We're odd for wanting to drink cold water. And the coffee? INSTANT. Any kind you want. Nescafe, Jacobs, MacCoffee...YUM! Thankfully I planned ahead and brought 2.5 lbs. of Steep N Brew coffee and my French press.

Today we're going to wander around the city and check out some of the parks.

Pictures to come!

Colette and I are leaving in a few hours - watch for pictures (including Soviet-style architecture and statues of scowling men!) from our travels.