Ukraina–Days 5 1/2 to 6 1/2

Last night, we had dinner with our Russian book partner, Gennadiy, his wife Lena, and his partner Viktor. What a wonderful time! First, we went to Gennadiy’s home, where we met his 3 year old daughter, Mascha (Mary) who was born in the U.S. when Gennadiy was in graduate school at the University of Missouri. She was delightful, especially when she chided us for not taking our shoes off immediately! We stayed for a few minutes–and a few drinks–at their home, and then went off to the restaurant–for the next five hours! We had a great conversation, half in English, half in Ukrainian, a tad in Russian, and we were glad to have our son Joe there to translate. I even threw in a Polish word or two for good measure. Lena and I talked about the differences in childbirth and parenting between Ukraine and the U.S. (U.S. is very different in terms of support systems for things like breastfeeding, etc. )We heard Lena and Gennadiy’s labor story, where they were watching the Discovery Channel in the labor room and Gennadiy kept talking about how the elephants were having babies, the coyotes were having babies, the lions were having babies, so why can’t their baby come out! We had a wonderful meal, some outstanding wine, and if you ask Joe, some great vodka as well. The restaurant was very European in ambience, and we ended up talking about every subject under the sun, from computer books, to the U.S. Elections, to the Ukrainian elections, to Joe’s accent and vocabulary, to Lena and Gennadiy’s adventures in Yellowstone, and on and on. Gennadiy and Lena et al. were very much looking forward to seeing Drew and Kalleen Steele in September when they visit Joe. They will love it, but I would not recommend the Mojitos (see previous posts). All in all, the atmosphere in Kyiv is very vibrant and happening and beautiful, even if the drivers do drive on the sidewalks.

This afternoon, Wednesday, we’re flying to Lviv and then taking a bus to Chervonohrad, about an hour north of Lviv ,to stay with Joe’s old mentor and supervisor teacher while he taught high school English. We are looking forward to this leg of the trip as it will be very different from Kyiv. Note to friends/family–we’ll probably be on radio silence for the next few days unless we can find an internet cafe.

We’re back in Kyiv on Friday night, and then leave Sunday morning. For those of you asking about photos, I left my digital camera on the kitchen table and Gene brought his old-timey camera with real film. Joe is bringing his digital camera, so we should be able to post a picture or two soon.

Talk to you soon…thanks to all for the comments!

Ukraina: Day 5 1/2-6: Ukrainian Mojito

Monday evening, April 14th, had my first Ukrainian mojito. It was very green. Couldn’t taste the rum. Won’t do it again. I’m sticking with vodka and beer.

Tuesday morning-afternoon: Went to the Ukrainian Village re-creation of an old Ukrainian village–kind of like a Williamsburg, Conner Prairie type place, except that the “interpreters” didn’t interpret much. Mostly they scowled. As Joe has told us, the Ukrainians don’t ask “Hi How Are You” because why should they when they don’t really care how you are? Good point. We still look very Amerkanski.

This evening, we’re having dinner with Gennadiy Petrokovits, the publisher who does the …For Dummies books in Russia and Ukraine. Tomorrow, we leave for Lviv and Chervonohgrad (about 350 miles west), where Joe lived when he was in the Peace Corps. May not be able to post until Friday evening.

Ukraina: Days 4-5

Day 4: Sunday, April 13: Went to the tourist street where all the souvenir vendors hawk their wares. Most of the vendors speak broken English and are very pushy. We made someone’s day when we bought a bunch of stuff, and because it was a bunch, she gave us a “discount.” Hmmm. We then went to a few very modern shopping malls, one of which had a space exhibit on Yuri Gagarin, the first Soviet astronaut. We then went to a grocery store, bought some food, and Joe cooked for us while we watched “Ukrainian Superstar!” the Ukrainian American Idol, and “Battle of the Psychics,” which is one of many Ukrainian reality shows. In the Battle of the Psychics, various psychics try to find out stuff. Very strange. There is some kind of “Dancing With the Stars,” but we haven’t seen it yet. Had a good day…same deal, same Ambien.

Day 5: Monday, April 14th. We went to Joe’s office to see the place and his co-workers. We then had lunch at a pseudo-Austrian-continental sandwich place, and then went off to see the Kyiv Cathedrals. This is a beautiful complex of museums and Orthodox cathedrals, including St. Sophia’s, St. Nicholas, St. Michael’s, and more. Most were destroyed during World War II or afterwards by the Soviets, but later reconstructed and recreated. Only item of note was that Gene lit a candle at St. Michael’s and burned his arm a bit. Other than that, nothing of note. Just relaxing and strolling along the Dnieper River.

Ukraina: Days 1,2,3

Rather than send a bazillion emails, I really mean it this time.

Day 1: Thursday, April 10. Chicago-Amsterdam. Fairly empty flight, but filled with very bossy Dutch flight attendants. Since the flight was fairly empty, we kept asking if we could move our seats. We tried with several different flight attendants, but the bossiest one–the Purser–finally told us: “You’ll move when we tell you to move.” So, we settled in and chatted with a soldier from of all places–Chicago Heights, Illinois! We had a great chat about Chicago Heights, people we knew, the Air Force, Iraq, Fighter Pilots, etc. etc. He was Military Police in the AirForce, and was going back to Venice, Italy, where he was stationed. Late this summer, he was going back for his third tour in Iraq.

Day 2: Friday, April 11th. Amsterdam-Kiev. Very full flight. Same bossy flight attendants from KLM. (Different, yet the same.) Before boarding, I tripped on the moving walkway. Fortunately, a pilot who looked like Hans Brinker helped me up. Gene was more embarrassed than I was, I think. We landed in Kiev and became acquainted with more bossy and pushy people–the Ukrainians. Yikes–they do shove in front of you in line!  Joe and his driver, Viktor (a talkative, plus size Ukrainian gentleman with a tiny car) picked us up and somehow managed to get our portly selves and our even more portly luggage crammed into the car and to our rental apartment, just a block from Joe’s place. Nice little place and very cheap. The elevator–known as Otis–is the scariest part. We went to a Ukrainian pizza place and were marked as Amerikanski right away. But why?

Day 3: Kiev–Monastery of the Caves and World War II Museum. Chilly day. It took some getting used to the fact that a. Ukrainians drink beer on the street, b. Ukrainian women wear stiletto heels everywhere, c. people drive on the sidewalk!!!!, and d. you negotiate with a taxi driver before you get in. The Monastery of the Caves is an ancient Orthodox structure with many secret and hidden passageways where monks are buried. Joe forgot to tell me to bring a headscarf, so I wore Gene’s old bandanna handkerchief on my head. I looked very attractive, and I’m sure, very American. He also forgot to tell us that no Ukrainian in his or her right mind ever wore white athletic shoes. They are either stiletto athletic shoes or dark athletic shoes or very pointy black shoes.  Enter Gene and Mary Bednarek in their sensible New Balance walking shoes. Again,  most attractive. World War II Museum and monuments were interesting–mostly Soviet architecture, Soviet planes, Soviet tanks, Soviet war stuff. In the evening, we had dinner with several of Joe’s American friends at a restaurant called “The Wagon.” It was meant to be a recreation of a Train Wagon, and they put us in a booth that was supposed to resemble a train car and closed the curtain. It was very Orient Express. My favorite part was when Chris, Joe’s friend, asked the waitress for bread and butter. She told him that the only butter was in the freezer and they didn’t want to get it out!  Instead, as we learned earlier that day at lunch with Joe, the Ukrainians use a salted pig fat spread on bread. It was a tad salty for my taste, and I had a hard time with the whole concept of pig fat. Gene and Mary went home, and the younguns went to hear a band, whose members were no longer allowed to play in Russia due to some tussle with the KGB, and then they went to a party at the Marine House, where the marines who guard the U.S. embassy live. The Marine House sounds a bit like a frat house, but what do we know? We just went home and took our Ambien. (Days 4-5 To Come.)

This time she means it

My friend and colleague Ellen Reavis Gerstein has shamed me into revealing that my last post was April, 2007. I now have to feed the blog beast daily or else. So, today’s comment is about  sparkly things like jewelry and electronics. Having spent the Thanksgiving weekend with my red-headed thirteen-month old grandson, Evan, I realized that everything the pundits and critics say about sparkly lights and electronic pushy buttons on toys is true. Kids just love to push buttons that make things sparkle and make noise. When we are adults, we just like to acquire things that sparkle without having to push any buttons. Yes, jewelry. However, voice recognition on VCR/DVD/HDTV/Digital cameras would be super. I’d just like to say “take that picture of Evan being cute on his little horsey” without having to push any buttons. Just an fyi.

Computilo Returns

I’ve decided to re-enter the blogosphere and be serious about it this time. I can’t promise that I won’t include any more poems about dump trucks, but perhaps I’ll also comment on Life as it goes on.