Random Recap

I’ve had two days of work this week and tomorrow is a holiday. They really love their holidays around here. Tomorrow is Victory Day so I don’t have to work because I’ll be too busy reminiscing about how we beat the Nazis. We’re hoping to figure out when the big parade is downtown so we can watch the WWII vets all decked out in their medals and old Soviet uniforms.

We already have a lot of great photos to upload as soon as we get the internet situation figured out. I really am working on it. I’ve managed to convince a co-worker of mine who also needs to get internet hooked up to go along with me. Between his superior Russian skills and my general nerdiness, I think we can do it. I’ve heard that the process of paying is fairly unique. Apparently, they give you a bunch of bank deposit slips that have the IP company’s account number on it. At the end of the month they tell you what you owe and you take it to the bank and give the bank cash who in turn credits the company’s account. Whatever as long as it doesn’t involve giving my credit card number to a Ukrainian business.

Last weekend we went to the pet market here in town. It was quite an experience. I’m a huge animal lover so I had mixed emotions. It was fun to play with all the puppies and kittens and we’re thinking seriously of getting a dog. On the other hand, seeing the occasional crate with 25 kittens crammed in it was a bit depressing. Other “merchants” had clearly just scooped up a few of the random street dogs and took them to the market in hopes of making a few hryvnia. Jennifer has a great recap of the day here.

The first, smaller shipment of our belongings arrived yesterday so it is a bit more homey here. We still need to get something up on the walls. It echoes like a cave here between the big blank walls and the 12 foot ceilings.

Here’s my final request on this random post. We’re headed to Budapest in a few weeks for a long weekend. Anyone have any recommendations for “must do” sights?