Normally I’m a supporter of the right to protest (peacefully, of course). However, there’s a big difference between demonstrations in the US and demonstrations in Ukraine - namely that the police here are just for show. I don’t honestly believe that they would do much if people started getting out of hand. The “traffic police” basically just stand at the side of the road and pull people over at random to demand a bribe. So my confidence in the “riot police” is not strong. Add to that the fact that people tend to start drinking beer around 8am and a mid-day demonstration seems like a major problem waiting to happen.

So today I will remain indoors with my very unhappy puppy. (She’s having a hard time understanding why we are not going on our mid-afternoon walk.)

Just so that this isn’t a total downer of a blog entry, here’s the latest graffiti to show up in our neighborhood:

Pretty cool, huh? I’m a big fan of stenciled graffiti. And the best part is that it’s on the wall of an 11th century church that’s listed as an UNESCO Heritage Site. Classic.

But today on my way home from a lunch date with some friends, I got caught in a friggin’ blizzard. Not cool. On the up side, it gave me an excuse to duck into Gloria Jeans to get a $5 small latte. (Important cultural note: When in Kyiv, if you want a cup of coffee made from actual coffee beans rather than a brown powder, be prepared to pay out the nose for it.)

Bangkok:

The main point of spending time in Bangkok was to take advantage of some Western amenities. That’s right - Bangkok is more Western than Kyiv. Anyway, we saw a couple movies: “Sweeney Todd” (mildly censored and in the swankiest movie theater ever) and “No Country For Old Men.” Yeah, we like to keep things light while on vacation. We also found a great English language bookstore and managed to spend 3-4 hours browsing. And we brought home about 30 new DVDs, purchased for approximately $3 each.

At dinner at Tony Roma’s late in the trip, we were disappointed to find that we have lost some of our American-ness and were unable to finish our plates full of meat after consuming only half of an onion loaf. I mean, there’s nothing more American than following up a deep-fried onion with half a chicken in sweet barbeque sauce and a loaded baked potato. Sadly, most of our food had to be sent back. I did manage to score two (FREE!) refills on my Coke, though. I haven’t completely lost my status as an American yet.

Our one “tourist” activity in Bangkok (well, actually right outside of Bangkok) was to go to the Floating Market. You may have seen this on various travel shows, but it is pretty much what it sounds like. You’re on a boat, vendors are on boats, and you all go about your business. Of course, it turns out to be fairly expensive even if you don’t actually buy anything at the market. (But how can you turn down the endless cries of “Hey, Lady, you buy!”?) And I think Shawn was embarrassed by my insistence that we purchase the souvenir plate at the end of our tour. But they had taken our photo at the beginning of the trip and put it on a plate all roller-coaster style. How awesome is that? So now we own a Thailand Floating Market plate with our picture pasted in the middle. Sweet.

Ko Chang:

The majority of our time (9 days to be exact) was spent on the island of Ko Chang, near the Cambodian border. We had been to Ko Chang almost 4 years ago and loved it, so we actually booked a room in the same resort we stayed in last time. Of course, after we booked the room, we started to worry about returning to a place we loved with high expectations. Maybe it wouldn’t be as quiet as last time… What if the only reason we loved it was because it was so much better than China (which we visited on the same trip)?… What if the weather wasn’t as perfect?… Luckily, it turned out that all those worries were unfounded. Yes, it was different from last time and definitely busier, but it was still great. And the weather - upper 80s and sun every day - paradise.

While on the island, we did manage to fit a couple activities into our busy schedule of sitting in the sun and reading. One evening we took a taxi (as in, truck with bench seat installed in the back) to the fishing town of Bang Bao. Pretty to look at and good seafood to eat, but that was about it. Our other adventure was elephant trekking! Again, pretty much just what it sounds like - you sit on an elephant and head into the jungle. (Supervised of course.) It was pretty fun, although elephants don’t make for the smoothest ride. The best part was at the end when we got to feed them and take a look at them up close. They’re such amazing creatures.

It’s a little strange to think about living in the Bahamas. I mean, we went on our honeymoon there. I’ve always wondered what it’s like to live in a vacation destination, so I guess I’m going to have my chance to find out. I’m very excited, although it still feels a long way off. I want to gather as much information as I can, but it seems crazy to start now. And I think there’s always a little bit of disappointment when you consider all the cool places on your list that you didn’t get (Paris, Canada, heck, even Monrovia sounds interesting now that we’re not going there).

But I’m definitely not complaining.