So the one event I was looking forward to this summer happened on Saturday and I was not there. It’s probably wrong of me to be as disappointed as I am, but I really wanted to see Paul McCartney in concert. However, the concert coincided with the biggest thunderstorm of the summer (so far), turning the streets into rivers, and creating the feeling that it was actually raining from above and below at the same time. So we made the decision that it would not really be enjoyable to go and stand with tens of thousands of Ukrainians in those conditions. But two days later, I’m still disappointed.
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Breaking news – Kyiv, Ukraine. Coffee lovers in the capitol city were stunned earlier this month as local chain “Coffee House” announced that they would begin allowing customers to take their coffee with them, rather than drinking it in the cafe. Coffee ordered “to go” will be placed in a small paper cup with a plastic lid so that customers can conveniently carry it with them to work or, more likely, a park bench. The introduction of the lid feature will allow Ukrainians to have their coffee while smoking and talking on their cell phone without the fear of spills, which has long been a problem with MacCoffee from kiosks (previously the only coffee available in this “to go” style). Local expats are thrilled that they will no longer be required to struggle with drinking hot beverages at “Coffee House” through a straw from an awkward glass without a handle.
I have a confession to make. A few days ago, I pushed a woman on the bus. Like the back of my forearm met the center of her back and I pushed. Hard. In my defense, pushing is a way of life here, particularly when it comes to public transportation. But I am ashamed at my overwhelming feeling that I have, in fact, gone native.
Yesterday the weather was horrible. It rained all day – the kind of rain when it’s only a few degrees above freezing, so it’s terribly cold and wet and everything floods because the precipitation is rain instead of snow. Yuck. Around 10pm, things turned into what I believe meteorologists in the US would call a “wintry mix.” And at some point over night it turned into all snow. And so this morning, we woke up to our first day of snow in Kyiv! And it hasn’t slowed down since.
Anyone that travels knows that every country has slightly different traffic laws. Well, except for countries that have a total lack of traffic laws. Even though Ukraine appears to fall into the category of countries without laws, they do actually exist. And one of the first laws we were warned about is that when an accident happens, no one involved is allowed to move their cars. At all. Even to the side of the road in order to allow traffic to pass. As you can imagine, this does nothing to help the already horrible traffic in Kyiv.
photos! We (well, me, mostly) finally succeeded in getting reliable (so far) internet access at home. Of course, access works a little different here than in the US. Our limit is not a matter of time, but a matter of how much downloading/uploading we do. So I’m starting out slowly with the photos in an attempt to not go over our limit within the first week. However, I know you’ve all been dying to see what our new life looks like, so here’s a glimpse.
On Sunday, we went to the “pet market” with another couple. Our friends are currently looking for a golden retriever and Shawn and I have also been discussing getting a dog now that we’re in Kyiv. There were a couple of close calls, but the four of us left the market empty handed in the end.
I know that you all must be anxiously awaiting more details from our trip and first (almost) two weeks here in Kyiv. Unfortunately, we still don’t have consistent internet access at home, so I’m using a computer at the Embassy, which means no pictures for now. But we’ve taken quite a few, so I’ll add them as soon as I can.
I’m currently at “home” (as much as it feels like home so far, anyway) using slow, unreliable dial-up internet access, so this will be a short post. I just wanted to let everyone know that we made it to Kyiv safely and are slowly working on learning our way around this crazy, crazy place!