On Monday, all of our things will get packed up and shipped off to destinations half-way around the world. Which means that this is my last blog entry from Ukraine. The past two years are not easily summed up in words, so I put together a slideshow of my favorite photos from our time here. Most of them are from Kyiv, but there are also a few from Chernihiv, the Crimean Peninsula, and Lviv.
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You know what’s crazy? I haven’t driven a car in almost two years. The minute we got to Kyiv and I took a look at how the people in this city drive, I swore that I would not, under any circumstance, get behind the wheel of a car here. I am smart enough to understand that I am a nervous driver in the US, therefore would be an absolute wreck here. Potentially causing an absolute wreck. I really think it’s been best for everyone. So I haven’t really taken a lot of time to learn what different street signs mean (not that the drivers here seem to pay any attention to them anyway…), but I did notice rather quickly that there are certain signs posted in cars that kind of look like warning labels. As I’ve learned more about these, I really feel like they give a helpful insight into the psyche of the average Ukrainian driver.
Nearly three years ago, when we learned that Shawn was posted to Embassy Kyiv, we started doing all the research we possibly could about Ukraine. From everything we read, we soon decided that Lviv was one place that we definitely had to go. Now finding ourselves 22 months into a 24 month tour, last weekend we finally made the trip to western Ukraine to see what all the hype was about.
Namely this crazy country in which we currently live. This happened last week while we were gone. I suppose it’s a positive thing that they were even in session, considering that the president desolved parliament last month and called for new elections. Guess they had to put those off in order to attempt to keep the economy from completely failing. It’s hard work being a politician here.
So one of the things I’ve wanted to do, really since I first found out we’d be living in Kyiv, is visit Chornobyl. (I guess maybe I’m a little morbid.) The Ukrainian government keeps the area tightly regulated, which means that you can only visit by using an official travel agency. And there’s about seven different Ministries involved (the Ministry of Emergencies is my personal favorite), so that’s a lot of people who want a cut of the profit. Which means that tours usually seem to run between $150 and $300 per person. A little steep for us. Just as I was beginning to give up all hope that we would get to visit while we were here, our friend Phil stepped up and put together a group trip. And somehow managed to keep the cost around $80 per person. So Sunday was the day our trip to Chornobyl finally happened.
In Kyiv, September 1st is the first day of school. This morning the sidewalks were packed with parents walking their children to school. It was easy to see which kids were headed to class for two reasons. First, kids here dress to the nines on the first (and last) day of school. All the girls were in their best dresses with fluffy white bows in their hair approximately equivalent to the size of their heads. And the boys were all wearing suits - I even spotted a couple little boys dressed in tuxedos. Very classy. Second, it’s traditional here to take flowers to your teacher on the first day of class. From small bouquets of 5 roses to huge flower arrangements (again, approximately equivalent to the size of their little heads) - I can only assume that most classrooms look like funeral parlors on September 1st.
Every single day I see strange things here. For the most part, I’ve become accustomed to them and generally ignore them while muttering mean things under my breath. (Don’t worry - I mutter mean things about people in the US as well, so don’t you call me culturally insensitive.) However, today I’m either seeing weirder things than usual, or I’m just paying more attention. But it sure has been a strange day.
My parents have come, gone, and survived to tell the tale of their adventures in Ukraine. Well, technically, they are still en route to Indiana, but I told them that once their plane left the ground in Kyiv, they were back to being my brother’s responsibility as far as I was concerned. I think they fared pretty well: there was one twisted ankle and I think all four of us suffered from heat exhaustion one day, but no one got hit by a car or screamed at for being American, so I’m happy with that.
This past weekend was a 4-day-long one for us. Monday was Ukrainian Constitution Day and the Ambassador went ahead and gave everyone Friday off since they will all be working an extra long day on the 4th of July. So as soon as we found out about this unanticipated long weekend, we started trying to plan something to do rather that sit at home and watch tv, which is what we normally do all weekend. However, planning is difficult for us since Laika can’t really be left by herself for more than 7 or 8 hours. Initially we wanted to take a day trip to a city in central Ukraine that has a nice park, but when we went to get bus tickets (a week in advance), they were all sold out. So we spent several disappointing days with absolutely no plans. On Thursday, Shawn’s boss sent out an e-mail begging people to join a tour to “the largest ostrich farm in Ukraine” on Saturday. Apparently they were short a few people and if more didn’t sign up, they were going to cancel it. And Shawn’s boss really wanted to see the ostriches. So we joined the tour.
This time of year is absolutely full of holidays in Ukraine. Last Sunday was Orthodox Easter, so Monday was a holiday. Today (Thursday) is International Labor Day, so both it and Friday are holidays. (Earlier Shawn asked me why Friday was a day off as well, and I told him to “stop complaining Mister I-get-23-holidays-a-year.” Actually, I think it’s because all the Ukrainians want the long weekend so that they can get out to their dachas and get them ready for summer.) And finally, next Friday is Victory Day, otherwise known as the now defunct VE Day in the US. And of course, we have Memorial Day at the end of the month. We are still American, you know.
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