Today I went to a local high school and spoke about the American Revolution. Schools and organizations in Kyiv regularly reach out to the embassy for guest speakers and this is one I volunteered for as I have an interest in American history.
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Maggie’s recent comment on my blog made me realize I should do an entry on the issue of racism in Ukraine. It is a large, and growing, problem in this country and I have been asked about it by several different people. I am not an expert on the issue, but am happy to give my impression as someone here on the ground.
Olympic fever! You can catch it anywhere this year. On television, in print, even online with streaming video. Well, there are a few restrictions to watching it online.
Here are some photos from our recent trip to Crimea.
There is something inherently wrong with living some place where you need to feel grateful when the temperature finally surpasses the freezing mark. After about two weeks of temperatures hovering between 10F and 17F, we’re finally to the point where my dog’s pee doesn’t instantly freeze into a yellow puddle next to the tree in front of our apartment.
One of the strange aspects of Kyiv is the cost of living. It is very hard to quickly say whether this is a cheap or an expensive place. In the same way, it is hard to describe this place as Third World or First World. Ukraine seems to be in both places at once.
I had my first Ukrainian traffic cop shakedown experience recently. I think it was about my fifth time driving the new wheels so I guess I was due. To be fair, I probably shouldn’t use the word “shakedown” as I probably did break the law. I’m not really sure. However, seeing as they were going to ask for a bribe anyway, I don’t see that the fact I may have turned left illegally makes the cops actions any better.
You can knock America and Americans for a lot of things, but there is one thing that we do damn well. We line up. We instinctively line up and wait our turn. Sure, patience sometimes wears thin and people push forward. Sometimes some doofus comes along and tries to cut in line. Mostly, if we’re irritated we just do that exasperated sigh to let the person in front of us know our displeasure. All in all, we’re pretty darn orderly. Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn’t work this way.
We took our first trip outside of Kyiv this past weekend. We were on a trip sponsored by the Community Liaison Office (in charge of the general morale and welfare of embassy employees and their families.) Chernihiv is less than two hours to the north of Kyiv near the border with Belarus. We had an English-speaking guide and, all in all, a good day.
It is a well-known and scientifically proven fact that most of the cool kids from high school end up marrying each other and eventually living in trailer parks. Less well-known is that a small percentage of the cool kids escape this lifestyle and become something else altogether.
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