Mail 01 - May 25th
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Mail 01 - May 25th |
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May 25
It is amazing how
travelling can allow you to be taken from heaven to hell in a matter of hours.
Our first experiences in Ukraine were definitely more on the hell end. We
arrived after 24 hours of travel, dirty, sweaty, smelly and tired. Our apartment
was the wrong one, our rate had been changed (more expensive not less, of
course) our cell phone didn't work, the key wouldn't open the security door and
we were informed that there was a major glitch in our return tickets (the Kiev-A'dam
link wasn't ticketed!) No food, no bottled water, no hot water for showers, no
toilet paper. Bella had a tummy bug and was vomiting, Neil was overtired and
weird. It was raining and cold and the customs agent...well, she is a piece of
work! Imagine a possessed Oksana Bauil in a tiny cubicle. She is grabbing
customs forms and jabbing angrily at each box "No.No.No." in heavily accented
English with each jab. Finally, a huge angry scribble across the form and a
stern admonishment to "go back and do it correctly". Back to the customs table,
back through the huge line...filled out exactly the same the second time, it is
now OK. With a wave of her hand we are dismissed. "Go now". She points at the
door and believe me, we obliged! Bella kept whispering "Mama, what's wrong with
her?" We discussed it later and decided her feet hurt. Those fancy Eastern
European shoes can't be comfy!
Dima, our young handsome
translator, brought us bread, ham, cheese, tea and water. Things are looking up.
A bit of cheese and bread and I feel better. Some things never change! I think
Neil remembers some things, or at least things are familiar in his little
psyche. This morning he asked for hot tea for breakfast instead of juice, which
he has never had since leaving Russia. He informed us "hot tea for breakfast is
very good". He is quite right! Some times he nods or says "uh huh" (ignore my
little umlaut things - I'm using a combo English/Cyrillic keyboard) to people
who speak to him in Russian. I don't know if he understands any of the words,
but he acknowledges them.
The economy here is very
favorable for us - I can't believe how inexpensive things are. Some things that
tend to be more for tourists - hotels, restaurants, film - are less than home
but not incredible, but some things are so cheap. A box of chocolates is about
$1.00, a big carton or juice about the same, the bus is a dime, taxi rides not
much more than a dollar. As for food, you can buy anything. Lots of produce,
deli products, wonderful breads, candy, soda, chips, most of it sold from kiosks
on the corners. Of course, grocery stores have it too, and so many other things
that I got a bit overwhelmed. The taxi thing is so strange - just flag down
pretty much any car and tell them where you want to go. They'll tell you how
much they want to take you there. People on their way to work, college students
going to class, regular taxis, whatever. If they have room and want an extra
dollar or two, they stop. We have only done this with our translator, everywhere
else we walk.
Kiev is gorgeous. It looks
a bit like London with the circles and turnarounds, and a bit like Paris with
the old facades and cobblestones, and it sounds like Manhattan at noon - it is
one LOUD, urban place! The weather today is sunny and bright, we have hot water
and the kids are feeling better. We went out for pizza and it was really good.
Not American or Italian by any stretch, but good. The travel agent thinks they
can fix our tickets for no extra charges, and we figured out the security door.
A very different day than yesterday! More later. Love you all!