It shouldn't come as a surprise that after four weeks of working together and four weeks of palling around together that Paul and I would leave Kyiv together. Our flights were departing five minutes apart, mine to London to meet up with Randy and the kids, and Paul's to Athens to meet up with his family. That meant three more hours together.
We met downstairs in the lobby at 6:30 in the morning, me arriving first and finishing one last can of coke that I had bought. Our taxi arrived and we were off ten minutes later. We found it bitter sweet that our route happened to take us past all the favorites, Shiva's market, 7, our office. I realize it was early in the morning, but Kyiv was so peaceful, no traffic, no noise, I really like the mornings here. Our taxi ride to the airport didn't take long so we were musing on what to do for two and a half hours....well let me tell you.
We were both flying Ukrainian Airlines so we lined up where we were supposed to, me in front of Paul, I was leaving first after all. Time moves slowly in Ukraine and the airport is no exception. When I got to the counter there was a problem with my ticket, seems I had two. Who knows, who cares just fill one. Nope. I was sent off to find Air France who was the partner airline.
So off I go leaving Paul in line and he said he'd come find me after he checked in. I trudge to the opposite end of the airport only to be rudely told that Air France doesn't open till 10:30. "I have a 9:30 flight" I say as politely as I can, but the woman didn't care, "I can't help you" she tells me. So now off I go to try and find the Ukrainian Airline ticket office to see if someone can help me. I look for Paul on the way but he has been told he was in the wrong line so he got sent off to another check in section to start the process over again. OK, I see now what we'll be doing for two and a half hours.
Somehow after all the mess, I managed to check in before Paul so I waited for him and we went off to go through customs and immigration, me ultimately heading for gate 7, he for gate 9. OK, to the bitter end we're going to go through it all together. Kyiv is not a tourist destination and despite both of us wanting an Egg McMuffin from McDonald's, we had to settle for a muffin and a cappuccino, me spending my last 50 UAH, just as I had planned.
We had a team dinner the night before we were all leaving and tears were shed then by all, so I was hoping there wouldn't be any more tears when it was time to say goodbye to Paul. I'm such a girl....of course there were tears. It's not goodbye, somehow I know we'll see each other again, next time with our families in tow, so farewell for now Paul.
Ukrainian metro is efficient, Ukrainian airlines not so much as my flight was late pulling back from the gate by thirty minutes. I flew out over the city, easily recognizable by the giant soccer stadium. I will miss the walking to work everyday and the history and architecture of the city, I could walk around it for hours and hours. I will miss Oksana, I hope after all our outings and talks we can call each other friends. To Team 1 Ukraine, thank you for all the laughter and adventures, my door will always be open, just look me up when you're in Austin.
Randy, Tyler, and Sydney - thank you for allowing me this amazing once in a lifetime adventure. I'm on my way to you now, see you soon in London.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
Todd - I Hope You're Happy!
My number one fan and critic of the blog has had to be my boss, Todd. It seems he was reading it every day and when I didn't post for a day or so he'd send me a "you're such a slacker" note and tell me to get on the blog, it seems he needed an update. A little over half way he started giving me a list of topics he'd like me to cover - really! OK, let's hear it. As he points out - you've covered the food, the churches, the job and the metro, now give me some local Ukrainian interaction and I want to see some planking. What the #%@!
The first I get, but planking, I think I know what that is, but I'm not 100% sure. So of course I had to google it. He wants me to do what! You've got to be kidding me. I mentioned it to Cheryl and when she hears the request she's like "Oh yeah we've got to do it." Well we never found the time to really think about achieving it, not to mention avoid embarrassing the hell out of ourselves.
Well tonight, we found the time and went with whatever place we had to work with. We had just finished our wrap up team dinner at our favorite watering hole - 7 and were heading back to the hotel so we could finish packing. I'm leaving at 9:45 in the morning but the taxi is coming at 6:45 so I wanted to be 99% packed before I went to bed. So we were almost to the hotel when Cheryl goes "We've got to plank!"
Really!
Are you kidding me!
No!
Hell No!
Here?
Fine OK!
So Cheryl, always up for a try of anything, goes first and I get this great shot of her. I decide mine needs to be a little more adventurous so I mosey over to the street by the pedestrian crossing and do my plank. Maybe not the best picture but it's all you're going to get at 10:00 at night.
Are you happy now!
The first I get, but planking, I think I know what that is, but I'm not 100% sure. So of course I had to google it. He wants me to do what! You've got to be kidding me. I mentioned it to Cheryl and when she hears the request she's like "Oh yeah we've got to do it." Well we never found the time to really think about achieving it, not to mention avoid embarrassing the hell out of ourselves.
Well tonight, we found the time and went with whatever place we had to work with. We had just finished our wrap up team dinner at our favorite watering hole - 7 and were heading back to the hotel so we could finish packing. I'm leaving at 9:45 in the morning but the taxi is coming at 6:45 so I wanted to be 99% packed before I went to bed. So we were almost to the hotel when Cheryl goes "We've got to plank!"
Really! Are you kidding me!
No!
Hell No!
Here?
Fine OK!
Are you happy now!
Shiva
Shiva Kumar Ganeshan is the other member of our three person team along with Paul and I. He is from India and together the three of us managed laugh, joke, and work in our one room office in SASII. When I pronounce his name several times a day I go (Sheee-va) and say it like a battle-cry. Why I don't know, but I like the way it sounds and Shiva always seems to have a smile when I say that. Now that I think of it, Shiva always seemed to have a smile.
Each of us has some quirks, Shiva is no exception but unlike everyone else whose quirks might get on your nerves, Shiva's never did. I have three favorites from our time together. The first, is unlike the rest of the team that took pictures with their phones, Shiva took videos and I think I'm probably in just about everyone one of them. (Hi Mrs. Shiva, Hi Mrs. Ganeshan). In India, Ganeshan is Shiva's father's name so Mrs. Ganeshan is his mother and you don't say Mrs. Kumar (which is Shiva's last name), you say Mrs. Shiva (you use the first name). Interesting, different.
The next one is you can guarantee that Shiva is always going to be five minutes late - always! We would meet at 9:45 in order to walk to work and arrive by 10:00. OK, Paul and I would meet at 9:45 (usually 9:40) and Shiva would arrive at 9:50, 9:55, maybe the occasional 10:00. Given that we weren't punching a clock for work it was OK when we arrived, but we busted out laughing when we found out from Shiva that when he holds his meetings with his teams around the world he doesn't stand for tardiness because then it throws off all his meetings for the day. Really Shiva....
Given that we walk to and from work every day we pass a couple of different markets on the way depending on which way we go. At least twice a week we would stop on the way home so Shiva could buy a bag of chips and a large bottle of coke. Hey we all have our vices - mine is wine. Anyway, Shiva liked the market closest to the hotel and given how often we would stop Paul and I dubbed it "Shiva's Market." Well somehow that title caught on and we would here other members of the team mention needing to go out to "Shiva's Market." So here is Shiva at his market.
Each of us has some quirks, Shiva is no exception but unlike everyone else whose quirks might get on your nerves, Shiva's never did. I have three favorites from our time together. The first, is unlike the rest of the team that took pictures with their phones, Shiva took videos and I think I'm probably in just about everyone one of them. (Hi Mrs. Shiva, Hi Mrs. Ganeshan). In India, Ganeshan is Shiva's father's name so Mrs. Ganeshan is his mother and you don't say Mrs. Kumar (which is Shiva's last name), you say Mrs. Shiva (you use the first name). Interesting, different.
The next one is you can guarantee that Shiva is always going to be five minutes late - always! We would meet at 9:45 in order to walk to work and arrive by 10:00. OK, Paul and I would meet at 9:45 (usually 9:40) and Shiva would arrive at 9:50, 9:55, maybe the occasional 10:00. Given that we weren't punching a clock for work it was OK when we arrived, but we busted out laughing when we found out from Shiva that when he holds his meetings with his teams around the world he doesn't stand for tardiness because then it throws off all his meetings for the day. Really Shiva....
Ballet
Tuesday was a busy day now that I go back and look at the pictures. US Embassy in the morning, St. Sophia Cathedral and Bell Tower in the afternoon, and then the Ballet in the evening. Kyiv hosts the National Ballet and it is supposed to be very good. Cheryl and I had talked about going to the ballet long before we arrived here so we knew we'd make every effort to see a show at some point. Cheryl's never been to a ballet so she let me chose what we'd see. I really wanted to see Swan Lake, it's my favorite, so we set the date for June 4th. We let the rest of the team know so they could decide to attend if they wanted and at first it looked like it might just be Cheryl and I going.
Surprise, surprise, Paul and Shiva from my team said they'd come along as well, after all they've never been to a ballet either. They asked me to pick seats and get tickets so I set off to find us some good seats. I had asked our translator Artiom for his suggestion on where to sit and he agreed that the area I was looking at were really good.
Of course, instead of going to the ticket office like everyone else, I decide to order the tickets online. It seemed like all went well so the next day I went to pick up our e-ticket. So far so good. More of the team decided to go so I told them where we were sitting and they went to buy tickets too. Only problem is they got the same seats that I got. Seems my online reservation didn't go through so the thereat re-sold my seats. Oh my globstoppers are you kidding me! It's a good thing we discovered it quickly cause I can only imagine what would have happened if I had shown up with bad tickets, not just for myself but for the rest of the group whose tickets I had bought.
Sigh! I was able to purchase two of the four original seats and then found two more that were considered good. Just before we set off for the ballet I looked over the rules and like a good rule follower I left my camera in the hotel. What an idiot! Everyone brought their camera and took picture after picture. The theater is absolutely beautiful inside (and if you are Team 1 Ukraine reading this and have pictures from the ballet please send so I can post). It was a lovely performance, my favorite of the three acts is the second - I know it wont mean much unless you've seen Swan Lake - but it was fabulous.
Of course, instead of going to the ticket office like everyone else, I decide to order the tickets online. It seemed like all went well so the next day I went to pick up our e-ticket. So far so good. More of the team decided to go so I told them where we were sitting and they went to buy tickets too. Only problem is they got the same seats that I got. Seems my online reservation didn't go through so the thereat re-sold my seats. Oh my globstoppers are you kidding me! It's a good thing we discovered it quickly cause I can only imagine what would have happened if I had shown up with bad tickets, not just for myself but for the rest of the group whose tickets I had bought.
Sigh! I was able to purchase two of the four original seats and then found two more that were considered good. Just before we set off for the ballet I looked over the rules and like a good rule follower I left my camera in the hotel. What an idiot! Everyone brought their camera and took picture after picture. The theater is absolutely beautiful inside (and if you are Team 1 Ukraine reading this and have pictures from the ballet please send so I can post). It was a lovely performance, my favorite of the three acts is the second - I know it wont mean much unless you've seen Swan Lake - but it was fabulous.
St. Sophia
According to my boss, Todd, I've been slacking on my blog. It has been a full week - Monday (work), Tuesday (US Embassy / St. Sophia / Ballet), Wednesday (Presented to Client), Thursday (Presented to Members of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister), Friday (IBM Ukraine CSC Wrap-Up). Hmm...now that I look at all of that why didn't I blog Wednesday or Thursday, I'm such a slacker. OK, let's go back and start with Tuesday.
So Tuesday morning we were invited back to the US Embassy to de-brief on our assignments and the clients we worked with. It was an interesting meeting and if you want the details it'll need to be conversations in person or on the phone. Let's just say I think I'm a pretty good analyst and when have you known me not to be direct! That took most of the morning so after lunch I headed off to St. Sophia's with my trusty side-kick, Paul (without his umbrella of course which meant it rained).
Paul thought Cheryl was coming with me to the Cathedral so he hadn't planned to go but when he found out Cheryl was going back to the hotel after lunch to work on her charts he said he'd come with me. I could have gone by myself, it's not that far away and I was up for my own adventure. But Paul didn't like the idea of me traipsing off on my own (we were told to stay in pairs and groups plus he didn't have anything better to do) so we headed on over to St. Sophia's which is about 10 blocks from the hotel.
Saint Sophia's Cathedral was built in 1037 (which makes it almost a thousand years old) and it is deceiving from the outside just how large the church is as well as the grounds around it. You have to pay one fee to enter the grounds (3 UAH), one fee to go into the church and the outer buildings (50 UAH) and another fee to climb the bell tower (10 UAH). All in all about $10 USD to tour some amazing architecture and history. St. Sophia along with the Monastery Caves is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I'm grateful for all the signage in English at this location. Not only were the maps in English but also the placards for each item displayed were in English and that made things very enjoyable.
Since you all know I wont (and in this case you can't) take pictures inside the church, it's hard to describe the beauty of this place. Tall arches with high domes all painted and tiled, it was truly beautiful and peaceful to walk around all the hidden pockets of space within the church. I think it was my favorite church out of all the ones I've been in here. There were glass encased sections of exposed floor and you could see all the layers of bricks and cement that had been laid for the foundation a thousand years ago. Can you imagine something that old? Can you imagine what life was like in 1037? There was no electricity, no scaffolding like we know it, the years that it would have taken to build the church itself and then all the years to decorate it. Amazing.
I couldn't leave Kyiv without climbing the bell tower so off we set after finishing in the church - me leading the way, Paul following behind looking a little green. He doesn't like closed spaces, as I discovered with the lift / elevator in our office building, and apparently he's not a huge fan of heights either. He was a real trooper as we climbed the narrow winding staircase to the first level of the bell tower. Not a bad climb or view but there was another level we could go up to. Paul's like "you're not going up to the next level are you?" Uh yeah! I said he could wait or go back down but I was going up. So like a good trusty side-kick, he comes up to the next level with me.
Not a bad climb again but the views were so much better. I was a little disappointed because the last level has been closed off, possibly due to safety so I had to be happy with what I got. I would have like to stay longer but Paul was ready to head down, so I was the "good trusty side-kick" in return and we headed back down.
So Tuesday morning we were invited back to the US Embassy to de-brief on our assignments and the clients we worked with. It was an interesting meeting and if you want the details it'll need to be conversations in person or on the phone. Let's just say I think I'm a pretty good analyst and when have you known me not to be direct! That took most of the morning so after lunch I headed off to St. Sophia's with my trusty side-kick, Paul (without his umbrella of course which meant it rained).
Paul thought Cheryl was coming with me to the Cathedral so he hadn't planned to go but when he found out Cheryl was going back to the hotel after lunch to work on her charts he said he'd come with me. I could have gone by myself, it's not that far away and I was up for my own adventure. But Paul didn't like the idea of me traipsing off on my own (we were told to stay in pairs and groups plus he didn't have anything better to do) so we headed on over to St. Sophia's which is about 10 blocks from the hotel.
Since you all know I wont (and in this case you can't) take pictures inside the church, it's hard to describe the beauty of this place. Tall arches with high domes all painted and tiled, it was truly beautiful and peaceful to walk around all the hidden pockets of space within the church. I think it was my favorite church out of all the ones I've been in here. There were glass encased sections of exposed floor and you could see all the layers of bricks and cement that had been laid for the foundation a thousand years ago. Can you imagine something that old? Can you imagine what life was like in 1037? There was no electricity, no scaffolding like we know it, the years that it would have taken to build the church itself and then all the years to decorate it. Amazing.Not a bad climb again but the views were so much better. I was a little disappointed because the last level has been closed off, possibly due to safety so I had to be happy with what I got. I would have like to stay longer but Paul was ready to head down, so I was the "good trusty side-kick" in return and we headed back down.
Monday, June 3, 2013
It Only Rains With Paul....
So if you have been reading this blog regularly you know that I spend most of my time with Paul. He's on my sub-team at SASII so we spend every work day and lunch together; we're on the same schedule so we are usually eating breakfast at the same time and because of our age and background (yes I'm a teensy weensy bit older, we're both born in Australia and we each have a son the same age and a daughter the same age) we get along like a house on fire. Actually, he reminds me a bit of my older brother, Sean, and even looks a bit like him. Anyway...we spend a lot of time eating, drinking, talking, and sight-seeing. You know from previous blogs that the general rule here is to carry an umbrella and when Paul doesn't carry one - it rains and when he does have one - it doesn't rain.
On Sunday, Paul wasn't carrying an umbrella so it rained on us while we were out exploring another mall and even after he purchased a new umbrella (somehow he's not OK with walking around in a bit of a drizzle - he's such a girl), it continued to rain and rain and rain. This second mall we explored was much easier to navigate but still it was empty. I somehow get the feeling that the locals don't shop here - it's too expensive. We did discover a few pleasant surprises among all the high-end stores of purses, shoes, and women's clothes - the first being a Lenovo (read former IBM Division) computer store. The guy looked at me weird when I stood there and took a picture.
The second oddity, one I had never heard of, was a Fish Massage. Yes that's right you soak your feet in an aquarium of fish and they nibble away at your legs and feet. Cheryl said "We have to it, it's only 89 UAH for 20 minutes, that's about $12 USD. OK, why not, can't spend all my money on food, beverage and metro tokens. So off came my shoes, up went the bottoms of my jeans and I soaked with the fishes for 20 minutes. I wonder how many times I can go back there before I leave? It was quite enjoyable.
Finally, after my pampering session I was starving for lunch so I asked Cheryl and Paul if we wanted to find the food court. Low and behold we spy a "Texas Chicken" place that was displaying a "Now Open" sign. Hmm... never heard of Texas Chicken before but the logo somehow looked familiar. When I got my tray it had a leaflet - history of Church's Chicken - oh so good to be so close to home if only it were a fajita plate.
After lunch I was determined not to be swayed by the light rain (yes Paul it was light rain) so the three of us set off to do some souvenir shopping on "the old road" behind St. Andrew's church. Nothing suited our fancy so we stopped for a coffee when the rain got a bit harder. Not to give up on the day I suggested we walk over to the Zoloti Vortoa metro stop so Paul and Cheryl could see the arches and mosaics. Cheryl had to depart after that stop to work on her charts but Paul and I were determined to keep on walking around in the rain - it was after all only about 3:00 p.m. So more walking in the rain to another place we knew we could hunt for souvenirs and then a second coffee break when the rain and wind got a little bit too much to bear.
The rest of the day was spent with chores - laundry, ironing, and blogging. I'm really enjoying the blogging - not loving so much the bathroom sink laundry or the ironing for that matter. You might be wondering why I don't just send out the laundry to be done - because IT'S EXPENSIVE, really expensive. Only a few more days of it and then I think the hotel in London has a guest laundry with a washer and dryer. I better check on that.
So there you go, all caught up with the goings on here in Kyiv.
On Sunday, Paul wasn't carrying an umbrella so it rained on us while we were out exploring another mall and even after he purchased a new umbrella (somehow he's not OK with walking around in a bit of a drizzle - he's such a girl), it continued to rain and rain and rain. This second mall we explored was much easier to navigate but still it was empty. I somehow get the feeling that the locals don't shop here - it's too expensive. We did discover a few pleasant surprises among all the high-end stores of purses, shoes, and women's clothes - the first being a Lenovo (read former IBM Division) computer store. The guy looked at me weird when I stood there and took a picture.
The second oddity, one I had never heard of, was a Fish Massage. Yes that's right you soak your feet in an aquarium of fish and they nibble away at your legs and feet. Cheryl said "We have to it, it's only 89 UAH for 20 minutes, that's about $12 USD. OK, why not, can't spend all my money on food, beverage and metro tokens. So off came my shoes, up went the bottoms of my jeans and I soaked with the fishes for 20 minutes. I wonder how many times I can go back there before I leave? It was quite enjoyable. 
Finally, after my pampering session I was starving for lunch so I asked Cheryl and Paul if we wanted to find the food court. Low and behold we spy a "Texas Chicken" place that was displaying a "Now Open" sign. Hmm... never heard of Texas Chicken before but the logo somehow looked familiar. When I got my tray it had a leaflet - history of Church's Chicken - oh so good to be so close to home if only it were a fajita plate.
After lunch I was determined not to be swayed by the light rain (yes Paul it was light rain) so the three of us set off to do some souvenir shopping on "the old road" behind St. Andrew's church. Nothing suited our fancy so we stopped for a coffee when the rain got a bit harder. Not to give up on the day I suggested we walk over to the Zoloti Vortoa metro stop so Paul and Cheryl could see the arches and mosaics. Cheryl had to depart after that stop to work on her charts but Paul and I were determined to keep on walking around in the rain - it was after all only about 3:00 p.m. So more walking in the rain to another place we knew we could hunt for souvenirs and then a second coffee break when the rain and wind got a little bit too much to bear.
The rest of the day was spent with chores - laundry, ironing, and blogging. I'm really enjoying the blogging - not loving so much the bathroom sink laundry or the ironing for that matter. You might be wondering why I don't just send out the laundry to be done - because IT'S EXPENSIVE, really expensive. Only a few more days of it and then I think the hotel in London has a guest laundry with a washer and dryer. I better check on that.
So there you go, all caught up with the goings on here in Kyiv.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Monastery Caves - Take Two
If you recall from last weekend, Shiva, Paul, Cheryl and I went to Pechersk Lavra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev_Pechersk_Lavra) to see the historical caves and Cheryl and I were not permitted to enter the caves because we weren't wearing a skirt. I was undecided if I would go back this weekend because I knew I shouldn't go by myself but didn't know if any of the remaining team would be interested in seeing the caves. When I was recapping the weekend's visit to our team and Oksana at our weekly Thursday meeting, Oksana was disappointed for me and offered to go with me again on the weekend if I wished to go back. I'm never going to pass up an opportunity to see the sights with a local, especially with Oksana as she is so knowledgeable and willing to share her time, her city, her culture, and her history - all of it - the good and the bad.
After I managed to drag myself out of bed at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning after a night of two bottles of horilka shots, I made my way to the metro to meet up with Oksana. I couldn't bear the idea of putting on a skirt, panty-hose and high-heeled work shoes for a day's worth of touring, so I packed my skirt into my bag and headed out in jeans and my lovely comfy grey slip on shoes (the ones my mother and daughter both don't like and wish I hadn't bought). It was "Children's Day" on Saturday in Kyiv, so entry for students was free to museums and Oksana brought along her son for an outing with us as he had never been to Pechersk Lavra. Oksana told me that her son had just received his National Identity Card the day before and learned how his name has been translated into English - it is now and forever Oleksiy.
We arrived at Pechersk Lavra and decided to tour the museum side of the site before making our way over to the caves. We toured the museum of miniatures (http://www.kyiv.com/cultural-spots-kyiv/museums/museum-miniature.html) which was very cool and a museum depicting the battle between Napoleon and Russia which was also cool. We saw a beautiful church where a Baptism was taking place and saw the new bell that is supposed to go into the bell tower but no-one is sure yet if the tower will be strong enough to support it.
After stopping for a coffee and snack, I changed into my skirt in order to enter the caves, but since I wasn't prepared to walk up and down hills on a hot day in panty-hose and high-heeled shoes, I wore my comfy grey shoes with my lovely black skirt. My mother is cringing right now - I can hear her voice already - Samantha how could you possibly go around looking like that. Given that no-one here knows me or will ever see me again I didn't care, it was all about comfort. We toured both sets of caves (the Near and the Far caves) and managed to be given a "private" tour by a gentleman who had been a welder at the caves and comes now to do his prayers there. It was an amazing experience to hear the stories about the history of the caves, and of the monks and their devotion to their faith. It was dark and the halls were narrow and small, but it was an experience that I will forever be grateful to have had, and I am indebted to Oksana for helping me to have it. Thank you Oksana.
It's a little after 11:00 p.m. on Sunday and I have managed to catch you up through Saturday. I will have to fill you in on today's events tomorrow, but as I get ready to shut everything down for the night it dawns on me that I will soon be leaving Kyiv and I still have a few places that I must / need to see before I depart. I managed to Skype with the kids today and Sydney is anxiously counting down the days till we meet in London, I'm counting down too, only five days to do.
After I managed to drag myself out of bed at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning after a night of two bottles of horilka shots, I made my way to the metro to meet up with Oksana. I couldn't bear the idea of putting on a skirt, panty-hose and high-heeled work shoes for a day's worth of touring, so I packed my skirt into my bag and headed out in jeans and my lovely comfy grey slip on shoes (the ones my mother and daughter both don't like and wish I hadn't bought). It was "Children's Day" on Saturday in Kyiv, so entry for students was free to museums and Oksana brought along her son for an outing with us as he had never been to Pechersk Lavra. Oksana told me that her son had just received his National Identity Card the day before and learned how his name has been translated into English - it is now and forever Oleksiy.
We arrived at Pechersk Lavra and decided to tour the museum side of the site before making our way over to the caves. We toured the museum of miniatures (http://www.kyiv.com/cultural-spots-kyiv/museums/museum-miniature.html) which was very cool and a museum depicting the battle between Napoleon and Russia which was also cool. We saw a beautiful church where a Baptism was taking place and saw the new bell that is supposed to go into the bell tower but no-one is sure yet if the tower will be strong enough to support it.After stopping for a coffee and snack, I changed into my skirt in order to enter the caves, but since I wasn't prepared to walk up and down hills on a hot day in panty-hose and high-heeled shoes, I wore my comfy grey shoes with my lovely black skirt. My mother is cringing right now - I can hear her voice already - Samantha how could you possibly go around looking like that. Given that no-one here knows me or will ever see me again I didn't care, it was all about comfort. We toured both sets of caves (the Near and the Far caves) and managed to be given a "private" tour by a gentleman who had been a welder at the caves and comes now to do his prayers there. It was an amazing experience to hear the stories about the history of the caves, and of the monks and their devotion to their faith. It was dark and the halls were narrow and small, but it was an experience that I will forever be grateful to have had, and I am indebted to Oksana for helping me to have it. Thank you Oksana.
It's a little after 11:00 p.m. on Sunday and I have managed to catch you up through Saturday. I will have to fill you in on today's events tomorrow, but as I get ready to shut everything down for the night it dawns on me that I will soon be leaving Kyiv and I still have a few places that I must / need to see before I depart. I managed to Skype with the kids today and Sydney is anxiously counting down the days till we meet in London, I'm counting down too, only five days to do.
Horilka - Ukrainian Vodka
Well, you had to realize that at some point on this adventure I was going to try the local customary drink called Horilka and Friday night I got my chance. Cheryl and Kailash's client, Oleksii has been very generous to our team - he toured with us at Pyrohiv (Pirogov as we pronounce it) the first weekend we were here. If you have forgotten, it is an outdoor museum dedicated to depicting historical folk life and culture in Ukraine. On Friday night he extended an invitation to the team to attend a traditional Ukrainian restaurant. Cheryl, Kailash, Paul, and I took him up on his offer and away we went. 
As you arrive at the restaurant you are greeted by a woman in traditional attire carrying a tray of horilka on one side and cherry wine on the other. Hmmm.... not even through the door and we are already doing shots! Oh this is going to be interesting. We sat down in a beautifully decorated room and were entertained by traditional folk music. I have another video but of course it will take too long to load so you'll need to wait till I get back home. 
Anyhow...we asked Oleksii to order for us some traditional food (which didn't disappoint) and he asked if any of us would like to partake in a bottle of horilka with him. Cheryl and Kailash don't drink so that left Paul and I. Sure we said, how bad could it be?
Well, we quickly discovered that there are three rules to horilka - the first, once a bottle of horilka is opened, you have to finish it, second, you don't sip it, you shoot it like a shot of tequila, and third, you must make a toast for each shot. Hmmm....as you can tell by my face this is going to be harder then it looks; the last time I did shots, I was still in the Air Force (but my hair looks nice). I am proud to say I started off the toasts with the one from my wedding (sorry if you weren't there to hear it) and equally proud that I was still vertical after not one, but two bottles of horilka. I can honestly say it will be a very long, long time before I EVER do another shot of anything and not sure how long the bottle of horilka I bought to bring home with me will get opened and mixed with A LOT of orange juice.Day of Service
We started our day off in Independence Square as there was going to be a Children's Drawing Day sponsored by UNICEF. Our organization was bringing some of the children down to the Square to participate and that is where we met up with them. Despite the different languages, we all quickly became fast friends as we drew on the sidewalk and danced with the kids. 
Who knew the Indian delegation on our team were such avid dancers - SATISH! Bollywood's got nothing on Satish as he led us in many, many dances and we kind of took over the party with our group as we spent an hour dancing in the main square.
After the morning at the square we went back to the Rodyna center to help them prepare some arts and crafts goods that they will sell as a fundraiser later this summer. I think only Cheryl on the team is a crafter, but we all pitched in and found our niches - Satish and I were on sewing while the remaining team were on cutting and assembling. The center makes sashes that you can wear in your hair and I think we all bought one to bring home to have a memory of our day. I didn't get any pictures but will get some from the team and re-post in a day or two. I'm borrowing a picture from Cheryl of a finished product, and while this isn't one we made, Satish and I worked on the orange center part of the flowers - his were orange and mine were pinkish. We were told that in the few hours we worked we had done a months worth of work for the students and their parents. We wish them all the best!
Artiom
We wanted to take his picture to add to our presentation and decided to take a few more of him with the team and then some more of our office and where we we've been working for the past few weeks. As you can see there are two desks - a big desk and a small black one. It shouldn't come as a surprise that I took the big desk. 
Just had to show you what the lift looked like as well; I swear it is about the size of a coat closest back home and we would laugh everyday when the three of us were in there because you weren't sure if it was going to make it all the way to the fourth floor, tick, tick, tick, tick. The three of us could just fit with our laptop bags, I can't imagine what the total carrying capacity is; who knows, maybe we weren't supposed to ride in it all together... We always wanted to know where the lift would take you if you pressed the buttons on the right because there are only four floors in the building but there are 10 buttons, hmmm... Willy Wonka anyone? Or perhaps, Spinal Tap?
When we arrived in the building three weeks ago and took the lift for the first time, Paul said - sorry guys I can't do that again, it's too small. So for the first week we took the four flights of stairs up in the morning, down for lunch, up again after lunch and down one last time to go home. After a week, we were getting better with the stairs, but then Paul goes, "How about we take the lift?" so we've been taking it ever since.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Metro
Kyiv's metro system is surprisingly one of the best I've ever ridden on. It might be old and it might not have air-conditioning, but the train stations are clean, they're beautifully decorated, the train comes every two minutes, it's fast, efficient, extensive, and cheap. No matter how few or many stops you take on your one way journey, it's 2 Hyrvnia - which is $0.25 and you purchase blue plastic tokens to get through the turnstiles. If you go one stop, it's $0.25, it you go 10, same $0.25. Kyiv Metro has done a very good job of signage so even if you don't speak the language, it's very easy to figure out which side of the platform you need to be on. There is a down escalator and an up escalator and they're fast and steep, the metro is quite a ways underground.
In one of my guide books there was mention to go to "Kyiv's Union Station", which locally is called Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gates) because it's the stop just next to the Golden Gate (which you'll need to wait till the weekend for me to blog more about, that's on the to do list). Anyway - each train station is decorated artistically but Zoloti Vorota is supposed to be the most beautiful, so after lunch at the Japanese restaurant which is right next to the metro stop, I ducked down to see what all the fuss was about. 
It was beautiful....and if I didn't agree to be back in fifteen minutes, I would have spent a little longer taking better pictures, but I only have a few minutes and it required two escalator rides down and two back up and each section is about 2 minutes each, so out of my 15 minutes, I had only about 7 minutes to snap away.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Before and After
Do you guys remember me showing you the picture of the women planting the gardens by the statue of the Father of Ukrainian language? If you don't, go read "Work" on Monday, May 20th. If you do remember (or after you're re-read it), well I went back today after work to see what the park looks like now. Here you go.
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Before
After
BeforeStarbucks
If you were wondering whether there is a Starbucks here the answer is no and truth be told, I'm not sure if it would be successful. There is a cafe on just about every corner here, most are independent, stand-alone shops that feature lovely coffee drinks and scrumptious desserts and there is also a strong chain - Coffee House that is on every other block. This cafe, Coffee House, has a very extensive coffee, tea, and drink menu - they make shakes and juice drinks as well (and of course you can get alcohol), and they also offer a small selection of cakes / desserts, plus ice-cream. To top it off they have a quick lunch menu - think soup and sandwich. It's really good, so far I've had a pot of tea, a cappuccino, and a lunch consisting of mushroom soup and chicken salad sandwich. I do still find it odd that everything is more expensive then beer / wine. I had a glass of wine today at lunch (shhh) that was 19 in local currency (about $2.75 USD) and a cappuccino on the way to work and it was 38 local currency ($5.50). Take my word for it, I enjoyed the wine more. 
But back to Starbucks.... the culture here is not a go go go culture like back home where everyone is racing through Starbucks to get their morning jolt of coffee; coffee and the cafe experience is to be enjoyed, and yes there is Free Wi-Fi everywhere. Coffee House does do "coffee to go" but it still takes a while to get it, they'd much rather you sit and stay, relax, enjoy. For Starbucks to hit it off, it would need to focus on it's ability to fill your order fast so if you want it to go, you can get it and go. That's my opinion anyway, because this morning I would have been happy to get my cappuccino to go and been in and out of the "Starbucks" in five minutes vs. the twenty that it did take me.
Even though I've been going on an on about how long and relaxed the meals are here, which is a good thing for your digestion, there is one fast food craze here that Paul and I just had to go and explore today. We went to Pizzeria 33 (oh my the risotto and wine there are fabulous) and on our way back we wanted to go by this place that we've seen a couple of times that is nothing more then a hole in the wall but has a queue all the way up the block. We've been advised not to eat "off the streets" but given how long and steady the line is for this place (no matter the day or time) I think we're going to have to line up one day and wait. From what we can tell, it's like a hot dog and costs about $1 USD. Maybe on the weekend if they're open and we have more time to waste we can give it a try.
By the way, on top of the seafood risotto and glass of wine I had at lunch I splurged and got dessert - I was useless for the rest of the day. Could have gone back to the hotel and had a nap.
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