Things I've Learned About Ukraine
I've had to take a few days off from the Blog because I've been busy planning our next two trips - one in March to London and Barcelona, and another in April to London and Morocco. I'm quite excited about the second trip as we have decided to rent a car and drive through the Sahara from Marrakech to Fez. Finally, a place where hotels don't cost an arm and leg. We've been very lucky because we've been traveling not just during the "off" season, but apparently during the "don't even think about coming here" season, so we have gotten amazing rooms for practically nothing. I've been trying to book rooms in St Petersburg in May for us and the Gitters, and the room that cost us about $200 a night in November would cost us $850 a night in May!!!! Without breakfast!!! Without VAT!!!! Moscow is even worse - we're going there with Laura and Portis in October, and the rates (compared to those in July when we went with Bob and Dian and their younger son) are outrageous. We have finally settled on a horrible Soviet era building, used to house Soviet officials who came to the capital in former days, for the bargain rate of $290 a night. I just read an article in the Kyiv Post (an English language weekly here) that said that the very same standard Radison SAS hotel room that costs $72 in Budapest and $189 in NYC, costs $359 in Kyiv and $478 in Moscow!! It's all about supply and demand - capitalism and the free economy at work.
But I've gotten all the arrangements made - the car rental, the hotel rooms, the planes, the guides where necessary - for all our upcoming trips, so I'm now ready to come back to the Blog.
It's been snowing hard for the past few days, and it really looks and feels like winter here at last. Today I had a haircut and color at a place that my Pilates teacher told me about - one of her clients said the stylists and colorists were good there. And it was good - finally, I was able to get a really good haircut and fairly good hair color in Kyiv - at half the price I've been paying for four months at Sofiasky Spa. And it's closer to the apartment too. I saw a haircut that Tanya (my stylist and colorist) gave to a guy last week when I made my appointment, and it was really good, so I'm going to send Ed there too - he hasn't had a good haircut since we arrived in Ukraine (except from Keiko during our visit to the States).
Yesterday we had a late lunch - early dinner - with our only friend in Kyiv, Mike Willard and his girlfriend, Olga, and her daughter Valentina. In Kyivan restaurants, it is apparently not unusual for little kids to leave their tables and wander around the restaurant. As soon as we arrived, Valentina left us and found another little girl about her age (she's 6) and the two of them became fast friends and played together throughout the entire meal. Valentina would occasionally come back to the table to take a bite of food, but most of the time she was away, playing. It's like getting free day-care for your kid while you have dinner - a great system!
Mike and Olga and Valentina came to the apartment first for drinks at about 2:30, and then we all went to an Uzbek restaurant called Safron for dinner. It's really a lovely restaurant - beautifully decorated - and excellent food. We didn't get home until almost 8 p.m. and poor little Belle was frantic by the time we got back - not frantic to go out and pee, because she had already done that in the apartment (she's done this several times, but at least she does it on the kitchen tiles and not on the living room/bedroom hardwood floors or on the rug we bought here). Ed has taken over all dog-walking responsibility as his share of the work in our division of labor. It is nice not having to go out in the cold and dark and I'm really enjoying this. Of course, at home we never have to walk Belle because she has the doggie door and the dog park (which I took her to regularly). I just couldn't get mad at her though - she had waited almost 12 hours.
Belle goes for a walk three times a day now - after breakfast in the morning (she sleeps in and only gets up when she hears her food being poured into her dish - but we really sleep in too - sometimes we don't get up until about 10!!!), after dinner in the evening at about 6 p.m. and then as late as Ed can manage (he just wants to get in his sweats and relax), usually about 8 or 9 at the latest. Belle HATES her late evening walk - she's almost always asleep on the couch and refuses to get up. Ed stands at the door, holding her leash and calling her (from about 6 feet away) and she just keep snoring. Finally I have to get up from whatever I'm doing - blogging, reading, trip planning, whatever - and push her off the sofa and tell her to go with Ed. She also really hates the snow - she sticks her head out the apartment building door, takes a look, and tries to come back in. Ed insists, and then she takes a quick pee right outside the door and tries to come back in again. Ed insists yet again - and she trots as quickly as she can to the road to Gintama (the hotel around the corner from our apartment), her favorite bathroom spot, does her first business as soon as she rounds the bend, walks a few more feet and does her second, and then hot foots it back to the apartment. That is, unless she spots the hated yellow Lab - we don't know if the Lab is male or female (we'll just call the dog "him" for now), but, man, does Belle hate him. Her hair stands on end, she strains at the leash to get at him, snarling all the while. This isn't like the growling she indulged in at the dog park, where she earned the nickname "The General." Back then, whenever a new dog came to the park, Belle would run up to the dog, shove her face into his or her's, and growl and bark, sometimes scaring the living daylights out of the newcomer - the bigger the dog, the more emphatic her barks. One poor Great Dane actually tripped over his hind legs and fell backwards trying to get away from her. We all concluded that she was basically saying "I know I'm small, and I'm a girl, but don't ever try and mess with me!" It worked - no dog ever messed with Belle, and she basically ignored most of the dogs, most of the time, and spent all her time there jumping from one person's lap to another. But the little monster inside our little sweet princess really comes out when the Lab is on the scene. When people see big Ed, with little Belle growling and snarling and trying to attack the yellow Lab, they just burst out laughing. But I'll tell you this, I wouldn't want Ed to drop the leash!
Here's one thing about dogs and their owners in Ukraine, or at least in Kharkiv and Kyiv. NO ONE picks up dog poop here. EVER. We did for awhile in Kharkiv, using the usual plastic bag and putting it in a public trash can, but after being accosted by several different people on several different occasions upon dropping the bag in the trash, I stopped. They objected to having the poop in the trash can. But the remarkable thing is, there is rarely, if ever, any dog poop in the street or on the sidewalks. The dogs always go on the grass or on the verge somewhere, and I have never had to dodge dog shit while walking here. And then there are regular "cleaners" who are up and at it early every morning with rakes and brooms cleaning the grass, so the accumulation never gets disgusting. Somehow it works.
Except for her encounters with the yellow Lab, Belle is an absolute sweetheart. It's so nice having her snuggle against us in bed now that the weather is frosty (she usually manages to take up most of the bed, lying horizontally rather than vertically, with her head against one of us, and her rear against the other); or have her come over and jump on my lap as I sit reading. She loves having visitors and just goes nuts when anyone comes over - including the landlady, the cleaning woman, or any of her dog sitters. She's gotten much better about staying with other people - she doesn't stop eating any more, she doesn't get stress colitis, she seems happy to see her chosen attendant, and doesn't go crazy when we leave. All of this is good - very good since we are traveling so much. It means that I no longer get stress colitis every time we leave, worrying about her!
Now, here are some of the things I have learned since moving to Kyiv. For one thing, I have learned that if you call and order a taxi by phone it is much cheaper than if you get one on the street. The problem is, the taxi dispatchers speak Ukrainian or Russian, so I can't call them to get a taxi! So far, the only taxis we have taken are to the airport, and I've solved the problem by having Belle's baby sitter call for us and arrange the fare (95 UHA as opposed to the 150 UHA I had to pay on the one occasion when we had to get one on the street), and the time of pick up at our apartment.
I've also learned that in Kyiv you can order groceries on line, but again - it's all in Ukrainian or Russian, and I can't manage that. But I called the store (Furshet) and found an English speaking guy there, and he takes care of my semi-weekly orders for a dozen 6 liter bottles of water, 12 boxes of orange juice, 24 cartons of milk, 10 boxes of Nestle Fitness WITHOUT fruit, and sugar, as well as kleenex and toilet paper on an as needed basis. These are the really bulky and/or heavy things that are hard for me to carry, especially now, when the streets and sidewalks are covered in ice. We live on a hill, and one way or another I have to go up or down to get to a store and then down or up to get back, so I am very very happy to get delivery of these things by phone. I'd be perfectly happy to go to the store and order things there - they have a wonderful branch right near Bes'arabska Market, where I go to buy wine, or specialty foods, or one particularly spectacular bread that they bake there - but I have never been able to get anyone to understand me when I have asked if they will deliver the things I purchase there. So I gave up on that and struggle home with my load of goods on foot. I suppose I could take a taxi, but then, who would call one for me?????
But I've gotten all the arrangements made - the car rental, the hotel rooms, the planes, the guides where necessary - for all our upcoming trips, so I'm now ready to come back to the Blog.
It's been snowing hard for the past few days, and it really looks and feels like winter here at last. Today I had a haircut and color at a place that my Pilates teacher told me about - one of her clients said the stylists and colorists were good there. And it was good - finally, I was able to get a really good haircut and fairly good hair color in Kyiv - at half the price I've been paying for four months at Sofiasky Spa. And it's closer to the apartment too. I saw a haircut that Tanya (my stylist and colorist) gave to a guy last week when I made my appointment, and it was really good, so I'm going to send Ed there too - he hasn't had a good haircut since we arrived in Ukraine (except from Keiko during our visit to the States).
Yesterday we had a late lunch - early dinner - with our only friend in Kyiv, Mike Willard and his girlfriend, Olga, and her daughter Valentina. In Kyivan restaurants, it is apparently not unusual for little kids to leave their tables and wander around the restaurant. As soon as we arrived, Valentina left us and found another little girl about her age (she's 6) and the two of them became fast friends and played together throughout the entire meal. Valentina would occasionally come back to the table to take a bite of food, but most of the time she was away, playing. It's like getting free day-care for your kid while you have dinner - a great system!
Mike and Olga and Valentina came to the apartment first for drinks at about 2:30, and then we all went to an Uzbek restaurant called Safron for dinner. It's really a lovely restaurant - beautifully decorated - and excellent food. We didn't get home until almost 8 p.m. and poor little Belle was frantic by the time we got back - not frantic to go out and pee, because she had already done that in the apartment (she's done this several times, but at least she does it on the kitchen tiles and not on the living room/bedroom hardwood floors or on the rug we bought here). Ed has taken over all dog-walking responsibility as his share of the work in our division of labor. It is nice not having to go out in the cold and dark and I'm really enjoying this. Of course, at home we never have to walk Belle because she has the doggie door and the dog park (which I took her to regularly). I just couldn't get mad at her though - she had waited almost 12 hours.
Belle goes for a walk three times a day now - after breakfast in the morning (she sleeps in and only gets up when she hears her food being poured into her dish - but we really sleep in too - sometimes we don't get up until about 10!!!), after dinner in the evening at about 6 p.m. and then as late as Ed can manage (he just wants to get in his sweats and relax), usually about 8 or 9 at the latest. Belle HATES her late evening walk - she's almost always asleep on the couch and refuses to get up. Ed stands at the door, holding her leash and calling her (from about 6 feet away) and she just keep snoring. Finally I have to get up from whatever I'm doing - blogging, reading, trip planning, whatever - and push her off the sofa and tell her to go with Ed. She also really hates the snow - she sticks her head out the apartment building door, takes a look, and tries to come back in. Ed insists, and then she takes a quick pee right outside the door and tries to come back in again. Ed insists yet again - and she trots as quickly as she can to the road to Gintama (the hotel around the corner from our apartment), her favorite bathroom spot, does her first business as soon as she rounds the bend, walks a few more feet and does her second, and then hot foots it back to the apartment. That is, unless she spots the hated yellow Lab - we don't know if the Lab is male or female (we'll just call the dog "him" for now), but, man, does Belle hate him. Her hair stands on end, she strains at the leash to get at him, snarling all the while. This isn't like the growling she indulged in at the dog park, where she earned the nickname "The General." Back then, whenever a new dog came to the park, Belle would run up to the dog, shove her face into his or her's, and growl and bark, sometimes scaring the living daylights out of the newcomer - the bigger the dog, the more emphatic her barks. One poor Great Dane actually tripped over his hind legs and fell backwards trying to get away from her. We all concluded that she was basically saying "I know I'm small, and I'm a girl, but don't ever try and mess with me!" It worked - no dog ever messed with Belle, and she basically ignored most of the dogs, most of the time, and spent all her time there jumping from one person's lap to another. But the little monster inside our little sweet princess really comes out when the Lab is on the scene. When people see big Ed, with little Belle growling and snarling and trying to attack the yellow Lab, they just burst out laughing. But I'll tell you this, I wouldn't want Ed to drop the leash!
Here's one thing about dogs and their owners in Ukraine, or at least in Kharkiv and Kyiv. NO ONE picks up dog poop here. EVER. We did for awhile in Kharkiv, using the usual plastic bag and putting it in a public trash can, but after being accosted by several different people on several different occasions upon dropping the bag in the trash, I stopped. They objected to having the poop in the trash can. But the remarkable thing is, there is rarely, if ever, any dog poop in the street or on the sidewalks. The dogs always go on the grass or on the verge somewhere, and I have never had to dodge dog shit while walking here. And then there are regular "cleaners" who are up and at it early every morning with rakes and brooms cleaning the grass, so the accumulation never gets disgusting. Somehow it works.
Except for her encounters with the yellow Lab, Belle is an absolute sweetheart. It's so nice having her snuggle against us in bed now that the weather is frosty (she usually manages to take up most of the bed, lying horizontally rather than vertically, with her head against one of us, and her rear against the other); or have her come over and jump on my lap as I sit reading. She loves having visitors and just goes nuts when anyone comes over - including the landlady, the cleaning woman, or any of her dog sitters. She's gotten much better about staying with other people - she doesn't stop eating any more, she doesn't get stress colitis, she seems happy to see her chosen attendant, and doesn't go crazy when we leave. All of this is good - very good since we are traveling so much. It means that I no longer get stress colitis every time we leave, worrying about her!
Now, here are some of the things I have learned since moving to Kyiv. For one thing, I have learned that if you call and order a taxi by phone it is much cheaper than if you get one on the street. The problem is, the taxi dispatchers speak Ukrainian or Russian, so I can't call them to get a taxi! So far, the only taxis we have taken are to the airport, and I've solved the problem by having Belle's baby sitter call for us and arrange the fare (95 UHA as opposed to the 150 UHA I had to pay on the one occasion when we had to get one on the street), and the time of pick up at our apartment.
I've also learned that in Kyiv you can order groceries on line, but again - it's all in Ukrainian or Russian, and I can't manage that. But I called the store (Furshet) and found an English speaking guy there, and he takes care of my semi-weekly orders for a dozen 6 liter bottles of water, 12 boxes of orange juice, 24 cartons of milk, 10 boxes of Nestle Fitness WITHOUT fruit, and sugar, as well as kleenex and toilet paper on an as needed basis. These are the really bulky and/or heavy things that are hard for me to carry, especially now, when the streets and sidewalks are covered in ice. We live on a hill, and one way or another I have to go up or down to get to a store and then down or up to get back, so I am very very happy to get delivery of these things by phone. I'd be perfectly happy to go to the store and order things there - they have a wonderful branch right near Bes'arabska Market, where I go to buy wine, or specialty foods, or one particularly spectacular bread that they bake there - but I have never been able to get anyone to understand me when I have asked if they will deliver the things I purchase there. So I gave up on that and struggle home with my load of goods on foot. I suppose I could take a taxi, but then, who would call one for me?????
posted by Susan Spivak at 2:45 PM
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