Alone In The Apartment For A Few Days
There are definitely some things that I can have here in Kyiv that I will miss when I get back home - and the mani-pedi is high on that list. I just got back from 3 hours of tending to my hands and feet, and I still can't believe what a great job Marina does. The secret is this amazing machine she uses, which I have never seen in the States, that files away the cuticles and all the dead skin - no soaking, no cutting - just filing with all these different sized attachment files (it's like a dentist's drill, with different drill heads, only here it's different filing heads). I can't even imagine what my poor hands and feet would be like without her. The cold weather and the hard water really do a number on these extremities - I have horrible chapped heels and deep painful cracks in both my thumbs - but three hours with Marina has done the trick - now I just have to remember to keep lathering on cream all over my fingers and heels every chance I get so that I keep the cracks at bay.
Unfortunately these luxuries don't come cheap - a mani-pedi at Sofiyiskiy Fitness Center costs almost $100 - and the special German anti-cracking cream I bought there cost me $30. But since these are the only things I spend any money on that can possibly fall in the category of "cosmetics," I refuse to feel too guilty about it (or so I say - I do actually feel quite guilty about it, no matter how many times I tell myself that since I don't spend any money on clothes or fancy dinners at fancy restaurants - or any restaurants for that matter - it's okay to spend it on pilates, mani-pedis and operas and ballets). I do limit my self-indulgence though - no more than two manis a month and no more than one pedi every 5 weeks! I can't say the same about the opera and ballet - we go whenever we feel like it, which is usually two or three times a week - more when we travel - but when you consider that the ballet and opera here costs far less than a movie back home (or even here, for that matter), I can honestly say that I REALLY don't feel guilty about going. Travel is the other major expense, but Ed and I have agreed that this is something we really have to do now, while we still can. And we are definitely taking advantage of living in such proximity to Europe and Africa and Asia. But there are still so many places to see and so many things to do - we'll never be able to do it all before we leave Kyiv.
Ed has just left for Kharkiv, where he has a meeting tomorrow morning at 9:30 with the General's Deputy (Yolana). They want to expand the Office's jurisdiction to another police station since they have gotten practically no cases from the Kominterovsky District, and Ed also wants to get the real statistics from the station they are currently servicing (i.e., how many arrests have been made in Kominternovsky) so that they can compare those numbers to the number of calls they have gotten from the police to represent detainees and determine whether the police are cooperating. This, of course, is something that the Kharkiv Office Director should be doing by himself, but Genna wasn't even able to arrange the meeting. Ed finally had to have Vicky, our friend and his translator, call Yolana and arrange everything! Unbelievable! Meanwhile the Bila Tserka office is going great guns and Victor, the Director, is handling everything. He took all the stuff Ed had done while in Kharkiv (the Agreement with the Police, the office forms, case files, etc), input them in the Bila Tserka office computers, and, as they say, took the ball and ran with it. Ed's job there is just what it should be - an outside expert consultant - not the moving force and lynch pin of the whole project as it was, and in many ways still is, in Kharkiv.
So Belle and I have the apartment to ourselves for the next 32 hours or so - a very strange experience. It really is amazing that we are surviving as well as we are in this very small apartment, when we are both here practically 24 hours a day! And especially since we know practically no one here and so, even when we do go out, it is almost always just the two of us. We are both making an effort to avoid the kinds of behaviors that are particularly annoying to the other. Ed, I must say, has been extraordinary in doing so. A few weeks ago I mentioned to him that he maintains an almost non-stop chorus of sighs, "oh boys", and other such expressions, while he sits in the "other room" - I'm at my "desk" in my "office alcove" off the living room/bed room and Ed is in the "dining room" section of the kitchen - at his computer, working on the Supplement to his 5 volume tome on California Criminal Practice. He of course was completely unaware that he was doing this, but once I mentioned it he became acutely sensitive to it. He asked if it bothered me, and I told him that is was sort of annoying (which surprised him since I like to have background noise - like NPR - while I work, or read or do anything). Ever since I mentioned it he has almost completely stopped doing this! Now we both laugh if he does let fly with the occasional sigh or groan. So what had been a growing source of irritation for me, has become an occasional source of amusement for us both. I, unfortunately, am not so quick to change, although I do try, even though sometimes Ed doesn't think I do.
I'm in the middle of a book that Max and Betsy recommended to me, "Natasha's Dance" by Orlando Figes. It is just fantastic, and I'm particularly glad that I have already visited St Petersburg (and had the benefit of a great guide there), and Moscow (where we also had the benefit of a great guide in the person of Bob Smith, referring to many guidebooks and passing on the information to us), and that I will be going back to both cities after reading this book, which is a cultural history of Russia, focusing much of it's attention on these two cities and what they represent in the development of what is quintessentially the "Russian" character. Figes is astounding in his breadth of knowledge - he ties together the literature, the music, the art, the religion, and the history of the country to define the "Russian" character - it has already enhanced my experience in Ukraine, and I'm only half way through the 600 pages.
Since we're going to London so often these days, access to books is no longer a problem. I just order whatever I want on amazon.co.uk, have it sent to the place where we stay (The Apartments on Draycott Pl in Chelsea), and the package is waiting for us when we arrive. It's perfect. Another Gitter recommendation is waiting for us in London - "The Lost" (the author describes his search for his family roots near Lviv - the Gitters have arranged to use the same guide when we go to Lviv to visit the village where Max's father was born).
Time to feed Belle and take her for her early evening walk - tasks usually undertaken by Ed. Belle's been snoozing on the sofa and just woke up, took a huge stretch, and gave me a look that said - well, I'm ready. Let's eat!
Unfortunately these luxuries don't come cheap - a mani-pedi at Sofiyiskiy Fitness Center costs almost $100 - and the special German anti-cracking cream I bought there cost me $30. But since these are the only things I spend any money on that can possibly fall in the category of "cosmetics," I refuse to feel too guilty about it (or so I say - I do actually feel quite guilty about it, no matter how many times I tell myself that since I don't spend any money on clothes or fancy dinners at fancy restaurants - or any restaurants for that matter - it's okay to spend it on pilates, mani-pedis and operas and ballets). I do limit my self-indulgence though - no more than two manis a month and no more than one pedi every 5 weeks! I can't say the same about the opera and ballet - we go whenever we feel like it, which is usually two or three times a week - more when we travel - but when you consider that the ballet and opera here costs far less than a movie back home (or even here, for that matter), I can honestly say that I REALLY don't feel guilty about going. Travel is the other major expense, but Ed and I have agreed that this is something we really have to do now, while we still can. And we are definitely taking advantage of living in such proximity to Europe and Africa and Asia. But there are still so many places to see and so many things to do - we'll never be able to do it all before we leave Kyiv.
Ed has just left for Kharkiv, where he has a meeting tomorrow morning at 9:30 with the General's Deputy (Yolana). They want to expand the Office's jurisdiction to another police station since they have gotten practically no cases from the Kominterovsky District, and Ed also wants to get the real statistics from the station they are currently servicing (i.e., how many arrests have been made in Kominternovsky) so that they can compare those numbers to the number of calls they have gotten from the police to represent detainees and determine whether the police are cooperating. This, of course, is something that the Kharkiv Office Director should be doing by himself, but Genna wasn't even able to arrange the meeting. Ed finally had to have Vicky, our friend and his translator, call Yolana and arrange everything! Unbelievable! Meanwhile the Bila Tserka office is going great guns and Victor, the Director, is handling everything. He took all the stuff Ed had done while in Kharkiv (the Agreement with the Police, the office forms, case files, etc), input them in the Bila Tserka office computers, and, as they say, took the ball and ran with it. Ed's job there is just what it should be - an outside expert consultant - not the moving force and lynch pin of the whole project as it was, and in many ways still is, in Kharkiv.
So Belle and I have the apartment to ourselves for the next 32 hours or so - a very strange experience. It really is amazing that we are surviving as well as we are in this very small apartment, when we are both here practically 24 hours a day! And especially since we know practically no one here and so, even when we do go out, it is almost always just the two of us. We are both making an effort to avoid the kinds of behaviors that are particularly annoying to the other. Ed, I must say, has been extraordinary in doing so. A few weeks ago I mentioned to him that he maintains an almost non-stop chorus of sighs, "oh boys", and other such expressions, while he sits in the "other room" - I'm at my "desk" in my "office alcove" off the living room/bed room and Ed is in the "dining room" section of the kitchen - at his computer, working on the Supplement to his 5 volume tome on California Criminal Practice. He of course was completely unaware that he was doing this, but once I mentioned it he became acutely sensitive to it. He asked if it bothered me, and I told him that is was sort of annoying (which surprised him since I like to have background noise - like NPR - while I work, or read or do anything). Ever since I mentioned it he has almost completely stopped doing this! Now we both laugh if he does let fly with the occasional sigh or groan. So what had been a growing source of irritation for me, has become an occasional source of amusement for us both. I, unfortunately, am not so quick to change, although I do try, even though sometimes Ed doesn't think I do.
I'm in the middle of a book that Max and Betsy recommended to me, "Natasha's Dance" by Orlando Figes. It is just fantastic, and I'm particularly glad that I have already visited St Petersburg (and had the benefit of a great guide there), and Moscow (where we also had the benefit of a great guide in the person of Bob Smith, referring to many guidebooks and passing on the information to us), and that I will be going back to both cities after reading this book, which is a cultural history of Russia, focusing much of it's attention on these two cities and what they represent in the development of what is quintessentially the "Russian" character. Figes is astounding in his breadth of knowledge - he ties together the literature, the music, the art, the religion, and the history of the country to define the "Russian" character - it has already enhanced my experience in Ukraine, and I'm only half way through the 600 pages.
Since we're going to London so often these days, access to books is no longer a problem. I just order whatever I want on amazon.co.uk, have it sent to the place where we stay (The Apartments on Draycott Pl in Chelsea), and the package is waiting for us when we arrive. It's perfect. Another Gitter recommendation is waiting for us in London - "The Lost" (the author describes his search for his family roots near Lviv - the Gitters have arranged to use the same guide when we go to Lviv to visit the village where Max's father was born).
Time to feed Belle and take her for her early evening walk - tasks usually undertaken by Ed. Belle's been snoozing on the sofa and just woke up, took a huge stretch, and gave me a look that said - well, I'm ready. Let's eat!
posted by Susan Spivak at 4:35 PM
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