Express Kiev

Today we didn't wake up until 11:30am! We woke up and then shortly afterwards Zhenia called us to talk about what to expect tomorrow at our meeting. He wants us to dress up very nicely,smile a lot and bring our photo album from home with us. He is very positive that everyone will like us there at the SDA. Our appointment is at 11am so he will meet us at our apartment at 10am. Once we get to the SDA they will probably want to know a little bit ...

... walked to the Opera House. They were advertising several operas and ballets, but, unfortunately, they don't premier till September. We then walked to the mercantile quarter of Podil. Someone built a cafe, called the overlook cafe, on the knoll overlooking the city. However, we discovered another overlook across the street. We walked down to the Dnipro River and sat for a while at a "Coke Cola" tent that sold beer and Cokes. It was a beautiful setting.

... immoderately indulging. The next clue that I was going to a very different country was the smell of alcohol that permeated the entire airplane ride. It must leak from Ukrainian pores.

As the plane descended into Kyiv I noticed one thing in particular: the relative absence of street lights in a city of four million people. You could see cars navigating down below, but there paths were not delineated by lights. A nice welcome were the fireworks ...

... there was a delay. The plane wasn't full, we were in back seats. Lunch was 3 packages, a croissant, ham flavoured chips, and a chocolate covered wafer bar and juice or water. No pop, coffee or tea! There was a notice in their books customers in 1st class can drink as much as they want, economy can only have 1 drink! We walked down off the plane and were the last ones off the plane, first ones out of the bus. We got into ...

... Sucre, Bolivia, on Feb. 28, 1999. "He had his hands ov** my face and nose," said Lord, who was a 26-year-old recent college graduate. "I was scared to get out of the car because th**e w**e cliffs on eith** side, and he said he would throw me ov** and nobody would ev** find me." Lord said the taxi driv** then raped h**. Eight months lat**, the Peace Corps quit pursuing h** attack**. But it didn't quit pursuing Lord, compiling report aft** report - documenting h** parents ...

... Ukrainian Students at my place. Nothing a bit of champagne and vodka and some decorations from home won't cheer up. New Years Eve on Kreschatik The thermometer was reading just about 12 degrees, the sky clear and people were joyous. Kreschatik (the 5th Avenue/Pennsylvania Avenue of Ukraine) was filled with people adorned with tinsel, light up ears and sabers, colorful wigs, thousands of bottles of champagne and vodka and high spirits. There were ...

... and cruise tickets (some people were concerned about hading over their passports - I thought it was great, I wouldn't have to worry about loosing it or having it stolen while it was locked away in their safe). She explained to us that when we got to the boat our luggage would be brought to our rooms. In our rooms our keys would be in our doors and in our cabins we would find our trip "passports" they were basically the size of a ...

... after appointment, unless there is a medical or safety reason. The one and only good thing Ukraine Peace Corps regional manager told me about Staroblisk was that it was "nice". I guess he hadn't read the travel guide. In the past, Peace Corps has sponsored trainee visits to the site before placement or even meetings with partners. This was stopped last year - I think I know why. I tried and tried to find one positive thing about this site, but it seems ...

... rear right corner of the park. There is a hanukiah near the site. The actual site was hard for us to find. One must walk a way from the metro station, past a shell of an apartment building, and up a hill. We saw part of the ravine. Most of the ravine was filled in during the soviet era. After visiting the site, we did some grocery shopping at a store in the metro complex and took the metro back. This is a ...

... s is much better. Our only real complaint was too much orchestra (sixteen violins for an opera?) Though they played beautifully, they did a half decent job of drowning out the singing. In Kiev, we stayed at Kristina's Flat off hostel bookers. After Minsk, finding her apartment on the edge of town was a snap. She and her babushka were quite friendly and the beds hard, but comfortable. We have come to the conclusion that there are no soft beds in this country.