Election season, neverending political comercials

• Celestecoleman's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Kremenets

Trip Start Sep 30, 2005 Previous
Entry Trip End Dec 22, 2007 Next
Entry

  Kremenets, Ukraine
Thursday, March 23, 2006

Since I last wrote, I have discovered the Mecca of grocery stores in a nearby "big city" (population: 200,000). I spent way too much money there (10 whole dollars! oh no!) and just so you get a peek at what I'm so excited about, I'll tell you what I bought: two kinds of tea (mango and caramel), hair gel, nutella, veggie burger powder (who knows what that one will taste like...), and uh, lady stuff. These are the things that get me excited right now, my friends!
On that same day, I also got to hang out with 8 other volunteers from the area. It was actually fun... nice just to see other people who are in my position. Sometimes when lots of volunteers get together after an absence, they can be a bit complainy, as I'm sure you can imagine, which is honestly kind of a downer. But these were mostly newer volunteers like myself, so there was less complaining and more laughing. A good time was had by all.
Today I went to the nearby village to observe one of my fellow volunteer's classes to see if I could steal ideas from him! My god, it was quite a ride to get there and back. What should have taken less than half an hour took two hours. We stopped at every tiny speck of a village along the way, and all sorts of interesting people kept piling on the bus. And when I say piling, I'm not exaggerating! In comparison to him, I live in the hub of civilization. This guy really lives out in the sticks. Seriously, there were sticks everywhere... mostly because there are no leaves on the trees. Ok, sorry, that totally wasn't funny. Must be the Ukrainian sense of humor infecting me!
Well, the Ukrainian elections for Prime Minister are on Sunday. There are like 47 parties in the running (politics are complete and utter chaos here), but basically only 2 have a chance of winning the election- this woman Yulia Tymoshenko, and this guy Viktor Yanukovich (the George Bush of Ukraine... if you remember the Orange Revolution at all, he's the guy that ran against the pro-democracy guy). I hope Yanokovich doesn't win, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he will. That would mean a move back toward Russia, and a move away from, well, progress. Which is definitely not what anyone in my part of the country wants! But the majority of the east of the country seems to. The east and west of the country are very divided in their politics and even culture, almost like 2 different countries. Anyways, I'll let you know how it all comes out. Cross your fingers.
Time is running out... maybe by the next time I write it will finally be warmer here. :o)

Print this entry Share Kiev hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry