MoldovAnn

of Pigs… In…. Spaaaaacccceee!
Don’t know why that is stuck in my head today, but it is. I’d love to watch some Muppets right now.

Talked to the landlady again today to ask if we could stay until the end of September. It would just be so much easier if we could deal with all this a bit later. Igor and I both have business trips in August, Dad’s here until early September… She has this nasty habit of telling me what I should do, what I can do, and wanting to debate with me our decisions. During our last conversation, when I told her we couldn’t afford what she wants for the apartment, she said “Oh come on, I know you get $X for housing from UN.” I curtly told her she was misinformed, that in fact my housing allowance is half of what she quoted. She then told me that I should tell “them” to pay me more. If only it were so simple! But either way, it’s none of her business how much my living allowance is and how much I chose to spend on an apartment, but I didn’t manage to express that to her last time.

Well, this time I was better prepared to not get sucked into a discussion of my personal matters. I did say that with Dad visiting us until early September, it would be really helpful if we could stay until the end of September, and deal with moving after he is gone. She started in with her questions, and I promptly cut her off with “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to discuss our various reasons with you. It’s our personal business. Our question to you is whether or not we can stay until the end of September.” She was a bit surprised, but fortunately didn’t seem offended by my rebuke. She said her idea had been to get two students to rent the apartment starting in September, so she’s not sure. Then she asked if we had made a final decision to move out, don’t we want to stay there? It’s expensive to move, etc etc etc. I told her we would happily stay there but the bottom line is we cannot afford the price we wants. Much to my surprise, she said she could take it down $100, just for us because she’s used to us, we’ve never caused any problems, etc. But she couldn’t resist going into her usual pity party about how it’s hard for them as pensioners, they don’t have any other income, her husband had to go back to work, etc. I would feel sorry for her, if I hadn’t been to her apartment myself a few months ago and seen the brand new wide-screen digital TV, and if she hadn’t herself told me about how they got a new computer and wireless internet. I don’t think they are as hard-off as she likes to pretend.

In the end, we agreed to discuss it at the end of this month when she comes to collect for the utilities. It’s tempting to not move, we love the apartment and the neighborhood. Another two hundred dollars a month in rent will be tough, though.

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In other events, we had a nice weekend in Korosten with Igor’s family. Everybody loved the presents Dad brought them - overalls for Grandpa; shirts, jackets and jeans for Nina, Ivan, Oksana and Denis; and 3 bottles of barbecue sauce for Vova. He was practically drinking it straight from the bottle! And he nearly finished an entire bottle just at one meal. Good thing Dad brought a BBQ sauce recipe too!

Dad, Igor and I spent the night in the village house with Ivan on Saturday night. He’s done so much work there in the last couple of years, it’s really amazing. And in preparation for Dad’s visit, he had promised to make a summer shower. Usually a summer shower (at last in my experience) means the water is heated by the sun. Well, Ivan being the handy-man that he is, managed to hook up an electric water heater, so year-round hot water! You might not want to use it in the winter, though, since it’s more-or-less an outdoor shower (a little shed next to the house). We saw all the animals - 4 sheep, 2 pigs, 1 goat, a bunch of rabbits, and about 7 or 8 turkeys. He’s becoming quite the farmer! Sunday I picked fresh vegetables from the garden while Igor and Dad grilled a rabbit and Nina made ukha, a traditional fish soup that fisherman usually make after a successful catch. the guys only managed to catch 3 dinky little fish that morning in the nearby river, so Nina supplemented with a quick run to the fish market.

We had a leisurely lunch sitting in the yard, enjoying the lovely weather and good company. The drive that evening back to Kyiv was perfect - hardly any traffic at all. Dad opted to come back with us instead of staying in the village with Ivan. I’m not surprised, 2 days is usually my limit, too, and I can understand what everyone is saying! We’ll be back there several times in the coming weeks, so plenty of time to get more village-life experience.

Oh, and the muffler on the car finally crapped out. It’s been coming on for a while, we could tell, and last week’s trip to Andrei and Natasha’s dacha for the wedding party was the last straw, I think. The roads to get there were just awful, and the undercarriage of the car got banged hard a couple of times (it’s really low to the ground - not a good car for Ukrainian village roads!). We tried to find a working mechanic in Korosten on the weekend, but no such luck. A friend of Igor’s looked at it, though, and the good news is that it’s nothing dangerous or horrible. The bad news is it’s damn loud and a bit embarrassing driving down the street. We got back to Kyiv a bit deaf but otherwise in good shape. One more project for this week…

It’s the middle of the night and I’m wide awake. There’s nobody to talk to, online or in person.

The internet “master” came on Tuesday to work his magic and connect Dad’s computer to our wireless network. Also hooked up mine. So we now each have our own computer with internet connection. It’s quite a scam they have going, that internet company. Even my MacBook, which normally finds all internet connections by itself and automatically connects, couldn’t even see our wireless network. You have to have the technician come to your house, for 60 UAH, and do some mysterious thing on your computer to get connected. But we’re all hooked up now, and don’t have to talk to each other, we can just communicate via chat and Skype.

I’m really stressing about the apartment thing. Igor spent all morning checking out ads and calling landlords and real estate agents. We quickly realized we had to up our price range, and now are practically at the price our current landlady wants. I’m so angry and disgusted with her, though, that I can’t bring myself to call her and discuss staying here. Man, it’s frightening to think of paying a full 50% of my monthly income just for rent. I like volunteering, and I love what I’m doing, but I’m starting to think it’s time to get back into a job that actually has a real salary. I set out in 2004 to volunteer in Peace Corps for 2 years, and here I am four years later still volunteering. I don’t have any regrets at all, all the choices I made were the right ones. But money is on my mind more and more, and it’s time to start earning some again. Not just for our immediate needs, but also for the future.

In other news, I can’t find the battery charger cable for my camera. It’s possible I left it in the U.S., but Dad says he didn’t see it in his house. My camera is a completely useless hunk of metal without the battery charger. I did find in Dad’s house, though, the USB cable for downloading from my camera. Dad must have accidentally packed it up in January. One mystery solved. The absence of that cable had also left the camera more or less useless, but we eventually solved the problem by buying a card reader. That was an adventure, since of course I have the one type of camera that uses a very particular type of memory card and I had to go to about 8 different stores in Kyiv to find a card reader, and ultimately had to spend something like $30 for one. I’m not optimistic about finding a new battery charger.

Actually, I’m not optimistic about much of anything at the moment. It may have something to do with the fact that it’s 5:00 am and I’ve been up for nearly 2 hours. Not a good time of day for me.

The old man arrived in Kyiv a couple hours ago - with two beautiful bottles of Jameson’s for me! He’s with us for the next six weeks. Well, partly with us in Kyiv and partly with Igor’s parents in the village and probably with us on some trips if we can get them organized.

We’re looking forward to checking out some different sites in Kyiv - it’s always good motivation to do some sight seeing when we have company. Dad’s seen pretty much all the highlights, so we’ll dig deeper into some of the less known places, I hope.

Did we say we were ready for some changes? Holy cow, are we ever gonna have some. Our lease ends in August, and the landlady dropped a real bomb on us last night. I knew she’d want to raise the rent, but I wasn’t prepared for her expectations. Not fifty bucks, not one hundred bucks, but a whopping three hundred dollars! That’s not only completely out of our price range, it’s also just an absurd amount of money to pay for this apartment. Even if I had the means, on principle alone I would never pay that much. But it’s not about principles, it’s about our budget. So, we’re looking for a new place to live. Any leads would be most welcome!

Wow, did we ever take the Declutter Challenge to heart today! I tackled the balcony and the cupboard in the living room, Igor worked on the hallway closet. We’ve both been working on the clothes and shoes for awhile. So today we had lots for the dumpster, and about 4 bags of clothes and shoes for the Missionaries of Charity. We’re cheating a bit on one thing - taking a box of dishes to Igor’s parents house to store in their attic.

We managed to create 4 clean shelves! 2 will be Dad’s during the rest of the summer. The other two were packed back up tight, but with things we relocted from other more useful spaces - like under the kitchen sink.

And all of this was after starting another change - getting back to exercise. I was doing pretty good for 6 or 7 months working out about twice a week with a friend and a personal trainer. But I haven’t been since early May, and since I don’t see any free weekends for the next couple of months, it’s unlikely I’ll get back into that routine. But we both have been feeling flabby and fat. Igor impressed the heck out of me by getting up early last Monday and going for a jog. He did it again 2 more times during the week, and this morning I joined him. I haven’t been running in nearly 4 years, but boy did it feel good. Hard!, but good. There’s a small track near us, so we jogged there, and I think altogether I ran about 1.5 km, plus I walked a couple times around the track. We came back and did sit-ups and push-ups, and then tackled the cleaning! It was definitely too much for the first day, and I know I’ll be hurting tomorrow, but it feels good to start exercising again. And I love that Igor suggested doing it together - one thing I really disliked about going to the trainer’s was giving up my Saturday and Sunday mornings with Igor. But this is a great way for us to spend time together, and to support each other in getting in better shape. I hope we can keep it up!

We’re in the mood for change lately, and Igor started with shaving off his goatee. He looks much younger to me without it. He also threw away the rose petals I had in a dish in the bathroom, from a rose he once gave me. I was a sad about it, but he said “something” was living in there, so it was definitely the right choice.

I’ve been inspired reading about Ukrainiac’s Declutter Challenge. I don’t think I’m ready to accept the challenge on a daily basis, but I have been much more conscious of what we have in our small apartment - what we need and what we don’t. The new clothes we bought in the US went into the closet only when old stuff that we don’t wear anymore came out. We’ve got a big bag of clothes for the Missionaries of Charities. Next step will be do clean up the balcony/storage space. Yikes, that’s going to be challenging.

We need some change in our life, and the best way to spark change is to initiate it. Let’s hope it will catch on- in a good way!

Isn’t it funny how something wonderful comes along right when you need it? Like the great news I got last night after my depressing funk about maniac drivers.

Petya and Marina got married!!!

Dad picked them up on Sunday and brought them back to Columbus, where they will live for the rest of their summer Work and Travel program. He took them to the courthouse Monday morning to find if they could get married in the US, and if so how. Turned out the answer was Yes and they could do it right away! I am so so happy for them.

We will also be sharing in another wonderful happy moment this weekend - Igor’s cousin Andrei is finally marrying his girlfriend of many years, Natasha. Andrei was best man at our wedding. They will have the civil ceremony on Saturday (just them and the witnesses), with the church wedding and small party on Sunday. We are honored to be included among the few people who get to share this important day in their lives with them.

Nothing like a wedding to make you feel positive again.

Jayne is blogging about bombings in Afghanistan, and I can’t get out of my mind the different kind of terrorism we have in Ukraine - the murderous drivers. I’ve seen more than my share of the horrible aftermaths of reckless driving, from mangled and burnt cars to once a whole carload of chicken parts splayed across the road from what had once been the back end of a car.

I saw the worst I’ve even seen on Saturday. Stuck in one traffic jam, I tried an alternate route only to end up in another traffic jam. I learned soon enough what was the problem - two people in the middle of the road, in pools of blood. I drove slowly past, my hands shaking and vision clouded by tears. I noticed a woman standing nearby crying, and a man talking on his cell phone. Calling an ambulance, I hope. There was a plastic bag a couple lanes away from them - was it their’s? Had they been crossing the street to the riverside park? Or perhaps, having had a fun afternoon with friends, they were crossing back to find their car and head home? Were they holding hands when they crossed? Were they laughing about the great day they had had, or were going to have? I saw both of them move slightly, so I know at least at that moment I was passing by they were alive. Are they today? Or did their suffering end on that road?

It was a bad choice to cross the busy road where they did, no doubt. But I can also imagine the maniac driver who slammed into them. Possibly the same one who swerved in front of me later that day because he just had to be in front of me even though there was a semi-truck barreling down in the oncoming lane, forcing the asshole to cut me off so he could squeeze in between me and the next car (and it wasn’t that I was going slow - it was a freaking traffic jam!). Or maybe it was the driver who zoomed past me on the right-hand berm because there was already a car passing me on the left (again in a traffic jam). Or the SUV that nearly slammed into me, flashing his lights and screeching his horn at me because I had the nerve to “only” be going 130 km/hour on the highway. Or maybe it was the guy who flew around the line of stopped cars at a traffic light in the center of Kyiv, driving not only in the lane for oncoming traffic but right across the intersection against the red light. Didn’t even slow down to look for cars or pedestrians.

I hate them. I hate all the selfish, thoughtless assholes. I often tell people that Ukraine is a good place to live because it is relatively safe - no wars, very little crime, rare natural disasters. But the terrorist drivers are forcing me to change my tune. You take your life in your hands on the streets here. You’re not even safe on the sidewalks, where cars drive if the traffic is jammed on the street or, god forbid, just not moving fast enough for the Special Ones. I would happily give them all Darwin Awards, except they don’t just weed themselves out of the gene pool; they have a nasty tendency to take others out with them. Like suicide terrorists. And also like many suicide terrorists, what they hope to accomplish is incomprehensible.

The past week is a blur. I remember the major outline, but the details are lost. We landed in Kyiv Monday morning and I was in the office by lunchtime. I finally stumbled home about 9pm, after several meetings to confirm plans for the regional workshop we were hosting in Kyiv, with about 40 people attending from all over Eastern Europe and the CIS, 1-3 July. I changed our vacation plans to be in Kyiv for this workshop, and although I really hate that we missed 4th of July in Columbus, it was important to be here for this event, even if I wasn’t anywhere near my best for most of it.

Tuesday morning Igor and I were both wide awake at 4:00 am, and finally decided to get up and go to the grocery store around 4:30. First time we’ve never had to wait in line there! I was at the workshop early, and had a long spacey day. Despite being exhausted all day, I suddenly was wide awake once I got home and couldn’t sleep hardly all night. Wednesday was similar, but I really wanted to visit with my UNV colleagues so I pushed through a long evening and had some friends over for dinner. The workshop wrapped up on Thursday, and we had a nice reception in the evening for everyone. I regretted leaving early, but I was near dead from exhaustion.

Friday we had an important meeting with the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport about a project I’ve been developing for most of the past year. The project was approved! Just need to finalize the financing, which should happen next week. So, I could finally relax Friday afternoon. I met up with a couple UNV colleagues for a quick beer.

For the first time in 3 years, I was invited to the big Independence Day party at the American Ambassador’s residence. Although I was still really pooped, and was hosting a colleague overnight in Kyiv, I felt I just couldn’t pass up the invitation. It was a fun event, and I enjoyed spending a couple hours with American friends and making some new acquaintances. After that party, I met up with some UNV colleagues for a late night. We stumbled home around 1 am (I think) and collapsed.

Igor went to Korosten on Tuesday, planning to be there a day or two, but that turned into the whole week. After seeing my UNV colleagues off to the airport, I drove to Korosten to finally visit with his family and friends. I had really been looking forward to listening to Igor tell everyone about our trip to the US. I love to listen to him tell stories, for one thing, but also I learn a lot more about his impressions and perceptions when he tells other people about what we’ve done and where we’ve been. Unfortunately, I missed most of his stories this time since he’d been there a week and seen most everybody by the time I got to Korosten. I did hear a couple stories, though - like how awesome Niagara Falls are, and that Ohio is a great place for retirement ’cause everything is set up for comfort (drive-thru banking, drive-up drop off for the library, etc). Igor was also immensely impressed with the vast array of gardening tools my Dad has - a tool for every task, he said.

We had dinner with Igor’s family, then rushed off to meet up with some friends who were waiting for us at their dacha outside Korosten. I was driving, which meant I didn’t have quite as much fun as everyone else, but I honestly didn’t mind the excuse to not have to drink vodka. Time to dry out for a bit.

We slept like the dead Saturday night, and for the first time in weeks I felt like I had a full night’s sleep. We woke up at 9:30 - jumped up is more like it, since we had an appointment at 10. Neither of us could believe we’d slept for over 10 hours! After running some errands, we spent an hour or so picking raspberries and blueberries in the yard - yum! There are still some cherries on the trees, but we decided to pass this time. Igor’s mom made a fabulous spread for lunch (as usual), with the highlight being vareniki (dumplings) with cherries, blueberries and mullberries. We stopped by Igor’s college roommate’s house on the way to Kyiv to visit them and Igor’s godson, and of course a “quick stop” turned into an hour and a half and another bursting table of goodies. We finally made it home around 7:30. The first time in nearly a month when we are home alone, and what do we do? I start the laundry and he starts scrapping the ice out of our crappy freezer - the things that desperately need to get done but we haven’t had time to do for ages. Finally we settle down, open a bottle of wine, and he’s watching boxing while I catch up on my blog.

It hardly seems like we were in Columbus just a week ago.

two weeks have flown by.

We spent 2 days last week with my Moldovan friend Petya and his girlfriend Marina. Petya lived in Tvarditsa, and was my good friend and walking buddy in the village. He’s studying at a university not far from Moscow now, and met there the love of his life, Marina, who ironically grew up in a village not far from Tvarditsa. They had to go to university in Russia to meet each other! They are spending the summer on a Work and Travel program, and managed to get jobs in Ohio working concessions on the fair circuit. Not glamorous work, but they are getting quite the tour of small town America. We picked them up last Sunday and brought them to Columbus for the night. How strange and wonderful to meet my Tvarditsa friend in my hometown! We had a really good time with them.

Tuesday we took a long walk through the neighborhood, bought Igor an album for his growing collection of state quarters, and bought him a couple of buffalo steaks. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed admiring the lovely yards everywhere. We sat in a little park for a break, and to look through Igor’s growing collection of state quarters. Man, those things were getting heavy to be carrying around! Later in the week we found an album for him, and I thought it was going to be permanently attached to him. We were down to five missing quarters as of Saturday afternoon - which included 3 quarters that haven’t been minted yet, or at least that’s what I thought. That little genius Tyler showed at Dad’s birthday party with THREE of the missing quarters - including Arizona, which we didn’t know was available! So Igor brought back a near-complete set of state quarters, and next year we’ll have a good time finishing it up with Alaska and Hawaii.

Later in the day, Igor and Dad did a lot of yard work, while Tyler and I worked inside the house. She got an urge to bake, or more preciously she got an urge to eat sugar cookies so we baked a big batch of them, plus a pan of brownies. Yum!

In the early evening we went to the pool and we could finally make use of our new bathing suits. In Ukraine, all the women - no matter what age, no matter how big - all wear two-piece bathing suits. And the men all wear little Speedo-like things. I was very uncomfortable the first few times I went to beaches here, not being used to seeing so much skin and sometimes “too much information.” But after a bit I started to feel uncomfortable because I felt like I stuck out being the only person in a one-piece bathing suit. After one of my trips home I brought back with me the two-piece I bought at the peak of my Weight Watchers success, when I was feeling really great about my body. I had worn it maybe once or twice in the US but always felt self-conscious. Here in Ukraine, even with 15 pounds of weight regained, I feel really comfortable in my two-piece. And it’s so nice to be around people who don’t have so many body-image hang-ups, at least not on the beach. But as we planned for this trip to the US, I told Igor that I needed to get a new, one-piece bathing suit. He was really confused, and none of my attempts to explain why I just cannot wear a two-piece in the US seemed to help him. The matter was made even worse when I told him that he would have to get a new bathing suit, too, because he would not be able to wear his Speedo-like suit, at least not in Columbus. I think he thought I was kidding until I told him that I heard on an NPR podcast that a man was fined in Florida for wearing a Speedo (granted, I heard it on “Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me!”, which happens to be my main source of news these days). So our first day in Columbus he bought an “American” bathing suit, which he proceeded to wear as shorts for the next two weeks. When we finally went swimming Tuesday evening, he hated it - hated the feel of the shorts in the water, the way the poofed up, and he kept feeling like they were going to fall off.

Wednesday I saw “Sex and the City” with Cheria. Awesome movie! Thursday we drove down to Athens to visit Jenny and her family. I always forget how beautiful southern Ohio is, and Igor enjoyed the scenery as much as I did. Friday morning we got up early and drove west to Serpent Mound. It wasn’t as big as we had expected, but then again, after Niagara Falls nothing seems particularly big. Some of the Ohio Indian mounds are to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list, and since they are really special and unique, I thought it would be cool to visit them with Igor. We then took a leisurely drive along country roads back up to Columbus, stopping at a couple other state parks along the way. We also stopped at an Amish store, and Igor was thrilled to see some Amish people - “The only Americans who live like Ukrainians,” he said.

Friday night was a fabulous dinner at Madeleine and Dick’s with family and friends. Saturday morning we packed, which wasn’t nearly as bad as we’d expected. I should have brought another person along with me ages ago! The extra two bags made such a huge difference.

And then Saturday evening was Dad’s really nice birthday party. Lots of his friends and neighbors. And at the end of the evening he decided to crack open a 17-year old bottle of Armenia cognac he’s been saving for years. Wow, was it every awesome!

Sunday morning came much too quickly. Dad made his famous pancakes, and Scott, Carina, Tayler and Tyle r came over to visit a few more minutes with us. Cheria and Jahi met us at the airport for final goodbyes.

We are both so full of impressions, both of us still sorting them out. I was so happy when Igor said he’d really enjoyed the trip, everything we did and everyone we met. I enjoyed the washer and dryer, and having clothes cleaned and dried in under 90 minutes. We both enjoyed the convenience and ease of everything. We took Petya to the bank to open an account, and as we left he told me he couldn’t believe how nice the banker was - “They would never be nice to you in Russian,” he said. Yes, customer service is pretty darn good in the U.S. I like being able to pay everywhere with my debit card, but it’s also nice to use cash and never had problems getting change- never once did anyone yell at me to dig in my purse for coins because there wasn’t enough change in the till or the cashier didn’t want to be bothered counting out change. I love the ease and ability to recycle (it’s so painful to put paper in the trash can in Ukraine!).

There were some not-so-great things too. The fruits and vegetables taste like crap, there’s just no other word for it. Fresh Ukrainian produce beats the US hands-down. I missed having a beer during a leisurely walk on a hot day. Heck, I missed walking! Too much driving in the US. I was embarrassed by the number of just down right huge people that Igor noticed and pointed out to me. He was especially shocked to see obese people on their motorized chairs in the grocery store. He was also floored when I told him we couldn’t just go to the pharmacy and buy some antibiotics for his sinus infection, that instead it would involve a doctor’s appointment and a prescription.

Overall though, it was a wonderful two weeks. Lots of good times, lots of good food; great friends, great family. That’s what it’s all really about.

The old man turns 65 today. He’s throwing himself a heck of a party - now if only the rain would stop so the fun can really start!

Wish Mom was here to celebrate with us.

We’re having a great time being here. Niagara Falls was truly spectacular. On Tuesday we rode the Maid of the Mist and did the Caves of the Wind walk under the falls. It was so fun to see the look on Igor’s face - so thrilled to be there, so in awe.

Wednesday we took my nieces to Ohio State and walked around campus, visiting friends in different buildings. Thursday we drove to Ft. Wayne to visit Tanya, and we came back to Columbus on Friday in time for an evening at Club Diversity with chocolate martinis. Saturday was another Eddie Bauer Warehouse excursion, followed by a fabulous cook-out at Scott and Carina’s house. Even a thunderstorm couldn’t stop us from having a great time!

Food fantasies indulged:
Igor - steak, steak and more steak. He bought the biggest hunks of meat I have ever seen. One guy at the cook-out stopped dead in his tracks by the grill and said “What is that? Is that meat?”
Ann - chocolate martinis (Igor loved them too), Mike’s Hard Pomegranate Lemonade, more chips and salsa and various yummy dips.

We had brought a bottle of balsam from Crimea to share at the cookout. It’s a kind of liquor, made from something like 27 different herbs, and is supposed to be good for your health. You can put it in tea, or mix it with vodka. Igor was a hit at the cookout making cocktails for everyone to try the balsam and vodka. After one small drink, my 6′6″ brother stood up and said “Holy cow, I’ve got a buzz! What the heck is in that?” Somehow in our explanations of how great it is for you, we must have forgotten to point out it’s 80 proof, so mixed with vodka it’s a damn strong drink! Lots of people asked where they could buy it, but I doubt it’s sold here.

Igor’s playing Wii with the twins now. So funny.

We had a FANTASTIC time at Niagara Falls. We rode the Maid of the Mist, did the Cave of the Winds tour, and filled the camera memory card in less than 4 hours. I’ll post more photos later. We also drove up to Lake Ontario to Fort Niagara, which was really cool.

More food fantasies were indulged.
Igor: steak, yam (first one in his life), more Guinness beer, bacon.
Ann: Ceasar salads (2), pomegranate martini, tiny little burrito-like things that were fried (brilliant!), salt water taffy (bought it, haven’t eaten it yet), Morningstar soy-sausage breakfast patties, English muffins (about 8), more chips and salsa.

After looking at me in my cute new Eddie Bauer clothes for 3 days, Igor admitted he’s ready to go back to the warehouse store and actually look for himself now. I’ve converted him!

Some photos from the weekend cook-outs.

Igor admiring Dad’s grilling technique.

Scott and Igor

Tyler - what a cutie!

Igor the Master Chef

The shaskliki were a big hit

Birdnest in Dad’s backyard

Nothing like being the only boy at a party full of girls

As we were nearing the Niagara Falls area, Igor pointed to a place ahead of us and asked “What is all the smoke from?”
“It’s not smoke,” I told him, “it’s mist from the Falls.” Awe and wonder began to set in.

In addition to getting my Eddie Bauer fix, I have also been indulging in all my favorite and sorely-missed foods. I was in Columbus barely 12 hours before I asked Dad to take us to Graeter’s for THE best ice cream in the world - and not a prune or raisin anywhere near! (I’ll never understand why Ukrainians think prunes go well with ice cream.) I had a giant scoop of delicious cookies ‘n cream - now there’s a great combination that desperately needs to be introduced to Ukrainian ice cream makers!

I’ve also had lots of chips and salsa, baba ganoush, hummus (multiple varieties), Starbucks mocha frappuccino, and blueberry pancakes.

We had a great cook-out on Sunday at my Dad’s house. Several friends who came to Ukraine in December for our wedding joined us, and it was nice for Igor to have some familiar friends to talk to. He was busy most of the time, though, cooking shashliki - pork, beef and vegetable varieties on an open wood fire. Everybody raved about how great they were, but I think he won’t do that again during this trip. He was way too occupied with the slow and tedious process, and didn’t get to socialize with folks much.

Today we drove to Niagara Falls. It’s a pity we didn’t plan better and apply for a Canadian visa for Igor so we could enjoy the amazing view from the other side. But the American side is pretty damn impressive too. We arrived too late today to do the boat or cave excursions, but we’ll do them tomorrow morning. We got lots of fantastic photos, plus a couple cool videos.

We hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast at Bob Evan’s, so by 7:30 pm we were damn ready for some dinner. We had wanted to eat at the Top of the Falls restaurant, but we were quite disappointed to find out it closed at 6. We ended up at Hard Rock Cafe, which was great. If I’ve been talking for months about clothes shopping, Igor has been talking for months about getting “real American steak.” Poor guy, it took three days to finally get one! He had the same look on his face after inhaling his New York Prime Steak as I think I had after my shopping spree at Eddie Bauer warehouse - a much needed and totally satisfying fix.

I’m too tired now to wait for all the photos to upload. I’ll write more later, and will post some photos here too.

We are in Ohio! After nearly 24 hours of travel time, numerous delays, and some tense moments in JFK airport, we made it to Columbus late Friday evening, with everything except one suitcase. Fortunately the bag with most of our clothes made it to Columbus, but the bag with most of the presents spent the night in New York and was delivered to us on Saturday afternoon.

Igor was really impressed with Dad’s backyard - it really is a beautiful place full of blooming flowers, shady trees, a little fish pond, and lots and lots of birds. By Saturday afternoon, Igor had announced that he will move to America if he can live in Dad’s backyard.

Shopping was first on the To Do list, as we had brought very little with us (on purpose!). A quick trip to Target for some toiletries ended up being an hour, but Igor got a bathing suit and looked through jeans. He told us how in Soviet times there were three brands of jeans that everyone knew and wanted - Lee, Levi’s and Wrangler. When he saw Wrangler’s on sale for $15, he was thrilled. I suspect we’ll be taking several pairs back to Ukraine with us.

We then went to a local market and got some pork and other cook-out essentials. Igor is going to cook shashliki for our cookout on Sunday, kind of like ke-bobs. Our last shopping adventure for the day was the best shop on earth, the Eddie Bauer Warehouse. I was not disappointed! We spent about an hour there, which was pushing Igor to his limits for shopping for one day. The men’s clothes weren’t on such a great sale, but the women’s summer shirts, skirts and dresses were fantastic. When we finally dragged our haul out to the car and were ready to head back home, Igor asked me if I was satisfied. I look at him with a huge smile and said it felt like I’d just shot up with the best dope around - man, did I ever need an Eddie Bauer fix!

We spent the rest of the afternoon at my brother’s birthday cook-out. He and his family moved into our grandma’s house last summer, and it was the first time I’d seen the place since Grandma died. They’ve done a fantastic job sprucing the place up, and yet have kept a lot of Grandma’s things and it all looks great together. The yard is also beautiful, and Scott told us his plans for the backyard that sound really awesome.

Most of the people at the cookout were Scott and Carina’s friends, of course, but Clintonville is small and our lives and friends overlap in many ways here. My classmate Bob lives a couple houses down from Scott, and I was really happy to see him, his wife Jane and their 5 kids when they mosey over. Bob and I went to school together from 1st to 12th grades, and he grew up across the street from Grandma’s house. We don’t know if we knew each other before 1st grade, but it’s very likely we did.

By 7:30 Igor and I were both ready to fall asleep in our beers, so we decided to walk home. We laid in bed for a bit, listening to the birds sing and really enjoying the peace and quiet. Igor said he’d never imagined it could be so lovely in a city. I’m so glad we came in the summer. I’m so glad we are here. I’m so glad Igor is here with me and that he likes it!

We’re sitting in Kyiv airport waiting for our flight to the US! The plane arrived late this morning, so our departure is delayed by 4 hours. I knew I booked a long layover in JFK for a good reason! The airline folks assure us 2 hours will be enough to get through customs and make our flight to Columbus. Let’s hope so!

The other reason I booked a long layover was to have a quick visit with my Peace Corps/Moldova friend Joanna. She lives in New York City now, and was going to come hang out with us at the airport for a few hours. I’m really, really sad I won’t be able to see her today.

On another note, Boryspil airport has radically changed in just the past 3 weeks since I flew to Georgia. The security and passport control have been totally rearranged, and now you can’t bring a bottle of water in the waiting lounge with you anymore. Of course, as soon as I don’t have a bottle of water handy, I instantly am parched and can think of nothing else except a drink of water.

After almost 3 hours waiting in various lines, we are finally sitting by the gate. Only 2 more hours to go until take-off!

I gave blood today! In honor of World Blood Donor Day (June 14), the United Nations in Ukraine organized a blood drive at a Kyiv hospital.

I love giving blood. It’s such a simple thing to do, and yet is so important and valuable. In the U.S., I gave blood fairly regularly, 2-3 times a year. I have an America Red Cross Volunteer Blood Donor Card, which documents my donations in 2003 and 2004. I still carry the card with me, mostly because it lists my blood type on it, and I was excited to get to add another date today. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the last time I gave blood in Columbus was June 5, 2004 - so it’s been exactly 4 years since my last donation! The nurses were really impressed with my “fancy” blood donor card, which I guess they don’t have here in Ukraine. They proudly told me about the special recognition given to people who donate 40 times, though.

The whole experience was pretty much like in the US, although a lot faster. Some questionnaires and numerous forms to be signed, as in the US. I was surprised only by the question of how much blood I wanted to donate - 250 milliliters, 350 ml, or 450 ml. I don’t remember what the standard donation is in the US, but I opted for 350 ml today. The nurse pricked my finger and did a blood type test (they had to confirm it themselves). Then I had a cup of juice and a roll before giving blood - in the US we always got our snack only after giving blood.

Finally I was ready to start bleeding. I was led into a small room with two tables arranged end to end along a glass wall with small open windows mid-way up. I laid down on one table and stuck my arm through the window, and the nurse on the other side of the wall began to prep my arm. Kind of a strange arrangement, it seemed to me. I always liked to watch the progress of the bag filling up with blood, but with this set-up I couldn’t see the bag at all so had no sense of my progress. I was quite surprised when the nurse announced I was done after about 5 or 7 minutes. My blood had always flowed slowly when I gave in the US and it always seemed to take me a long time to fill my bag. Maybe they took a larger amount in the US? Or maybe my blood was just being speedy today.

A nurse tied a hell of a tourniquet/bandage on my arm, and held on to me as I sat up and then stood up to make sure I wasn’t faint. I felt fine, and she led me back out to the reception area, where another nurse gave me a bag of “souvenirs”, as she called it. A box of juice and a chocolate bar!

My Ukrainian colleagues were very interested to know how this experience compared to giving blood in the US. Several of them were first time blood donors, and we talked about how it’s not so common to do in Ukraine as in the US. I was impressed to learn that Ukrainian legislation allows for a person to take 2 days off from work after giving blood, as a measure to encourage more blood donation. 2 days seems a bit excessive to me, but it’s a great idea to give someone a half- for full day off as an incentive. I was skeptical whether bosses and companies would really follow the policy, though, but my colleagues said they know companies that really do give the 2 days off. Pretty cool.

It’s so easy to give blood. I encourage everyone to check with their local Red Cross or hospital to find out where they can donate.

Here’s me and my colleague Anna, 350 ml of blood lighter.

Check out the UN photo gallery and photos, and more photos here.

We are going to Korosten for the weekend to visit Igor’s family - last chance before we head to the States next Friday.

I always enjoy visiting them, and I’ve missed them since the last time we were there. But man am I tired. I was trying to remember last night when was the last weekend I was just plain at home, and I don’t know. Igor couldn’t remember either. And I don’t know when will be the next weekend when we will just lounge around and be couch potatoes together. I know I do it to myself - I can’t sit still for long!

In other news, Igor shaved the cat again. Not as bad as the first time we did, but still lightyears away from the beautiful sleek creature that the salon would return to us. She seems happy enough with either style - elegant “booties” on her feet and a poof on her tail or bits and patches of fur here and there. He did a good job around her face, I give him credit for that, so if you can manage to just look at her adorable face and ignore the rather pathetic body, she’s lovely. Otherwise, you can’t help but laugh. And now that she’s not roasting in her fur coat, she’s all lovey-dovey again, sleeping under the covers with us, constantly on my lap snuggling. She’s purring up a storm at the moment. Oh how I love it.