MoldovAnn

It’s snowing today. Geez. You can imagine, I’m sure, my disappointment.

My colleague, Sergei, and I are going to a weekend seminar on developing tourism in Ukraine, and it’s being held at a campsite in the forest north of Kiev. As I packed last night, I threw in a short-sleeve shirt “just in case.” So, I’m hurriedly re-packing this morning, swapping the cotton socks for wool ones, t-shirt for sweatshirt.

Sergei has assured me the cabins where we’ll be staying will be heated and are well-equipped for all “usual services.” He specifically pointed out that the toilets are, indeed, indoors. I curious to see what this place really turns out to be, and I have my suspicions about the quality of the infrastructure, especially since the nearby village I visited last week has no connection to the natural gas lines and no running water. Well, as usual, I’ll be quite overpacked compared to my Ukrainian colleagues, but I’m going to shoot for “better safe than sorry” today, and plan for the most basic of conditions.

It’s a pity about the weather, though, as we had all been looking forward to a lot of time outdoors this weekend. Sergei is an enthusiastic outdoorsman, and has been talking all week about his fishing plans after the meetings. I wonder if he likes to ice fish, too?