This trip I have noticed that there is hand sanitizer absolutely everywhere, dispensers on walls in stores, the doctor’s office, even next to the pump at the gas station. I’m all for cleanliness, but this obsession seems a bit out of control, if you ask me.

Julee invited me to their Girl Scout meeting Tuesday afternoon and talking with the girls and answering their questions about life in Ukraine was fun and boosted my lagging energy. Dinner with Julee and the girls was also a blast – as always, Julee’s memory for details can’t be beat and we had awesome tacos and burritos! So many cravings indulged in one day…

And one really delightful discovery at my dad’s house. Despite my vow to myself to not spend my vacation cleaning, I did have to make at least one room livable for me for the week. I vacuumed the carpet and changed the sheets – and found in the linen closet the beautiful quilt my grandma made nearly 30 years ago! The last time I had seen it was in her house, after she died. Shortly after my brother moved in there, I asked him if he had the quilt, but he couldn’t remember seeing it. We thought it may have accidentally been sold at a garage sale. I was heartbroken that Grandma’s beautiful handiwork was lost to us. So the highlight of this entire trip will certainly be finding the lovely pink and white quilt in the linen closet, a treasure long thought lost! She always sewed by hand, and her delicate and even stitching is just amazing to me.

US: ice and its easy availability (hotel ice machines rock, bags of ice you can buy in grocery stores are bee’s knees).

Ukraine: the free luggage carts at Boryspil airport; the way drivers thank each other on the road by flashing their hazards a couple of times (like if you move over towards the berm to let someone pass you on a narrow road) – one of the only polite things drivers do on the roads here.

What are your favorite things?

I always answer the Ukrainian question by saying “Some things are better in Ukraine, some are better in the US”, which opens the door for me to comment on a few of the areas where the average Ukrainian could contribute to improving society: litter, reckless and dangerous driving, smoking, etc. Being in the US for a month recently, I was asked several times about what I like better about life in Ukraine, and I talked about the delicious, truly organic food, the safety, the freedom. While it wouldn’t hurt to have a few more regulations in some areas (consumer protection, for example), I don’t get a 12-inch long receipt from a Ukrainian store with extensive warnings that are common sense and detailed outlines of how they are NOT liable for anything at all. I think we’ve gone off the deep end in the US trying to shirk all responsibility for anything and everything. Don’t get me wrong, Ukrainians don’t like to take responsibility either, that seems to be human nature. But at least they haven’t codified it in the law and the lawyers haven’t created a whole industry of trying to make someone else pay for the fact I spilled my hot coffee or I don’t know how to properly use a toothbrush.

Anyway, before I digress any further, I thought I’d share the non-comprehensive lists of things Igor and I love in both countries. We’ll keep adding to it as things come to my mind, and please feel free to leave comments about what you love too! (And if anyone knows how to insert a table or columns in a WordPress post so these can be side-by-side lists, please email me.)

United States

Ukraine

I’m slowly getting photos uploaded, but haven’t had a chance to add descriptions yet. The new underwater camera has provided some extra fun; check the photos from Elk Grove and Phoenix.

Some highlights of the trip so far:
Igor ate his first taco (liked it) and taco salad (loved it).

We drank a yard of margarita in Las Vegas, and have been drinking them most nights ever since.

Igor bought real cowboy boots in Carson City.

We sat RIGHT NEXT to sea lions on the wharf in Monterey, and got a great video of a sea otter dining on a crab.

I’m about ready to again live with closets and not out of a suitcase (but not entirely ready).

Photos to come…

Wednesday was the Country Fair at NAFSA, one of the best parts of the entire conference (IMHO). EducationUSA advisers from over 130 countries decorated booths, dressed in traditional costumes and met with thousands of university representatives who are interested to recruit international students.

We had an Armenian princess

And some Russian ones too

And of course a great team from Ukraine

It was the first opportunity I’ve had to wear my embroidered shirt from Kosiv (western UKraine).

Several of the US university reps thought I was Ukrainian, since I was wearing the shirt, and I even was complimented on my good English!

The full set of photos are on Flickr.

This week, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia all celebrated their Independence Days. I was invited to a reception hosted by the Consul General of Azerbaijan last night. Wow, what a spread! And it was exciting to learn so much about the country. Did you know Azerbaijan was the first secular Muslim-majority country in the world? It had a brief indepence for 22-months in 1918-1919 before the Bolsheviks took over and incorporated it into the Soviet Union.

But first we went to The Getty.

Look at that gorgeous blue sky!

I was bummed we couldn’t stroll on the beach with a nice cold beer, but margaritas and nachos with an ocean view was a pretty good substitution!

Full photo set is on Flickr.

And now we are counting down to the day he meets me in LA and we start a much needed and long anticipated FABULOUS vacation! The conference is great, don’t get me wrong; it’s wonderful to see my colleagues, meet new people and learn so much, but I am looking forward to putting it all behind me and hitting the road with my wonderful husband for three weeks of rest, relaxation, good food, interesting sites and new adventures. One week to go!

Woke up at 5 am. Man, I really need to sleep some more but now I’m wide awake. Gonna be a long day!

I think this was the first time I’ve flown on Air France – aside from the stressful check-in at JFK, they were great. The vegetarian dinner was really good, with fresh rolls and good wine. Like on many flights now, each passenger had their own TV screen. But instead of one or two prescribed films, each person could choose their own movie from a pretty big selection. Since I’m so out-of-touch, I usually don’t know anything about the movies if they are less than a year old. I watched Marley and Me because I love Owen Wilson – he was good, but I still don’t understand what the movie wanted to be about and who wants to be crying on an airplane? Then I watched Revolutionary Road – great acting, but also not really what I would have thought of as first choice for a flight. I finally skimmed through the Comedy and Drama category – Nights in Rodanthe and a couple others I don’t recall right now but remember thinking “Lord, are there any movies without someone dying at the end?” But still, Air France was great.

It was a lovely 18C when I landed, sunny and beautiful. I sat out on our balcony for the first time, enjoying the sunshine and Sunday comics that Dad sent home with me – while Igor cooked up a batch of green borscht with the fresh sorrel he brought back from Korosten this weekend. With a dash of green Tabasco sauce – ah, the perfect blend of hot and sour! I enjoyed the food fest that is the US, but nothing beats Igor’s home cooking.

Pepette had another freak-out while I was gone. Her last one (and actually the first one) was in October 2007, also coincidentally when I was away on a business trip. She was hysterical, growling, screeching, acting like she not only did she not know Igor but like he was Enemy Number 1 who must be eliminated immediately. She actually bit him quite seriously before he managed to get her isolated in a spare room, where she spent most of the past week. She was calm when I got home, so I let her out for a bit when Igor went to the store. She’s still anxious and a bit nervous, and she seems hyper-sensitive to what are normal common sounds in our apartment – like water running through the pipes from upstairs neighbors. She was fine for awhile when Igor returned from the store, but when she did finally growl at him again, I herded her back into the spare room. We let her out again in the evening, and she even sat with me on the couch, snuggled under the blanket for a bit, but it seemed like she just couldn’t relax. When this happened before, the vet we took her couldn’t make any conclusions, and a friend who’s a vet in the US had three possible diagnosis: reaction to the drugs used at the pet salon when she was groomed, contaminated pet food, or good old-fashioned psycho-cat. We’ve done all the grooming since at home with no drugs, and changed her food and stuck to that brand only. Which leaves us with Psycho-cat. Demon-cat is more like it.

She’s purring on my lap at the moment, but we’ll see how things go when Igor gets up. We can’t live in terror of a small furball, never knowing if or when she’ll freak out. Both times happened when she was in heat, although she’s been in heat many more times with no freak-outs. But Igor suggested last night getting her sterilized, which is OK by me. I don’t know if it will help Psycho-cat syndrome, but our lives will certainly improve if she’s not in heat 2-3 times every spring and fall.

I leave tomorrow afternoon for my next trip – the beautiful country of Georgia. If all goes well, I’ll get to Batumi on the Black Sea for a day or two. It’s still on the cool side, so no swimming, but food extravaganza is guaranteed! Oh, and the steam baths… to die for!