6/28/07
A couple of days have gone by since our last confession. (Whoops, I mean blog….. I think all the churches are getting to me. I may be starting to find the faith again!!)
Guess what it is here in Ukraine: Constitution Day. Yes it is today. Ukraine has really only been under its own rule since 1991. Before that they were under Soviet domination, German subjugation, Polish and Lithuanian rule, Turkish and Mongol influences. In fact, I am not sure after reading their history, that there has actually been a Ukraine that truly has been a self recognized country with solid borders, its own currency or autonomy before 1991. So having their own constitution is a very important thing. There will be fireworks, dancing, music and Beer. We are only a half mile away or should I say .8 km from our apartment. The Ukrainian people sure like to celebrate and have a good time.
So as I stated above, there will be lots of Beer and vodka. Did I say lots of Beer? As a matter of fact, they do not have our equivalent of 7-11’s here. They do however have their equivalent of a corner liquor store, a cart with liquor, a restaurant with liquor, a sausage stand with liquor, a sidewalk vendor with liquor a…….you get the point. So needless to say, they will have Beer at the celebration. But they also have Beer and vodka at any celebration like shopping, grocery shopping, eating, drinking coffee, walking around, staying home, taking care of serious business etc!!!! Makes me think we might start to like Beer and vodka before we leave!! Even Molly, my cheap date Molly, is drinking more. Instead of one Beer to get her feeling well, she can already have two Beers before she is soused!! Any of you have any home remedies to help clear out our livers??
So yesterday, we decided to do a little more exploring and see if we could find a Ukrainian restaurant and pub disguising itself as an English/Irish pub called O’Brien’s. Lo and behold, we found it at 4:00 in the afternoon and walked into a rather classic looking English pub with U2 blaring on the stereo and America’s Cup on the tele' with Irish commentators. We felt right at home, even though we were the only ones in the entire place. It is obvious to everyone here except us that we are American tourists. (I do not understand how they can pick that up just because we are wearing our Merrell walking shoes; have a camera case slung around us, a backpack with a US flag on it and clothing that absolutely no one else here owns. More about this later.) Since we are American tourists, they naturally ask us if we want smoking or non smoking. Word has gotten out that Americans do not smoke. Hard to believe since we introduced tobacco to the world 400 and some odd years ago. Yes pretty much everyone smokes here. It is the thing to do, and oh yes, did I mention, they like their Beer. (I digress)
Anyway, we sit down at our big wooden table with oversized chairs and order some; you guessed it, some Guinness and Harps Ale. Really good Beer. We think we can get some food that we can actually pronounce from the English/Ukrainian menu. After waiting 45 minutes for our appetizer and some more Beer, the food comes out. What I have come to realize in my worldly travels is that when you go to an American sounding restaurant overseas, expecting American food, you really do not get American food. What you get is their version of what they think American food is tainted by their local food customs. (We had a similar experience the TGI Fridays our first night in town.) Well, we ordered some potato skins that slowed my blood considerably despite the good Beer. We then ordered fish and chips, thinking that is safe and some kind of chicken and mushroom casserole thing or something or another. The Beer was really good. Did I mention the Beer went down well? When we left, the smoking section was crammed full of locals, while our section remained empty other than us. Makes it easy to find a non-smoking table!!!
Today, we are in our apartment, waiting for the food we ate yesterday to clear our system if you know what I mean. (Hence this long, copious and over worded blog today!!) However, the Beer was good yesterday. So we are prepping our livers for tonight’s festivities by drinking coffee and Baileys.
So we have talked about how beautiful the women are in this country. It is true. But is just not their beauty. The women slink around in heels, not just your ordinary heels mind you, but the kind you see on the corner of Colfax and Colorado in Denver. You know the kind of heels the women wear at Shotgun Willy’s, Diamond Cabaret or the Bustop. When these women are young girls, they must have to learn to walk like models on the runway, you know, swing your hips, one foot in front of the other etc. They also like to dress (or maybe I should say not a lot of dress) in short skirts (sometimes really short), tight pants, revealing tops. The women are very sensual.
Meanwhile, the men, well, as John Roberts like to say, look Metro or gay. I am not quite sure of this. Yes, I think I am the only man who has shoes on that are capable of doing any type of outdoor activity like hiking, walking, running etc. The men tend to be 4 to 6 inches shorter than the women (although the 5 inch stilettos may have something to do with it.) and do not express themselves nearly as sensuously as the ladies. As a matter of fact, even though the men use man purses (As Molly likes to call them) and wear tight shirts and long pants with soft leather shoes that look kind of like loafers with pointy toes, most of them exude the usual male bellies and mannerisms we see in our country. You women understand; bad smell, burping, yelling, etc.
So back to our travels yesterday. Before we went to O’Brien’s we thought we would go to the local outdoor market and buy some local trinkets for all of you that we now suspect are made in either China, Malaysia or Mexico. Anyway, while walking toward the market, we see our infamous in-country coordinator at the SDA (State Department for Adoption). (Ok I must confess that we actually hoped to see him there so we could pin him down on some information.) The SDA is next to the outdoor market by the way. After giving him some rather stern questions about our status, he says he will get back to us. He informs us not to buy the trinkets from this area as they are overpriced. So you will all suffer and get no trinkets from us. (Just kidding, we are tourists; we must buy some touristy trinkets.)
Anyway, we leave the SDA somewhat dejected and head to O’Brien’s without an answer on our next appointment or without our trinkets for all of you. We walk by St. Sophia’s Cathedral (Absolutely stunning. I start to feel religious again) and notice a Hyatt next door. So I go in and find out they will not open for another few weeks. Rooms are reasonable at only $250 to $400 Euros per night which is about $350 to $560 a night. But they do have high speed internet, WIFI, English TV and Beer.
So we get to O’Brien’s and and our coordinator calls us to tell us we may have an appointment next Monday or Tuesday, July 2nd or 3rd. More Beer. So we will enjoy our next few days here, drink some Beer and see what happens on Monday or Tuesday.
That is about it for now (I know all of you are saying thank God) We hope life finds you well. We miss all of you and especially Madison.
Love Michael and Molly
