Thursday ramblings

Good Morning Everyone,
Reporting live from Puxatawney,PA today- no not really, it just seems that way. Every day seems to be the same routine. Not much to report on so will just ramble a bit.
We do have another appointment today @ 4:00, so we will see how that goes. Cant really figure out how the SDA works but we just have to go with the flow. We will let you know how this goes when we get back tonight. Not much else-just thought you might want some of our observations.

- coffee here is extremely strong ( Digger would love it)
- Everyone is in a hurry and can move out fast- Sorta funny when I consider myself a fast walker and I get passed by a 60 yr old lady.
- When you order banana bread at a coffee shop, you have to decide if you will pick out the mystery meat in it or just eat it.(sweet breads like this have some kind of meat in it)
- average wages for teachers and police officers are between $200-$300/ month
-speaking of police officers/ I had a run-in yesterday with one of Kyiv`s finest. I had went to the market by myself, without my passport, without my American money. Coming back to the apartment with about 2 blocks to go, a guy walking ahead of me reached in his pocket to answer his cell phone and out dropped a rather large wad of bills( i would say many thousands of American dollars in a baggie) I didn`t pick it up, I just hollered up to him and pointed back at the ground. He picked it up and thanked me many times over after he caught up to me and shook my hand. Just then a policeman was there asking what was going on. Try explaining that when one of you don`t speak a lick of the language the other two are speaking. The policeman asked for ID and guess who didn`t have any? :) I was hoping they had a English speaking bail bondsman at that point. He made me show him my money which was only a couple hundred Gryivna(30.00). At that point I could understand the guy telling the policeman in broken English " he good man, he saw money fall and tell me." Whew!! The policeman told me to have a good day and be careful"(I hope that`s what he said). I guess that`ll learn me to make sure I have my ID along. Scam?? I don`t think so but who knows. Gail says to quit wearing the darn sunglasses when nobody on the street wears them so I don`t look like the mafia.
- The only thing consistent over here is the inconsistencies- if that makes any sense.
- You have to go with the flow and roll with it because if you have it in your mind how it`s going to work, you will be dissappointed.
- Every shop sells elegant pastries, too bad they are really bland( no sugar) or full of waxy type stuff or mystery meat.
-The groceries(market) have pretty much everything we need. The strange thing is- you get your meat in one area then pay for it, bread in another area then pay for it, water in another area then pay for it etc etc.
- Underground malls go for many blocks at a time- the streets look as normal as can be then you go under ground and it`s another city there.
- lots of beggars
- lots of dogs running around
- If this farm boy doesn`t get a glass of real milk pretty quick I`m gonna go for a drive in the country and find my own- the milk here smells nasty( we might have chosen the wrong box but I don`t think so)
- We were told to not bring any white clothes because they would no longer be white after a couple washings- I can believe it because the water has an odor to it when showering.
- real dreary here- sun was out for maybe 1 day total so far.
- we were told that when walking across ice " walk fast then you not fall!!" I`m not sure if that would work but these chicks in high heels move out and I haven`t seen any fall yet.
- Yes Digger we are still looking- haven`t given up yet.
- vodka- it`s for what ails you, people believe that medicine is bad, vodka is good for cure!
- liter of vodka is roughly 3-8.00 American money
- cigarettes are $ .30 to $.80/ pack and sold everywhere because everyone smokes
- life expectancy of men is 58 yrs.- see two above facts about cigs and vodka
- everyone is on the cell phone-worse than at home. you buy the minutes at little street vendors.
- people are reserved and avoid eye contact while I`m a " hey there how ya doin" type person who had to rein it in over here.
- over here you have to pay for the condiments when you get your meal, yes even McDonalds- no pumping the handle till you have everything full.
- sour cream is poured on many items.
- absolutely no big cars here, no full size trucks all dinky little foreign to us cars.
- if you cant find a place to park on street not a problem, drive on sidewalk and park there.
-food courts everywhere with lots of different foods ( safe to eat) I love them Gail hates them.
- went to TGI Fridays with the couple from Kentucky, that was normal price otherwise really inexpensive to eat here.
- lodging is spendy- apartments range between 50- 100.00/ night
- Like we said before we stick out over here and the people typically avoid eye contact but you can see them checking you out out of the corner of your eye. It is fun to turn your head really fast and catch them looking. Boy do they turn away quick.
- people drink beer on the streets and beer can be bought just about everywhere with no age restriction.
- the restaurant with the biggest lines are the McDonalds.
- the farmland is a very "rich" black dirt much like Minnesota- it is owned by the government so private farmers are not found except for little hobby farm type farms. With no incentive to do well the ag economy is really poor. If they would open it up to private enterprise it would thrive but evidently they have no intention of doing so.


Well thats about all I can think of for now- wish us luck for our appointment. People ask us why Ukraine? We really don`t have a good answer for that. So many things have fallen in place since we started talking about this and they all pointed here. God`s will? Destiny? Who knows but we like to think that ending up thousands of miles from home in a different land, that there is a plan for everything. We are prepared to come home empty handed but no matter what, this whole adventure will work out the way it is supposed to.

Thanks for everything ,
Gail and Craig