Back in the USSR!

Tom and I had dinner at Spotykach last night. Spotykach is a soviet-style restaurant that is popular with tourists and Ukrainians alike. It was our "cheat day," so we were allowed to eat whatever we wanted (within reason). We we greeted with the typical shot of vodka and bit of salo (pig fat). Tom ordered the Chicken Kyiv and I had vereniky. We tried to make some healthy choices and opted for borcht without sour cream. The restaurant is kitschy and a good stop for visiting relatives, I would image.

The Great Unthaw

This is residual snow from our big storm last weekend. It's been piled up on street corners, out of the traffic and away from parking spots. We're in the midst of a thaw, but folks keep saying that next week will be cold again. We'll vacillate between rain and snow. March came in like a Lion and is going out like a Lion. How does that square with the old adage?

Two things to note: 1. I am holding a newspaper cone of sunflower seeds that Tom and I got as a parting gift from Spotykach, a soviet-style restaurant where we had dinner last night. 2. Some people from the mid-west and south use the word unthaw to mean thaw. It's in the Oxford dictionary and was hotly contested during a conversation this weekend.

Lights, camera... Going up?

I came home from work tonight, crossed the lobby and waited for the elevator to take me up to my 4th floor apartment. When the door opened, two young ladies popped out, leaving three others and some film equipment on board. What? Yes, they assured me they were in fact filming a movie in my elevator.  That is a first for me. Go Ukraine!

Taxes

Since I live overseas, I have an automatic two-month extension on submitting my taxes. They tell you to just write "Abroad on Due Date" at the top of your taxes. It seems rather informal, but I guess it works. Somehow things got out of whack this year and I owe money. What a bummer.

VIP

I wondered why a crew of about twenty were feverishly clearing the snow from our street over the last three days. On my way back from a long walk around the city this afternoon, loaded down with two grocery bags, I was stopped by some serious looking men in stocking caps. Along with the thirty or so other men strewn up and down my street, these guys were on the look out for a VIP. As I was approached, I stated mater-of-factly, "I live here." They asked to see in my bags. I asked why, but opened them anyway. He smirked and let me be on my way. Ah the joys of living across the street from the secret service of Ukraine!

Snowboarding in Kyiv

Who knew there were so many snowboarders in Kyiv?! Kids are snowboarding down every hill they can find since our big storm this weekend. These ingenious youth boarded down the hill next to the vinhikular and paid the 1.5 hryvna to ride back up it -- their very own ski lift. At under a quarter a ride, this is the most reasonable lift ticket around. 

Snowmagedon 2013

We got some spring snow.

Hello again, hello!

I've been away for a while. I'm going to do some posting here again. I can't decide if blogging is redundant with Facebook. Here I am anyway.

Tom has persuaded me to a version of "The Game" with him this month, so I have to pick up a good habit and get rid of a bad one. I am going to pick up blogging (really, what I want to do is communicate more with my friends at home, which I will try to do at least in part through this blog) and get rid of.... Well, I don't know what I'm going to get rid of yet. I think I might try to eliminate negative thoughts. That will be hard.... Oops, there I go again with the negativity. What I meant to say was, what a wonderful challenge!

For the next month, I will be posting at least three times a week. That's my goal and if I can do it, I will earn points for Team Dominator! Help me out. Be on our side. Read my blog! I am writing it for you, after all!

This is me Hulk smashing The Game this month! Woo hoo!