Over the weekend Tom and I went to dinner with some new friends. We were put in touch through a former classmate of mine. They suggested we dine at a "traditional" Ukrainian restaurant which Tom and I had walked by on several occasions and wanted to try, so we were happy to oblige. When we walked in, the host gave us a glass of sweet vodka by the door. We checked our coats (one of the things I love about Kyiv -- everywhere has a coat check) and headed upstairs to find our table. The place was decorated in "traditional" decor and all the chairs were covered with goat hides (furry seats!). We enjoyed some more sweet vodka and salo (sliced pork fat) for starters. I had wild boar dumplings for dinner and Tom had chicken and mushroom stuffed pancakes. After we ate, one of the staff came and asked us if we would like to learn some traditional Ukrainian dancing. We went back downstairs where a man was playing a violin (or was it a fiddle?) and calling out moves -- my favorite being the one where we stompped our feet "in the dirt", waved our "horns" in the air, and turned around and shook our butts to "sweep up the mess with our tails". Did I mention that Tom didn't dance?
It's a disaster area walking around Kyiv! I know I wrote earlier about the falling icicles and how it was hard to walk on sidewalks here. I forgot to mention that, in addition to the icicles, most of the sidewalks in Kyiv are torn up or have some major roadblocks which impede traffic. One of my first days here I got honked at because I was walking in the street, but I was walking in the street because there was a row of cars parked on the sidewalk leaving no room for pedestrians -- talk about irony! 
