Ukraine has been on my mind a lot lately. Well, it tends to be on my mind a good bit considering it’s the screen saver for my Apple TV and also the lock screen on my phone (this nice picture of Kiev below).

It’s also nearing that time of year that I made my venture into the wild unknown and I’ll admit I’m really wanting to go back sooner rather than later. I get email notifications now showing me nice price drops (so tempting!) as well as having found a better way to stay in Kiev so I can have an affordable place there. Instead of staying in a hotel (you’ll pay a hefty price for something in a good location or for something semi-nice) I can stay at an apartment in Kiev using Grata Kiev Apartments (http://www.accommodation.kiev.ua/). I’m definitely doing this next time I’m there as I didn’t get to explore Kiev nearly as much as I wanted.
Anyway…my pining to return to Ukraine aside…it’s helped me realize I need to get another post up. I especially enjoy writing when I’m feeling the surge of thoughts and emotions that go with it so I can hopefully convey that to you, my dear readers.
If this is your first story of my Ukraine adventure, feel free to start from the beginning at My Life Changing Trip to Ukraine
So there I was in Novograd-Volynski, that tiny little town 200km west of Kiev. I hadn’t really seen much of town…just a quick drive through on the bus and a quick stroll on some back streets to get to my hotel (I love Hotel Leon…I plan to stay there again) so I was ready to explore. No, actually I was ready to eat. It had been quite a while since I had eaten a real meal and even though I had been sitting on my arse for hours (nearly 24) on end, I was hungry. Our plan was to go to Larisa’s mom’s house after dropping my stuff off so Larisa thought of a quick restaurant we could head to and then grab a cab over to her mom’s place afterwards. She also suggested that I leave NO valuables in the room so I made sure to pack up my camera and my iPad (I decided to leave my computer at home…I wanted to disconnect as much as possible as well as not have to worry about it) and we were on our way.
We walked down a few more back streets until we hit a part of town that had more stores and restaurants. Chugging along with my backpack in tow (camera, iPad, gifts for the family) we arrived at this tiny little place and made our way upstairs to the dining area. Once again, everything was completely foreign to more. Yet, oddly enough it also seemed fairly familiar. Foreign in the fact it may have possibly been what one would consider to a be stereotypical Eastern Bloc food establishment (whatever that may be. Simple and more ethnic design? It’s hard to explain) yet almost familiar in some of the places I have ventured off to growing up in western New York (more blue collar and a number of varied ethnic neighborhoods). Lest I get comfortable in whatever familiarity there may have been, it was foreign. Very foreign. The menu had no pictures and I of course couldn’t read a lick of whatever was on it. I had tried teaching myself some Russian before heading over, however Novograd-Volynski is in a region of Ukraine that speaks both Russian and Ukrainian so I really had no idea which language I was trying to muddle through.
Once again I was relying on Larisa to help me do something basic like eating. She asked if I liked salads and I said yes. She said there was one with chicken…yum! Ok! I ended up ordering that as well as some borscht, and some meat pasta. Of course, as the food arrives I’m looking at this chicken salad…and that’s what it was. Not a salad but instead chicken salad with LOTS of mayonnaise in it. And grapes on top. In my hunger I ate the salad and borscht (I like it!) and meat pasta (I have no clue what it was…really. It was good but no idea what I ate) and felt satisfactorily full. Very full actually. Dinner for us both was much cheaper than I had expected so that was a nice surprise as we finished up and made our way outside to find a taxi.

As we made our way to the street to get a taxi Larisa was instructing me not to say anything. She said I should stay quiet and let her do the negotiating because if he heard me talk he’d know I was a tourist and would probably charge twice the normal fare. Fair enough…although I did find it quite odd not to say anything, nothing at all, as we got in the taxi and made our way to her mother’s house. As we made our way to the outskirts of town we found ourselves on dirt roads, then very bumpy dirt roads. I must have looked like a total tourist, or kid, or squirrel with ADD as my head was turning every which way to get a good look at my new surroundings for the next week. We finally arrived (“finally” being relative as the drive was much longer than the walks I’d be doing for the next week as a car had to take a very roundabout way to get there rather than the fairly direct walking paths around there) and I entered what I can only describe once again as a nice house with Eastern European look and decor.
Larisa’s family (mother, brother, toddler of a nephew, sisters) greeted me, all with such big smiles. I’m getting butterflies in my heart just thinking back to this…it’s another point where I once again realized I was in a very foreign land alone about to embark on a journey that would continue to shape me long after I was gone. Larisa was the only one that knew English so there was a lot of looking back and forth to her (from me as well as her family members) as they asked if I wanted anything to drink, to get comfortable, and so forth. Larisa’s brother was quite friendly himself and would ask me questions in the small amount of English he knew (which was much more English than I knew Russian) and for some reason I could tell that he was a good guy. Everyone seemed genuine and nice…it makes me smile to this day.
It was now time to treat some of my guests with gifts. I brought a few toys and an American football (I found myself calling “soccer” by its proper name of “football” when I was there) over for Larisa’s son. He was totally digging that football (whew!) and some of the candy and gum I brought over that they don’t have in Ukraine. It was fun watching everyone try the really cinnamon-flavored gum that I brought over. They’re not used to that gum over there so it certainly put some entertaining faces on my hosts!
Alas, it was getting quite late and we had to get home. We still had to get back home as well as Larisa having to get her son cleaned up and ready for bed. After much uproar of an entire family so generous to their guest and the excitement of some nutty little American hanging out there all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed we finally managed to make our way out the door. It was Larisa, her son, and myself walking along a very very dark path (picture a very beautiful countryside with no light pollution…it was dark!) for a bit until we managed to make our way out along some apartments that were still at the end of a long dark road. I saw plenty of streetlights, however it seemed as if only one out of every three or four were on. Larisa says the government is too poor to be able to light them all up. Nonetheless, it was yet another awesome adventure to my first day in Ukraine.
We arrived at Larisa’s apartment…a small simple place with simple living. We talked a little bit there until it was bath time for son at which point she called a taxi for me and we caught up a little bit more while waiting for the taxi. The same instructions applied when the taxi arrived…no talking! When the taxi arrived it was once again odd to simply be standing there like a mute, simply smiling and nodding but not saying anything. She finally negotiated the rate and I hopped in. As he drove me to my hotel I was once again looking all around straining my eyes to see as much as I could in this dark foreign landscape. We finally arrived at my hotel and let me out. I think I did say thank you as I got out of the car…I hope that didn’t piss him off! All in all, the taxi ride code me a whopping $2 American. It was odd not putting a seatbelt on as I’m used to doing in America every time I get in a car…something that would take me a few days to get used to.
I walked into the hotel and hoped they would recognize me as I had no idea what I would say as I asked for my key. Ah yes…the key. Every time you leave the hotel you leave your key at the front desk. Thus, upon every return I must ask for my key so I can get into my room. I walked in and it was a different person behind the desk…oh crap! I stood there like a deer in headlights, trying to figure out what to say. I wish I would have written this part down…I’m sure it was funny…but I didn’t. For now you’ll just have to believe me when I stood there like a clueless looking American until she finally said “I speak English” in broken English and I was able to say my room number and get my key.
Back in my room, I thought about my first full day in Ukraine. I was tired…exhausted actually. Exhausted yet amazed and happy. It was a whirlwind of a day but it had already blown away all expectations of what I was to expect. Some of the things I noticed throughout this whirlwind day was that there were a number of Soviet relics here and there but they were definitely in disrepair. Some statues, monuments, city squares…things you could see that were once very well taken care of but not anymore. It was also interesting to see so many old Soviet-era cars sharing the streets with today’s modern cars. Quite a dichotomy that was rather interesting to watch.
Laying down in bed…mind spinning still, thinking about everything I saw and felt. How would I sleep after all this? I mean, it was only 5pm or so in Atlanta. I lay in my tiny bed, staring up at the ceiling, listening to the people in the room below me talking fairly loudly (and a reminder I was in Ukraine as they were speaking either Ukrainian or Russian). It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep with the sights, sounds, and smells of the day dancing through my head.
If this is your first exposure to my trip to Ukraine, be sure to read my other posts.