Alas, the time has finally arrived where I get to experience Ukraine for what it really is. I’ve done my research online, asked a bunch of friends and acquaintances what they knew about Ukraine (either from personal experiences or from their friends and family) and am ready to immerse myself in this land that has captivated me on and off for many years.
(by the way…this is the third installment of the series. The beginning is at My Life Changing Trip to Ukraine)
So here I am…in a busy, very busy airport. Hustling and bustling everywhere. It was very hard to make my way through the crowd with this giant bag over my shoulder along with another bag. First item of business…get some local currency so we can take the taxi. Once again I searched for an ATM and then withdrew what I was told should be enough (I think it was 500 Ukrainian Hryvnia) for the taxi and then the bus we would have to take. It was a shame I was so tired from an extremely long flight and then had to fight my way through the crowd…I’m sure I didn’t make the best first impression on my hostess. We’ll call her Larisa. That sounds like a good Ukrainian name. So yes…a very tired, travel-weary Chia lugging giant bags through crowded airport with a mindset to get the hell out of a crowd probably didn’t say “hi! We finally get to meet up after all these years!” but rather “oof, me tired. Hi. Let’s go”. Well damnit all!
Larisa had called for the taxi and we finally found him. As you’d expect, it was an older Eastern European looking car. I tossed my bags in the trunk and off we went. Oh my…”off we went” is actually a bit of an understatement. Holy crap! I’ve been in some crazy taxis around the world…on narrow roads along steep cliffs, crazy drivers in New York City to crazy drivers in other undeveloped cities around the world (ok, “around the world” is really just Mexico and various islands in the Caribbean) but this guy…oh my, this guy drove. Fast. Aggressive. Borderline crazy. Perhaps lesser adventure-hounds than myself would think absolutely crazy. Weaving in and out of traffic, sometimes not even sure if we’d make it back in before the lane ended, gunning it and braking…oh my. Yet I could tell this guy knew what he was doing so I stopped white-knuckling it for a bit and tried to take in as much as I could as we drove past various sights. Plenty of EuroCup 2012 signs still up here and there, Kiev landmarks, new signs to try to decipher…I was digging it all.
We finally arrived at the train station and paid the driver as we hopped out. A big bustling train station. Bigger than anything we’ve got in Atlanta easily. Larisa was hungry so we stopped at McDonald’s so she could pick up some food for herself and for her son who was waiting for us back in her town. I stood outside not wanting to carry those bulky bags inside as I waited for Larisa. It also gave me a chance to watch all the people passing by to get a good look at the people who inhabit the country I would be living in for the next week. Distinctly Eastern European but not exactly what I was expecting. Larisa said she was just “average” compared to most Ukrainian women yet I didn’t see too many that made me do a double-take. I was still trying to take it all in when she walked out and we made our way to where the buses were. Now, this isn’t the kind of thing where there are big modern buses arranged in an organized fashion with distinct signs for destinations and fares. No, this was us walking down the sidewalk and someone coming up to us and having a conversation with Larisa (in Russian or Ukrainian…I don’t know the difference yet but I did hear the town name at least) where she eventually tells me to follow him and her as he’s leading us to our bus. Down the stairs to a giant parking lot and there are buses of all shapes and sizes and ages and no affiliation to anything as far as I could tell. We hopped on and waited for a few minutes…finally getting a chance to chill for a bit and say hi to my host in a new country.
The bus ride was interesting…a TV up front playing a movie in Russian. Larisa was a bit fixated on the movie and I was still a bit road weary. I may have even fallen asleep at one point. The guy sitting in front of us was talking sooooo loud on the phone. Evidently he was talking about some cheating woman, that she liked pigs, and other stuff generally not considered proper etiquette on a bus…or anywhere in public for that matter. Larisa would crack up every now and then and share what he said when there was a juicy tidbit. Eventually the bus dude got really annoyed and told him to turn the phone off. He also told us all that drinking beer was not allowed on this bus. This was something I figured as natural but I guess people would drink a lot of beer and then request to stop at every city so they could hit the bathroom.
As we drove down the highway out of the city I continued to try to read every sign I could. Some made sense (words that when sounded out had a similar sound to English words) and others completely baffled me. I saw the hammer and sickle plenty of times on a particular sign that was up every few kilometers. I finally asked Larisa when I couldn’t read it quickly enough as we passed by and she explained to me that it was for the Communist Party in Ukraine. Aaaahhh…it all makes sense now!
Another interesting thing that I noticed was how sandy the soil seemed to be along the road. Even when there was a construction site it seemed as if the piles of dirt were mostly piles of sand. This intrigued me as we were nowhere near a lake or ocean. The geology geek in me was perplexed and I kept looking for signs of water but alas, none could be found. It’s definitely something I need to look up as I’m sure there is some good geological history there. This particular section of Ukraine (we were heading due west of Kiev, so this would be the northern region) was also quite flat. It definitely had me gazing out the window taking in as much as I could.
The further out of Kiev we got, the more and more it reminded me of very rural Nebraska or something. Every now and then you’d see a patchwork of a few old houses along the side of the road and all seemed to have ornate gates and fences. I wish I would have taken more pictures of those. There were also plenty of random people selling potatoes or other produce on the side of the road. Not in little shacks or anything…just sitting on buckets and waiting for people to stop. Hey, everyone’s gotta make a buck here or there.
We took a quick 15 minute break along the side of the road in one area so people could use the restroom and grab a smoke. I gladly stepped off so I could stretch my legs and of course checking out the little trinkets for sale certainly kept me entertained. It’s the little things in life for me…
A new movie came on and this one I could actually follow. I was getting pretty into it as we drove. A good three hours later we had finally reached Novograd-Volynski, the final destination of my trip. Hurray! I can finally see what town is like.
Alas…it is late and in order for me to give this trip the detailed descriptions it deserves I need to make sure my brain is functioning properly.
Thoughts:
Nearly two weeks since my return to Atlanta I still look so very fondly back at my trip. I still gleam and glow and probably squeal as I recount as much as possible. Even in a 45 minute conversation I am in no way capable of conveying the emotions, the excitement, the raw feelings of wonderment while I was there.
I was talking to a friend today that went over to Italy a few years ago to teach and just recently made his way over to China to continue on. He was able to sense the excitement in my voice, the passion I felt, the energy in every word as I babbled on about Ukraine in our conversations. I came to one realization today that a lot of this was from the very excitement that I was like a child again…seeing life with innocent eyes, eyes where everything is new and my thirst to learn as much as possible energized me. It made me hungry, hungry for so much more. I haven’t felt this hunger in such a long time and I fed off everything I took in. This fire still burns deep and I must find a way to keep this fire fed and see where it leads me.
One thing is for sure…It will lead me back to Ukraine at some point. I don’t know when, I don’t know under what circumstances or how long I will be there, but I will be back. I would love to explore Kiev a little more next time also. Hotels seemed a bit pricey at the time but now I know about some Kiev apartments for rent. Awesome stuff…great location, nice apartments and a fraction of the price. I can’t wait to come back, I have tasted Ukraine and I must have more. This fascination and interest cannot be denied.
If you need to catch up or read more of the future posts of my trip, they can be found at: