For the love of strays....

Kyiv is home to an abundance of stray animals - dogs and cats roam the streets freely.


You see them in city parks, on medians & roaming the streets......

You see them across the street by the construction site....the workers feed them

You see them hanging out on our front lawn (outside the fence)....

....after a few weeks of wondering, the mystery of who was feeding them was solved......babushkas!...

Kyiv, being VERY focused on image AND the host of the Euro Cup 2012 has decided these stray animals are not consistent with its desired image as an upstanding, attractive, developed European city.  So they did the natural thing..........put poison down in the parks.  (Yikes!  Clearly no PETA here.)


I also learned the hard way not to say anything about strays to your landlord.....I asked mine where to put the trash so the dogs would not get into it.  A few days later the dogs were no longer coming around.  I haven't seen any on our grass in over a month.  I don't know what happened - don't think I want to know.  


On a related topic, a friend of mine has apparently been labeled the stray cat softy.  People bring them to her knowing she can't say no.  She was up to 4 kittens when her husband starting offering co-workers bribes to take a cat or two off their hands.  I innocently went over to her house to join a painting class.  Then saw this........

  
And, while I have never considered myself a 'cat person' (I frankly did not like them), this little one & his brother made me revisit that assessment.  Next thing you know........'one week trial'

We are only 2 days in - so clearly have time to back out.  That said, we've accumulated silly amounts of supplies and toys, been to the vet for a check up ($3/cat - while I never had cats in the States, I can't imagine that's the going rate) & scheduled their vaccinations for next week.....

While clearly the signs are not pointing in the direction of making a return, as a former 'anti-cat-person', I feel I need to justify this seemingly rash 180.  My top excuses for bringing a set of feline friends home:

1. Logan's job includes managing the pet food business - yet we had no pets
2. Kids need to grow up with some sort of furry pet - but we failed having a dog in Chicago (was like having a 4th child) + the stray dogs that used to live in our yard might come back & harass a mollycoddled house dog
3. I already did gerbils (went through like 4 of them as a child)
4. We can chalk it up as serving some greater purpose

My favorite one is that we keep preaching to the kids the importance of trying new things - even things they say they don't like - so now I am just setting a good example.

In reality, I like having the silly balls of fur around!

So here's to new tricks!  Happy Monday

Thanksgiving showdown

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!  


It's good to keep saying that when living in a city where there are absolutely no reminders of the season in school (no days off!) in stores, or on ads.  


Given we are so far from home, we have over-compensated with numerous Thanksgiving feasts.....I'll compare:


Benefit Auction + Buffet Hotel Holiday: We've done hotel holidays before.....and they've always been quite merry.  However, our Thanksgiving dinner at the Inter Continental was relatively spirit challenged.......


It didn't help that the entrance to the event was a silent auction (the dinner benefited a local charity).  I love charity auctions and consider myself quite good at 'winning' things at them - but at Thanksgiving?!   


It also could have been the 7pm start.....

Or the assumption that the kids would NOT be seated with us - but would spend the evening in the separate kids room down the hall (something I normally LOVE about hotel dining here).  As tempting as that was, it seriously made me question their understanding of the holiday......


So we sat together...it was peachy!

The fare was semi-traditional....turkey with some sort of red random berry sauce (no gravy - GASP!)

Zoe opted for a Bavarian pretzel & pumpkin pie....the pretzel was only consumed once she realized a) Xavier was desperate for a pretzel like that AND b) hers was the last one on the buffet.  The resulting Xavier eruption I suspect she both anticipated and enjoyed.  

The pumpkin pie was secured in order to get to the raspberry.  She requested I pull all the raspberries off the pieces of pie.  I refused but then realized (sadly) how much we all miss Costco's year round berry selection!  




Family Home Holiday + Imported American Goods:  Saturday we joined 3 other families - all whom work for the US Embassy - for another go at Thanksgiving...


Katherine made a Butterball which had been flown over from the good old U.S. of A.!  It was ready 10 minutes early for the 5pm serving (living up to our American reputation here - being on time AND early)

And even had a kids table - near our table - but not too near.......

Note - the furniture is all Embassy provided.  Apparently a bill was signed requiring all Embassy owned furniture to be Made in the USA.  So regardless of where people live in the world, their furniture is traditional American from North Carolina.  It created an eerily familiar environment.....


After having found a store that sold fresh cranberries 3 weeks in a row - I got cocky - and volunteered to make cranberry sauce .  Clearly I underestimated the inventory management randomness here......immediately after volunteering, no cranberries were to be found.  Inspired by the Inter Continental's mystery sauce, I gave it a go......They may look like cranberries, but I assure you, they tasted nothing like them! 

But there was a giant pot of gravy as well as some loot Logan recently brought back for us.....phew!

Net, net, the home party kicked the hotel's turkey!


And in addition to the standard 'friends & family, health & abundance', we learned to be thankful for: early holiday meal times, fresh produce available beyond its local harvest cycle & gravy!


I'll say it again.................Happy Thanksgiving!

Corruption & Bribery

Ukraine has a reputation of corruption & bribery - but they are trying to change that.....a recent paper reported both on a high ranking customs official being caught accepting 20,000 hr (~$2,500USD) to turn a blind eye on a ship that violated customs rules AND the President vowing to end corruption.  


Additionally, there are lots of stories swirling around the ex-pat community of corruption - a kid's teddy bear being 'held hostage' for a bribe at the airport, traffic violations being absolved for a fee.  So I've learned a few tricks from being here....


Getting the kids out the door, on time in the morning is a serious struggle.  After a few weeks, I realized screaming, threatening and loud clapping was not proving effective.....so I borrowed a page from the Ukrainian playbook.............


Bribery really does work!  Simple formula - be ready & waiting before the bus arrives, put a handful of noodles in the jar.  Fill the jar, go to one of the many 'fun zones' in town......


The first jar took about 3 weeks to fill.  The second (a much bigger jar), took about 5.....but the reward was deemed ' worth it'.

Kiev has several fun zone type places best described as Chuck E Cheese on steroids....

Tons of video games...

Casino like - they reward you with coupons.....

....to turn in for cheap crap the kids love!

Rides...

....including a kiddie bull ride (damn, maybe we ARE in Kansas!)

Even bowling...

...and crap food (these Kids Meals were purchased from a place called "McFoxxy".  Their food, logo and atmosphere is strikingly similar to the U.S. behemoth.....people have joked only in Ukraine would they allow such blatant trademark infringement)

...And of course, the requisite electric cars kids can drive themselves - although at this mall they are in the shape of animals vs. cars......

Net, net, the bribe was deemed a success when Quincy reported 'having this place is an advantage over the U.S.'












So whether you call it 'performance incentives' or 'bribery' doesn't matter to me.  If it gets these 3 out the door in time, without any screaming, sign me up!

Thanksgiving Fever

I LOVE Thanksgiving.....family, friends, fabulous food and no crazed gift procuring.  


Didn't think we could: But given our tiny oven (It's so small, I thought it was a microwave at first - wine for scale) & the fact I haven't seen a Butterball anywhere, I booked a table at the InterContinental for Thanksgiving....

But, we can: BUT, this week my book club friend hosted a Thanksgiving feast for our meeting......her oven is no bigger than ours and she fit that bird in....

...however, she works for the Embassy - so her bird was shipped in frozen from the States.  (frankly her entire pantry looks like she lives in Kansas - OK, I'll admit I'm a little jealous!)


THEN another friend mentioned you CAN get turkeys here - at the fresh markets......so we got a bird - head and all!  Allegedly it had been walking around the same morning & was a girl (I was told that as if that was clearly superior).

Thankfully they covered her head with a baggie - Xavier insisted we take it off.....eye sockets and all - AGH!

And there were all kinds of 'extra parts' included....

....our babysitter was shocked I planned to throw them out - took them home to make cat food!


So six days before Thanksgiving and we had a full on feast of our own.......

Thanks to Logan hauling back some serious loot from the States this week, (including 2 cans of Libby's)....... 

....the boys and I were able to make a pumpkin pie

Given the lack of Pillsbury here, we actually had to MAKE OUR OWN CRUST!!!!!  A friend passed me a SUPER fast & easy recipe which was delish!  (I'm happy to share the secret - as long as you are not a participant in the Bernauer Annual Pie contest :).  


Zoe rated the results.....

So, if I were a PSA the moral would be "here's to looking for solutions to overcome adversity", but my conclusion is here's to Thanksgiving, family & friends, turkey & pumpkin pie wherever you are!

Welcome Back to the 70s!

With fresh eyes in town for a visit, I asked for Sussie's impression of Kyiv.  In addition to saying she loves it & it is a FANTASTIC place to come visit :), it takes her back to the 70s...  She has such a good point!




HAIR, HAIR, HAIR!: Oh how I loved my moms long hair in the 70s....  

I remember crying the day she cut it short.....


...There is plenty of hair around here to bring me back!....the longer the better it seems

SMOKING & DRINKING:  Both Sussie and I have been surprised that the smoking is not as prevalent / omnipresent as expected.  I guess maybe they are too busy drinking Vodka to light up!


RECYCLE, HUH?: Especially once you are issued a special giant, blue can in which to put all recycling, you'd be a real jacka@# not to recycle in the states anymore (even Chicago has gotten it together!).  In Kyiv, despite having to pay for their plastic grocery bags, people bringing their own bags is a rare sight.......and recycling cans & bottles is not even close to on their radar.  I'm  finding it a lot harder to enjoy my Pepsi Light knowing my bottle is destined for a landfill.....maybe I should take up smoking......


THROW 'EM ALL IN BACK: OK, so maybe there are laws about car seats - I see them in the cars of our fellow ex-pats...but taxi drivers definitely do not care, and I don't get the sense the police care given how often we've been encouraged by taxis just to put kids on laps......with our company, our 5-seater car was challenged to fit 8 - so we did what every respectable 70s family did - threw them in the back!....

..........damn the iPhone to give away we aren't in the 70s!....but the kids would not stop bickering......(How did parents survive back then?!?!)


Anyhow, here's to some 70s nostalgia this weekend!

Kyiv vs. Doha?

Being just a relative hop, skip and a jump away, our dear friends Sussie, Sam and kids came to visit from Doha, Qatar this past week.  For those geographically is challenged (like me) Qatar is a tiny little country in the Middle East, near Saudi.  Not a lot of people - but loads of oil $...


Anyhow, we had a fantastic week....and of course compared notes on our respective random locations overseas:




CLIMATE: Doha is too hot (reaches ~120 in the summer), Kiev is too cold.  It SNOWED TODAY in Kyiv!  Need I say more?!?  Snow in mid-November is totally unacceptable!  Winner = Doha 

(the houses across the street from us this morning)






















PERSONALITY & ATTIRE: Doha is full of Muslims, the local women are covered head to toe, except for small slits for their eyes.  There are prayer calls 5 times a day & planes land & take off at 'off peak' times like 2am to avoid traffic disrupting said prayers.  


Kyiv is full of 'assertive' (ok at times downright mean) people who tell you your child is not dressed warmly enough and scowl at you when you purchase things from them.  Meanwhile, the women look like they are going to the club pretty much all the time.   Winner = Kyiv (better entertainment value)

(a woman in the Metro during rush hour - presumably going to work)




BOOZE: In Qatar, there are 2 government run shops that sell hooch.  Each person is allocated a certain ration depending on their income.  In Kyiv, liquor is abundant.  They sell beer at corner stands everywhere, in the parks, on the street.  Open container laws don't exist.  Traditional Ukrainian restaurants hand out shots as you leave......the one we took S&S to even had a roving 'shot master' guy....Winner = Kyiv

GROCERIES: Doha is not much of a food producing country - so most groceries are imported.  Thus, they have an abundance of American staples we don't get.  Sussie brought us about a suitcase full of Mac N Cheese, Bisquick & Brownie / cake mix (THANKS to her, I no longer have to limit brownie making to only very special occasions!).  Kyiv, being the 'breadbasket of Europe' does not import much....thus, the stores here look more foreign.  One thing I still can't get used to is the open bulk foods.  Check out this freezer section!......

 (no wonder they cook the crap out of all of their food.....gotta kill the germs somehow!)


Given Sussie now uses my experience in Kyiv as a pep talk for complaining ex-pats in Doha ("While we may have to pay more here - at least we CAN get Brownie Mix, Mac n Cheese.....fill in the blank...unlike my friend in Kyiv"), even despite their lack of bacon (anti pork), I declare the Winner = Doha




KID DISTRACTIONS: Possibly due to the extreme climates, both cities excel in segregating kids from adults trying to enjoy leisurely meals / shopping.  Sussie spoke fondly of the kids areas & entertainment that make hotel brunches enjoyable in Doha (despite her 2 and 4 year old dining partners).  Kyiv is chop full of places like that too.....


...the play area in a nearby mass / grocery store...

....and a separate kids area in the Hyatt...

 ..you drop your kids off here and go up a level to a fantastic brunch...

...any guilt I had that the video games and crafts would not hold their interest were erased by the kids' spread.......

The bowl of M&Ms pictured was nearly drained when we picked the kids up a few hours later.  Given there were ~8 kids there, I estimate each child consumed roughly 300 M&Ms!

 Winner = draw (now how do we bring this to the US?!)




By my calculations, the 2 cities are tied till now......


ADULT DIVERSIONS:  Doha is a new city where the primary form of entertainment is the indoor mall amusement parks and their restaurants tend toward the mediocre-chain variety.  Plus, weekends have to work around forced down time (they lose about half of their Saturday due to prayer time shutting everything down).  


Kyiv is a pretty bustling city - with lots of entertainment.....We've enjoyed the circus, I was bored at a ballet (wow- those can be long!), and there are tons of operas, theater, puppet shows and concerts - like the Elton John concert we went to (A highlight!  He rocks even 40+ years into his touring!)

We lucked into fantastic seats not very far from the stage......

And loads of fantastic restaurants.  While the Ukrainian cuisine seems only designed to soak up liquor......

(Yep, that's bacon fat on a slice of fried potato.  They call it 'Salo' - which tricked Sam into eating 2 pieces and loving it until he realized what it was!)


..........we've found excellent Italian, German, sushi, steaks and even salads here.   

Net, net Winner = Kiev!!!!!




So next time you are debating whether to visit Kiev or Doha, you will know what to do!  (OK - I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a slight bias - but I won't make it through the winter here if I don't look on the bright side!)

THANK YOU Sussie and Sam, Teddy & Lucy for a fantastic visit.  The house is way too quite now...aside from the kids complaining they are bored now!