Caffeine high

I've never been to so many 'coffees' before moving here.  School meetings, book clubs or random get together are often centered around the liquid caffeine.  Despite this, Starbucks hasn't yet made it to Ukraine.  Word on the street - which I tend to believe - is that there's already too much competition.  


Pretty much wherever you are, whatever your budget, you are close to a cup of joe to meet your needs.  Let's take a look.... from top to bottom


Fancy cafes
What appears to be the holy grail of coffee are the specialty cafes. One I enjoy is a combo bakery cafe with amazing pastries and decorations on the frothy milk!

Even being anti-coffee, I was tempted into trying a cappuccino thanks to the fab designs - and it was yummy!

But this decadence comes with a price - $6.50 to be exact......so clearly not the place to exclusively feed a caffeine dependency


Local joint:
Near the kids school "Home Cafe" opened up. Outfitted with cushy couches an free wifi it is a fab place to hang. 

Add a giant cappuccino for $2.50 (tea pot for scale) and you'll see why it has become one of our favorites.

Coffee trucks
A unique retailer you see a lot of are coffee trucks. 

These mobile caffeine stations are fab. They pull up, park and open shop literally right where you need them (e.g. A busy intersection). 

The prices are great at ~$1.00 for made to order drinks with hand frothed milk.

Assessment - tasty good value


Coffee vending machines
These things are everywhere. In building lobby's, metro stations, the airport. For ~$0.60 you can get a cappuccino.....I tried it. Was surprisingly tasty.

But I got a stomach ache almost immediately after (note to self - no milk from vending machines)



Coffee road stand
The most random form of caffeine delivery is the road side stand. Take a busy highway, add a folding table with some hot water and instant coffee and presto!  You have a business model. 

For ~$0.40 you too can enjoy a hot cup of serious kick you in the pants coffee

 There was maybe 4 oz of water to the heaping spoon of instant joe + another big heap of sugar.  Almost chewy!

Assessment - only for those desperate for a jolt




Up until a month ago, I passed on the coffee - never liked the taste.  But I guess one could say I succumbed to cultural peer pressure AND with enough frothy, sugary goodness have added it to my long list of caffeinated beverages of choice. 




Here's to trying new things & a good strong cup of joe!

Potholes, Women & Children

Driving & the roads here are never a dull moment..

Potholes grow so large people mark them with old tires….

Intersections are often asymmetrical & the street lights can be completely confusing…

Amidst that, it is interesting to see what does & does not merit warning.

ROAD WORK?  Nah...

  

The road at the bottom of our hill was repaved yesterday....  

....any pesky barricades or construction ahead signs?  

Nah….they didn’t bother to close it to traffic.

Cars wove in and out among the various construction trucks!

Zoe enjoyed the close up view of the action..

WOMEN & CHILDREN - Watch out!

Meanwhile, the demographic warnings are abundant…..

”Baby on Board" is a popular one…

...so prevalent you see it in multiple languages

And given how many of these you see, I thought it stood for Ukraine (in Russian, Y sounds like OO)

But it turns out it means "Watch out - this driver is still learning"

The one that surprised me the most is this one (which is also everywhere)…

I thought it meant “I love shoes” & found it odd that so many cars donned them.  

But when I saw a guy applying one to his girlfriend’s car today, I asked them what it meant. 

“Caution: woman driver”, they reported.  And she was right there, supporting the application of said sticker!

So while we're well warned of the innocent & 'more sketchy' drivers, after that, we're on our own. 

Here's to uneventful Sunday drives!

Mothers – put those kids to work!

Happy U.S. Mother’s Day to all! 

While Mother’s day is supposedly celebrated in Ukraine on the first Sunday of the month (last Sunday), I saw no signs of it.  According to a local friend, Women’s Day (Mar 8 this year) is their way to honor the ladies – and all the ladies at that.

Maybe part of the reason is they just aren’t having that many babies - and those that do, tend to just have 1.  Since 2000, the population has dropped almost 10% (from ~50MM to 45MM).

That said, just because they are semi-scarce doesn't mean kids sit around being coddled!  You often see pretty little kids walking to school & riding the Metro alone.  And while technically kids aren’t supposed to be employed until they are 16.........

...today in the market near my house this girl was working a clothing stand…..

At the Botanic Garden, this kid was working the snack kiosk.  OK, a weekend job is a great way to foster independence & responsibility, right?

But honestly people - as the beer guy?!  The surprises around here never end!  

But in the country’s defense (hmm, or not), beer was only recently classified as an alcohol!

Meanwhile, our kids would probably describe work as having to pick up the million errant Nerf darts before being allowed to play Xbox! 

That said, they do valued work around the house on occasion too.  This morning, to celebrate the occasion, they treated me to breakfast in bed!

I don’t care what’s delivered, breakfast in bed is always fantastic. 

Thanks L, Q, X & Z - you guys rock!  

So here’s to all the Mothers in the world & being inspired to dust off those chore charts!

Celebrating defeat & pushing peace

Today Ukraine (and most of the former Soviet states) had off in celebration of Victory Day!  


May 9th marks the day that Nazi Germany signed a surrender document ending WW2......otherwise known as the 'Great Patriotic War' to the Soviet 'marketing machines'.


What does that look like?  


Downtown, the President spoke & shook hands with the few veterans who are left 
(Ukrainian men's life expectancy is only 63) 

Closer to home, people walked around donning their / their family members' medals from the war....

   


...and held various random celebrations to honor those who served

The day sparked a lot of conversation and questions about WW2 and wars in general.  

While explaining the nutshell history I vehemently injected my 'pro-peace' views:

• 'there are no real winners in war'
• 'killing people does not make sense - you should use words'
• 'It'd be like if we decided to take over our neighbor's house because we are 'better'' 
• 'war is just stupid'  (gasp - a bad word!)

Meanwhile, the kids enjoyed the day off:  Xavier at a laser tag party & Quincy playing Wii at a friend's......................both blowing the crap out of things  

I guess we'd better double the pro-peace propaganda tomorrow!

Here's to 'using your words'  and giving peace a chance.

Men: Accessorized but still overshadowed

As I've said before, the women here are quite expressive with their outfits...

By comparison, the guys - frankly - blend into the background...

...and have hit the accessories - maybe to try to keep up

Yes, the "murse" is widespread

And if that is not enough, how about the murse + no shirt combo?!

A for effort.  No one said it would be easy trying to outshine the sun!  

So here's to the guys - now go grab a murse and head out to enjoy a Happy Sunday!

Hard hats & undies

We live across the street from a fairly active construction site…. 

Given the ‘fortress like’ building style, cement trucks come and go essentially round the clock.  The action provides entertainment.

And while the building continues to grow further from the ground, the workers don’t seem the least worried about safety: 

   ·      Scaffolding?  Nah. 

   ·      Nets or railings?  Nah.

   ·      Hard hats?  What for?

While personal safety does not appear to be top of mind, personal comfort clearly is…

 YES!  That IS a construction worker laying cement in his underwear! 

OK, it was hot today – but how fantastic that stripping down to your skivvies at work is totally acceptable!

Here’s to letting it all hang out this weekend!