Stress free in Slovakia, can't sleep in Kiev

I don't think I realized how stressful Kiev has been until we got out for a break last week.  We got to Slovakia and I immediately felt lighter, chest pains I thought were a cold went away & sleep came easy.  

I could have cared less about the quality of the hill, snow or accommodations.  That said, we lucked out on those dimensions too.  I'd recommend Slovakia for skiing......why??

Made easy - the Jasna resort is smartly designed with loads of hotels built along the lower slopes - makes for tons of ski-in-ski-out....

(Our hotel on the right, adjacent to Zoe's favorite run)

I also LOVE the 'half-board' concept (breakfast AND dinner provided at the hotel).  So nice to not have to think about meals


Spring Skiing Tri-fecta: Slovakia also had the 3 ingredients for fab spring skiing

   1) warm temps around 0-4 Celsius
   2) bright blue skies
   3) tons of snow machines

(these things were everywhere)

Less hemorrhaging: While we've come to associate ski vacations as a family of 5, with serious cash hemorrhaging, Slovakia provided better value than most.  

• Adult lift ticket ~30 Euros (~1/2 of what we pay at home)
• 30 minute stone massage 10 Euros (OK, he did spend ~10 of those minutes on my butt - but Logan reported the same treatment - making it slightly less creepy)
• Beer in the slope-side hotel ~$2

Cheers to that!

In the spirit of balanced feedback, there was 1 watch out...

Hillside cowboys: Slovakians ski like Ukrainians drive.  Look out for yourself & pretty much anything goes.

• runs so congested I'd yell at the boys "don't stop, it's too crowded!"
• collisions and near collisions constantly (X got taken out by a skier, our kids took out several in return)
• everyone mixed in - walkers, hikers, babies, a skier with his husky dog running down the hill 
• parents throwing little kids on big runs, then rescuing them in all kinds of creative ways

(don't judge too harshly, Zoe returned from ski school reporting she got a piggy back ride from her teacher several times)

Originally planned as a road trip, we had booked 1.5 days in Krakow on our way home.  Now 3 hours out of the way, we had heard so much about it, we went anyhow.  

Found a cute town with way too much to see in the time we had

A must see reported by many is the salt mines....I was dubious - but the deep caves and giant labyrinth mines sounded intriguing, we voted (salt mines vs. castle) & headed to the mines.  

Some 130 meters deep we found a world of salt:

Walls of salt, stairs of salt..

Statues of salt

A whole ballroom of salt 

(floor tiles, chandeliers - all salt!)

The 2 hour required tour walked us through what felt like miles of this stuff.   Key take aways:

• Xavier & Zoe - "we're bored & where's the gift shop?"
• Quincy - "That was so cool.  I learned some really interesting things"
• Merilee - "DON'T lick the walls of a place 1 million people visit annually!"  (about 6 hours after leaving, I got a 'pot-trash can' kind of 24 hour bug - my brother labeled 'the Krakow')

As the week came to an end, we sadly heard increasingly more about another Cowboy (the one to our East) & his antics...

Now back in Kiev, when discussing what's going on Zoe asked "But how does someone just take someone else's country?"

A fine question.

No one knows how it will play out.  For now, things remain relatively calm in Kiev.  The airport & roads look the same, schools are open.  That said, friends are evacuating left & right and there is way too much 'front page news' for comfort.   Ukrainians have proven themselves strong & feisty.  Russia is always the bad guy in the movies I saw growing up

Here's hoping whichever way things go, it is without another drop of blood

In the mean time, we will put a little more hurry up in our packing up

Peace out & we can all sleep well

Bunker down, liquidate, celebrate & flee

This past week in Kiev has been nothing less than shockingly extraordinary. 

The protests that started in November escalated & turned - sadly - deadly ugly.   

The city waffled on the brink of a state of emergency - Metro shut down, checkpoints installed on many major arteries, school closed & several Embassies started evacuating families.

Bunkering Down

We could hear the stun grenades from our house – but being ~5 km away from the fighting it was a surreal contrast to the seeming normal operations in our neighborhood.

Tuesday afternoon things started to go south (~25 killed), we got word that school would be closed & prepared to bunker down

(Woo hoo!  Had just ordered water) 

We attempted home schooling on Wednesday – the kids making their sequence of work.

I’ll admit - it was brutal.  Once again, I’m reminded how much we all should thank teachers.

When supplies looked dire, (only a few pots away from being driven to instant), I headed out to reload the essentials

I’ve never seen the store so chaotic – clearly the whole city was stock piling

Rest assured, we were back in business

Liquidate

With our upcoming move, we had already posted our car for sale.  When a buyer surfaced this week, we were motivated to shed assets to increase our ‘run & don’t look back’ flexibility

I was across town getting the car inspected during what turned out to be the bloodiest day so far (~50 more dead). 

Not realizing just how bad it had gotten, we attempted to finish the deal.   Showed up at a bank to check the bills (to verify the stack of USD was real), and were told the bank was closed…..ALL the banks in the city were closed.  With rumors that gas stations and internet would be next down, we scurried back home.

Along the way, saw how locals respond to bank closures…

On Friday it was slightly more calm – so we headed out to try again.   A funny process of confusing bureaucracy including a government office car inspection and loads of paperwork

Eventually we completed the deal!  

(A huge THANKS to our banker friend Andreas for hooking us up with a ‘bill checker’ lady)

Later that day, we bid farewell to 2 of our favorite furry friends.  

Originally ‘Salt-Snow’ and ‘Pepper-Yang’ – mostly called non-PC ‘Whitey’ and ‘Blacky’

The sadness of not being able to take them with us softened a bit by knowing they are going to a good home with dear friends (the Bellis) we now have 2 more excuses to visit.

Celebrate?

As we delivered the cats, Paolo had just come back from the protests & reported a jubilant environment.   The opposition and the current government had come to a compromise agreement including an early election and reducing the President’s dictatorship like power.   Many in the main square were celebrating and crying tears of happiness.  

(Q and I didn't make it that close before he deemed it "too crowded") 

That said, we know there is a long way to go, that words don’t always lead to actions – and remain cautiously optimistic

Flee!

With the kids’ term break next week, we had planned a road-trip vacation to Slovakia….seeing how unstable things have been, we were more than happy to get out. 

That said, with reports of random checkpoints and closed border crossings, the road trip part was less attractive.  We booked last minute tickets and flew out instead.

While our shoe-string vacation has turned into a bigger line item on the budget, the makeshift check point entering the airport (presumably opposition looking to harass fleeing politicians or oligarchs), reinforced the decision to make a quick break from it.

A crazy, stressful week – but when compared to that of the ~100 Ukrainians who have lost their lives in the battle for democracy & freedom – a walk in the park.

Here’s to perspective & hoping the seemingly positive steps toward peaceful resolution continue.  

All we are saying, is give peace a chance!

Slava Ukraine!

Soviet Style

Having been under soviet rule for ~70 years, Kiev shows many nods to this past.  

Stoic faces: we've gotten used to the blank stares & smile-free faces which I've heard were a mechanism to not attract attention

Uninspiring but equal architecture:  a typical apartment building near our house - the uniform units were assigned - not purchased

Bureaucracy - things aren't always easy but DO always involve a lot of paperwork 

In planning our move to California, I've been told "everything you brought in must leave with you OR face VAT fines".   
OK….but - they have sent me 3 vastly different versions of the inventory.  (E.g. one includes "big screen TV", another no mention of any TV.)

One can also see this shadow of the Soviet past at the pro-EU, anti government protests

Resourceful: During Soviet times it wasn't uncommon to go to the grocery store to find only canned beans.   There was nothing to waste.   Today, you see this resourcefulness with the barricades erected by protesters

Snow and ice as barricade materials...

Car tires make barriers too.  AND do double duty - can be burned to make a smoke screen (so police can't see where to shoot) if things get uglier 

Unfortunately, the government response to the protests has also reflected a harsh play book

Propaganda: Someone is working hard to make the US & EU look like they are stirring up trouble.  Local papers are reporting that the US is training & paying people to protest.  Someone (allegedly Russia) also leaked a cell conversation where the US's Assistant Secretary of State dropped the 'F-bomb' when expressing frustration about the EU's response to Ukraine's political situation.   

Punish dissent in the wallet:  2 oligarchs who showed their pro-EU support (by switching an electronic billboard to a live stream of the Kiev protests & waving EU flags) suddenly faced mid-day power outages at malls they own.  Coincidence?   Unlikely

Take out the opposition: A more brutal example - one leader of the protests was kidnapped, beaten for 8 days - including being crucified (nailed down by his hands) and dumped in a forest

(he made it to a nearby village & has since fled to Lithuania)

Meanwhile, some 25 people involved in the protests remain missing today



So what is one to do in these challenging times?!   In Soviet style - drink.  

This past weekend we mirrored a Chicago favorite event (cheers to you Doug Andersen) - gathered a few friends for a 'Metro pub crawl' .  Hop on the Metro, visit a different pub at each stop. 1 drink per stop.  

The first stop bar looked like 'your uncle's basement'

Even with beer can art

The second - essentially a bus stop with a keg & a tent over it

The most random stop - the "Romantic Dolphin show" - note the sexy violinists.... 

And YES - it counts as a bar since they serve beer 

(come to think of it, by that criteria, all of Ukraine would count as a bar)

While 'leisure during revolution' might seem flippant, even the most vigilant protesters need to blow off steam... 

2 1/2 months in, this is what the scene looked like today...

I honestly don't know how this will get resolved.   But I do commend the Ukrainian people for pushing for a brighter, non-Soviet style future.  

Here's to peace, optimism & having fun along the way

Where's next?

In expat circles, conversation almost always includes:

•  Where are you from?
• Where have you been?
• How long have you been here?
• How much longer will you be here?
• Where to next?

With Logan’s contract here coming to an end, we’ve been talking about that last question a LOT

Having loved Cambodia + icy roads make this part of the world look attractive...

The boys’ votes illustrate their bias to familiar – Chicago, California, Florida, Minnesota

Meanwhile, Hammy clearly consulted weather.com too - he voted Austrailia

Ironically, after 3 years of mad travel, instead of being road weary, it feels like there is so much more to see.  

Thus, tried the ‘spin the globe method’.   

After landing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean + Kazakhstan, we decided we better take a more thoughtful approach – turned to the world wide web for inspiration…

Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Balancing a quest for adventure, ‘where in the world’ fantasy with a place the kids could consider ‘home’ (e.g. close to a Chipotle) – we decided to finally act on our on-going ‘5 year plan’ & move to the Bay Area in California.   

Urban driven – we are heading to San Francisco!

This enables: 

1. ‘back to the USA by highschool’ 
2. close to family & friends (altho lose proximity to others too :(  )
3. 'snow-pant free' winters 
4. desirable enough location we might just convince some of our international friends to visit!

A big relief to have a destination – but we’re clearly just at the base of the mountain….. vague export rules here + job(s), housing & schools in SF ….a few key things yet to tackle

In the mean time, we are cherishing every second of the wild ride it continues to be here…and hope you'll come visit us in San Francisco

As my Nana and Gramps said best, “Enjoy Yourself, It’s Later Than You Think”