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Published: December 16th 2009
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Eating at Puzata Hata
Our regular hangout due to cheap-ish food and free wi-fi I know that I haven't blogged in a long time, and there were a few reasons for it. Firstly, I wanted to wait for my camera to be fixed, so that I could add photos, but I haven't been very proactive with that. I think I should just get a new one, and it will be easier. Secondly, I was waiting for my issues with my accomodation and job to get sorted out, so that I would be more settled in. But the last week has been quite exciting and action packed, so I figured I could just talk about that for now, rather than have a massive entry later.
So when I left you off last week, I was still living with Olsa, and was waiting for a language centre to accept me, after many complications. So eventually I was to move out, and experience life as a Ukranian local (or however much I could). I was meant to have a look at a flat or 2, but more complications arose, and sadly they didn't work out. So I moved into a little dormitory/hostel place, and have been there ever since. The place is fairly nice, a comfortable bed,
Endrek from Estonia
He's talking about Estonian politics and the economy, while I pretend to be a puffer fish small room, and little bathroom/toilet thing. It was more-or-less clean (not at all by my parents' standards, but ok by mine). I would probably go crazy if I was living there alone, but luckily Rita (another New Zealand intern) lives a few rooms down, so we keep each other sane.
Rita seems to have settled into her place quite well, and after buying and arsenal of cleaning products and wiping the entire place down thoroughly, we decided to store all food at her place, and sortof just hang out in there in general. My room is much more manly. I.e., all I do in there is use the bathroom facilities and sleep; the rest of it is quite messy, even by my standards. I'm a bit wary about settling in though, just in case I have to move out again (although Rita is sortof in denial about that). We are the only 2 interns in our general area, quite close to the city centre, and our jobs are walking distance away. Most of the other interns are on the left bank of the river; working and/or living there, so I see them a lot less ofter.
Last, last
Aww..
Eggs not cooking too well..at first Saturday, I did a 2 hour speaking class at a language centre called Sunshine, and it was a lot of fun. I talked to a large group of women and one guy about myself, New Zealand and my experiences in Ukraine. People here are actually facinated my foreigners, especially ones from overseas. The fact that you're a 'native speaker' of English is a big deal here, and most people enjoy just talking to you. Most of the adult classes here are made up of mostly women, and no one knows why. I also met my first Ukranian fellow vegetarian, Marina, who is a teacher here, and who is also very concerned about the environment, which I hope is a growing trend in this country!
Also in that week, we received our final intern, Fiona from Auckland, New Zealand. So to celebrate, we met up with a bunch of other Aiesecers, and went to a park to hang out and have fun. We also had a visit to an ice-skating rink, but sadly I wasn't able to go on because of my knee. But later that night, I was fortunate enough to experience my first snowfall! It was unexpected, and
it slowly got slightly heavier later, so I was pretty excited. I ran outside and tried to catch one in my mouth, which apparently is not the most graceful looking thing. Other joined in a bit later, and eventually we got told off by security. By the next morning, everything was covered in a layer of snow, which made the surroundings look pretty cool! Needless to say, there were a lot of photos taken.
A few other fairly exciting milestones took place for me that week. Rita and I carried out our first solo grocery shopping trip, which was a pretty different experience to what I'm used to. Normally I'm quite good with working out what's a good brand/deal etc., but here everything is in Russian, so I predict a lot of trial and error, and trying to work things out by the picture. We found out that a good way to do things is to approach random shoppers, point to a row of products in an aisle, and ask 'Harasho?', which roughly translates to 'good/ok?'. And if they're not scared off by the foreigners, they usually pick up one of the items and confirm 'Harasho!'. We decided to
Candid photos
But our asian poser skills are too quick be brave and try our hand at cooking meals. The first lot of eggs went ok, but the pasta sortof congealed and melted, and was quickly deemed inedible 😞.
We also got lost for the first time that week. Rita and I were dropped off near our accomodation, and were told that it was very close, and how to get there. But we took a wrong turn somewhere, and wandered around for a bit, before my Russian reading skills came in handy, and I managed to find our street name somewhere. I was quite enthusiastic about learning Russian at first, and learnt the alphabet, numbers and basic phrases in a couple of days. I've been pretty lazy since, and haven't learnt much more, but I'll get to it soon I guess.
I also got lost for the second time that week too. I attempted to take the marshrutka alone for the first time, and it went pretty bad. I was trying to get off at the city centre, and didn't recognise the stop, so I didn't get off for ages. It's sortof the equivalent of wanting to take a bus from Britomart to Uni, but then getting off
AIESECer and trainees
What's us with Alice's head and body? somewhere near Mount Eden. I walked back most of the way, but it was pretty terrible, with the icy ground and water everywhere. At some point a dog started chasing me, before it realised that I was interested in it, then it ran away (must have been a female dog). Eventually Olya figured out that I was pretty lost, and aided me back. For a while it seemed like I wouldn't be allowed out by myself, but I think she was glad that I made it back safe. But I learned that if a 5 minute trip ends up being around an hour, that's a sign that you're probably lost.
So I'll end this entry now, and write about the following (last) week in a day or 2. Tune in next time for:
Exciting job and accomodation updates!
Successful meals!
Aiesec weekend away!
A new camera!
And more sentences that end in exclaimation marks!
Points to ponder.
One thing very noticeable in Urkaine is contrasts, all around. There isn't really an obvious middle class here, and things are often quite run down. But every now and then, you see really flash, modern looking buildings and offices, amidst
First meal at home
Bread, chocolate spread and cheese! a group of old, worn out buildings. Ukraine seems to have the potential for development, but it seems like it will be a long time before it can move into truely modern times. One thing that keeps us all positive is that the people here are just very friendly, and are usually more than happy to help a stranger, from pulling us onto a marshrutka, to helping lost students find quality groceries.
On a lighter note, people here are fascinated by the fact that I don't drink tea. Tea here is very popular, with different flavours, and without milk or sugar. I don't mind it, but it's just something that I haven't really developed a particular liking for.
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Usman
non-member comment
Thats amazing
Hey Jeremy, Good toknow ur enjoying urself. Its seems lyk an amazing trip. Will definitly be reading all your blogs. Hopefully i get to go sumwea next year. C ya..