Arriving in Kiev

Saturday, September 25^th, 2010

We arrived in Kiev at 8:45 Saturday morning. We walked through the passport inspection area without much more than a grunt from the agent. As we approached the baggage area there were many men waiting to help for a fee. We surely looked bewildered and a man loaded our luggage said something about $30 and took us through customs at the front of the line and then waited for his money. Our person had not yet arrived and no one spoke English. We gave him $10 and said that was all we had! He was not happy that it was in US dollars, but $10 dollars is about $80 grevnas. Well more than $30 grevnas.... oh, well....

We called the US contact wondering what should be our next step, but then our Ukrainian contact arrived with our driver. We were glad to see a familiar face!! We were quite out of place in a land where we could not understand anyone. We loaded up the luggage and headed to the bank and a phone retailer. We exchanged currencies and picked up a Sims card and a modem for the computers. The phone is working great, but we have not had any luck getting the computers to interface with the Internet.

When we arrived at the apartment the landlord couple was there to show us around and to tell us definitively to take off our shoes!! Our apartment is in the middle of other apartment homes, all 10 stories tall with creamy yellow exteriors with varying degrees of grey concrete showing through. Every window has a different look from the shape of the window encasing to the and window coverings. The stairwells are cement, the hallways are cement, and the elevator can squeeze 4 people (at most) per trip. We are staying on the 8^th floor in room 204. The exterior makes one ask if the building is either under renovation or demolition. The interior is very nice and clean.

At the grocery store we bought some dark chocolate, bread, salami and cheese, plums and other fruit. We got some juice, yogurt and eggs for breakfast. Of course, we also purchased some bottled water too. Last night we cooked some meat dumplings for dinner. It was all very good. We walked about a mile past a McDonald’s and a beautiful church. Amazingly, we were able to find our way home. I say, amazingly because it is really true, almost every high rise looks the same. Brad jokingly said, “I can tell that one is ours because it has a unique creamy yellow color with a certain pattern of cement lines and dirt spots.”

We slept well last night and we were both so exhausted that neither of us had trouble sleeping. Jet lag was nothing since we had had so many late nights before we left. Sleep was a gift!!