Kyiv:

Kyiv:

Kyiv:

Kyiv a few days ago:

An ad for Novaya Gazeta (a Ukrainian namesake, not to be confused with the Russian Novaya Gazeta, for which Anna Politkovskaya used to write):

"Further away from those in power, closer to the readers."

The woman in the picture is Yulia Tymoshenko's look-alike, but it's not her. Here's a zoom-in:



The picture was taken at Obolon metro station.

"I love Ukrainian language"

Back in late September, when the exchange rate was around UAH 5.05 for $1 and that seemed way crazy, a guy at the bank told me that by December it would most likely be UAH 5.80 to $1 - which sounded totally impossible then...

Today, that same bank guy was helping me, and $1 cost UAH 7.40... I reminded him of our conversation two months ago, we both tried to smile, but ended up sighing heavily...

The problem I have with Kyiv is that I can't go anywhere here without being reminded of our search for papa last summer. We were looking for him everywhere, it seems, and the memories are still very vivid, and it hurts a lot.

So yeah, Lytvyn is the speaker again. I wasn't going to comment on it at all, until a Facebook friend asked me to. They showed some fat woman give him a huge bouquet of white roses when he returned to his speaker's seat after such a long absence. He also got a hug and a kiss - and red roses - from Yulia. BYuT and the Communists voted very well for him, NUNS did okay, too, while the Party of Regions voted against. I really don't have any thoughts on it and couldn't care less. And I said all I wanted to say about Lytvyn a year or so ago, here.

P.S. As for the "new" coalition - well, good for them, I guess.

A swastika in our backyard in Kyiv:



The first one ever - and left-facing at that. Maybe it's some Buddhists, or some Slavic neo-pagans, not the neo-Nazi thugs? Or is this similar to the word "slavyane" (Slavs) misspelled as "slovyane" in that xenophobic rental ad in Moscow - a very ironic typo?

Since this is where I live, I sort of like that it's so open to interpretation - though, honestly, I'm not too full of optimism.

I wanted to post these ugly pics earlier, following this discussion of Condoleezza Rice, Russia and IKEA.

Here are some of the options that we have in our IKEA-free city, Kyiv:


This one cost 2,050 hryvnias, which, according to the summer exchange rate (very different from what it is now), was something like $410...



This one was 2,700 hryvnias ($540)...



2,866 hryvnias ($570 or so)...



3,150 hryvnias ($630)...



This is their "leader of sales" - 11,731 hryvnias ($2,345 or so) - for a couch and two armchairs, I assume...















Finally, this sweet couple decided against buying this thing - because it was roughly the size of their bedroom when turned into a bed, and they, obviously, wanted to leave some space to be able to move around...

This NATO-related picture was taken at the kids' playground in front of our building in Kyiv sometime in early October:



"NATO - YES!"
"NATO - stability and peace!"

Saw this ad at Oktyabrskaya Square yesterday:



Here's the translation:

Urgent!!! A one-room apartment for rent, at Mendeleevskaya, long-term, strictly to Russians and Slavs [misspelled in the original: slovyanam instead of slavyanam]. 8-minute walk from the metro. Furniture and appliances included... tel. 8-925-507-55-98

A Skype birthday :)



Dec. 1, 2008

First, Mishah clinked glasses with his brother, who is in Kyiv. Over Skype.

Then Marta pretended to blow the candles on her grandmother Toma's cake - also in Kyiv, also over Skype.

And finally, we placed the computer on the kitchen counter, got Mishah's brother and his wife on Skype again, turned the lights off and cheered all together as Marta blew the real candles on the real cake.

I still can't believe it's possible, still feel it's some kind of a science fiction thing - while for Marta it's all natural, I guess, and she probably takes it for granted.

When we were at Tretyakov Gallery the other day, I explained to her that the artists had created most of these paintings at the time when no cameras existed. She gave me an incredulous stare and asked: "What, they did not have cameras?"

Marta is 3 today!!!!!!!!!



(This picture was taken a few days ago, during a dress rehearsal :) I hope to post a few more later.)