a quick shout out

So I have this friend that makes not only hand-made but custom-made jewelry that is pretty awesome... I don't own any yet, but I hope to be a proud owner soon (wink)!! She's a pretty cool chick (we knew each other waaaay back when...) and she's doing a GIVEAWAY. Check it out:

Baby-sitting. Aunt Joe style...

So I'm a terrible aunt. It's true.

I noticed a week or so ago that Jane really likes the TV. Especially when there are cartoons on that have lots of colors and sound and movement. It's the insta-calm for her.

So the other night when I was baby-sitting the kids, I decided to see if she wanted to watch Wallace & Gromit with the boys. Sure enough, she was up on her elbows and folding her tiny hands in front of her with her eyes wide and glued to the computer for about five minutes. It was so stinking cute.

I must say that's a pretty amazing attention span for a three month old baby! And those neck and back muscles? Uncanny, really.

A Ukrainian Masquerade... or should I say Mask-o-raid?

Here's the thing... I realize that the swine flu is no laughing matter. It is a serious illness and a lot of people have died from it. And I DEFINITELY wouldn't be laughing if it was me that was sick in bed with H1N1.

But here's the other thing...

It just happens to be election time in Ukraine, and sadly enough, I'm sure you can imagine the way political figures have used things like the swine flu to get ahead in the game.

One such political figure declared a nationwide quarantine and ordered all public schools and mass-gathering places (movie theaters, public rallies, churches, concert halls, etc.) to be shut down for three weeks. Which just happened to be three days before one of her opponent's biggest political rallies was supposed to take place. Coincidence? Ha.

Maybe she really did have a pure concern for the safety, health, and well-being of the people. But maybe not.

Regardless of her motive, it was a move that not only caused severe paranoia amongst the people but undoubtedly secured her some extra votes. Perfect. For her... She looked like a hero. Nevermind the mass hysteria that took place after she did whatever she was trying to do.

And even though swine flu, political corruptness, and the lack of medical help is no laughing matter, what we saw the day after the quarantine announcement was funny. Truly funny.

Everyone was wearing surgical masks.

Seriously. All these beautiful women, dressed in fur coats and stillhetto boots, wearing surgical masks. People at the bus stops. People in the grocery stores. Men with their expensive jeans and Italian leather shoes. Wearing surgical masks. All in hopes that they wouldn't get the swine flu.

The saddest/funniest part about it is that wearing a surgical mask will not prevent you from getting the swine flu. Or any other flu for that matter. It only prevents you from giving it to other people. The simple fact that you should wash your hands frequently and use hand sanitizer is one that is little known around here apparently.

So I turned mask watching into a game. Just to pass the time. And I brought my camera with me.

I started by snapping pictures of any random mask I saw. Soon, I had compiled a mental list of pictures that I for sure wanted to get. Like a police officer with one on and a woman with a fur coat and mask on. And I wasn't going to blog about it until I got all the pictures I wanted. But the paranoia died down after a couple weeks and the surgical masks started disappearing. Quite unfortunate really. I didn't get all the ones I wanted. But here is a sampling of the Ukrainian population during the swine flu scare.

Just so you know, the game involved some serious amounts of stealth on my part. I got quite good at it, as you can tell.

The grocery store...

Retail places...

On the street...

Imagine the disappointment I feel that I didn't get a picture of the couple kissing with their masks pulled down around their necks. And even more so, the girl outside the grocery store with her mask around her chin, smoking a cigarette. Yep, it's swine flu that's gonna kill you...

Books... I seriously love them.

I am an escapist. There, I said it.

And I don't think it's necessarily a good thing to be. But what can I say? I am a huge movie buff. And I LOVE a good TV show (as I've mentioned before). But as much as I like to do those things, there's nothing that I like to do more than get engulfed in a good book. It's by far my favorite way to "escape"...

And since I'm not being "formally" educated right now, I figured reading books is a great way to educate myself - to keep my brain alive and alert.

So I've decided that I am going to try to read two books per month while I am abroad - that gives me two weeks to really get into and digest a book. With the lack of TV channels and movies (that play in English), I have lots of time to read, which is great. I could do four books per month really, but I'm shooting low, just to stay on the realistic side. And if I read more than that in a month, then good for me, right?

I have been in Ukraine for four weeks now and I have already met my goal and read my two books. The first one was Their Eyes Were Watching God - one of those classics that a lot of high schoolers are required to read. It was not one of my graduation requirements so I decided to read it on my own. And I really enjoyed it. It was sweet and sad and made me cry a little. Three and a half stars.

I have a thing for books that make me cry.

The other book, that I just finished the other night, is a book called The Book Thief. I highly recommend it, for more reasons than I can even begin to list. It is written so cleverly. It was one of the best books I have read in a long time and I can honestly say that I have never cried so hard in a book in all my life. And I have cried in a few.... It was seriously so tender. Four and a half to five stars. That's all I'm going to say about it. I don't want to be one of those book/movie ruiners because I've talked it up so much and it just ends up being a disappointment for you. Just go read it and see for yourself...

Now, on to number three.

Good Day Sunshine!

The widgets on my computer dashboard show that Tuesday's forecast in Kiev is looking pretty good compared to the rest of the week. But I really took this picture because it is probably one of the only times that the temperature in Gilbert Arizona will be the same as it is in Kiev Ukraine (even though it's a difference between the wee hours of the morning in Gilbert and the middle of the day here)...

It's funny to think that I just moved from a place that is perpetually sunny (hence its nickname) - to a place that to my four weeks of knowledge, is perpetually NOT sunny. Somewhat dreary, really. Opposite ends of the spectrum for sure. Which is probably just the way winter is here, but still. My bones need sunshine and warmth.

So, needless to say, days like today are welcomed with pure delight. It is the second time in a month that I have seen sunshine (three if you count the hour that it broke through the clouds yesterday), and it's just another one of those little things that I may have taken for granted. It was so nice to not only wake up to the sun coming through the blinds this morning, but to see evidence of it all over the house throughout the day. Thank you clouds for not coming to Kiev today (for at least a little while)...

I need to laugh, and when the sun is out

I've got something I can laugh about

I feel good, in a special way

I'm in love and it's a sunny day

Good day sunshine

Good day sunshine

Good day sunshine

- The Beatles

Betty really isn't that Ugly after all...

I'm not even going to lie about the fact that I watch a lot of TV. I love a good TV show, even some reality ones.

But there are some that I would just never get sucked into because they look, well, stupid. Like Ugly Betty for example.

But when I arrived here at my sister's house, she was watching the first season of Ugly Betty on DVD, and I found myself sitting in on a few episodes. And before long, it totally happened. I got sucked in. It's true.

Because let's be honest, Betty's boss is pretty sexy,

these two are hilarious,

and Betty is so quirky and cute. And totally a fish out of water, which I think some of us can relate to...

And now we are just anxiously awaiting the arrival of the 2nd season from my sister's best friend back in the states... Get here soon Betty!

I don't know if it's because we only have 3 American TV channels or if I would have liked UB if I gave it the chance from the beginning, but nonetheless, I have yet another show to add to my list of addictions...

Arg. I was really trying to quit!

Notes on Ukraine

So, I have this strange fetish with lists - it's how my brain functions really. If you could see a visual image of of how my brain thought things through, it would be this organized and concise list of lists. Things to do, souveniers I must have before I leave the country, things I miss about the states, people I cherish, what I do to get ready for the day, things I wish I knew, books I'd like to read.... That may not be that strange to some people, but what is strange is that I love to write lists down. I even have a little book that I made that is full of lists. I love love love writing things down. It literally clears my head. Gives my brain a rest.

One of the lists I have written down since being here is a list of "interesting things about Ukraine." Everything is interesting in a foreign country, but the things I have written down are things I've seen and experienced first hand. I wish I had pictures to demonstrate each thing on the list, but I don't. Which is totally unfortunate.

And this is just the beginnings of a list that I'm sure will be miles long before I leave here. So here it is:

• People stare. Relentlessly. But they will NOT make eye contact with you.
• Sidewalks are not really for walking. In fact you may get run over by a CAR that is driving down the sidewalk because they are tired of waiting in the line of traffic or you may have to walk around cars that are parked there.
• Parking is a joke. There is very little parking, and even where there is parking, people don't know how to do it properly. They also park on the sidewalk, as previously mentioned.
• Traffic is hilarious! Generally, the same rules apply here as they do in the states - they drive on the same side we do, they yield to oncoming traffic, they have turn signals, they have red, yellow, and green lights. But that's generally speaking. Normally, however, there is little to no yielding, lots of honking, tons of line-cutting (cars that are tired of waiting in the left turn lane so they cut to the front, get next to you, and then zoom in front of you and the oncoming traffic), and of course, the everyday sidewalk driving. It is a sight to behold.
• Majority of the cars on the road are really nice cars - ones you see in wealthy areas in the states. I even saw a Bently the other day. Not at all what I expected to see here.
• There are street dogs all over the city. Like hordes of them. They loiter by the restaurants and meat markets, hoping for some spare scraps of food. And they just keep breeding so there is this perpetual life-line of mean, mangy dogs that will never go away.
• It's a rare day that your trash has not been dug through for bottles, cans and any other money-making item. It's very sad.
• The women are beautiful. And they are always dressed up so nice (I want more clothes from here than I do in the states!). I have never felt like such a frump in all my life. They put Hollywood to shame. The men dress really nice as well, but they are, well, not as pretty as the women, to put it nicely (bleh!).
• Eating disorders are not considered diseases -they are a way of life. Most women under the age of 30 look like little walking sticks. Again, they put Hollywood to shame.
• Everything is pickled - carrots, cabbage, broccoli, fish, eggs, pig feet...
• We shop at a place called Mega Market. It's about the size of a Super Wal-Mart, maybe a bit bigger. And there are two things that take up one half of the entire store - sweets (chocolates, candies, cookies, pastries, etc.) and alcohol, and half of the alcohol section is vodka.
• People start drinking at about age 8. There is this new energy drink that looks a bit like Red Bull but is mostly alcohol and very little energy drink. You see the middle-school aged kids drinking it at their breaks.
• The trolley bus has a perpetual stale alcohol-breath smell. New York's subway smells like pee - Ukraine's smells like old vodka.
• The apartment buildings here look like some eclectic Lego structure or someone's rendition of funky modern art. Everyone paints their balconies different colors and assembles their own add-ons. It's very interesting. And there are tons of them...
• Fish is sold "as is" whether they be frozen or fresh (they actually have tanks of fresh fish that you can point out the one you want and they catch it for you) and you take it home and do all the beheading and skinning yourself. Even the frozen shrimp still have eyes (gag, gag, gag). If I didn't like seafood before I came here...

Frozen shrimp (with eyes), squid, muscles, baby octopus, every sea creature you can imagine...

The awesome parking jobs on our street

An apartment building across the way from us, which is really mildly eclectic compared to most

What's a Girl to Do??

Yes, I'm obsessed with the Twilight series, and no, I don't speak Ukrainian. November suddenly looks very grim...

Getting Out

Toting four kids around everywhere is no easy task, regardless of how well behaved they are. I have really come to appreciate mothers of small children a lot more since I have been living with my sister. I've learned how hard it is to get out and do things - even running a quick errand. And what makes it even better is how foreign it is to the people here to have more than one or two kids. There are always stares as we're walking down the street or walking into a restaurant with two little kids, a toddler, and a new born. The looks on people's faces are priceless. And people ARE NOT afraid to stare here. For long, awkward amounts of time.

But it's usually not a big deal since Calvin and Henry have school all day. So Traci and I just have baby and toddler. Easy-peasy. But with the outbreak of PARANOIA here (aka Swine Flu), school has been cancelled for

THREE

WEEKS....

on top of the week they already had off for Fall break.

So it turns out that it's not so easy-peasy after all. Four weeks, four kids, and a lot of pent-up energy. We may not have swine flu in the house, but we might have little bitty cases of cabin fever...

But as fortune would have it, there is a group of college-aged girls from the states that are here teaching English in the schools that happen to be VERY bored since school has been cancelled and that are looking for things to do like, um, baby-sitting for example.... And the best part is that Traci didn't have to do anything to arrange it - they called her and volunteered themselves! Hello!

So, needless to say, we have totally taken advantage and gone out a couple times - once the other night when Traci and I went shopping for a dress for the Marine Core Ball on Saturday (I'm sure I'll post about that later - my first black tie affair!) and then another time last night when Traci and David took me out to dinner. It was quite the treat.

We took the trolly bus to an authentic Ukrainian restaurant and then walked home afterward, which was really nice. I had a cabbage salad, vareniki (boiled dough pockets with mashed potatoes and onions - tastes divine with sour cream and a pinch of S&P), cherry compote (a drink that looks and smells a bit like red wine but tastes like mashed cherries, which it is - and totally alcohol free... maybe.... we are in the land of Vodka, afterall), and cherry vareniki for dessert. I've had a lot of vareniki (not sure how to spell it out in English) in my life, but I had my first authentic Ukrainian vareniki at the restaurant last night, and it was delicious. And to add to it all, there was a little quartet that played instruments and serenaded everyone while we ate. It was fab, to say the least. Thank heaven for those volunteer baby-sitters, and thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for taking me on such a nice outing!

It's funny how you start to really appreciate the little things - things like walking at a normal pace and having uninterrupted adult conversation. And to think I'm not even a mom yet... ☺

Long name for a restaurant! Very funny.

Vareniki... mmmm...

The little quartet that played music and sang to us. (I apologize for the crap video -you'll have to tilt your head to the left to watch it... Anyone know how to rotate videos so they are going the right way?? I'm such a blogging rookie!)

I just had to post these... These were the bathrooms. The view from the outside - separate "His" and "Hers" entrances (I found the peep holes especially interesting)

that lead to the same communal bathroom on the inside... They could have saved space and materials by just making one entrance. We thought that was pretty funny.

Halloween... or something like it...

It's funny how you move halfway across the world and start realizing how much you take for granted when you grow up in the US of A and live there your whole life. I mean, there are the obvious things that you KNOW you sometimes take for granted like shopping malls, modern building codes and regulations, and the Taco Bell you see on nearly every corner of town. And you don't necessarily have to move out of the country to know that those are some of the things you might take for granted on a daily basis. But then there are the things that never really cross your mind because they only come around once a year - things like Halloween and Thanksgiving - VERY American holidays that are completely over-done and over-commercialized but that you love to see come around once a year nonetheless. It didn't really dawn on me that there wouldn't be any lame parties to go to or a candy and costume isle that smells like chocolate and plastic (you totally know what I'm talking about!) in every grocery store. And for me, that's really all I appreciate about Halloween anymore - it's like you know Fall is here when you see the Halloween stuff start to go up at the stores. It just SMELLS like Fall. And I love it.

But this year was a bit different. Since there aren't any of those things here (although I did get to enjoy them for a couple weeks before I left the states since most stores start putting out Halloween stuff at the end of August!), people have to get creative. Especially us Americans who are used to celebrating on October 31st in one way or another. So every year, the planning committee at the Embassy puts together a little party for the kids (there are about 100 of them between all the embassy workers here) where they get to go around to all the offices and trick-or-treat which gives them, and the parents alike, something to look forward to. And I must say that my 3 nephews and my baby niece were the highlight of my Halloween this year.... Dressing them up for that party was the best part about my un-Ukrainian holiday for sure. I'll admit too that it was a bit of a relief not having to agonize over the perfect costume or think of ways to socialize (bleh!)...

Ok, so I had to steal this pic from my sister because the two older boys took their costumes off about ten minutes into the party because they were "too itchy" so I didn't get any pics of them on my camera... (Traci and I painted that back drop for the party...)

Calvin and Henry as ghosts and little Charlie as a bug... :)

Charlie watching the kids fish for prizes

And here's baby Jane Jane (as Charlie calls her) in her Halloween outfit that her Aunt Lesli gave her

And again, at the party in her pumpkin get up, doing what we'd all like to be doing at that point... :)

So there you have it - Halloween in Ukraine! Can you believe it's November already? Where is time going??!