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