Awesome vacation, bleak reality

I returned from holidays over a week ago. I had fantastic time in Galapagos. It’s spectacular landscapes were relaxing. Swimming and snorkelling with playful sea lions and “cool” turtles was amazing therapy. Made me forget about crisis and “other” frustrating things. The fellow travellers on "Eclipse" - the ship I was a on – were adventure loving and fun. The guides highly knowledgeable, enthusiastic and fun loving.
I made hundreds of photos of sea lions, lizards, boobies, finches, pelicans, albatrosses -which I expect to be sorting for months. In short my Galapagos memories will be an uplifting tonic when spirits are down for years to come.

Some pics from Galapagos are on http://picasaweb.google.nl/lh/photo/ZiaBwkoLONPlkGBXolsBNQ?feat=directlink
When I left UA for three weeks vacation I expected things in the country would improve. I could not be more wrong.
Shortly after my return I heard someone gave Ukraine a nickname "Zimbabwe of Europe". While this might be an exaggeration (no cholera - yet) it's difficult (within Europe) to match speed of hrivnya devaluation (hrivnya moved from 5/USD to 10/USD within last month). The government remains dysfunctional. Tymoshenko accuses Yushenko of flaring-up devaluation. Yushenko states Tymoshenko is incapable of controlling the economic developments. While the President and PM argue people are losing their jobs and savings. The government proposes regulations smacking of administrative economy. Seems like moving towards the drak age of late 80ties and early 90ties. For all practical purposes country is in default or rapidly heading towards it. Ukraine also has not paid EUR 1.8 bn gas bill outstanding since September 2008. Since 2005 Ukraine-Russia "gas spats" around New Year are "regular event". The issue is UA-RU cannot agree an a gas price as of Jan 1st 2009. These gas price negotiation may win award for intransparency. On other side lack of clarity into gas price fixing process might be highly beneficial to off shore accounts of some individuals. In the meantime courtesy of politicians - common people will most likely have their flats decorated with icicles. While people will have fresh albeit freezing air in their apartments, Kiev mayor will be warm in his new Rolls Royce he purchased for a USD 1 mio last month (Rolls replaced "old" Maybach). In any European country there would be an outrage if a mayor will drive Rolls.
Amazingly some of my co-workers try to convince me there is actually no crisis. If Zimbabwean crisis standards are applied – they might be right. The worst is the dysfunctional government (naturally) lacks any "plans ahead" to face or fix problems.

During my vacation Catharine, Kees and their 11 year old dog Vibe took care of Igor. Under their excellent care Igor became a grown up boy (started to lift a leg)!!! Many, many barking thanks to Catherina for taking excellent care of Igor!!!

For Christmas and New Year I'll stay in Kiev. Pauline and Wyger will come to visit over Christmas. Since last week it snows here so "white Christmas" is guaranteed.

To all of you I wish you merry Christmas and happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Autumn to remember

Last four weeks have been tough.

In September it looked as the financial crises in the West will only brush off Ukraine. Instead of brush off Ukraine found itself in a bigger crises than one in 1998 or in 2004. And I fear we are only at the beginning. Unexpected drop of steel prices put Eastern Ukraine almost at halt. Steel is major export and as steel stock remains high steel companies are reducing production by more than 50% and aggressively reducing workforce. Steel needs a lot of energy - one of sources being coal. As steel production is significantly reduced - coal mines are closed. There are entire villages and small cities in Eastern Ukraine depending on coal mining or steel. Closure of a mine or a steel factory has a dramatic effect on a village or a city. Construction is also halted. There is actually no industry which is not affected.

The government remains dysfunctional. I am truly amazed it took the government three weeks to sign the IMF package. I am not fan of IMF. Each country supported by IMF found itself in even larger mess few years after in received IMF package. But the fact is Ukraine desperately need external funding these days. However for about three weeks it looked like personal turfing between the President and the PM was more important than the country's survival. It looked like personal scoring had a priority over receiving USD 16,5 bn package. There were days it looked very likely that the President will refuse to sign the package as one of IMF conditions was to postpone the early election which was triggered by the President. The President finally signed it last week.
To recap - we had a banking crises first week of October. The second week in October we received a very strange Central Bank of Ukraine instruction #319 on Oct 10th. The instruction #319 requested banks not to lend i.e a bank was forbidden to provide a new financing. Although this instruction was short lived and not registered at Ministry of Justice (thus legaly not enforacble) - it caused a lot of havoc. The Central Bank of Ukraine revoked the instruction on Oct 14th. Than hrivnya (local currency) started to rapidly devalue. The state spend billions to support it but still the currency devalued 30%. The last instruction from Nov 4th basically halts forex market. Depressing events.

In the office my collgaues are mostly very young people who in 1998 were in collage. They have no idea how to read signs of crises and even less how to adjust working habits. Clients display similar attitude. Most of the companies here know only good times of aboundant liquidity and most of them have owners who still live in a bubble. One client told me that company which these days struggles heavily with liquidity remains basically healthy as in June he had an offer to sell the company for USD 500 mio. Well - since June so many things happened. I am sure he will regret not selling the company in June. But for him in June USD 500 mio was not enough.

Unsurprisngly all these events and situations create an intense atmosphere at work. Stress I can manage. It comes and goes. But continuous intensity of problems wears me down. Two weeks ago I thought it cannot get worse. Last week each day was worse than a day before. I see two clients a day. We do not share good news in these meetings.

But there must be some correlation between dire conditions Ukraine economy finds itself and wonderful autumn weather we had so far. Until last week it was sunny and mellow. Than it cooled down significantly but sun is shining brightly and skies are crystal blue. I spent weekend walking Igor and taking photos of autumn leaves.
The only bad think today was that we were chased by 12 stray dogs. We survived but it was not pleasant especially as there were no people around.
Pics from this weekend are at http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/AutumnLeaves#

Change happened

Four years ago I hurt (not to use a stronger word) some American acquaintances with a remark that Americans need a lesson on what voting means and how to vote.

Tonight US gave the globe a huge lesson on democracy. For me - with Obama elected - next to many other things which do not need to be repeated - decency became classy again.

Few weeks ago I still doubted Obama will be elected. I hoped and prayed.

Today I am excited. Optimistic. Convinced the world is a better place. And I hardly wait to visit US again.

I'll wear my Obama "Changing History" T-shirt today.

- 777.7

It's hard to come with a decent commentary on what happened yesterday. Instead of moving towards socialisam we moved from bad to worse. Globally we will all be worse now. That's kind of socialism too. An interesting analysis of the vote is on http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/09/the_failure_of_the_financial.html?hpid=topnews
Disbelief and fear is what I felt watching voting on BBC World - the only decent channel I have on my cable here (no CNN, CNBC). I was sure that the bill would be passed and rationality prevail. Next to TV I watched cnn.live.com. on my laptop and thought it's a bad joke when after not passing the bill the Congress started to voting about commemorative coins. Maybe they can commemorate 777.7 drop. Easy to mint.
At the moment I watch Asia going down. At least banks in Asia are no going bankrupt -today. Markets pounding is expected in Europe. Have no idea what awaits me at work this morning - but at least I still have a job.
I am appalled by Congress reps' absence of logic and inability to grasp facts. Or so many have voted "No" because there were no earmarks? If that's how "true democracy" works I am in a very democratic country now. By the way Yushenko is in Washington.

Igor in Kiev

Today is exactly a week since Igor arrived to Kiev. However events in financial markets are felt in Ukraine too and have not gave me much time to write.
I first want to thank Sandra, Maria, Zippo and Isela to going with Igor and me to the airport. I was very nervous and having seasoned "dog travellers" with me at the airport helped a lot.
On the airport everyone was helpful. Waiting in the line for security check lovely Ukrainian ladies gave Igor a lot of attention. He basked in it. In the plane he was quite. No whining. No one knew I have a doggie in my bag. I was so proud of him!
At the customes of the Kiev airport they just asked if Igor has a passport and vaccinations. They have not looked properly at Igor's papers. So much work went into getting them I was disappointed there is almost no interest in them. I had truly a thick file for Igor - all vaccinations, vet's statement in Ukrainian, correspondence (or better lack of it) with Ukrainian vet service and customs - and no one looked at any of these!!! But everyone on the airport was friendly and helpful! I felt a mixture of relief that Igor arrived to Kiev so smoothly and disappointment that no one showed interest in his papers. Kind of feeling when you get highest grade on exam not because you spent days preparing but because the question was an easy one.

At home - after I opened my suitcase Igor immediately jumped into it! Perhaps his way of showing he misses his big family in Nieuw A'dam. We had a bit of a noisy night but soon he got used to sleeping in his big crate.
He adjusted to his new home fast. It helps that Julia - my housekeeper - keeps him company during the day.
On his walks he is afraid of people and cars. Today he started to bark at a small friendly Pekinese who wanted to play with him. He likes driving but when I stop and people start to cross a road he barks at them in the car. We have to work on Igor's social skills.

About financial meltdown - I hope ING will not take over Fortis. For that news I have to wait until tomorrow.

Overbearing neighbour

As many others I consider a stock market index of a country a reliable mood indicator. It gives some indication of what is likely to happen next. Money always moves first.
On Friday, Sep 5th stock trading in Kiev was suspended. PFTS - the local stock market index -dropped 7% in one day. For the last quarter PFTS dropped 29.1% and such fall earned PFTS a silver medal for the 2nd worst performing stock index in the world. (Gold medal goes to China Mainland Index). CDS on Ukrainian government bonds moved over 501 mark.
Yesterday's index drop is not triggered by Cheny's visit and talk about Ukraine's need to move closer to EU and get NATO membership.
It has to do with overbearing neighbouring Mishka bear and unbearably mercurial local politics. For excellent analysis about both check http://www.stratfor.com/.
Like many Ukrainians I do not fear peace-keeping "Black Eagles" on the East boarder. Mishka has a more effective way down his paws. On Aug 29th Russian Economic Ministry committed to abolish conditions for free trading with Ukraine. Under 1993 Russia-Ukraine free trade agreement all goods produced in Ukraine except sugar and alcohol enjoy duty free export to Russia. So Mishka plans (the government has a week to decide) to close Russian market for Ukrainian goods. The bear knows well Ukraine's weakest spots. In spite '93 agreement Mishka triggered few "economic wars" already. In Jan 2006 Russia declared "chicken and cheese war". Mishka found that Ukrainian milk and meat products pose the threat of contagious diseases in Russia. Since Jan 2007 when Mishka mentions "gas" - Ukraine freezes. Not only literally. Ukraine economic fate is tied to oil and gas as Ukraine major export (after grain and sunflowers) is steel. To produce steel this country needs a lot of gas. Until now Mishka and Vladimir supplied gas (with few telling interruptions) at below market prices. But that's due to change. The new gas contract is being negotiated. The guess is not will the price be higher - but will it be "un/bearably" higher.
In Ukraine (as in many other places) money rules. Ru$$ia i$ flu$hed with $$$$$$$. And annoyed with what it calls "the encirclement strategy" employed by the US/West.
Since Peter the Great the Russian doctrine is based to ensure access to the Baltic in the North and the Black Sea in the South. Peter won access to the Baltic. Cathrine's soldier Potemkin ensured access to the Black Sea. Russia will not allow even contemplating a loss of access to the Black Sea and Sevastopol naval base - which population is 72% Russian.

For those not quite familiar with Crimea - it was donated to Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic by Khrushchov in 1954. Since Ukraine independence suzerainty of Crimea is subject of heated debate.
Russians will not repeat embarrassment of 2004. If - following collapse of coalition government this week - early election take place, my guess is that a party backed by Mishka is most likely to win.

September will countinue to be exciting month. Not only beacuse at the end of it FIFA has to finally decide if Ukraine is on its way to be ready to co-host the football championship in 2012.

In the meantime Mishka taps his paws...

Credit: the amazing photo of the bear is downloaded from www.firstpeople.us

Independence Parade

So after a week of parade rehearsals finally we had yesterday a real thing. Following tank unit rehearsal last Tuesday on Thursday some other military machinery made on Kiev streets for rehearsals with some military orchestras. I was more interested in making photos of musical instruments. See photos at http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/ParadeRehearsal
Unfortunately my mum could not watch the parade as she had to leave on Saturday. My dad does not feel well and she decided to leave Kiev earlier. I just said goodbye to my mum on the airport, and few minutes later I greeted Kathy - my good friend from Seoul. Last time I saw Kathy was March 07 in Seoul. She will spend a week in Ukraine.
So yesterday Kathy and I walked towards Khreshchatik and faced huge crowd. We could not see much from a parade but people watching was great. Leaving the parade crowds and going home I saw a lovely doggie. I looked at the doggie and tried to guess the owners. I approach a couple with a kid and in Russian asked if the lovely dog is theirs. The lady answered in Russian but than asked a husband in English to help her with some difficult word. They are Americans living two years here and gave me recommendations for two vets. So I'll check these vets out.
Following the parade I decided to take Kathy to Chernihiv - a very old city about 140km from Kiev. On the road we saw military trucks from the parade. On Thursday during rehearsals soldiers were warning people that they should not be close to the street as trucks are "dangerous". Well - why the same trucks are than without any special escort driving along main regional road???? Danger or not - this was a great opportunity to make some interesting shoots. See the parade and "road parade" photos at http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/KievParade

Today I decided to take Kathy to Pereslav - a Cossack village about 100 km from Kiev. According to my guidebook this place has a nice 18th century church with a bell tower. Close to Pereslav is a nice open air Museum. The drive there is quintessential Ukraine. Flat fields. Poplar trees on horizon. Blue sky with low woolly clouds. Very picturesque. We were the only car on the road. In Pereslav we found the church and the belltower without any difficulty. However - Soviet times die hard and this beautiful baroque church is a church only from outside. During Soviet times the religion was forbidden. Shortly after revolution churches were destroyed but I guess it was hard work to level to the ground all churches across Soviet Union. Although bolsheviks did their best to destroy as much as possible, some churches remained but the Soviet government turned them into museums. In Pereslav case into the museum of "1943 Battle for Dniepro river". The museum was closed but next to the church entrance door there were same remnants of a Soviet tank. Kathy and myself read the bulletin board in the city and found announcement "buying natural hair". Hmmm...
As there was not much in the city to explore I started to look for a way to the open air museum. I asked a lady on the street and showed her my Ukrainian guide book. She never heard of a place. I usually do not ask men for instructions as they are usually not helpful. Either they are embarrassed a woman ask them something or they are embarrassed to tell a woman they do not know something. However it was around lunchtime. Not many people on the street. So I asked a guy for a help. And he was VERY helpful! Not only he knew about the place - he knew how to give directions and wanted to draw them for me!
Following helpful guy's directions I was soon on a road outside the city. After one curve I saw a pile of old Soviet military machinery - tanks, plane, military boat...All left there in the field to rust since WWII. I had to stop and make a photo. Among rusty tanks there was a couple on a date. "Meet you by the 4th tank" would sound bizarre to me but this military graveyard might be the best Pereslav can offer to lovebirds. See photos http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Pereslav
To ensure I am on the right road (Ukraine is short of any traffic signs) and encouraged by experience with a very helpful guy I stopped again and tried to ask a young man a question. I got a blank, stone look. My theory about helpful man being an exception confirmed, I drove on to babushka's selling veggies. Bought some watermelon and carrots and got perfect directions again. Thank God for for women on the road!
The open air museum is more like an ethno park badly needing some maintenance. There are nice buildings around. Some even have a board in Ukrainian about what the building is about - but nothing in English. But it's a nice park with lovely flowers and orchards. There was a museum of Ukrainian "rushnyk" a ceremonial towel representing feminine strength, vigour, and fertility - but in the museum there was no explanation about towel symbols, age of towels, how long it took to make one, stitching used...So frustrating.
Kathy and I were hungry and decided to look for some food. We asked the guy at the souvenir shop if somewhere close is a place with a good Ukrainian food. He told us "Smerekova hata" is a place to go. We found a place easily and it was a lovely place on a lake. The place was not too busy - but the waitress was avoiding us. Kathy and myself tried to make a contact and order some food but after 20 min I decided it's a time to go. If after 20 min I cannot order a food I might wait for an hour to get it and within an hour I am in Kiev. Nice place, but I hope next time I visit the place again - staff will be trained.

Doggie vaccinations, dirty tanks

Igor is expected to move to Ukraine around Sep 20th. Since June every two weeks I send an email to Ukrainian Embassy in Den Haag inquiring about required doc's for doggie import to UA. Not one email got a response. I also sent emails to the State Customs Office. No feedback. Few vets I visited in Kiev with a question about how to get a doggie in UA have not been of much help.
Last week I found the number of the Veterinary Inspection at Boryspil Airport. I called yesterday and spoke to a man with a sleepy voice. The guy had not spoke a word of English. I spoke Russian. He told me about vaccination requirements and regulations I have to read. I carefully wrote down every word he said. He dictated a long list of vaccinations. I also went to the website he suggested http://www.vetcontrol.org/ and found Article 71.15 about import of dogs, cats, foxes, rabbits and other animals. The regulations states doggies imported to Ukraine need vaccinations against following diseases:
- pseudorabies - Aujeszky's disease;
- rabies;
- TBC;
- tualremia
- distemper;
- hepatitis;
- canine dermaptophytosis;
- canine viral enterities;
- parvo virus;
- adenovirus;
- leptospirosis;
This was almost identical to the list written down during the phone call with the "sleepy voice" of the Airport Vet Inspection. Looking at the list I wondered if a small doggie can survive such a vaccination cocktail.
The next requirement is that a vet's health certificate has to be legalized by the Dutch authorities and translated to Ukrainian by authorized translator. As I knew where I can get official UA translation I have not worried about it.
What worried me however was a vague statement about the quarantine. But first I wanted to sort out the vaccination list. Some illnesses I recognized but few I never heard of. So I contacted Sandra and Maria and asked if the list makes sense to them. They contacted the vet in the Netherlands who replied:
- pseudorabies or Aujeszky's disease is a disease for pigs; there are no vaccinations for dogs;
- TBC - no vaccinations for dogs;
- tularemia - not known disease for dogs in the Netherlands;
- canine dermatophytosis - kind of a mite common for cows, no vaccination for dogs.
Furthermore Sandra and Maria wrote that the Netherlands and Ukraine officially signed a treaty about animal imports which clearly stipulates all "normal" doggies vaccinations.
So I called Boryspil Vet Inspection today and asked them why a doggie needs vaccinations for pigs, cows and humans. I spoke to a different person today. Not to a "sleepy voice". The explanation was that instructions from yesterday must be my misunderstanding. Hmmm - I recall the guy dictated to me in his sleepy voice all diseases...God knows what he was dreaming.
I asked the person today about the quarantine and the answer was if a doggie has a health certificate - no quarantine. So Igor will fly to Kiev.

My mum is here and today I decide to come home earlier. However the traffic was horrendous. It took me 1 hour to drive home while normaly it takes me 10-15 min. As all streets around my house were jammed mum and I decided to go for a walk. We walked towards the main street and what a sight - the street was jammed with tanks, carriers with rockets, military trucks with some cylinders... What a sight and I am without a camera.
On August 24th Ukraine celebrates the Independence Day so I suspect they had today a "rehearsal" for a military parade. The trucks and tanks looked like from old Soviet movies. Than tanks started to roll. All these tanks and trucks generated such a thick black cloud of smog I thought I would suffocate. I lack words to describe the blackness and acid taste of gases generated by tanks. Due to the heavy black smog the visibility was so poor - if it was not for a thunder of tanks rolling I would think these are some dirty construction machines and I would heavily complain about the carbon footprint. The tanks left the main road completely ruined. I hope it will be patched soon.
With what is going on in Georgia I can understand Ukraine want to show what they have. Perhaps thick black cloud of pollution is a kind of a new strategic weapon.

Last weekend I was in Crimea. Lovely place. I also understand better why my Ukrainian colleagues worry about Russia. But about Crimea - next time.

Traffic Police

For the last six months I have not been stopped once by police when driving. Since last Saturday I have been stopped three times. On Saturday I drove to Chernigiv - one of the oldest cities in Ukraine about 140km from Kiev. I went there with Olimpia, a Romanian colleague who is here for two months. I did not have GPS and with no or very little road signs it took me one hour to find an exit to Chernigiv. Chernigiv is also closest city to Chernobile - but I had no intention of going there. The road to Chernigiv is straight, no potholes and not much traffic. The best road I drove so far in Ukraine. Customary for Ukraine - the highway passes through the villages. There are no signs indicating max speed when entering a village. There are some red stripes on the road before entering a village but I had no idea what they mean. Until I got stopped by the police. A polite policeman informed me I drove 95km/h while 50km/h is max allowed in a village. My defence was "there are no signs". "Of course there are - the red lines on the road". "Ohhh - that's what they are. Where I come from we have round metal signs with numbers." The policeman asked for documents which in my case consists of:- POA from the bank that I am allowed to drive the bank's car;- copy of insurance policy;- technical licence;- driving licence - in my case Croatian international and Croatian original driving licence. He looked at the pile and said he has to check them and started to go towards his car. I had no idea if it's a custom in Ukraine to get out of the car and follow him or to stay in the car. In Russia you get out of your car. I opted to stay in the car as I had to call a colleague and check what's the going rate for over speeding. I decided to walk to a police car once I know the rate. Alexey told me the going rate for overspeeding is between UAH 20-100 which in USD is between USD 5-20. The policemen returned and told me doc's are OK but I breached a speed limit. I asked if UAH 20 is enough. He said yes. I gave UAH 20 note. He returned doc's. It felt great to be in emerging markets.
On Sunday I went to veggies market to buy some of babushkas fresh garden produce. I go there weekly. As usual I parked the car on the more or less same spot. Other cars were parked around. About 30 min later with bags full of fresh tomatoes, yellow peppers, sweet peaches, raspberries, etc walking towards the parking spot - I could not find my car. For a moment I feared the car got stolen. Than I saw a truck on top of which was my "Ravche". Next to the truck was a policeman who told me I parked the car on a wrong spot. Telling him I usually park here and showing him parked cars around did not help. He asked me for documents. I told him they're in the car - which is on the truck. In order to get my car off the truck I should negotiate with guys in the truck. I called Alexey again. Going rate for improper parking is UAH 200-1000 - depending on the car. I offered UAH 150 and after some negotiations we agreed on UAH 250. Once the car reached the asphalt policeman asked me for docs. So I give him all doc's but noticed in my international driving licence there is no original Croatian driving licence. I panicked as I should always have the original licence next to the international. The policeman looked at my international driving licence which is falling apart but still valid and asked me: "So you are US citizen?" "No - I am Dutch citizen". "But this is not Dutch licence?" "No it's Croatian International licence." "And where is the original?" "Well - here!" was my response and I gave him a Korean driving licence I always keep in my wallet. I told him "Look its written here "driving licence"- the only inteilgible text among hangul. The policmean was very cool. He carefully examined both my driving licences - and than I noticed for a first time that they both have the same photo. He shaked his head, said "OK" and than let me to go. I counted my blessings.
Today in the city I have not stopped on cross road as for the last 5 months I know I have a way of right. About 50m from the crossroad a policman stopped me and asked why I have not stopped as I do not have way of right. I argued I have. He told me they changed signs some time ago. The signs hang high above the road. Well I truly have not noticed as I watch the road not skies when I drive. The policman told me he will write a protocol and I will have to go to the court. "No - I would like to pay now. How much I can pay". "The rule is to write a protocol". "Yes I know that but I would like to pay now". "The rule is to write a protocol." "Do you really want to write a protocol?" "That's the rule". "I know that's the rule, but I would like to pay now" "But the rule is to write the protocol"". Obviously I will not win this one. So I said "OK. As you are sure you want to write a protocol and this will take at least one hour - let me call my secretary to cancel my next meeting in the office". I called and started to explain I am tied up with a policman who needs to write a protocol. After I finished my phone call a policeman returned me doc's and told me to go. He also advised me not to brake rules in future and pay attention to signs". I profusely thanked him on such excellent advice but quickly drove away before he starts to charge me for his advices.

Tibbies weekend

Last weekend I went to the Netherlands. The purpose was to meet Sandra and Maria and see Igor. I arrived on Friday evening and bought some fruit salad in the shop on Schipol. Went to my apartment and was greeted by blooming lavender on my terrace. Had great time on a terrace with my fruit salad. Then decided to check if Ylona’s in her place. She emailed me that she will be in A’dam for few days before going on with her and Eleni’s busy summer schedule.
Eleni answered the bell but could not open the door. While we chatted over the interphone Ylona jogged in….I was very, very happy. She and Eleni had a flight to Greece at 2.30 am and we chatted for few hours. It was great to catch up with Ylona over few Campari’s. She showed her new place – which looks great. We shared miseries of unpacking and finding things. We discussed a possibility she visits me in Kiev. I hope that will be possible.
On Saturday morning I have note felt good but about two hour drive awaited me to meet Sandra and Maria and Igor who live in Nieuw A’dam. During my two hour drive I started to feel worse. I found Sandra and Maria and was greeted by their warmth and doggies excitement when seeing a new face. Sandra and Maria have 11 adult doggies – ten tibbies and one lassa. And of course six puppies. Doggies where in the kitchen and I tried to guess some names. I got all wrong but next to doggies excitement my stomach got excited too. Instead of being a normal guest and play with Igor I stretched on the sofa and slept there the entire Saturday except for the moments when I had to rush to the bathroom. I guess I was not a type of a guest Sandra and Maria expected. In the moments when I felt slightly better I tried to cuddle Igor and other puppies. Puppies are fantastic. There are two who are very dominant, two who are a bit weak but try to catch up. Igor is a not dominant. He is cuddly and sweet. I hope we will go well together. On Saturday afternoon in the moment when I felt better Sandra and Maria put puppies in a stroller and we did a village round. The village is very nice – with a lot of trees and a nice main canal. It was nice to walk with a stroller and watch people’s facial expression change from serious to soft and smiley once they realized there puppies in a stroller. On Sunday I felt better and I tried to make some photos. Unfortunately most of them have not turned right. In any case photos of puppies are on http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/MyDayAndJustLivingMyLife.
Sandra and Maria try to socialize puppies as much as they can. Thus they take them for a walk in stroller, drive them in a car, take them to the market, and doggies look so nice a relaxed. They showed me a fundle bag – a sling for a doggie. It’s a fantastic soft bag – comfortable for a doggie and a carrier. I checked a label to remember it when buying and I saw “Fundle.co.kr”. I was in a disbelief – I have not seen such a bag in Seoul! The one Korean product I would definitely buy would be this - and I had no clue about it! Never saw it at Dr. Kwon or “Pet Toy”. I checked “fundle” on the internet and it is a company from Daejeon. I immediately ordered a bag (was lucky it was on a sale!). The bag is really great for smaller doggies.
In short I spent a great, relaxing weekend. Being with Sandra and Maria's tibbies I realized how much I miss one and I am looking forward to getting Igor very much.
This weekend I am just relaxing. Reading books and sleeping. I do not have warm water – but about this – next time.

Alexandria Park

I was so impressed by Sophia’s park I spent most of my free time researching about Countess Potocki. As usual research turned out some surprising findings. In this case I found out there is another park close to Kyiv created by a woman. The place is Belaya Tserkov about 80 km from Kyiv. The guidebook said that Barron Branicki created a park for his wife. As years of the park creation were close to one in Uman a thought that Russian aristocracy was not immune to “keeping up with Jones’s” crossed my mind. But after doing my research the statement that husband built the park is wrong. Alexandra Branicki’s true passion was horticulture and during her 84 year long life she created two parks at the houses where she spent most of her time. But I tell her life story later.
I went to the park yesterday and prefer it to Sofiika in Uman. First it is more "low key" - no sculptures, grottos, lakes are smaller etc... Alexandra’s park has more depth as vistas are expansive and there is strong sense of vast space. Being surrounded by over 350 years old trees without many people around is an additional bonus. Photos of the park are on: http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/AlexandriaPark
Now about the lady who created the park. Main source is again S.S. Montefiore.
As a niece of Prince Potemkin, Alexandra “Sashenka” Vasil'evna Engelhard (born in 1754) was presented at the court in St. Petersburg in 1772, when she was eighteen. She immediately became a favorite of the Empress Catherine and accompanied her on many of her travels. At 21 she was appointed as maid-of-honor to the Empress. Stories later circulated that Alexandra was Catherine's daughter by Potemkin. These were put about in the later years of her life by French writers without proof, but it is fairly well-documented that she was Potemkin's mistress as well as his niece which at that time was kind of tolerable within Russian aristocracy or at least in Potemkin’s case who slept with all his five nieces.
Alexandra’s portraits show a slim brunette, high cheekbones and blue eyes. She was an able business woman who made millions trading grain and timber. In 1779 Potemkin’s intense relationship with Sashenka ended, but they remained closest of friends and he died “in her arms”.
In 1781, Alexandra married Count François-Xavier Petrovich Branicki, of an old and powerful Polish family. Trained as a soldier and diplomat, Count Branicki held several posts before being sent to St. Petersburg. He became great friends with Stanislaus Poniatowski, who had been Catherine's lover. Branicki enjoyed the favor of Catherine and Potemkin and after supporting Russian suzerainty over the Sejm, or Polish parliament, he was awarded vast estates in Belaya-Tserkov after the province was ceded to Russia after the Partition of Poland in 1793.

When Alexandra married Branicki he was 49. The accounts state he was “good natured, self-made and ambitious ruffian” who made his career as King Stanislas-Auguystus hard man. He new Casanova and dueled with him in Warsaw for insulting Casanova mistress – an Italian actress called La Binetti. Both were wounded – Branicki seriously but became friends.
While her spendthrift husband did his best to lose their fortune, Sashenka increased it prodigiously. During her entire life she was close to Potemkin and Catharine the Great – though she lived mostly at her Polish and Belorussian estates. She was widely respected. Contemporaries emphasized her good morals – which is something remarkable for these days, especially when she was married to an older Lothario with whom she had a large family.
After Potemkin’s death “Sashenka” retired to her estates and became so rich she could not count it. She lived majestically and royally. She was a woman of contrasts – her love for rich and splendid is exemplified by her collection of art and precious objects. However these were housed in rooms paneled in plain wood. (no need to waste money) She was much loved for giving villages to peasants and endowing them with their own agricultural banks to finance their farming. She was appointed as the “grand mistress of the Russian court” and even 20 years after Catharine’s death she held her special status at the Court.
While she knew Countess Sophia Potocki and they might be friendly they are very different and this is reflected in their parks. Alexandra all her life knew world of privilege while Sophia was shrewd survivor using her beauty and intelligence as main resources. I think that’s the reason why Sophia’s park is full of “props”. Sophia joyfully celebrated her life achievements in creation of her “Odyssey” and Ithaca. She was proud of her life and was not shy to show off.
Alexandra did not have a need to show off. All her life she was conscious of her privileged status and money and she created a park for her comfort only.

Sophia's Fairyland

My sister and her husband came to visit. The first weekend we visited Odessa. The highway from Kyiv to Odessa is fantastic: gentle rolling hills draped in gold of wheat fields offset by blue sky. Some green sunflower fields (sunflower still have not open) distract gold-blue monotony.
We had Ukrainian GPS to help us getting around. In the city GPS is a trusted friend. But in wide open it got us lost among ocean of wheat fields. Later in the office I learned that GPS is not complete – it will have the smallest street in any of the big five Ukrainian cities but regional roads remain "work in progress". I do not complain about being lost in the sea of gold….
To make up for Odessa let down we went to Belgorod Dniestrovsky which has a famous Turkish fortress. But more than a fortress Ana and Kristijan enjoyed swimming in the Black Sea on a wonderful white sand beach of Zatoka.

For me the highlight of the trip was Sofievsky Park in the city of Uman. Uman is half-way between Odessa and Kyiv. A guidebook mentions a lovely park build by a Polish Count for his wife. While this was intriguing enough for me to visit it, I was totally unprepared for a fairyland I found in the park.
Uman is city of Khrushchev-Brezhnev building style mix: gloomy, gray and decayed. GPS could not help us there but nice, friendly young people got us to the park. The park has an uninspiring Soviet name “'Sofievsky' Uman State Dendrological Park”. But in fact the park is an ultimate romantic neo-classical monument belonging to the times of absolute grandeur. What make the park so special are not its size (150 hectares) or trees and flowers, spectacular cascades of natural lakes and waterfalls, antique sculptures and fountains etc. What makes it special is the park's purpose: it is designed as a memorial to one woman’s beauty and given to her as a birthday present!
The lucky woman is Sophia, the “Beautiful Greek” - one outstanding adventures of 18th century. Her life story is amazing. As she was Poteminkn’s mistress there is a reference to her in S.S. Montefiore Potemkin biography:
Sophia Glyavone was born in 1760 in a poor family of Anatolian Greek¬Roumeliyts in the town of Bursa, Turkey. She also had the Turkish name Dudu (in Turkish parakeet). Over years the family took up its residence in Constantinople, in the Fener residential area. Her father went bankrupt and died. Dudu’s mother traded vegetables and one day she sold her daughter (at the age 12) to the Polish Ambassador in Turkey Karol Boskamp¬Lyasopolskiy who procured girls to King Stanislas-Augustus. Dudu’s equally fine sister was sold to a senior Ottoman Pasha. (That’s important for later.)
From then on, every time Sophia was bought, another man fell in love with her and outbid the first. On her way with the ambassadorial baggage, Sophia was spotted by Major de Witte, son of the Governor of the Polish fortress Kamenets-Podolsk, who bought her for 1000 ducats and married her in 1775 age 15. Major Witte sent her off to Paris to learn manners – and French.
La Belle Phanariot or Beautiful Greek bewitched Paris. She is described having blond curls, a noble Grecian face and violet eyes. In Versailles she had a reception with the Queen Maria Antoinette and the King Louis XVI. Soon she conquered almost the whole royal Europe. She was received at the court of the Prussian king Friedrich II, who went down in history as “The Great”. Allegedly the Austrian emperor Joseph II was in love with her too. Joseph II patronized not only Sophia, but also Mozart.
Back in Poland when Potemkin’s War began, Mme Witte husband, now governor of Kamenets was the linchpin of the Prince Potemkin’s espionage network in southern Poland. Major Witte smuggled spies into Khotin (Turkey) hidden with the butter. But most likely it was Major’s wife – Sophia who provided the information as her sister was married to the Pasha of Khotin. Sophia first became the mistress of the besigiging general Nykolai Saltykov. But then she was introduced to Potemkin in Ochakov. Potemkin appointed the complaisant husband to be the governor of Kherson. Allegedly she was not only Potemkin’s mistress but also his secret agent among the Poles and Turks. As a public acknowledgment of her service to Russia, the Empress gave Sophia a pair of diamond earrings. After Potemkin died in Jassy, Mme Witte hooked up with the Polish magnate Earl Felix Pototskiy one of richest dukes in the Russian Empire. Mme Witte dumped her husband and two children and moved with Earl to St. Petersburg. Sometime later when Earl’s wife died they got married in 1798.
In St. Petersburg Pototsky was a member of Catherine the Great inner circle. In short Sophia rose from a teenage courtesan in Constantinople to one of richest countesses in Poland. For forty years she astonished and scandalized Europe with her “beauty, vice and crimes”.
Sophia, with close connection to royal courts saw many royal gardens and had a dream of creating her own paradisiacal corner.
Sophia's dream was ancient Greece and she chose “Odyssey” by Homer as the source of inspiration for creating her "dream garden".
Her task oriented husband started to build the park in Uman in 1792. In five years, thanks to the efforts of thousands of serfs (her husband owned 130,000 serfs), a fantastically beautiful and unique park was laid out on the uninhabited bank of the river. Every day for five years about 800 serfs worked on fantastic grottoes, waterfalls, lakes, antique statues and picturesque cliffs - all in effort to create a romantic gift of love. The park has its own Isle of Lesbos, a terrace of the Muses, red poppy Elysian Fields, a Cretan labyrinth, and an underground stream called Styx. A lot of trees were brought from exotic countries. They say when the park is viewed from a plane a foliage makes a name “Sophia”. The unfinished park was presented to Sophia on her birthday in May 1802.
Shortly after presenting her with the park the Count uncovered an affair between his son from his first marriage and Sophia. Brokenhearted, husband grew seriously ill and died in 1805. Four years after her husband died Sophia threw out the son and built up a fortune for herself. She died in 1822.
There is a novel about Sophia’s life by Eva Stachniak. The novel appears under two titles “Garden of Venus” or “Dancing with Kings”.
The fact that a freak earthquake pushed Sophia's graveyard out of the Uman churchyard has the locals convinced that she was a witch. In any case she was an amazing survivor.
For photos of a park see http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Sofiika

Angels in Kharkov

I fell for Kharkov the moment I landed. When you see the airport building you will know why. I went there knowing only the city is about 50 km from the Russian border and it is more Russian than Ukrainian. I had no idea Kharkov is a cradle of soviet constructivism with the unique square build only in constructivist style. The sculpture of Lenin hovers over the square now called Liberty Square. Many buildings in Kharkov (as in Kiev) were built by German POWII. The day I arrived the city had a “birthday” and there was a huge party on the main square. There was energy and buzz in the city. City's many parks had their old linden trees in full bloom. The city was wrapped in a sweet linden smell. Before joining a concert at the city square I went to the Theatre - a truly ugly building from 70-ties. They had Carmen Suita/Pahita ballet and tickets for parterre seats were UAH 13 (about 2 EUR) and I could not resist not chicking it out. In the Theatre in the raw behind me were about 15 soldiers and next to me a 6 year old boy. All spellbound by a ballet. I have not spoke to soldieries but kid told me it’s his first ballet. That evening the orchestra was a bit naughty - I got impression they were in a hurry to watch Holland - Russia match so the ballet ended up quickly. I watched the match too with some young students. As the game progressed these kids took pity on me and tried to cheer me up with vodka shots. I am not sure if vodka is the reason I saw angles walking in the city http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Kharkov

Ode-crepit Ode-ssa

I associate Odessa with Ostap Bender – an arch type conman from the novel “The Golden Calf”. Ostap is a Soviet guy obsessed by becoming rich. His adventures bring him to a city at the “Bleak Sea” where he says “ strange town where they took the monuments out of the cemetery”.

That’s how I found Odessa - as a cemetery of decrepit monuments.

But let’s start with getting there. After last weekend E40 road adventure I decided to fly. Metro does not reach the Kiev airport and locals either keep a knowledge of how to get there by bus a well kept secret or have more money than I do and always take a taxi. There is no “hotel to airport bus” or “railway station to airport bus”. So I ask an assistant to order a taxi - as locals do. We agree on time and place for taxi to pick me up and I get a taxi number - a 7 digit number displayed on a board placed atop of a taxi roof. On Saturday morning I leave on my house and wait for a cab. As I get out of my building I see a cab parked in front of it. I see numbers on the backside of the board, check them against numbers put on a paper by my assistant and these do not match. Few minutes later I call my assistant and tell her there is a taxi in front of my building but with different numbers. She calls a taxi company. Some minutes later a lady from a taxi company calls and says – there is a taxi waiting for you. I ask what kind of car. “An orange Chevrolet”. That’s true - I respond - but the numbers on the board are different from numbers I have on a confirmation and I read her the numbers. “Go and check numbers from the front” the lady instructs me. And indeed the numbers on the front are the same as numbers on the paper. Why would I ever think that a legit taxi should have the same set of numbers on the front and the back of the board?

Domestic Kiev airport reminds of E40. Only hay is missing. No electronic boards but cardboards placed on check in counters randomly. No official announcements. You ask and if you are lucky you get a right answer. Otherwise keep asking. I flew YAK 40 -another Soviet relict. There is a joke in Ukraine which goes like: “Why is it dangerous to go by train in Ukraine? Because planes fall on trains.”. As average train speed in Ukraine is 50 km per hour I guess our plane could not locate any train en route. But landing in Odessa was quite bumpy. Possibly the airport tarmac was build by same construction engineers as E40.
The bus came to pick us up and after 500m opened doors next to the road. No need to go through the building. A group of taxi drivers waited. I asked for a rate to the city and quote was 200UAH (about USD 40). In the office I was informed the rate is around UAH 100. I tried to negotiate the rate down, but as I am obviously a foreigner - taxi drivers decided UAH 200 is what I should pay. Fortunately I did some research and was aware there is a small buss (more like a van) called “marshrutnoye taxi” which goes from the airport to the railway station. I found it and the rate for it was UAH.1. 75. In the bus everyone was nice and tried to be helpful . I had to change from a bus to a tram on the railways station. The tram drove straight through the market. Slow but exciting ride. Once I made to the city center I was in shock. I was surrounded by ruins. Odessa was build 200 years ago by two Frenchmen. But I could see only ruins of what once were beautiful baroque buildings. For some photos see http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Odessa_1
In Lviv buildings are also old but I felt that people care about them. There is no money but tender loving care is visible through potted plants on windows, no garbage on streets, no gaping holes in buildings. In Odessa it seems nobody cares how the city looks.
People most likely got prime real estate for almost nothing by typical Ukrainian methods. Now they sit on it waiting to sell it for millions of USD without investing a hrivnya. Why should they bother with esthetics in Odessa when most likely they live in London or Paris?
My camera got fed up with ruins too. It broke down. I usually have a spare. This time I decided to travel light and left a spare camera in Kiev. Travelling light disagrees with me.
Frustrated by ruins and upset by a broken camera I decided to check in the hotel. The secretary booked one of better hotels called Londonskaya. There I showed my confirmation. I have to remark that a secretary sent an email with attachment stating “attached is your confirmation”. I printed the attachment and placed in my travel folder withou checking it. In hotel I showed my passport and my hotel confirmation. The receptionist glanced at both than asked me where is a hotel confirmation. I looked at her and told her I just gave it to her. “But it is not from our hotel” she responded. “That’s not possible” was my answer but I took a confirmation and started to read: "Thanks for booking at "Grand Hotel Ukraine" in.... Dnepropetrovsk!" This is a town about 440km from Odessa! The same agency which booked the hotel - booked my flights to Odessa! Typical!
In "Londonskaya" they had a room available – but I insisted to check it first. There where so many stairs and such long corridors I worried I would get lost getting in and out of the room. Plus I had an impression there are no guests there. I decided to check in elsewhere. The closest hotel was "Mozart" - which opposite to the most beautiful building in Odessa - the Opera. I asked receptionist if there is a free room in the hotel. Yes –there is. I am taking it. No room checking this time. She asks for a credit card -I pass it to her. Few minutes later she gives me a receipt to sign. I look at the receipt and the amount is three times the price of what she told me. I ask for an explanation and she tells me "this amount is for three rooms you asked for”. How “free” mutated in “three” is beyond me. But this incident brings a memory of another hotel experiance in St. Petersburg. First time in St Petersburg I arrived there very late and facing some accomodation problems decided that after midnight the best way to avoid problems is to check in the most expensive hotel. I entered "Grand Hotel Europe" and at the empty check in desk asked a kid if there is a free room in hotel. "No" was the answer. I must have a puzzled look as a kid immidiatly explained "We do not have free rooms here. You have to pay". Seems I should avoid phrase "free room" when checking in hotels.
Next week I'll be in Kharkov.

L'viv

Last weekend I was in L’viv. It’s beautiful (mostly baroque) city close to Polish border with an amazing history. It belong to Poland, to Habsburgs , than Poland again. After WWII it became part of Soviet Union. The city is an encyclopedia of major European styles. The old center is breathtaking with beautiful old buildings in renaissance, baroque, rococo and neo-classical style . Everything was build in a very solid manner as during last 70 years (under Soviet rule and since its fall) no money has been invested in maintenance of beautiful buildings. Yet they still shine. While old buildings overwhelm you with their past grandeur - presently you see that the city and its people struggle economically.
But where is no money people have time - so L’viv has contagiously relaxed atmosphere. I tried to capture some http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/LVivCityscapes .
Cobblestone streets meander through the city and while architecture is breathtaking, ladies negotiating cobble stones in high heels are amazing. In L’viv it is difficult to see a woman in heels less than 10 cm. I tried to capture some of them http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/LVivHighStandards .
On Saturday the city is full of brides. I sat and enjoyed a Viennese coffee while brides were passing by http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/CityOfBrides
L’viv is 535 km from Kiev. This first time I went by car with my friends Kees and Catharine. We took my car but Kees was driving. He lives in Ukraine almost 5 years and usually races through Kiev on his BMW motorbike. He is used to the Ukrainian driving style.
Ukrainians think that once they are in a driving seat they underwrote an immortality policy. We had few close calls. On our way to L’viv we were stopped by police three times. First time only Catharina noticed police tried to stop us. Kees was driving too fast to stop. Second and third time police got us. Over speeding. But policemen do not speak English and I was hiding my rusty knowledge of Russian. So they let us go. The third stop was quite interesting as the policeman wanted to write a protocol which he will send to Kiev. Kees will be called to go to the court. The court will decide upon a level of penalty fee. “Writing a protocol” in Russia means you walk with a policeman to his car and while he asks you for papers accidentaly some 100 roubles (that was few years ago) find a way from your wallet into your documents. You pass doc’s to a policeman. He flips through them, takes money, returns doc’s, and you are free to go. Still unfamiliar with Ukrainian customs I just said: “No protocol. No court. We pay now. How much? “ The policeman gave me a strange look, became speechless, waved his stick and let us go. Russians are more pragmatic.
From Kiev to L’viv and back we took E40 - a main road route to EU and kind of East-West Ukrainian highway. Judging by appalling route condition EU is centuries away. Outside Kiev I have not spotted one fancy car Kiev is buzzing with. On E40 I saw mostly old timers: Zhigulis, Volgas, Ladas… En route we passed villages where people plough with a horse, a woman carries hay on her back, village women try to sell strawberries, apples, potatoes or pickles along the road.
The road is full of heavy trucks all bringing to Kiev goods from Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Netherlands. Few trucks have expensive cargos like BMW 4WD, Lexus cars etc…The difference between living in a capital and in a village 200km away is huge.
Once outside the city the landscape is amazing. Even on my poor photos one can see how rich the soil is. I heard they can have three harvest seasons a year. There is no reason for this country to be poor. Next to amazing landscape the best thing along the road are stork nests. I was lucky to catch few on my photos http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/EnRouteKievLVivE40AndM06
This weekend I go to Odessa.

Some good news

Have some good news to share. The weather improved and I started to make trips outside Kiev. Last weekend I was in Pirgova, an ethno-park about 30 min drive from Kiev. I went there with Alexandra, an Ukrainian freelance photographer, her boyfriend Kolya, my friend Catherina and Frantisek, a colleague from ING Prague who arrivd here to help me to put things in order. It was a lot of fun. The school year finished on May 30th and lot of graduates came to the park to celebrate. On attached photo you can see a typical school uniform. We had great weather and I enjoyed shooting. For photos of Pirgova please check:
http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Pirgova
Another great news is I finally found a lady to clean my home. Finding one was like an executive search. I appreciate many of them finished university and have BA and/or MA and merciless random life events put them in a position of considering a house cleaning job. But some interviews were weird. One lady tried to convince me I do not need a cleaner three times a week as I live alone. Another one told me she does not like pets so I should not take a dog. One announced she takes two months holidays in July and August and cannot start before September. Finally two weeks ago I found Yulia who is 28 years old and has a 5 year old daughter. Yulia is unemployed and with her husband builds a house about 30 km from Kiev. She is "pure" Ukrainian and does not speak much Russian. Her Russian is as rusty as mine but we manage to understand each other. So far she cleans well and is very nice.
Last week Esra gave birth to five puppies and one of her boys will come to Kiev. I will call him Igor. In Russian Igor means the warrior. I'm fighting here so many problems I need a warrior by my side. Igor was also the first grand prince of Kiev. There is a Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. I hope my Igor will not write barking symphonies. I will get Igor in about 3 months. For photos of wonderful tibbie puppies see :
http://home.kpnplanet.nl/~O.enM.ottens@kpnplanet.nl/Pagina%206%20PUPPIES%20ESRA%20X%20MARVIN.htm
I hope to be able to visit a puppy during the summer. Maria and Sandra – the proud tibbie breeders (http://www.tibbies.nl/) - already investigated what is necessary to get Igor to Ukraine. It seems next to my normal work - getting paperwork arranged to fly Igor to Kiev will keep me busy for weeks.

May mood

I am bit embarrassed that more than two months passed since last blog. But last two months have been quite tough.
My grandma passed away on April 1st. She died in sleep at the age of 92 but it still came as a shock. We all expected that given her upbeat attitude she would live few years longer. I’ll miss buying underwear for her. The last time I saw her she was chatting up a waiter. Her funeral was a surprise for us – the family. We expected a small one with only family members and few close friends attending. It turned out to be a large one. Her five girlfriends with whom she walked almost daily around Sljeme came. Distant relatives from Slovenia I never met before arrived. Friends from work – although she stopped working 42 years ago. She had a hard life but nevertheless she knew how to live it and share it with others. It was eye opening to see how many people she touched in her life.
While at home for the funeral I saw my dad who is not getting better. My mum tries everything to hold him on. We all pray and hope he will manage to pull out.
As Tibet was closed due to March unrest my trip planned for first two weeks in May was cancelled. There was an idea to go to Sikkim but I was told at the last moment I need a visa which I could not arrange on a short notice. So I decided to go home instead. It was good to spend time with my family. For photos taken in my parents’ garden please check: http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/VugrovecMay2008. I also went for a few days to Holland. This was my second trip to Holland in two weeks as I also needed (to finally) arrange my working visa at the end of April. In last two months I travelled a lot.
At work we are slowly sorting out the mess. I had two audits and an inspection. Based on their reports we now start to put things in order. But it remains hard work with almost no time for private life and socializing.
My stuff from Seoul arrived on April 12th but due to lack of time my flat is still messy. It takes time for things to find a new fitting place.
Since cold and depressing March now in May Kiev turned into a blooming garden. Countless elegant chestnut trees decorate most of Kiev streets at the moment. With such generous help from nature Kiev looks dramatically improved.
I still have not found a puppy but I am working on it and hopefully will find one soon.

Hospital and waltzing in the metro station

Catharina - a friend of mine I met first time in Bulgaria in 1999 had appendicitis on Friday. She is in Kiev since 2004. I went to see her in the hospital. The taxi stopped in front of the building which hardly resembled a hospital. I called Catharina’s husband Kees to check if I am in the right place. I described him a building and he confirmed I am in the right place.
There is no reception. Security guards read news papers and do not bother checking visitors. I took elevator. Catharina's room is on the 4 th floor. But Kees explained I have to go to the 5th floor and then walk one floor down as elevator does not work for the 4th floor. There were hardly people around. I saw few nurses just to be assured I am in some kind of medical institution. I wondered around a bit until I found Catharina’s room. Nobody stopped me and asked me what I am doing. Surprisingly open place. Catharina looked well – considering everything. Rooms are clean but basic. See photos.

Beds are made in a very strange manner. Overall it’s better than Bulgaria in 2000 where elevators did not work and one had to bring own bandages, syringes, toilet paper and food.


Every Sunday at 18.00 in the metro station Teatralnaya Kiev’s pensioners meet to dance and sing. There are two accordion players and a drummer and they play Ukrainian folk songs. There is also a choir. As there are more women than men, women pair up and dance. It’s a great sight.

Internet service

Office work keeps me busy. Still making very long hours. But have few things to share.
I moved to my place last Monday. I needed internet connection. The internet guy was first scheduled for Wednesday, but that did not work out. He came on Thursday afternoon. I expected "geek" stereotype – but the guy who came was far from it. He is young and his English excellent. He came in a suit. He expected to fix the connection within 15 minutes but he stayed longer - about two hours. While he was fixing wires we did some small talk. He asked where I work. My answer was “I have very boring job in the office”. I did offer a coffee. After about more than an hour trying to fix the connection he took his jacket off. And I saw he has a gun.
He noticed my jaw dropped and started to explain that he has two jobs as the one with making internet connections does not bring much money (USD 500 monthly). The other job involves carrying a lot of money and walking along criminal streets and he needs a gun as a protection.
I regretted I gave him a coffee. What if it makes him jumpy? I was also happy I have not told him where I work. In an attempt to give some credibility to what he said or perhaps to calm me down he gave me his business card. It said he works for some Swiss foundation connected to the police. I politely took the card.
He did not succeed to make a connection on Thursday. We agreed he'll come again on Friday. I canceled the appointment. I want a stereotyped geek with glasses thick as ashtrays and without a gun in his pocket.
I shared this story with the guys in the office. Showed them a business card. The guys laughed and told me it is not a problem to copy official cards here.
Armed internet service aside there is one thing I noticed watching Russian TV (I do not have a cable yet). There is amazing amount of military/war films and programs on Russian channels. The amount of Russian militarism on the TV is frightening. All Russian channels have old Soviet army movies (WWII, spy movies, cold war movies, Afganistan, etc) or contemporary antiterrorist (anti Chechen) movies. Daily news program covers government officials visits to arms factories. Guys in uniforms play “Wheel of fortune” or similar programs. That’s not Russia I know.
It could be that the last week was just a foreplay for today’s big holiday. Today – on Saturday - it is the Day of Soviet Army or what in Russia they call “Day of Defenders of the Nation”.
In the office we also celebrated the Day of Soviet Army. One guy brought his army hat. I wonder if this celebration is only a melancholy for old days. But why would anybody be nostalgic about old Soviet cold war days? Here are few photos of the Soviet Army Day Celebration in the office.



One evening coming home this week I got lost at the metro station and asked a young girl for directions. I asked in Russian but she spoke English. Her name was Anya and as she was going in the same direction we started to talk. Anya works as a dealer in casino and gets USD 600 per month. She deals black jack, poker, and whatever other card game they play in casino. She counts cards the whole day. She also told me there are about 80 casinos in Kiev. Never thought of Kiev as some kind of Las Vegas.
I will finish with a note about a bank account. I am now three weeks here and although ING expands in retail banking I am unable after three weeks to open an account with ING or any other bank. Therefore next week I’ll be paid in cash. There are about 7 people working on the issue of my bank account opening but they could not find a solution yet.

First week

I am slowly settling in. As expected the first week was hectic. Took some time to get work email functioning. Something went wrong with my account. Apparently – on Korean side. I would be surprised if the email transition was smooth. I spent days in meeting, interviews , etc. In general I just tried to get some sense of what is going on. I am still amazed how polite and warmhearted people in the office are.

Due to retail expansion there is not much available space and temporarily I share the office with two young guys - Stanislav and Vyecheslav. They take care there is enough chocolate, soft drinks, sandwiches and cakes in the office. With them I cannot loose weight…They are also fun and we share jokes and tease each other. After Seoul my jokes are a bit rusty but I am catching up. During the last week I laughed more than in 3 years in Seoul. They are telling me fun office stories. I am updated on the office gossip and getting filled on different personalities fast…
I also looked at apartments. Moscow's experience came very handy. I did not flinch looking at overdesigned bedrooms with glass ceilings, bright yellow kitchen, huge flowers painted on the walls, strange light fixtures, winter gardens, BBQs, etc…I saw about 12 apartments and on Wednesday found one I liked. I wanted that the COO from the bank checks the place too and we made appointment for Friday at 1 pm. The flat has a great location (in the Center between two subway lines). It’s not overdesigned and has two guestrooms (if I recall correctly). It came with a garage parking. Friday morning I spent in meetings and when I returned to the desk and checked the mobile I had 7 calls from Katja – my broker. She was frantically calling me as some Russians from Switzerland also liked the place and were ready to pay cash for one year immediately - the same afternoon. First I thought “bullshit” but Katja convinced me that she trusts the owner and that the story is possible. So Kees and I went to see the place. Kees liked it to. The owner was there and told us that the Russians want to move to the flat at 16.00 pm. But as he does not like Russians and prefers lease longer than one year if I commit by 15.00 the flat is mine. So it was Gordie vs. rich Russians with their cash from Switzerland. Plus I had to clear the price with the HO. I did not believe it would be possible to get the HO’s response by 15.00 hours but miracle do happen occasionaly and on Friday at 15.00 hours the landlord agreed to rent the place to me. Ukrainians really do not like Russians - even the cash rich ones or especially these. The contract negotiation starts tomorrow but as long as the contract is not signed one never knows what might happen in meantime. Perhaps Russians will appaer again...
Over weekend I worked few hours at home. Saturday afternoon I spent with Kees and Catherina who are in Kiev four years. We went to Bessarbaski covered market. The building is from 1901. Fantastic art deco but I was mostly amazed by amount of veggies and fruits. Did not see such abundance for long time. More photos of Kiev and market are on http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Kiev_Feb_08
Saturday and Sunday evening I went to the opera. Norma on Saturday and La Traviata on Sunday. Norma was excellent.