Igor in snow

http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/IgorInSnow?authkey=Gv1sRgCKu_g_mygeW3iQE&feat=directlink

Snow covered park

Following a storm we had wonderful sunny day:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/ParkInSnow?authkey=Gv1sRgCJn_o6rUwZHoxAE&feat=directlink

Snow storm on Dec 28th

BBC forecast for Dec 28th said "heavy snowstorm". I have not belived it. The morning was a bit cold and clouds have not looked like "snow clouds" at all. In the early afternoon few tiny snow flakes started to fall. By 3 pm we had a full snowstorm which lasted until next day. I walked Igor in evening and made few snapshots:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/SnowstormOn28thDec?authkey=Gv1sRgCIWq-syxz8bIIw&feat=directlink

Xmas in Kiev

Over Christmas Pauline and Wyger came to Kiev. I told Julia I will have friends over. As a true Slav she prepared a mountain of food: plane blini, blini with mushrooms, blini with soft cheese, some stew dish; and golubtsi (cabbage leaves stuffed with minced meat). It was llike Ukrainian food festival.
In Kiev we visited Lavra and few churches. In Lavra on one of the doors we found a notice which translates "no exhibition when it rains or snows".

On Sunday we drove to Uman to see Sofiika Park. Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/Xmas2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNC8tteK4LGKvAE&feat=directlink

Back in Kiev

I returned to Kiev a week ago. Fiji was great. Diving was fantastic. I am scheming to go back. From Seoul via A’dam I arrived last Sunday evening in cold (-11 degrees) Kiev. Upon arrival while pushing a luggage cart on the parking lot I had a freezing sensation in my hands. I knew I left Kiev with gloves. But after wearing flip-flops and shorts in Fiji for almost four weeks I forgot to get them out from a suitcase.

Igor was happy to see me. Usually when I am back from a trip Igor is sulking for a while. Not this time. Seems he missed me.

When I came back I learned Ellen decided to leave Kiev and move to the Netherlands. Last Monday we made an impromptu plan for a dinner. Monday evening was a testimony to our flexibility and spontaneity (few changes of times and venues; at the end we had a dinner at my place). I will miss my balut and theatre buddy in Kiev.

Since Monday Kiev has snow showers and temperature between -13 to -17 and on Tuesday it was -22. One would guess the city administration would be prepared for such winter weather. Wrong. Seems they expected global warming effect. Even the main city roads are not cleaned. These days cars do not drive but plow through the snow. However by large majority cars in Kiev are not equipped for snowplowing. Most cars are without chains, proper winter tires etc. Not surprisingly there are many crashes due to skidding. With so many road accidents traffic was this entire week and weekend horrible. I was quite uncomfortable driving my 4WD as I frequently experience skidding when turning on a crossroad.

Irrespective of the weather Igor and I walk in the park. He is fine if temperature is up to -15. If temperature is below that he refuses to walk.

The park these days looks like a fairy tale. Due to the weather there are not many people and dogs in the park. So a few “die hard's” usually have a park and pristine powder snow all for themselves. Yesterday we met with Sonya and as one can see Igor was very happy to meet such a glamorous girl. Here is a photo of glamorous Sonya and "happy" Igor.

Next week Pauline and Wyger will arrive. I already prepared “blini”, caviar and vodka for another memorable Xmas in Kiev.

I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous and happy new year.
Wishing you all a great festive break and may your holidays be filled with good food, nice drinks and festive cheer. And of course I hope Santa is good to you!

In Seoul

Arrived yesterday to Seoul. The clean and efficient Incheon airport still amazes me. Took the airport limo to Ylona's place. Found her new place in Yeonheedong without problems. But I was lucky to meet on a street Lucy - an English teacher. Lucy knew where is the Seoul Foreign School. Lucy also helped me with bags. Friendly and helpful Lucy came from US a year ago. She teaches english korean kids.
Ylona looks great. Eleni grew up and is taller than me. The weather in Seoul is sunny but crispy. The city have not changed much in two years and I managed to find a way along kimchi smelling alleys after two years. Korean also came very quickly back. I felt insecure this morning giving taxi driver directions, but I got a confidence boost after he complimented me on my pronunciation. He wanted to have some longer conversation but this I could not manage. For two years I have not spoken korean, and that I still remember something means I had an excellent teacher.
In Itaewon I met the owner of the austrian deli. He and his wife were surprised to see me. I was surprised they recognized me.
Yesterday I had a dinner with Ylona and some friends at Seoul Club where Ylona celebrated her belated birthday and 10th anniversary of her Korean experience. It was a very nice party. Kyong-ok bought a nice cheese cake from Hyatt. It was nice to catch up and we had a great time. We were the last guests to leave and they needed to push us out.
Obama will arrive in Seoul tomorrow (Nov 18th) and the city is nicely decorated with flags. Looks very festive. Surprisingly there is not much police on streets although ratification of FTA is on the agenda.

Today in few hours I fly for Nadi. But I am looking forward to spend few more days in Seoul on the way back from Fiji.

Crimea Trip Photos

I finally got around of sorting Crimea photos from a trip two weeks ago:

• for Crimean landscape and road photos please see: http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/CrimeaRoadPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCOiVnvjK2PKzHg&feat=directlink
• photos of Livadia - the palace where from Feb 4th -11th 1945 Roosevelt stayed and in which Yalta (or Crimean) Conference took place. In Livadia Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin signed communique on formation of United Nations. Before the Revolution the palace was a "holiday palace" of imperial family. Thus there is some logic in a palace exhibition set up: on the first floor photos are related to the Conference and on a second floor photos to the imperial family. http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/LivadiaYalta?authkey=Gv1sRgCMDi4tW479_7Ig&feat=directlink
• people in Crimea love pets; there are everywhere - around stands, in shops, in parks, in hotels. My favourite photos are of Gosha (a dogie) with a cat. They are true lovebirds: http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/CrimeanDogiesAndCats?feat=directlink
• Alupka is a spectacular palace of Prince Michael Vorontsov; the governor-general of New Russia - territory which in imperial Russia included part of Ukraine and Crimea. He is also known as "creator" of Odessa. M. Vorotsov was married to Elizabeth Branitsky, a daughter of Alexandra Branitsky (one of Potemkin nieces and "the lady in waiting" of Cathrine the Great; she made Alexandryvka Park in Belaya Cerkov). Elizabeth Vorotsov allegedly had an affair with Pushkin while he was in Odessa. The gossip is that Pushkin fathered one of Elizabeth daughters. The palace has spectacular staircase in the garden with six lions sculpted in Carrara marble. Each lion is different. My favourite is a sleeping lion. http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/Alupka?authkey=Gv1sRgCNmwxeDox-yjWQ&feat=directlink
• Bakchisaray - was a a seat of Crimean Khans. It is built by Crimean Tatars and according to wiki it is one of three Muslim's palaces in Europe the other two being Top Kapi and Alhambra. The palace is also famous because of marble fountain about which Pushkin wrote a poem. When Cathrine the Great conquered Crimea she gave an order to destroy all Tatar settlements - except Bakchisaray. http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/Bakchisaray?authkey=Gv1sRgCIemjb3Zr8jR_wE&feat=directlink

Debit pass problem

Problems started on Saturday. My ING debit card was rejected by almost every ATM in Kiev. I have sufficient cash on the account. The expiry date of a pass is in 2011. So it could be something was wrong with the magnetic strip. The problem is I have no cash in UAH. In itself while uncomfortable this is not the end of the world.
I did my shopping with the credit card. At the beauty salon they graciously told me they will wait until Monday for me to pay them. Very nice ladies.
I called the ING bank service line but on Saturday could not reach anyone.

This Sunday morning I went to one of supermarkets in Kiev and tried the ATM there. The one I have not checked yet. I put the pass in. Surprisingly ATM asked for my PIN, amount of money and if I want a receipt. I was already smiling with relief expecting to have some cash in my wallet. But than the ATM just stopped working. Screen turned black. Some algorithms started to show on it. And my debit card disappeared in the nasty machine.

I called the bank which manages ATM. Explained what happened. To get my debit card I have to call on Monday and my bank has to fax confirmation that a debit card belongs to me and than probably I can get a debit card on Tuesday. (We will see about that)

By now I developed a headache. I start my four weeks vacation on Friday. If something is wrong with my debit card I should have a new one by Friday. I called ING service center again and this time I have not spoken to a voice mail and a machine. But the lady could not do anything with my inquiry as I have something called “Worldpass”. She told me I have to call a different number but only tomorrow.
Today they can only block my pass. I inquired if the bank can send me a new pass to an address in the Netherlands instead on my correspondence address in Ukraine as I worry if I call A’dam on Monday it is very unlikely that by Friday I will receive a new debit pass in Ukraine. But the answer is “no”. It is not possible to change the address from Ukraine to one in the Netherlands. The lady told me "this is not technically possible". The woman would not even listen. Typical Dutch service minded mentality.

Now I have a full fledged nightmare. On Friday I am flying from Kiev to A’dam. Saturday in A’dam was designated for diving gear shopping. I planned to do it by cash or by debit card as I cannot pile everything on my credit card due to credit card limit. On Sunday I fly first to Seoul from where I will continue to Fiji. In short there is no time to go to the bank. And by the way I have no idea where is the bank branch I would need to go.
So without access to cash for a travel, now I have to figure out how to get some. But even if I manage to get “hands on my money” I am not looking forward to carry a ton of it while crisscrossing Fiji.

I’m sorry I just needed to vent. And the vacation even have not started.

goudmijn.kro.nl.

On Saturday, Oct 17th, my friend Ylona from Seoul skyped me and asked if I will be on Sunday, Oct 18th, home at 4.30 hours (Kiev time). She sounded very mysterious. But she sent me a link to a radio program "Goudmijn" at KRO. The link to listen was http://www.goudmijn.kro.nl/

This is a program were far away friends send songs to each other. I was touched to listen to Ylona from Seoul talking on a Dutch radio about herself and two of us having good time in Seoul. She sent me “La Camisa Negra” by Juanes. Dear Ylona, thanks again for making me happy!
But the idea is the receiver of a song should make another friend happy. Immediately on Monday I was contacted by Margo - a program assistant. To keep both Seoul and Dutch connection I decided to send a song to Andre – a friend of mine from Seoul who is now in Jakarta. To choose a song I needed some time for deliberation. Making a song choice was not without difficulties, but finally I choose a song by Mercedes Sosa who unfortunately passed away on Oct 4th.

Margo - the program assistant - told me she will call me on Sunday. As last weekend I was with Kees and Catharine in Crimea I could not warn Andre to listen to the program (as Ylona warned me).
So yesterday afternoon while Kees, Catharina and myself were driving in Crimea from Sevastopol to the airport in Semfiropol, Margo called me and I found myself “on air”.
It felt bizarre to sit in a car with my Dutch friends on our way to the airport in Simferopol to catch a plane back to Kiev while sending an “on air letter” to a Dutch friend I met in Seoul who now lives in Jakarta. As we were driving the mobile phone connection was poor. I heard only half of what Margo and the editor said. I also tried to speak “my best” Dutch. Kees and Catharine were very supportive – they have not laughed while I spoke Dutch on the radio.

Today I received an email from Andre. He was happy to hear me and to receive a song.
Now Andre has a chance to greet a friend!

What a great idea from kro.nl to give people a chance to make far away friends both closer and happy by sending songs all over the world through their radio program!

Autumn in Alexandryvka

We have great autumn days and I visited Alexandryvka Park today. The park is about 80 km from Kiev. The foliage is beautiful: http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/AutumnInAlexandryvka?authkey=Gv1sRgCLfr2f2Gta-9zQE&feat=directlink

Water "Avarya"

I wrote about not having warm water in summer times as municipality is busy with water pipes maintenance. One would think that after three months of a maintenance period water pipes would be in excellent condition to supply water for the rest of the year. Unfortunately that is not the case.
Every time I see this yellow truck close to my home I know there will be no water for some time.
For those who does not know some Russian the text on the truck says "avarya vodoprovovodu" and in russian "avarya" means "accident".
When I started Russian classes with Natalia - my lovely Russian teacher in Moscow - this was the first word she thought me. In my first Russian class she asked me about Russian words I know. As "avarya" was not in my vocabulary, she thought me this word saying that this is one of most important words in everyday life. And indeed it is as avarya is used when: there is a car accident, there is no water or electricity, heating does not work, lift is out of order, etc. Here accidents are abundant.

Farmers Market

On Saturday Oct 17th there was a farmers market on Khreshatik: http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/FarmersMarketOnKreschatik?authkey=Gv1sRgCP79mcGwqYyLfg&feat=directlink

Demonstrations against rich in A'dam

On Sep 26th there was a demonstration aginst rich in A'dam. The protesters carried posters of Marx and slogans "Tax the rich". It was intersting to see this protest. In comparison with average Ukrainian all protestors would be considered very rich by Ukrainian standard.
See photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/DemonstrationInADamAgainstRich?authkey=Gv1sRgCILs9-qP79KUlQE&feat=directlink

Amsterdam

End of Sep I was in A'dam. The weather was great and I went for a canal tour with a boat. Finally had some time to post some photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/ADamSep09?feat=directlink

Taxi home

Today I was invited by Kati and Nechko for Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. It was great. Kati spent entire day roasting turkey (who flew from US), making broccoli pure, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts and pumpkin, pecan and apple pie. The dinner was spectacular. Such great dinner was accompanied with wonderful wine.
After such a nice dinner to get back home I hailed a cab. In Kyiv if you want a taxi ride you just stretch your arm and any driver wanting to moonlight as a taxi driver will stop. Sometimes even official taxi’s stop but than meter is never on. You say where you want to go and how much you are willing to pay. If negotiations are successful you get in, if not you stay a bit longer on a street. Usually after short negotiations you get in and they are willing to drive you for a price you wish to pay. It’s basically safe and often I have interesting conversations with the drivers. Tonight leaving Kati’s place an old Lada stopped. We agreed on a price and we were quickly driving towards my place. The driver was interested where I am from and I said Croatia. WE had a short conversation about Croatia, war etc. At one point he asked me if Albania was part of Yugoslavia. He explained that he met one Albanian from Yugoslavia but that guy have not spoke Russian. I explained Kosovo situation in the simplest way possible. The driver asked me about difference between Albanians and Croatians. I tried to explained the best I could. Thank I asked him so where you met your Albanian friend. The answer was: “Izvinite na tochnosti no mi stretilse v turmy” or in translation ”Excuse me for being precise but we met in prison”. Luckily at that point we reached my home and I get out.

Igor meets Vasja (again)

This morning while walking Igor I met Vasja – the dog trainer. This was not planned. The weather was great and Vasja was raiding a bike. Although Igor's last obedience training was three months ago, the moment Igor saw Vasja he transformed from a naughty boy to an obedient dogie.
With Vasja around Igor was walking next to my leg and behaving very nicely. Betty, one of his girls wanted to play with him. But with Vasja around Igor kind of “lost” the interest. Once Vasja left Igor was behaving as usual: selective hearing at the best and running after girls like crazy. I agreed with Vasja to resume trainings.

Agressive briard and his irresponsible and rude owner

This morning Igor was attacked by a big black briard. We saw this dog in a park earlier. There were no friendly feelings when Igor and briard passed each other but both were always on a leash.
This morning Igor was sniffing and playing with a lovely lab - Kelly. Suddenly as a rocket briard jumped on Igor and bite Igor's neck. Briard was not on the leash. Fortunately Igor was. The leash is only 1.5 m long so I started to hit briard immediately. Than the owner came and tried to put briard on the leash. Briard did not let Igor from his jaws. I screamed and started hitting both the owner and the dog. Kelly's owner Julie had some plastic stick. I used it to hit briard and owner. Julie joined me in beating the dog as well. One man who passed by joined too. Igor was crying. I was screaming. Julie shouting. Few other dog owners joined in. I thought Igor's lost. I continued to hit briard. At one point briard let Igor go. Igor was in my hands. He was hurt and in shock just as I was. I checked him and started to comfort him. Fortunately he did not look seriously hurt. The owner of briard just took off. Did not said sorry or anything else. Other dog owners than told me this is not the first time briard attached someone in the park. He attacked a mops and a dachshund recently. The owner was warned but he still does not put his dog on a leash.

Vet said Igor is OK. Apparently briard is an old dog so he lost his sharp bite. Or he lost some teeth when biting mops and dachshund. But if he was younger and with sharper teeth Igor would be in much state.
Both Igor and I were lucky today - but what a morning.

PS. During the evening walk I found out the name of briard is "Chief". His owner never has him on the leash.One of dog ladies told me someone talked to the owner and asked him not to come to the park if Chief is not on a leash. Let's see if that will work but I find such this very supportive.

No eggs

Yesterday I was in local supermarket. Among other things had to buy eggs. Surprisingly usual two long shelves filled with cartoons of eggs had some other canned foods on it. Thought perhaps the shop moved eggs to some other spot and asked a shop assistant where they moved eggs. Shop assistant told me there are no eggs. Not at all. Not even one. I asked if they now when the new shipment will come. He looked at me as I asked something utterly silly.
Today still no eggs.
Either something happened to hens or they found salmonella in eggs and had to destroy entire stock. Curious to see when will eggs return to shelves.

Sunday sand play

Everyday I walk in a park carrying name of Ukraine’s largest hero – Taras Shevchenko. So I wanted to check a place where he wished to be buried - Kaniv.
The place is about 130 km from Kiev on Dniepro river.
Kees and Catharine agreed to go . Although they had no high expectations. We took doggies.
I got usual UA road pics – fields, tractors, vegetable stalls, vintage bikes and cars, police etc. About 30 km from Kaniv we drove along the lake. Fantastic scenery: water, birds, sandy beach... Photos of the place are below:

Kees suggested we check the place. We drove along a sandy road. We drove a bit too far in the sand. The car stuck.
We started to play in the sand. We had no tools so we improvised with plastic bottles. It's a picnick place so there were some bricks for shashlik grill. We put those below tires. But it did not help. We had to remove sand under the car.
When we got tired of shoving sand by hands, we walked back to the road in hope to get some help. But that local road was not extermly busy – plus we were picky as we needed another
4W to get our 4W car out. One truck stopped but when we explained the driver a problem – he smiled and drove away. We got back to "the sand box" to play. When we almost removed all the sand below the engine we heard another car coming near to us. Two Kiev families with a nice black labrador also thought the spot deservs some close inspection. But they parked their car at a distance from us. They approached us. Saw us stuck and shoving sand. Two men give car a strong push and we were out. Igor did not like the black lab so he started to chase him. Unfortunately lab ended in a dirty green water. We had so much fun moving sand with our hands there was no time for taking photos of our sand play. But we left a big hole behind us. Altogether we we stuck about hour and half.
The moment we were out of the sand box, sand started to irritate us.

About half an hour later we were in Kaniv and in a place where Shevchenko was buried. The moment we got out of the car Igor and Vibe found themselves in an argument with local stray dogs. Than at the entrance to the Shevchenko park we saw a sign “dogs not allowed”. Given stray dogs around we decided to ignore the sign. Once in a park we saw numerous stairs leading somewhere up. As we just finished a nice exercise of shoving sand, none of us was interested to climb stairs. We decided to drive along the Dniepro. At one spot we saw two nudists – one with a black towel around his head, another with a hat. We decided to turn back to Kiev.
On a way to Kiev we supported local population – we bought organic vegetables at the road stalls for the entire next week.
All in all – exciting Sunday. See pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/SundaySandPlay?authkey=Gv1sRgCMfAk6v-4Kb0cw&feat=directlink

If interested in Shevchenko here is wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taras_Shevchenko

Photos from Odessa

Photos from Odessa trip Sep 4th to 6th:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/Odessa02?authkey=Gv1sRgCIbWqvfxvaLcYQ&feat=directlink

Passage in Odessa

Since my first visit to Odessa one of the buildings which impressed me moste is "Passage". This is a 19 century shopping mall/hotel complex decorated in amazing baroque style. The polish architect Lev Vlodek built the Passage from 1898-1899. This fantastically decorated corridor is covered by glass roof while walls are covered with various sculptures.
One entrance still shows off beautiful ceiling mosaics in (to my eye) art deco style.

It’s amazing that all this was build during two years. The shopping mall's grand opening was January 23, 1900. The mall caught fire on October 31, 1901, and to the credit of Odessa fire brigade no one was hurt.
Unfortunately current shops do not fit these lavish place.
Next to the shopping mall is a hotel which was 200 years ago one of most luxurious. The hotel had 162 luxurious rooms with electric lights. The rooms had central heating. Today this is a two start hotel. More Passage photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/PassageOdessa?authkey=Gv1sRgCNP7-6fdm9fO7AE&feat=directlink

Funny money (2)

Few photos from the flee market as evidence notes are on sale. If one is totally mental one can also get a ukrainian "Bin Laden driving licence".

Funny Money

Last weekend I have been to Odessa. Since my last visit a year ago Odessa had a major face lift. I took many photos but as it will take some time to sort them I will post them later.
On the small flee market in Odessa I found fake hrivnya bills with portraits of Ukraine's politicians. I took my "favourites": Julia, Yushenko and Chernovetsky -the mayor of Kiev. UAH 200 and UAH 100 are of great quality and if it would not be for a souvenir sign on them they could be mistake for real ones. The note of Kiev mayor is denominated UAH 1,70 which is price of one metro ticket.

I also saw a USD 100 bill with Obama. This bill is of a good quality so to avoid any possible confusion next to being labled on the face "souvenir" in russian, on the back of the bill there is also a note in russian "not to be used for payments".

Expense Fraud at KPMG

Amazing fraud at KPMG : http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/blogs/gina-dyer/team-blog/expenses-scandal-blame-missus

Still No Hot Water

I wrote few times I do not have hot water during summer. Some of you thought that’s a joke. I wish it is. Especially given the rent paid for the apartment.
But lack of hot water during summer months is part of socialist heritage. In ex-socialist countries heat and hot water are connected and provided centrally. The state decides - through a very complicated formula - when it will start heating and when it will stop it.
When the state stops heating in warmer months hot water is also not provided. The reason given for lack of hot water is annual maintenance of water pipes. Why in all other countries maintenance of hot water pipes can be done without having hot water supply disconnected remains a mystery to me.
Due to annual pipes maintenance my building had hot water switched off since end of June. Maintainance of pipes was to be finished by August 5th. But something happened and switching on was postponed for August 13th. The notes about hot water not being available are visibly put on the communal board. Than on Aug 13th I found a note with 13 being changed to 20th. That’s the photo above.

In my apartment I have a small boiler but it does not work properly. So I enjoy lukewarm showers.

It's summer. I am without hot water.But so are others...

Watch young Ukrainian ladies protest because the hot water is (as customary in UA) switched off... http://en.rian.ru/video/20090615/155250830.html

Patriarch Kirill in Kiev, Madonna in St Pete

Orthodox Patriarch Kirill arrived to Kiev last week. The Guard of Honor – consisting also of beautiful police ladies in official uniforms - mini skirts and high heels - comes to attention as the Patriarch Kirill walks down the red carpet.

The dress of the Guard of Honor is in contrast with a ladies dress policy when visiting an orthodox church. I am happy to see the Patriarch had an opportunity to appreciate work of God's hands in form of sexy legs. Perhaps he will intorduce more flexible dress code for ladies.

If Biden had the same Guard of Honor two weeks ago, no wonder he was full of compliments about beautiful Ukrainian ladies.

The photo is taken from "Focus" magazine published this week. Full credit to the photographer

and Focus magazine.

Patriarch Kirill gave in Kiev a speech about virtues of asceticism. According to UA local VIP magazine the patriarch wears EUR 30,000 wristwatch Breguet Classic. Thus Patriarch Kirill obviously does not follow what he preaches: http://vip.glavred.info/?/articles/2009/07/28/181000-0.

Tomorrow Madonna has a concert in St Pete. The city’s communists have a song request: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090728/155652873.html

I wonder how will Material Girl respond.

Wow Russia

To learn more about Russia: http://www.wowrussia.com/

Europe Explained

Found this on the web. It was initally posted in Jan 09. I find it funny:
http://noquedanblogs.com/me-hizo-reir/europa-explicado/.

For comments on the map go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alphadesigner/3192055736

Traffic light talk

We are going through a summer heat wave. The temperature is around 35 C these days.
With such heat walking Igor to the park over asphalt melting streets in the early afternoon is not fun. Once we reach the park we cool a bit. Shadows of leafy treetops offer some relief. But than we have to walk asphalt melting streets back home.
At the cross road Igor and me stop and wait for a green light. Next to us stands a Caucasian looking guy. He looks Georgian but he also could be from one of Stans countries. He talks on his mobile. He speak Russian. His conversation goes something like this: “So how is there? Hot? Very hot? Oh… No, here in Kiev it is not hot. There is some wind. It cools down a bit…”.

I look at the guy in disbelief. I am clammy from the heat. My head is boiling. Have I heard this man talks about some wind right now? Where is this refreshing wind to cool me?
I am at the point of asking. But the heat makes me too weak. The traffic light turns green.
I guess I’ll miss the wind.


Earlier this week at the same crossroad an old Ukrainian lady wanted to pass the street while it was still red. She stepped out. At that moment a car passed. She stepped back and noticed Igor sits still. The lady turned and said: “If such a nice dog waits for a green light perhaps I should too”.
A standard small talk about Igor continued: ”Boy or girl? How old? What’s his name?”
I noticed the lady is in her 70ties. Only two golden teeth sparkling when she speaks.
The lady noticed my accent. She asked where I am from.
I answered:” From Holland.”
"From Holland?" she asked with disbelief.
“Yes, I came from Holland”
“What are you doing here?”
“ I work”
“You came here to work? You could not find work in Holland?” Her disbelief was growing.
“Yes, I came here to work”.
“You must be really mad to come here. I read Holland is a such wonderful country. Here we have an ecological disaster. Have you heard about Chernobyl? Do you know how many people die from cancer in Ukraine?”
“Yes, I heard”.
“Is the doggy from Holland?”
“Yes, he is”.
The lady looked at me and with stern voice said: "You must be really mad to come here. You must be bad not to be able to find work in Holland." Than she looked at Igor. Her voice soften a bit and through her two golden teeth she said "I just feel so sorry for your lovely dog”.

At that she turned towards the ice cream stand and bought herself an ice cream.

Babushke sing Britney

I find this video ad irresistible. It advertises language courses at an institute in St Pete.
The ladies are simply charming. The slogan at the end says "English - budet kak' rodnoi" or in translation "English - as native (language)". At the end of the spot one of ladies drops a vodka glass. The other says "Uzhas (Horribble!)" as this in Slavic tradition is a sign of bad luck.
Hope you will enjoy the video.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/akdobbins/old-russian-ladies-learn-english-with-britney

Igor's Playmates II

I wanted to post these photos of Igor and his playmates some time ago. Some photos are about two months old (after April 26th). At that time Igor was still with his full coat. As photos show he is not shy. And he loves to play with big girls. His favourite girl is a black lab Bony. If Bony is not around he loves to play with Dana - a gentle bulldog. Igor has quite a reputation in the park. They ask me: How is our macho today? Owner of Bony told me the other day: "Igor so thouroughly kissed Bony's ears we do not need to pet her for a week". Hmmm.
If there is a new girl in the park (and we always meet new girls) he has to sniff her. But Bony remains his favourite.

Most of dogs in the park are girls but occasionally we encounter a "dogie boy". If a "new boy" comes to play along with other girls Igor is fearless in chasing him away. The small matter of size does not stop him. http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/IgorSPlaymates?authkey=Gv1sRgCMTg2q3b2qLZYQ&feat=directlink

Demolished Lenin

Read how the Ukrainian Nationalist Congress party smashed the Lenin statue in the center of Kiev because Lenin is symbol of totalitarism:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/01/lenin-statue-vandalised-kiev

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8133076.stm

http://photo.unian.net/eng/themes/13469

Photo is downloaded from unian site.

Summer Scandals

For weeks media implicate that on June 16, 2009, the Member of the Parliament and a member of Yulia Tymoshenko's party - Mr. Lozynsky, together with the regional prosecutor Mr. Hrebenko and Rayon police chief Mr. Kovalsky - killed a 53 year old man.
Read more at: http://tap-the-talent.blogspot.com/2009/06/land-baronmp-viktor-lozynsky-byut.html and http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2009/06/25/186353

Few days ago a news appeared that the President's son was involved in a shooting incident http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2009/06/30/186793. Seems the Prez's son was involved in a shooting incident also in May 2006. This incident is mentioned in the Prez's son profile: http://www.kyivpost.com/profiles/people/dossie/yushchenko_andrey
If intrigued to read more about young Yushchenko see old Russian "Pravda" article: http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/16-12-2008/106837-Andrei_Yushchenko-0

Update

I am still in Kiev. Currently enjoying summer. Last two months the work kept me busy and exhausted.
How bad the work is one can deduce from today’s 1H 09 GDP report which shows the economy contracted by 20.3% YoY. This is the first time since Jan 2009 that the government made any data available. PM Julia banned distribution of data concerning the economy and finance in Feb 2009. The GDP data were published today only because IMF insisted. Actually IMF put an ultimatum – either Julia allows data to be published or USD 7 bn might not be available. Listening to our clients I wonder if actual data about economy contraction might be even worse. I worry what will happen in August and September- another devaluation? sovereign default?

As work lacks the fun element for some time, I continue to travel to re-charge.
Beginning of May I have been two weeks in Croatia. It was fantastic to be with my family although the situation with my dad’s health was not always relaxing. My mum is doing fantastic job taking care of him. On her insistence my dad is now on less medication and lately he appears to be better. My mum also changed a doctor which makes a big difference too. As usual I walked with her the hills around my parent’s house.
End of May I went for a long weekend to A’dam. I enjoyed my house and a swan family which lives in front of it. The proud parents show off their fabulous offspring. The seven signets are just great!


Last week I went to New York with my school friend Eli. Eli’s husband and her three boys have not objected she joins me to have “girlfriends” time. I have been to NY few times but last time it was in 2001. Eli lived in NY about 20 years ago and visited it regularly since than. It was great to have her around. During the day we were either sightseeing or shopping. In the evening we enjoyed Broadway. We saw "Lion King" and "The God of Carnage". We also sang and danced with Juan Louis Guerra. We both filled our empty suitcases and were sad leaving the great city.
Now back in Kiev I continue to dream about NY.

I will add links for more photos later.

Igor's playmates

Igor plays with some pretty hot ladies:

Igor's Playgirls

Bykivnia

Yesterday Catharina took me to Bykivnia - a beautiful pine and birch forest just outside Kiev.
This beautiful forest unfortunately witnessed terrible events in 1937 -1938.
One of the historians calls it “Kiev Killing Field” as it is a mass grave of Stalin victims during the Great Terror years.
Unofficial estimates put the number of bodies in the grave at 200,000 to 300,000.

For decades the official soviet history blamed Nazi’s for a mass grave.
In 1944 the Bykivnia graves were qualified by a Soviet war crimes commission as ones belonging to inmates of the Darnytsia [Nazi] POW camp. This sounded convincing as the camp where 75,000 Red Army officers and man had died was located nearby. However, talk about mass shootings prior to the war continued. In 1971 a new governmental commission studied Bykivnia. It confirmed the findings of the previous one. Ditto the third commission that studied the place in 1987. To make the picture even more convincing, a gravestone was placed with the legend, “Buried here are Soviet soldiers, partisans, and civilians massacred by the fascist aggressor in 1941-43” in May 1988. However villagers protested calling previous investigations “cover ups by blaming Nazi’s” and in December 1988 forced Ukrainian authorities to establish the fourth commission.

The graves turned out to contain the remains of victims of purges before WW II.

So finally official history confirmed what villagers knew but could not say for five decades. Finally elderly witnesses could talk about trucks dripping blood en route to the site in the 1937, before the Nazis occupied the area.

In March 1937 Politburo with its resolutions signaled the launch of a “cleanup” throughout the country where Stalin’s socialism now reigned. Month after month the Cheka/NKVD methodically closed their cases of “enemies of the people” using the method of mass shootings.
In big cities thousands were massacred and the authorities found themselves faced with a serious problem: what to do with the material evidence, bodies? The NKVD leadership decided to bury them in the suburbs and place the sites under special control. With time the security details were withdrawn and no one seemed to remember the victims. When the Wehrmacht occupied a part of the Soviet territory the Nazis tried to demonstrate to the rest of the world the scope of Stalin’s atrocities. The Soviet media immediately blamed the Nazis for the mass executions.

As a memory to victims trees are wrapped with “rushnyki” – ceremonial embroidered towels. On some trees family survivors put small plate.
Surrounded by beautifully trees I had a somberly walk.

Photos of this tragic location are at : http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/April25?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2AsISxycCJEQ&feat=directlink

Spring is in

http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/SpringIsIn?authkey=Gv1sRgCMarkpfY1KT5rAE&feat=directlink

Musings on freedom while dog walking

Walking Igor gives an opportunity to meet interesting people. I do not know persons names - I know dog's names. But irrespective a lack of formal introductions, conversations with these people give me interesting insights.
This morning I spoke with a lady who walks Cubic - a 9 year old schnauzer. She is in her late 60ties and is a retired biologist-zoologist. Today she told me how happy she is the Soviet Union fall apart. She is very happy her children had an opportunity to have a world open to them. She told me how as a zoologist she spent time with her husband in Kuril's Islands. From one of the islands she could see over to Japan and watch Japanese cars, roads, houses... She described the frustration of sensing there is a different world outside USSR - which she could not and was forbidden to experience. Once USSR fell apart she and her family immediately started to travel. Her daughter lives in Germany. Her son is in Sweden. She is strongly convinced people - even with current economic hardships - overall live better now - because there is a freedom of movement and freedom of speech. How true: ultimately the level of freedom determines our quality of life.

Washing up TV ad in Ukraine

Last week my internet provider decided to make some changes in the protocol/system. As a subscriber to a service I was (of course) not informed about it.
With no internet for few days (apparently considered normal period for fixing the "new protocol") I turned to watching Ukrainian TV. Dancing and skating reality shows with celebrities are in. Of course these top programs are showing "top" ads. One of such top ads is for a washing up product.
We all know ads are about persuasion and working on the magic of "because".
Well - this ad explains you should use "Gala" washing up liquid "because" this liquid works when you have to do washing up without electricity. Power cuts or power shortages are frequent occurrence. Thus - because in Ukraine one frequently has to do washing up by candlelight - using Gala liquid is a solution for your clean dishes.
View Ukrainian washing up by candlelight on following photos:

Sarajevo

From March 25th to March 29th I was in Sarajevo. Damir, my friend from Moscow decided to celebrate his 50th birthday in his hometown. While some of close Damir’s friends are still in Sarajevo, many are due to the war scattered across the globe. His friends came from Moscow, London, Zagreb, Split, Canada, Australia and Kiev. Not to make his friends to come from far away for one evening only, it was decided to party for three days: “orientation night” started on Thursday, “rehearsal” was Friday and “50th gala” on Saturday. For three days we enjoyed excellent company, delicious food and - thanks to Damir's musical background - superb musicians catared to our musical wishes. Everyone had unforgettable time. When we parted on Sunday it was said this was such a great party that people who had not attended it, will say they have been there.

Last time I was in Sarajevo was sometime in 1986. I remember it as a city full of fun. Kind of Balkan “Dolce Vita”: very relaxing, time is passed talking to friends over turkish coffee, to make talk intersting one might have some rakija, later sing a song about love or (most likely) lack of it, had some delicious chevapchichi, than drink more and sing more. And so on…
I wondered how the city and its people healed after the war. I came back amazed. Some shots of Sarajevo are on http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/PgGnXrWiJJPcAfSdbQAv3w?authkey=Gv1sRgCN_N8K6ZlvnP8AE&feat=directlink
Sarajevo developed as a city from a trading post. Where there is a trade there is usually open-mindedness. That’s why Sarajevo was a melting pot – Muslims, Croat, Serbs and other nations lived there peacefully together for many years. That is why it was so painfully surprising to see the brutality against the city and its citizens. I leave explanations on causes of the war to historians. The fact is that for months the city was heavily pounded by over 300 Serb cannons.

The city center is almost fully restored. On some buildings one can see grenade or bullet holes. But mostly buildings dating from Ottoman or Austro-Hungarian times are enjoying new colors. But that’s the city center. In the city outskirts buildings still wait for a makeover. Some scenes are surreal: a laundry drying from a window scared with bullet holes, satellite antenna positioned above grenade hole. Graveyards are between residential houses.

Everyone I met has an amazing survival story to tell. The shopkeeper whose husband died and she raised her two daughters herself. One dughter finished university one is studying.
A taxi driver "escaped" to the Netherlands (Breda) and there fell in love with a Bosnian girl. They came back. A beautician as an orphan emigrated to UK, finished school there, got UK citizenship, but due to crisis returned to Sarajevo two months ago.

Irrespective of past hardship the Balkan spirit of “dolce vita” is alive in Sarajevo.I lost voice singing “sevdalinke” (traditional Bosnian folk songs). My legs were tired from dancing. I wish I could stay longer. I would definitely come again. I am fortunate to have friends who can organize such an unforgettable celebration of life and friendship. Many, many thanks and I hope to welcome you in Kiev!

Fit Mayor?

In the movie “The Wiz” there is a Wicked Witch screaming “Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News". The Wicked Witch would have a great time in Ukraine these days. Bad news abounds.
End of February S&P downgraded Ukraine to CCC+. This is actually a new S&P grade to "accommodate" Ukraine (have not existed before). The “+” makes Ukraine a bit better than Pakistan - currently rated “CCC”.
Since my last post more banks requested a help from Ukraine Central Bank. Over ten banks are under the Central Bank Administration. By day more and more corporate clients are unable to meet their financial obligations. More people is without work or they go to work but have not been paid for weeks or months. There is no progress on a second IMF tranche which was supposed to be disbursed in February.

And while an average Ukrainian struggles with a crises, Kiev's mayor “Cosmos” is asking “where is the love” from his humble home
http://www.whatson-kiev.com/index.php?go=News&in=view&id=6578 . Not only have Mr. Chernovetsky complained about lack of love from his neighbors, but the Parliament also showed lack of understanding for his policies. The most controversial issue is the mayor's decision in January 2009 to start charging for visits to cemeteries (http://www.kyivpost.com/city/34360/?p=0&sort=ASC )
While dead have not risen (yet) to complain about reduced visits from the living, about thousands of people demonstrated in front of Kyiv municipality: http://photo.ukrinform.ua/eng/current/indexa.php?asearch=TRUE&event_id=257199 These demonstrations prompted the parliament to order a psychiatric evaluation for the mayor who next to starting to charge alive Kiev residents for visiting their dead, also wants to have Santa Claus as a honorary citizen of Kyiv, fired a Kyiv ZOO manager for failing to find a mate for a resident elephant and started to charge USD 100,000 for receiving Kyiv residents in his office. The test of the mayor’s mental abilities is scheduled next week.
In order to show the public he is not mentally challenged - the mayor invited last week reporters to show his – physical – fitness and on Dinamo Kyiv stadium run 400m, did 15 pull-ups and in a swimming pool swam 50m. Read all and admire a photo a mayor in speedo at following links: http://www.kyivpost.com/city/37914 ,
http://www.finchannel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32195&Itemid=56 and http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/18-03-2009/107257-kiev_mayor_speedo-0.

Ukraine News Agency quotes the mayor saying: “Look at this body of mine, see how I express my thoughts. I’m absolutely healthy, sane. My thinking is logical, philosophical.”

On a weather front it's still snowing. I hardly wait spring finally arrives.

I returned from Dubai a week ago. Had a great time. Faye, Peter and Goldie are fantastic hosts and I am so lucky I could enjoy their home for a week. Faye made amazing job in decorating her new home in only 6 months. When she comes to my place she will be slamming it. I have no garden and no swimming pool.

Faye is the best guide in Dubai. She is an expert in all Dubai shopping malls. She knows all personal assistants at every shop we have been in. As I visited during the last week of Dubai Shopping Festival I maxed my credit card. Faye also arranged appointments for things I do not know how to get in Kiev or my experience of getting them in Kiev is such I prefer not to have them done in Kiev. So thanks to Dubai visit I have best highlights since I left Moscow and a complete new summer wardrobe from Ishtar Tailoring in Satwa. These fantastic tailors made my complete wardrobe in 3 days!!! I am not going to post how many bags and pairs of shoes I bought.

I was also lucky to meet Karen. I have not seen her since I left Seoul and it was great to catch up with her. We had a long lunch and a fantastic curry dinner at her new place. After the dinner we went dancing and singing karaoke until 4 am. Have not had such fun in a year. Karen and Guy - thanks a lot! Karen - if you go to Seoul please let me know!

I love Dubai. It's skyline is amazing. Faye tells me that 7 years ago it had not exists. She showed me some funny looking building about 25m tall which was few years ago "Hard Rock Cafe" and told me that this has been the tallest building in the city. Now Dubai skyline reminds me of Hong Kong or Shanghai - there are so many skyscrapers. Unfortunately due to credit crunch there are not fully occupied. Credit crunch or not - Dubai is one huge construction site. Peter said that actually all construction halted some time ago but Dubai skyline remains adorned with numerous cranes. It is cheaper to keep than to dismantle them.

Palm and Atlantis are amazing. Atlantis huge aquarium filled with all kinds of fishes is fantastic. But keeping Sammy - a female whale shark in captivity is horrible. They should let her go.

I also like Dubai's mix of traditional UAE and Western culture. You can see a man in a dish dash having a coffee with a woman in abaya and hijab in Starbucks. Most abayas have elaborate embroideries on sleeves. Some ladies wear hijab in a way which shows their hair. All ladies in abaya have impeccable makeup.

I hoped to sort Dubai photos last week but as situation in Ukraine continues its downhill direction after work I am too exhausted. One evening last week my attempt to sort photos ended with me deleting hundreds of Dubai photos both from a card and the disc. I will never/ever work on my photos again when tired.

It was great to spend a week in a warm and sunny climate especially as Kiev is covered with snow and temperature is -7 degree Celsius.

While I was in Dubai Igor was with Catherina, Kees and Wiebe. They took great care of Igor. Many thanks for that!

Of course it's not over

Last Friday evening Yushenko addressed the nation on TV. But actually he spoke to Tymoshenko.
He accused her of signing a disadvantageous gas deal for Ukraine and for leading the country to the crises. Read all at http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/12765.html.
Immediately on Saturday Yulia asked the President not to fall into “hysteria”: http://eng.for-ua.com/news/2009/02/02/123045.html. Her exact words in Russian are: Для того чтобы бороться с кризисом, нам нужны политическая консолидация, холодный и трезвый ум, железные нервы, сила воли, решительность и глубокое чувство ответственности – именно то, чего всегда не хватало, не хватает, и будет не хватать Виктору Андреевичу. (My free translation: To fight with the crisis, we (Ukraine) need political consolidation, cold and calm thinking, iron nerves, strong willpower, decisiveness and deep sense of accountability – all of these (qualities) Viktor Andreeivich (the Prez) – never had, does not have and will never have.

While Yulia and Yushenko continue to exchange punches, Yanukovich takes a role of a referee http://eng.for-ua.com/news/2009/02/02/131038.html (For those not well versed in Orange revolution protagonists Mr. Yanukovich is the “other” candidate” who rigged 2004 presidential elections.)

The “gas middleman” Mr. Firtash from RosUkrEnergo called today to establish a gas consortium with Ukraine, Russia and Europe. Of course in this consortium Mr. Firtash wants to play a part. See Bloomberg:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=a7fZhJ7lkiBA.

Personal faces of this crisis for last weekend: On Saturday a boy asked me for some money in front of a pastry shop. An acquaintance told me she was asked in a supermarket by a man if she could buy some vegetables for his family as he does not have any money. One large car dealership disappeared in a day. The other car dealership put “bottom price” sign on all its cars. There was a long queue in front of the Nadra bank ATM at Artemova Street. One pregnant lady who has difficulties with her pregnancy told me she cannot afford to take a sick leave or take a maternity leave as she needs her salary to pay her mortgage.

For average people life is getting more difficult by day.

Anyone thought it is over?

The relief brought by finally singed gas deal between Russia and Ukraine last Monday was short lived. On Friday Jan 23rd, Ukrainian President Yush(enko) indicated he would like to revisit a gas deal with Russia this summer. He considers the terms of the gas deal undermine Ukraine economy. The PM Tym dismissed Yush’s idea as irresponsible. Gazprom considers Yush’s idea laughable. Alexey Miller’s, Gazprom CEO, exact statement is “Such proposal could only appear in some Ukrainian humor newspaper”.
Another party who is not letting it go is RosUkrenergo - a winner of 2006 gas deal and largest looser of the 2009 deal. According to FT (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aa271cca-e8b1-11dd-a4d0-0000779fd2ac.html) Rosukrenergo is determined to recover $650m in debts from Kiev (http://rus.4post.com.ua/economics/122864.html). The company is half-owned by two Ukrainian businessmen, Dmytro Firtash and Ivan Fursin. These two have most to lose with the new deal. Tym and Firtash know each other well from the times Tym was a gas trader. Tym calls Mr Firtash Ukraine’s “number one corrupt person”. That Tym has a strong grudge against Firtash was clear on Thursday when Kyiv's district administrative court supported a government appeal to ban the National Bank of Ukraine from refinancing Nadra Bank (Ukrainian 7th largest bank). Firtash singed a preliminary agreement to buy 86.7% shares of Nadra in November 2008. The deal was to be finalized in May 2009.
Announcing the refinancing ban on Thursday Tym said: Now [RosUkrEnergo's co-owner Dmytro] Firtash [who announced plans to buy Nadra Bank] will have a short rest," One has to admire her political skills.
Nadra Bank demands the Ukrainian premier stops groundless accusations about its operations (http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/eco/6087/).
Personal fights aside some terms of the new gas contract need to be clarified.
Per disclosed contract terms Ukraine is obliged to purchase a fixed amount of gas every quarter. If it imports less than 94 percent of the contracted amount of gas, it will be forced to pay three times the price of the gas it does not use. Main consumers of Russian gas are steel mills and manufacturing companies which since October 2008 are mostly closed due to global downturn. One wonders will Ukraine really need full contracted amount. The deal also requires Naftogaz to make advance payments if it fails to pay gas bills on time. The recent gas dispute erupted over a $2.1 billion debt accumulated by Naftogaz and not paid since September 2008. Given severity of the crisis in Ukraine it is very likely the country will have even more difficulties to timely pay bills in 2009. And if Ukraine fails to pay on time, another gas dispute is likely.
On Friday the gas deal had "first" public Ukrainian causality. Oleh Dubyna, chairman of Naftogaz had an emergency heart surgery. PM Yulia said Mr. Dubyna was under a lot of stress during the gas dispute because President, Yushchenko, gave him "diametrically" different instructions from her government.
So the poor man is yet another victim of a dysfunctional relationship between the President and the PM. While Yush and Tym continue to turf about power, the country is by day "exploring" depths of the crisis. For Wednesday, Jan 28th Kiev's health care workers announced a general strike as they have not been paid for last two months. Kiev's doctors and nurses met the Mayor (guy with Rolls Royce) on Jan 21st who promised the City will pay their salaries by end of March '09. At the moment the mayor's priority is to get Santa Claus as an honorary citizen of Kiev. Perhaps the Mayor hopes Santa will pay doctor's salaries.

The photo above is of men getting drinkable water from a public tap. Every park has "a well" were people come daily to fill bottles with drinkable water.

Igor and I are warm, have water and electricity. I am looking forward to visiting Dubai.