DRINKING WITH KATIA
Katia is from Siberia. Had a great drinking session with her. Unfortunately, I am not smart enough to learn Russian and she just started her English lessons. So, it was some guesswork, a bit of German and a lot of Google Translate.
Still an interesting night. She does journalism (human interest) in Siberia.
WHAT DAY?
I've talked to a lot of people who have never been to America. We've discussed how swearing is pretty much the norm, even in casual conversation. Some of these people I've talked to about it said "Yes, sure." however I could tell that down deep, they had doubts as to whether this was correct. To add to the mounting pile of evidence I would like to direct you to "I don't give a fuck" day.
STATES
For a wildly confusing (to people who English is not their first language) look at all fifty American states, check here. Thanks to Michelle and Bob from Facebook for sharing it.
GOLDMEMBER QUOTE
Since I have been reunited with Henriette, while she was eating breakfast I got to tempt her with
"A smoke and a pancake. You know, flapjack and a cigarette? Hm? Alright. Cigar and a waffle? Pipe and a crepe? No. Bong and a blintz? No? I can see there is no pleasing you." (Goldmember) It did get her to laugh but it is her own fault for being Dutch.
PREAMBLE TO THE BLACK SEA JOURNEY
Most of this was typed in notepad while I was on the boat to Georgia. Notepad doesn't seem to have a spelling check. When I copy/paste it into Blogspot, it defeats the automatic spell check that it has. Any grammatical errors, spelling errors and so forth are the fault of my not having a good editor. Should this ever be deemed interesting enough to be edited extensively then any spelling errors will be the fault of the editor. Till then, suck it up, buttercup. There isn't much access to internet in the middle of the Black Sea for some reason.
I've also been asked if I thought that a blog like this (ie painfully honest) will turn people off of traveling to some of the countries I've been to or doing some of the things I've done. It might. For many Western travelers, they may consider some of the customs and conditons here to be 'appaling'. Personally, I'm having a great time. If I wanted everything the same as in the USA, I'd have stayed in the fucking USA. I come here for differences. If you are the kind of traveler who bitches if there isn't a mint on your pillow with the beds freshly turned down at night you will either need to spend a lot more money than I do traveling or seek different places to travel. My travel is travel on the cheap. It is a bit more adventurous than most people will consider but not nearly as adventurous as many of the people I've met.
TICKET QUEST
I went to an office I'd been directed to by Adam and Sylvia (owners of the hostels I'd been staying at in Ukraine) to see 'Vladlin Tarasenko' about buying a ticket to get a ship from Illichivsk (the harbor near Odessa) to Batumi, Georgia. Vladlin is one of those energetic people who gets calls constantly while you're talking to him trying to get your business sorted out. I think that much activity would kill me inside of a year. I know it wouldn't drive me to drink because I think I'm already enjoying as much as I can handle. While I was waiting to get my ticket, I got to watch a German who would become one of my shipmates (Franz R) buy his. Franz's ticket was a lot more complicated as he was bringing a motorcycle with him. He's going to be riding it through Georgia into Armenia.
I'm sure the folks who have traveled with me are rolling their eyes and saying "Logan's not even on the ship and he's already meeting passengers." True.
My 1550 UAH ticket for the three day ocean voyage got done without any real problems. Vladlin told me that the ship would be ready for me to board either and 14:00 or 18:00. I figured great, time to shop the next morning and get everything ready. I think if I left before 11:00, I should be there early, even if I get to board at 14:00.
So, I decided to hang out with other folks staying at the hostel. And drink with them.
DRINKING BEFORE LEAVING ODESSA
I was having a few drinks with another Russian from Siberia named Katia. She didn't speak a lot of English but we had a nice night drinking. Google Translate was also in fine form. Katia is a reporter and does human interest stories. I've noticed in a lot of the countries that communism either was or is, a lot of the reporters I've gotten to know have either done sports or human interest stories. I'm thinking it's a lot less deadly tha something like 'investigative journalism'. This get together was two nights before I left. Drinking with the Dutch (below) occurred the night before I left.
The night after, I was having a couple drinks with two gentlemen from the Netherlands, Ivo and Igor. They were traveling around checking out different things. Both have a great interest in the cold war. Unless I've gotten the two mixed up, Ivo works at times for the prime minister in Amsterdam doing various historical work and Igor works as an editor of a car magazine. These two gave me some more information on the Netherlands.
INFORMATION ON THE NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands has it's own Protistant 'bible belt'. This starts in the SW part of the country and heads NE, ending well before the border. There are some strict villages - straw hats are worn, women in skirts with black stockings, no TV on Sunday (yea! I fucking hate TV anyway!) ad other such strict religious observances.
I asked what the greatest challenge the Netherlands faces and they discussed welfare. It's costing a lot and the governnment keeps making cuts to keep it sustainable for the future. The other problem is they currently have a xenophobic party who is preaching things like 'all Muslims are terrorists' and so on. The politicians are working on playing on peoples fears and turning it into votes. [To me, this sounds very American.]
The best thing about the Netherlands, they said, is that people have a economically viable government. "We don't have to complain."
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
DAVID HASSELHOFF
CLICK ON THE TITLE TO ACCESS PHOTOBUCKET PICTURES!
LAST THOUGHTS OF SEVASTOPOL
The last night before I left, I was drinking with the folks there including Christopher and Ledlde and the three German ladies Bettina, karina and Jana.
In honor of the German ladies, we were drinking toasts to David Hasselhoff. They absolutely love him. Karina sang part of a David Hasselhoff song as well as showing us him on her iPad. I think it may automatically take you to 'the Hoff' if left idle for long enough.
TRAVEL TO SIMFEROPOL
If you are wanting to go into or leave the Crimea, you will be going through this city. There isn't much to see there but it is the major transportation hub of the Crimea. When I was heading from Simferopol to Sevastopol the first time, I took something the locals call (in Russian) and 'electric train'. It took about two hours and cost 8 UAH. This time, I decided to take a small bus.
The small bus holds roughly ten people. They can be noisy, hot and uncomfortable but the 'electric train' had already taken off so what the hell. I asked the guy how much it would be and he said 200 UAH. When I started to laugh and walk away, he quickly dropped to the normal rate of 50 UAH. Note, it is important to find out what the normal rate is before negotiating! Even if the local people rate was 40 UAH, a 10 UAH 'rich foreigner' tax isn't really excessive so I said 'what the hell' and went for it.
Including myself and the driver, there were only five people on board and two were dropped off a short way out of town near a monastery. I was riding shotgun. I have no idea how they make any money at this. After agreeing to the cost, you are led to the vehicle and the driver goes off to find more people who want to ride in it. He keeps the rest of the passengers waiting but he can't keep them waiting too long or they'll wander off.
The journey was swift and relatively comfortable. The good thing is that we were doing between 100 KM/hr and 140 KM/hr. The bad thing is that it was on roads often a lane and a half wide with traffic going both ways. People passed in no passing zones, going up hills, around corners and pretty much any time they had an urge to do so. I am often surprised that the countryside of central and eastern European countries isn't littered with the bodies and charred wreckage of people not fast enough to dodge vehicles of people driven like monkeys on crack.
ON THE TRAIN
In my overnight sleeper car was a mom and her ten year old son. I never learned her name but his name was Nikita. This was an easy name for me to remember because of one of my favorite movies. But, here it is a boy's name. Initially, he didn't speak any English but I am Logan and playing cards are a great icebreaker. We ended up playing cards together for hours. He was pleased to tell me he will be eleven next month. He was a sharp (smart) and funny kid. It helped eat up the miles for both of us and make the trip less dull.
ODESSA
So, I'm back in Odessa and all is well. It is nice to see Sylvia (best cook of Polish food in Europe), Mark (who also works at the TIU hostel) and the new faces here.
While I'm here, I think I should buy a book or two because three days on a boat with no internet may drive me to stab people, not sure. It's a piece of advice Adam gave me and it sounds pretty reasonable.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
PREEMPTIVE CONSIDERATION
WHERE ARE THE PICTURES?
If you are new (or haven't been paying attention) be sure to click on the titles of the blogs to get taken to the photobucket of where ever I am.
Also, if you go here, you can see a column down on the right - search that for various country pictures you may have missed.
THE PLAN
Currently, I am going to be staying in Sevastopol until Saturday then I will return to Odessa. No boats appear to leave from the harbor in Sevastopol any more... When I am in Odessa, I will cool my heals for a couple days. On Tuesday, I will purchase a ticket (you can't do it before due to public holiday) and on Wednesday I will be on a boat for the real recently war torn, Russia invaded Georgia. The boat ride across the Black Sea should take about three days. I'm planning on staying there for three months, assuming I can live cheaply. I've heard it is about the cheapest place I can live and I need to work on saving some money. We'll see how I do on that.
It's annoying to me - and it will be to everyone else I contacted on Couch Surfing that I'm going to have to delay my plans on getting to Istanbul. The current plan is less nifty for right now but I think makes sense financially. I need to try to recoup some of the funds that got blasted through in Western Europe.
Before I leave this country, I need to get the last of my Ukrainian money changed into Euros because I suspect that in other countries, Ukrainian money will be as welcomed as a two tone fart during a formal dinner.
I also need to get a English-Georgian phase book. I suspect I will have to wait till I get to Georgia to find this.
GMO IS GOOD!
This nifty picture brought to you by Genetically Modified Organisms. And just remember, that probably includes you...
CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE FORMER EAST GERMANY AREA
I was talking to three nice ladies from Germany who were telling me about the current state of affairs there.
They are in this picture, on the left. From left to right, Karina, Jana, Bettina. (The couple pictured on the right are Lelde and Kristfan who I was fortunate enough to spend the day with at the Khan's palace). I was told in the 'former East Germany' area the population is 'becoming older' because the young folks are going west to get higher paying jobs. Jobs in the east pay less than the same job in the west. Afterward, the conversation moved to such eclectic topics as 'atomic mushrooms' and 'atomic cherry'.
TRAVELER'S LORE
Adam was kind enough to give me some good tips for the type of travel I am doing
Be aware of the people around you. If cleaning is going on in another part of the house, at least ask if they would like you to move. If it's a couch surfing thing (as opposed to a hostel), volunteer to help.
Respect the space. A lot of areas - especially in Europe - seem (to me, anyway) to be pretty confined. If people are needing to eat, at least offer to move your stuff you have spread out, rather than making them work around it.
Few people will actually ask you to move - but they will stew about it.
Leave a small footprint.
Think about how you're impacting the situation. Do little things like put shoes where less people will have to smell them, hide your underwear and things that nobody wants to see.
Be preemptively considerate.
Good advice for getting along with people - especially if they are kind enough to let me stay at their home for a time.
COSTS
Train ticket from the train hub (1-2 hours away from where I am) back to Odessa - 111 UAH.
THIS IS UKRAINE!
So I am sitting in TIU Front Page Hostel in Sevastopol (TIU means 'this is Ukraine', in case you didn't make the connection) and the electricity blew. It took awhile but Adam and I (mostly Adam - but I was helping, damnit!) tracked down the problem. If you are an electrician, check out these lovely jury rigged wires - under the sink - directly under dripping water.
This is the general view of what it looked like though you can't see all of the water and moisture.
You see the gray pipe in the upper left? That is the GAS. I'm not kidding. Also, keep in mind that these pictures were taken after various explosive chemicals were removed from under the sink.
This brown piece of shit with weird fluff (read as 'tinder') stuck to it? Hand made by someone who (according to Adam) didn't have a clue what they were doing.
Keep in mind that getting an electrician in Ukraine is seen as a wasteful, needless expense. Even if it means wiring your house to act like a bomb. This sort of thing helps make Ukraine the 'adventure destination' it is today!
Adam told me that calling someone and asking them to fix it would result in nothing but wasting time. Plus, he could do a better job - and he certainly cared more about the result than they would have. So he patched it up as best he could...
And this is the fixed version. He added a multi-outlet that has it's own fuse.
Unfortunately, it continued to pop the fuse. Trial and error showed the guilty culprit to be - the hot water heater. Yes, delicious morning showers will be a thing of the past until (and unless) the land lady comes out to get it fixed somehow.
We'll see what happens.
RUB IT IN, GOD
For the second time in less than a week, more marching bands have gone by where I am staying. Not just one, but many. Sadly, they don't seem to do them well in this town. They haven't discovered the 'joy of floats'. They just have some guys with instruments and someone leading them with a stick playing military music. Even the small children who ran out to see what was up ran back in from being bored with the plethora of marching bands to go back to playing with sticks in the dirt.
That's really a big hint - if small kids don't like your marching band, load back up in the truck and get the heck out of there, you have failed.
If you are new (or haven't been paying attention) be sure to click on the titles of the blogs to get taken to the photobucket of where ever I am.
Also, if you go here, you can see a column down on the right - search that for various country pictures you may have missed.
THE PLAN
Currently, I am going to be staying in Sevastopol until Saturday then I will return to Odessa. No boats appear to leave from the harbor in Sevastopol any more... When I am in Odessa, I will cool my heals for a couple days. On Tuesday, I will purchase a ticket (you can't do it before due to public holiday) and on Wednesday I will be on a boat for the real recently war torn, Russia invaded Georgia. The boat ride across the Black Sea should take about three days. I'm planning on staying there for three months, assuming I can live cheaply. I've heard it is about the cheapest place I can live and I need to work on saving some money. We'll see how I do on that.
It's annoying to me - and it will be to everyone else I contacted on Couch Surfing that I'm going to have to delay my plans on getting to Istanbul. The current plan is less nifty for right now but I think makes sense financially. I need to try to recoup some of the funds that got blasted through in Western Europe.
Before I leave this country, I need to get the last of my Ukrainian money changed into Euros because I suspect that in other countries, Ukrainian money will be as welcomed as a two tone fart during a formal dinner.
I also need to get a English-Georgian phase book. I suspect I will have to wait till I get to Georgia to find this.
GMO IS GOOD!
This nifty picture brought to you by Genetically Modified Organisms. And just remember, that probably includes you...
CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE FORMER EAST GERMANY AREA
I was talking to three nice ladies from Germany who were telling me about the current state of affairs there.
They are in this picture, on the left. From left to right, Karina, Jana, Bettina. (The couple pictured on the right are Lelde and Kristfan who I was fortunate enough to spend the day with at the Khan's palace). I was told in the 'former East Germany' area the population is 'becoming older' because the young folks are going west to get higher paying jobs. Jobs in the east pay less than the same job in the west. Afterward, the conversation moved to such eclectic topics as 'atomic mushrooms' and 'atomic cherry'.
TRAVELER'S LORE
Adam was kind enough to give me some good tips for the type of travel I am doing
Be aware of the people around you. If cleaning is going on in another part of the house, at least ask if they would like you to move. If it's a couch surfing thing (as opposed to a hostel), volunteer to help.
Respect the space. A lot of areas - especially in Europe - seem (to me, anyway) to be pretty confined. If people are needing to eat, at least offer to move your stuff you have spread out, rather than making them work around it.
Few people will actually ask you to move - but they will stew about it.
Leave a small footprint.
Think about how you're impacting the situation. Do little things like put shoes where less people will have to smell them, hide your underwear and things that nobody wants to see.
Be preemptively considerate.
Good advice for getting along with people - especially if they are kind enough to let me stay at their home for a time.
COSTS
Train ticket from the train hub (1-2 hours away from where I am) back to Odessa - 111 UAH.
THIS IS UKRAINE!
So I am sitting in TIU Front Page Hostel in Sevastopol (TIU means 'this is Ukraine', in case you didn't make the connection) and the electricity blew. It took awhile but Adam and I (mostly Adam - but I was helping, damnit!) tracked down the problem. If you are an electrician, check out these lovely jury rigged wires - under the sink - directly under dripping water.
This is the general view of what it looked like though you can't see all of the water and moisture.
You see the gray pipe in the upper left? That is the GAS. I'm not kidding. Also, keep in mind that these pictures were taken after various explosive chemicals were removed from under the sink.
This brown piece of shit with weird fluff (read as 'tinder') stuck to it? Hand made by someone who (according to Adam) didn't have a clue what they were doing.
Keep in mind that getting an electrician in Ukraine is seen as a wasteful, needless expense. Even if it means wiring your house to act like a bomb. This sort of thing helps make Ukraine the 'adventure destination' it is today!
Adam told me that calling someone and asking them to fix it would result in nothing but wasting time. Plus, he could do a better job - and he certainly cared more about the result than they would have. So he patched it up as best he could...
And this is the fixed version. He added a multi-outlet that has it's own fuse.
Unfortunately, it continued to pop the fuse. Trial and error showed the guilty culprit to be - the hot water heater. Yes, delicious morning showers will be a thing of the past until (and unless) the land lady comes out to get it fixed somehow.
We'll see what happens.
RUB IT IN, GOD
For the second time in less than a week, more marching bands have gone by where I am staying. Not just one, but many. Sadly, they don't seem to do them well in this town. They haven't discovered the 'joy of floats'. They just have some guys with instruments and someone leading them with a stick playing military music. Even the small children who ran out to see what was up ran back in from being bored with the plethora of marching bands to go back to playing with sticks in the dirt.
That's really a big hint - if small kids don't like your marching band, load back up in the truck and get the heck out of there, you have failed.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
HUMAN EVOLUTION
Once upon a time, God decided to create life on earth...
Well, OK - that's not really God. It's Dumbeldore - but it's basically the same thing. But people do imagine God like this:
In fact, I got this from a web search of 'God' for images. Notice the white robe he is wearing? This of course begs the question 'Under that white robe, does God wear underwear?'
Which then in turn demands to know - does he wear 'tighty whities' -
Or briefs?
Doing her own interpretation of life first emerging from the sea a long, long time ago, Lelde! Note, I have renamed Lelde "Lelu" (from the movie Fifth Element) as I cannot pronounce her name.
And here, she shows us how life first made the leap from swimming in the ocean to crossing those slippery, slippery rocks onto land.
Here she is either telling me to stop taking pictures or trying to reassure me that life can indeed leave the oceans and make it on to land. I believe it was the latter.
Almost there!!
Behold the first graceful steps onto Terra Firma!
Life stands triumphant!
This priest did want to give the other view of 'fuck evolution'. Game on!
GUNS
Thanks to Steve H for bringing this to my attention. Good and short.
Well, OK - that's not really God. It's Dumbeldore - but it's basically the same thing. But people do imagine God like this:
In fact, I got this from a web search of 'God' for images. Notice the white robe he is wearing? This of course begs the question 'Under that white robe, does God wear underwear?'Which then in turn demands to know - does he wear 'tighty whities' -
Or briefs?
Doing her own interpretation of life first emerging from the sea a long, long time ago, Lelde! Note, I have renamed Lelde "Lelu" (from the movie Fifth Element) as I cannot pronounce her name.
And here, she shows us how life first made the leap from swimming in the ocean to crossing those slippery, slippery rocks onto land.
Here she is either telling me to stop taking pictures or trying to reassure me that life can indeed leave the oceans and make it on to land. I believe it was the latter.
Almost there!!
Behold the first graceful steps onto Terra Firma!
Life stands triumphant!
This priest did want to give the other view of 'fuck evolution'. Game on!
GUNS
Thanks to Steve H for bringing this to my attention. Good and short.
DEATH FUCK
Kenny: [Mufffled] Autoerotic asphyxiation? What's that? Researcher: [Researcher] I don't want to go into too much detail, but you choke yourself with a belt around your neck while masturbating dressed up like Batman or something and you pass out from lack of air and apparently it makes your orgasms super awesome.
Kenny: [Muffled] Really?
Butters: Oh no. I don't wanna have to buy a Batman costume!
TUESDAY
I'm really starting to see the appeal for me of big, busy hostels opposed to small quiet ones. I'm sitting around in Sevastopol TIU hostel and pretty bored. In Odessa, there were more people to hang out with and chat to. I have become a social fucking butterfly. A fairly obscene one. I had come to Sevastopol mainly to get a boat to Istanbul but also to hang out with Adam and Gary. In the next couple of days, I'm going to be going to see some tourist shit with Gary. That should be interesting.
The main tourist shit in Sevastopol includes the big painting thing of the Crimean war - did that - as well as a beach, some Greek ruins and two 'get on the bus and go there' day excursions. One is Bakhchisaray (3 hours each way by bus - ug) and the other is Balaklava (an hour or so each way). Naturally, they also have a good sized market in Sevastopol but markets are a lot less cool when (aside from Pilot G7 pens) you really don't have stuff you need to buy. A note on the markets - the people in many of the former USSR countries have embraced capitalism but really don't seem to 'get it'. You will come across a big section of people all selling the same shit at the same price. Why? They want to hang out with their friends and visit. And their friends all sell the same shit. It would probably be better if the people selling say, cold drinks, distributed themselves throughout the area but - they don't seem to really 'get it'.
So, that's what they have here.
I am planning on doing some mildly illegal stuff while I'm here - mainly running around without my passport (or anything really except enough money to buy some food or sodas) when I go to the beach. Even if I'm with others, I really am not happy leaving my bag of shit on the beach while I frolic in the water. Since what I do probably can't be considered 'swimming' I'm going with 'frolic'.
I've got to say that Gary's offer of going and renting his place in Thailand is pretty damned tempting. I know I'm going to end up in Asia eventually, due to the cost of things and I'd like to stick about Europe for a bit longer. Plus, I'd still like to go to India. But staying in a town whose claim to fame is as a 'sex tourism' spot does have a certain...er...academic interest.
See 'Death Sex' below.
On a different note, Adam noted one of the things I seem to enjoy most is just sitting around talking to people. Hence, I can go to cheap areas and do that...
WAVING
This is a nice story. Thanks to Russ B. from facebook for bringing it to my attention.
DEATH FUCK
Some people bungee jump, some go for death sports. There is a new sport - Death Sex! Find the nastiest, skankiest whore you can with needle marks on her arms and have unprotected sex with her. If you don't catch AID's and die, you win that round. This new sport was come up with by Adam at the hostel.
UKRAINE BUILDINGS
I was wondering who was responsible for fixing the buildings themselves since nobody technically owns the buildings apartments are in. Adam said the Ukrainian government is technically suppose to fix them. Since it is the government, it takes years. In the building the hostel in Odessa is in, they had a leak for three years before the government got around to fixing it. Amazing. That would explain why I saw buildings in Odessa where the roof on the third floor had literally collapsed - but people were still living in the first and second floors.
AMERICANS ABROAD
From people I've talked to (including Gary and Adam) I've found that in general, Americans seem to fit into one of four categories:
Oldsters: These are people on their 'sunset' or 'saga' tours or cruises. They are trying to see the world before death claims their old, wrinkled asses.
College age: These are people who are either going to be starting college soon, are currently in college (a gap year, perhaps) or have just completed college.
Boorish: These are sometimes the kind of creepy couples that have matching track suits - and have their kids wear the same shit. They always think everything should be the same as in America. 'Why isn't this this other way? It is in America!' and so on. "Why don't people speak the same dialect/speed of English as I do?" They don't slow down or alter their speech for foreigners struggling to understand.
Political self exiles: These are the conspiracy theorists who have gotten out of the USA because they have some weird beliefs about it. One world government, Obama's birth certificate, aliens among us, whatever. These are some strange fuckers who (if you are unfortunate enough to get them started) never stop trying to fill your head with shit. I've met some already... They are as messed up as the road warrior queef.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
PIE JOUST
TRAWLING
I was talking to a guy (Steve) in a hostel in Sevastopol Ukraine. I had mentioned that the way some of the women I've seen dress (all over the world) is like 'trawling'. With all of the rapists, perverts etc that are out there, the way that some of these women dress concerns me. Steve said that the women dress this way 'for themselves' - to 'feel better about themselves'. I said that's true but if I strapped $100 bills to myself to wander around to 'feel better' about myself, what sort of idiot would I be?
AMERICAN CUSTOMS
From Chris
Lawn/yard/garage sales. George Carlin talked about 'stuff'.
From Pete
The only USA custom I can think of is Thanks Giving. There is also that custom/tradition of calling a "sporting" event world championship or world series & only have people in the USA participate :P
LOGAN'S PHILOSOPHY ON PARENTING
Some kid was being a brat, kicking on a sign and such. The father came up behind him, grabbed him and gave him one measured swat on the backside. The kid cried, the bad behavior ended and the family moved on. People say to me "Logan, you're not a parent, you don't understand blah blah blah..." This condescending attitude omits two facts - first, I was a kid and know it from the 'swat on the ass school'. Second, I see the results of the pussified 'lets talk to the kid and give him a time out'. The result is you get bad, out of control, bratty and annoying children that would be put down (along with the parents) in any civilized country. I'm a big fan of the measured 'swat on the backside' to keep the little monsters in line. It seems to raise better people. Where there are bad kids, I blame the parents for not being the kind of people that are willing to admit defeat, kill the kid and start over.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
Shawn, Adam (the huge guy who owns this hostel I am in as well) and I. Three bottles of vodka. Good people, good conversation. Heavy drinking. The good stuff (starts with an 'X' but it's in Cyrillic so who knows what the fuck it is) after it's been in the freezer till it gets thick is dangerously good. The last thing we had is some filthy shit with a pepper in it. The pepper fell into my glass, naturally I had to eat it. Fortunately, I was way too drunk to taste it or care. I've noticed that in Ukraine, putting away partially full bottles of alcohol isn't really acceptable. I think that may be a hold over of a Russian tradition.
Needless to say, I slept well that night.
RUSSIAN VOCABULARY
"Peh - Joust" (remember it as 'pie joust' - it sticks better) means 'you're welcome'. Or, if we say it in American English, 'you're welcome, bitch'. I have been teaching American English to a whole lot of mutherfuckers here and they really seem to enjoy it.
SHITTY WITHOUT, NICE WITHIN
Adam (the huge hostel owner guy) was explaining to me why the buildings in the Ukraine look like shit on the outside. It is because they have no 'home owners association'. They just recently started selling off all of the previously state owned homes to people. Nobody thought ahead to the common areas. Hence, the common areas usually look like war zones and the insides often look nice. Planning fail.
CURRENT PLAN
Essentially, I want to get to somewhere to lie low and recharge my finances. Western Turkey is pretty pricey so I'm going to get there then eventually to Georgia. If I don't mind Georgia, I can lie low there for awhile. Hell, if I can live cheaply enough there, I might lie low whether I like it or not. If I absolutely hate it, I'll go to Gary's house in Thailand and rent it from him till he gets back. Gary is a friend I've made in the hostels here in Ukraine. He's been talking about how cheap and wonderful Thailand is and it has me very tempted - but I'm feeling pulled to Turkey and Georgia right now. We'll have to see if my gut (huge, huge gut) is right on this one.
In talking with Adam, he came up with something interesting. He said that I really don't seem to care too much about the tourist stuff in the various countries - I just enjoy visiting with the natives. Hence, I can go to a cheap country and do that instead of a tourist destination spot during the high season. Like Sevastopol.
I did try to go find out how much a boat (very close here) to Istanbul was today but naturally the office was closed with notices over it saying it had failed a fire inspection and would be closed indefinitely. This translates into 'they failed to bribe the right people and are now out of business'. I will try again tomorrow.
I was talking to a guy (Steve) in a hostel in Sevastopol Ukraine. I had mentioned that the way some of the women I've seen dress (all over the world) is like 'trawling'. With all of the rapists, perverts etc that are out there, the way that some of these women dress concerns me. Steve said that the women dress this way 'for themselves' - to 'feel better about themselves'. I said that's true but if I strapped $100 bills to myself to wander around to 'feel better' about myself, what sort of idiot would I be?
AMERICAN CUSTOMS
From Chris
Lawn/yard/garage sales. George Carlin talked about 'stuff'.
From Pete
The only USA custom I can think of is Thanks Giving. There is also that custom/tradition of calling a "sporting" event world championship or world series & only have people in the USA participate :P
LOGAN'S PHILOSOPHY ON PARENTING
Some kid was being a brat, kicking on a sign and such. The father came up behind him, grabbed him and gave him one measured swat on the backside. The kid cried, the bad behavior ended and the family moved on. People say to me "Logan, you're not a parent, you don't understand blah blah blah..." This condescending attitude omits two facts - first, I was a kid and know it from the 'swat on the ass school'. Second, I see the results of the pussified 'lets talk to the kid and give him a time out'. The result is you get bad, out of control, bratty and annoying children that would be put down (along with the parents) in any civilized country. I'm a big fan of the measured 'swat on the backside' to keep the little monsters in line. It seems to raise better people. Where there are bad kids, I blame the parents for not being the kind of people that are willing to admit defeat, kill the kid and start over.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
Shawn, Adam (the huge guy who owns this hostel I am in as well) and I. Three bottles of vodka. Good people, good conversation. Heavy drinking. The good stuff (starts with an 'X' but it's in Cyrillic so who knows what the fuck it is) after it's been in the freezer till it gets thick is dangerously good. The last thing we had is some filthy shit with a pepper in it. The pepper fell into my glass, naturally I had to eat it. Fortunately, I was way too drunk to taste it or care. I've noticed that in Ukraine, putting away partially full bottles of alcohol isn't really acceptable. I think that may be a hold over of a Russian tradition.
Needless to say, I slept well that night.
RUSSIAN VOCABULARY
"Peh - Joust" (remember it as 'pie joust' - it sticks better) means 'you're welcome'. Or, if we say it in American English, 'you're welcome, bitch'. I have been teaching American English to a whole lot of mutherfuckers here and they really seem to enjoy it.
SHITTY WITHOUT, NICE WITHIN
Adam (the huge hostel owner guy) was explaining to me why the buildings in the Ukraine look like shit on the outside. It is because they have no 'home owners association'. They just recently started selling off all of the previously state owned homes to people. Nobody thought ahead to the common areas. Hence, the common areas usually look like war zones and the insides often look nice. Planning fail.
CURRENT PLAN
Essentially, I want to get to somewhere to lie low and recharge my finances. Western Turkey is pretty pricey so I'm going to get there then eventually to Georgia. If I don't mind Georgia, I can lie low there for awhile. Hell, if I can live cheaply enough there, I might lie low whether I like it or not. If I absolutely hate it, I'll go to Gary's house in Thailand and rent it from him till he gets back. Gary is a friend I've made in the hostels here in Ukraine. He's been talking about how cheap and wonderful Thailand is and it has me very tempted - but I'm feeling pulled to Turkey and Georgia right now. We'll have to see if my gut (huge, huge gut) is right on this one.
In talking with Adam, he came up with something interesting. He said that I really don't seem to care too much about the tourist stuff in the various countries - I just enjoy visiting with the natives. Hence, I can go to a cheap country and do that instead of a tourist destination spot during the high season. Like Sevastopol.
I did try to go find out how much a boat (very close here) to Istanbul was today but naturally the office was closed with notices over it saying it had failed a fire inspection and would be closed indefinitely. This translates into 'they failed to bribe the right people and are now out of business'. I will try again tomorrow.
SEVASTOPOL - THE CITY I CAN'T PRONOUNCE
COSTS
Because I had chosen not to bring my $2 pair of flip flops at the start of the journey, I bought a new pair at 80 UAH at the bazaar in Odessa.
From main train station city to Sevastopol by train rather than the death trap buses, 8 UAH.
TEACHIE ENGRISH!
I talked to a lady at the hostel who is teaching English. She gets paid so little that she can't support herself off of the teaching salary. Suckie. In addition, they don't want men teaching because a lot of the very strange men who are here for brides.
ENGLISH CLUB, PART 1
We had gotten invited to an 'English Club' where there were over twenty people who got together to speak English to each other. It was headed up by an overly cheerful English teacher who claimed not to run it - but did. With an iron hand. It was way too structured and lame for sticking around long. It would have been nice to have conversations with smaller groups of these people but they went around the room talking about a pre-prepaired topic. One guy even had printed out a wiki article on it and was going to read the whole thing. This level of lameness caused Henriette to become ill. As a gallant male, it was my job to get her out of there. Especially before she attacked and killed everyone.
ENGLISH CLUB, PART 2
We met up with a good 'English club' that consisted of just four or so people. They would get together to practice English. The people included Bogaan, Dasha, Julia and Ilia. Julia and Ilia hung out with Henriette and I for hours after the meeting had broken up and they told us some interesting things about Ukraine. It was nice meeting and hanging out with everyone.
UKRAINIAN SAYING
"Love is forever, we only change the women."
UKRAINIAN CUSTOM
They have amateur archaeologists looking for the bones of soldiers from World War Two. They find about one hundred ever year. In the United States, they have metal 'dog tags' to ID the soldier's bodies. In the Ukraine, they were made of paper. To further complicate matters, it was thought that if you had this paper tag (I believe they called them 'death tags') with you, you were thought more likely to die. As a result, they only ID 5-10% of the soldiers they find. All soldiers -whether ID'ed or not are then given a proper burial.
They practice Halloween more and more here. [Logan note: Being that this has (in my life time) gone from a kid's holiday to a more grown up 'lets party' holiday, this isn't really surprising.]
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?
Henriette told me about 'planking'. It falls in to my WTFITS category.
PHILOSOPHY
I was talking to a lady from Siberia and philosophizing on the fact I believe most men are more adventurous than most women. She said that there were many old Russian songs along the same line. They decry women for snagging the men with their good looks. It was good for the women to have the men sitting at home but not so for the men - they crave adventure.
HEADING OUT
I began my journey to Sevastopol, Ukraine via some other major train depot town. The first train I was on had first, second and third classes. I was advised to get the second class ticket so I did. I don't remember how much it cost but it was cheap. Until the train gets going, nothing works. Electricity, air conditioning and all that shit isn't going. When I first got into the car, it was oven hot and vaguely smelled of urine. They have four hard leather platforms in the train arranged like two sets of bunk beds. This arrangement is called a couchette. In addition, there are pads you can put over them. You also get a packet containing two sheets, a pillow case, a pillow (not in pack) and a towel. Under the bottom platform/bed is a metal box that can fit my large rucksack. The guy who is sleeping on top apparently doesn't get anywhere to store his shit. Three other reasons to always get the bottom bunk when you make the train reservation are that it can be slightly bigger, has access to the table and sometimes there is no visible way to climb up to the top one, even for someone in good shape.
Prior to going on this train I was warned repeatedly about train thieves but didn't see any.
I was lucky enough (and she unlucky enough) to share the compartment with a middle aged lady. She spoke some English as well. She even offered to make my bed for me as I puzzled through the unfamiliar set up. I politely refused. As a result, her bed looked better than mine.
WHAT'S IN THE SATCHEL
2 pens (still need to find more)
Fake wallet with a little cash in it
Camera
Russian phrase book (which it's looking like I'll have to hang on all the way to Georgia)
High power LED flashlight - small
USB stick
Playing cards (when I switch locations only, otherwise it stays in the backpack)
Magnifying glass
Compass (lashed to bag)
Bandanna (lashed to the bag - coming in useful as the temperature rises)
Calculator (the same one so many players have used to make god knows how may characters)
The bag itself is starting to look a bit ratty as it's getting heavy daily use. It's pretty tough so I'm hoping it lasts for awhile.
In my opinion, there are two good reasons to keep the bag light - first, if it gets stolen, the only thing of any real value is the camera (about $100). Second, it hurts my back/neck to carry more. I have no idea how women carry big purses.
SEVASTOPOL FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Honestly, it feels a bit empty here. Just as I was writing that sentence, a marching band went by. I'm not sure how long I'm going to be here for or what I'm going to do. My plan is to talk to Adam to see if I can narrow my possibilities of where I should go next.
Because I had chosen not to bring my $2 pair of flip flops at the start of the journey, I bought a new pair at 80 UAH at the bazaar in Odessa.
From main train station city to Sevastopol by train rather than the death trap buses, 8 UAH.
TEACHIE ENGRISH!
I talked to a lady at the hostel who is teaching English. She gets paid so little that she can't support herself off of the teaching salary. Suckie. In addition, they don't want men teaching because a lot of the very strange men who are here for brides.
ENGLISH CLUB, PART 1
We had gotten invited to an 'English Club' where there were over twenty people who got together to speak English to each other. It was headed up by an overly cheerful English teacher who claimed not to run it - but did. With an iron hand. It was way too structured and lame for sticking around long. It would have been nice to have conversations with smaller groups of these people but they went around the room talking about a pre-prepaired topic. One guy even had printed out a wiki article on it and was going to read the whole thing. This level of lameness caused Henriette to become ill. As a gallant male, it was my job to get her out of there. Especially before she attacked and killed everyone.
ENGLISH CLUB, PART 2
We met up with a good 'English club' that consisted of just four or so people. They would get together to practice English. The people included Bogaan, Dasha, Julia and Ilia. Julia and Ilia hung out with Henriette and I for hours after the meeting had broken up and they told us some interesting things about Ukraine. It was nice meeting and hanging out with everyone.
UKRAINIAN SAYING
"Love is forever, we only change the women."
UKRAINIAN CUSTOM
They have amateur archaeologists looking for the bones of soldiers from World War Two. They find about one hundred ever year. In the United States, they have metal 'dog tags' to ID the soldier's bodies. In the Ukraine, they were made of paper. To further complicate matters, it was thought that if you had this paper tag (I believe they called them 'death tags') with you, you were thought more likely to die. As a result, they only ID 5-10% of the soldiers they find. All soldiers -whether ID'ed or not are then given a proper burial.
They practice Halloween more and more here. [Logan note: Being that this has (in my life time) gone from a kid's holiday to a more grown up 'lets party' holiday, this isn't really surprising.]
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?
Henriette told me about 'planking'. It falls in to my WTFITS category.
PHILOSOPHY
I was talking to a lady from Siberia and philosophizing on the fact I believe most men are more adventurous than most women. She said that there were many old Russian songs along the same line. They decry women for snagging the men with their good looks. It was good for the women to have the men sitting at home but not so for the men - they crave adventure.
HEADING OUT
I began my journey to Sevastopol, Ukraine via some other major train depot town. The first train I was on had first, second and third classes. I was advised to get the second class ticket so I did. I don't remember how much it cost but it was cheap. Until the train gets going, nothing works. Electricity, air conditioning and all that shit isn't going. When I first got into the car, it was oven hot and vaguely smelled of urine. They have four hard leather platforms in the train arranged like two sets of bunk beds. This arrangement is called a couchette. In addition, there are pads you can put over them. You also get a packet containing two sheets, a pillow case, a pillow (not in pack) and a towel. Under the bottom platform/bed is a metal box that can fit my large rucksack. The guy who is sleeping on top apparently doesn't get anywhere to store his shit. Three other reasons to always get the bottom bunk when you make the train reservation are that it can be slightly bigger, has access to the table and sometimes there is no visible way to climb up to the top one, even for someone in good shape.
Prior to going on this train I was warned repeatedly about train thieves but didn't see any.
I was lucky enough (and she unlucky enough) to share the compartment with a middle aged lady. She spoke some English as well. She even offered to make my bed for me as I puzzled through the unfamiliar set up. I politely refused. As a result, her bed looked better than mine.
WHAT'S IN THE SATCHEL
2 pens (still need to find more)
Fake wallet with a little cash in it
Camera
Russian phrase book (which it's looking like I'll have to hang on all the way to Georgia)
High power LED flashlight - small
USB stick
Playing cards (when I switch locations only, otherwise it stays in the backpack)
Magnifying glass
Compass (lashed to bag)
Bandanna (lashed to the bag - coming in useful as the temperature rises)
Calculator (the same one so many players have used to make god knows how may characters)
The bag itself is starting to look a bit ratty as it's getting heavy daily use. It's pretty tough so I'm hoping it lasts for awhile.
In my opinion, there are two good reasons to keep the bag light - first, if it gets stolen, the only thing of any real value is the camera (about $100). Second, it hurts my back/neck to carry more. I have no idea how women carry big purses.
SEVASTOPOL FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Honestly, it feels a bit empty here. Just as I was writing that sentence, a marching band went by. I'm not sure how long I'm going to be here for or what I'm going to do. My plan is to talk to Adam to see if I can narrow my possibilities of where I should go next.
Friday, June 3, 2011
MY DINNER WITH ANDRIY
MY DINNER WITH ANDRIY
Well, it actually wasn't dinner - just drinks - but the title works better based on that old movie.
Everything is paraphrased.
In the 1990's, 'the Ukraine' was changed to 'Ukraine'.
In Georgia, the younger generation speaks English while the older speaks Russian.
I might be able to teach English in Georgia. I was told to Google this but they seem to have a lot of requirements. Including a medical requirement. Bah. I think I'll just show up and see what's happening. If it happens, great, if not meh. I'll move on. I had thought about that in Moldova but the country didn't really make me delighted to be there aside from the price of cigarettes.
The biggest challenge in Ukraine is the corruption, changing people's minds. The old people still like the USSR but the young people are more modern. When the young people get older they can get positions of power.
Custom - if you are late to a party, you have to drink a penalty shot.
Poland sometimes subtitles their movies.
SERGEY AND ROKSANA
I had another meeting with this guys. Both of them were in the process of getting sick as dogs so we didn't meet as long but I did find out some interesting stuff before they staggered off to go recover.
Remember those orphans in the previous blog that I had to go visit? With the very odd set up?
Well, it turns out that according to these two newspaper reporters, the orphanage isn't on the up and up. They get what the owner calls 'job rehabilitation'. In reality, this is slave labor working on mushroom farms hidden below the orphanage. Nothing is going to be done about it as he has the right connections and has greased the right palms.
"Suit-tin-your" = pimp, from the French 'suit-tin-year', 'to support'.
There are 343 synonyms for the word 'prostitute' in Russia.
According to them, every forty seconds, the Ukrainian police are torturing someone in the police department. Last year, sixty people died in police custody. Thus far, this year fifteen people so far have died. After being tortured, people are made to sign a confession. In this way, 90% of the crimes are solved. If you don't have connections, you're fucked.
LOGAN'S THEORY ON WORK OUT EQUIPMENT
This is the life cycle of work out equipment. First, you feel the sudden urge to 'get in shape'. People then trundle their flabby out of shape selves to the store and buy a really expensive piece of exercise equipment, like a stationary bike.
So, you have to put this monstrosity somewhere and it generally goes into your house. In the living room. After all, why shouldn't you try to switch off your brain while peddling your fat ass nowhere? So, you then proceed to watch TV and peddle.
For about a month.
Then, disinterest and laziness kick in. This isn't how it should go - you've spent two or three hundred dollars, you should get instantly thing. I concur. But you don't. Instead, the bike sits in the living room and is as wanted as a piece of bread found under the couch.
So it sits.
Then, one day, something is placed upon it.
It could be a coat hung from a handlebar, it could bit something placed on a seat.
Within a week, the work out equipment has been re-tasked to a 'shit holder'.
Now here is where a divergence comes. If the person lives by themselves, the former work out equipment turned 'shit holder' could indefinitely languish within the living room.
If they are married, however, then the wife will demand the shit holder be moved. Even if it was her work out gear previously.
The workout gear now begins a slow trek around the house looking for a new room to languish in. A lot of self justifications are made as to why it can't be given away, thrown out or sold at a huge loss. All of these problems revolve around the big pile of money spent at the outset of this failed attempt to lose weight.
Eventually, the workout machine will work it's way to a storage room somewhere to be kept forever with the half hearted justification 'I may use it someday' and 'look how much money we spent on this piece of shit'. It then lives there forever.
OTHER TRAVELERS
There is a Dutch lady here named Harriet who is retracing her great grandfather's footsteps fro his journey in 1945. Also, she said that actual percentage of religious people in Holland is very low - most people are ambivalent, religiously.
Elena from Siberia was telling us that it can get down to -45 or perhaps to -50 Celsius in Siberia where she lives. I said 'Move!'
While we were gathered around drinking Vodka, Vadim from Siberia (Russia) told us about a Russian drinking game that nobody should ever play. You start with a two liter bottle of vodka. Everyone gets a glass of vodka and hides under the table from 'the bear' (usually not a real bear) which gets periodically announced. The missing vodka is replaced with beer. Whoever is the last to be able to climb their drunk asses off the floor must then drink whatever is in the bottle all in one go. It is a game with no survivors. Weird drinking games in Russia, apparently. He also mentioned that Russia is more expensive than Ukraine.
Vadim also said that travel from Russia is still hard. Unless you do the mandatory (?) military service it is hard to get travel documents. It is possible also to get literally press ganged into the army. After age 27 you are safe from the army.
After a hard night of the six of us drinking four bottles of vodka. I was up at eight or nine in the morning with no hang over. The others eventually got up - aside from Vadim the Russian who was dead last. It was a sort of victory, I suppose.
PHILOSOPHY
In the better hostels like TIU Front Page, there is usually a gathering room of some sort. It is in this room people from all over come together to BS, tell stories and such. People who stay in the hostels and don't get involved with this sort of thing are really missing out in my opinions.
THE BLACK SEA...IS...
I went to the Black Sea with Rui and Manuall (after they had gotten done reading my blog posts on Moldova) to hang out at the beach for a little bit.
The beach we went to is straight east of the city center.
Don't bother with it. It's not especially clean nor is the water. I went into it and puttered around for a little bit. I was impressed by my lack of buoyancy as well as my inability to swim worth a fuck.
Well, it actually wasn't dinner - just drinks - but the title works better based on that old movie.
Everything is paraphrased.
In the 1990's, 'the Ukraine' was changed to 'Ukraine'.
In Georgia, the younger generation speaks English while the older speaks Russian.
I might be able to teach English in Georgia. I was told to Google this but they seem to have a lot of requirements. Including a medical requirement. Bah. I think I'll just show up and see what's happening. If it happens, great, if not meh. I'll move on. I had thought about that in Moldova but the country didn't really make me delighted to be there aside from the price of cigarettes.
The biggest challenge in Ukraine is the corruption, changing people's minds. The old people still like the USSR but the young people are more modern. When the young people get older they can get positions of power.
Custom - if you are late to a party, you have to drink a penalty shot.
Poland sometimes subtitles their movies.
SERGEY AND ROKSANA
I had another meeting with this guys. Both of them were in the process of getting sick as dogs so we didn't meet as long but I did find out some interesting stuff before they staggered off to go recover.
Remember those orphans in the previous blog that I had to go visit? With the very odd set up?
Well, it turns out that according to these two newspaper reporters, the orphanage isn't on the up and up. They get what the owner calls 'job rehabilitation'. In reality, this is slave labor working on mushroom farms hidden below the orphanage. Nothing is going to be done about it as he has the right connections and has greased the right palms.
"Suit-tin-your" = pimp, from the French 'suit-tin-year', 'to support'.
There are 343 synonyms for the word 'prostitute' in Russia.
According to them, every forty seconds, the Ukrainian police are torturing someone in the police department. Last year, sixty people died in police custody. Thus far, this year fifteen people so far have died. After being tortured, people are made to sign a confession. In this way, 90% of the crimes are solved. If you don't have connections, you're fucked.
LOGAN'S THEORY ON WORK OUT EQUIPMENT
This is the life cycle of work out equipment. First, you feel the sudden urge to 'get in shape'. People then trundle their flabby out of shape selves to the store and buy a really expensive piece of exercise equipment, like a stationary bike.
So, you have to put this monstrosity somewhere and it generally goes into your house. In the living room. After all, why shouldn't you try to switch off your brain while peddling your fat ass nowhere? So, you then proceed to watch TV and peddle.
For about a month.
Then, disinterest and laziness kick in. This isn't how it should go - you've spent two or three hundred dollars, you should get instantly thing. I concur. But you don't. Instead, the bike sits in the living room and is as wanted as a piece of bread found under the couch.
So it sits.
Then, one day, something is placed upon it.
It could be a coat hung from a handlebar, it could bit something placed on a seat.
Within a week, the work out equipment has been re-tasked to a 'shit holder'.
Now here is where a divergence comes. If the person lives by themselves, the former work out equipment turned 'shit holder' could indefinitely languish within the living room.
If they are married, however, then the wife will demand the shit holder be moved. Even if it was her work out gear previously.
The workout gear now begins a slow trek around the house looking for a new room to languish in. A lot of self justifications are made as to why it can't be given away, thrown out or sold at a huge loss. All of these problems revolve around the big pile of money spent at the outset of this failed attempt to lose weight.
Eventually, the workout machine will work it's way to a storage room somewhere to be kept forever with the half hearted justification 'I may use it someday' and 'look how much money we spent on this piece of shit'. It then lives there forever.
OTHER TRAVELERS
There is a Dutch lady here named Harriet who is retracing her great grandfather's footsteps fro his journey in 1945. Also, she said that actual percentage of religious people in Holland is very low - most people are ambivalent, religiously.
Elena from Siberia was telling us that it can get down to -45 or perhaps to -50 Celsius in Siberia where she lives. I said 'Move!'
While we were gathered around drinking Vodka, Vadim from Siberia (Russia) told us about a Russian drinking game that nobody should ever play. You start with a two liter bottle of vodka. Everyone gets a glass of vodka and hides under the table from 'the bear' (usually not a real bear) which gets periodically announced. The missing vodka is replaced with beer. Whoever is the last to be able to climb their drunk asses off the floor must then drink whatever is in the bottle all in one go. It is a game with no survivors. Weird drinking games in Russia, apparently. He also mentioned that Russia is more expensive than Ukraine.
Vadim also said that travel from Russia is still hard. Unless you do the mandatory (?) military service it is hard to get travel documents. It is possible also to get literally press ganged into the army. After age 27 you are safe from the army.
After a hard night of the six of us drinking four bottles of vodka. I was up at eight or nine in the morning with no hang over. The others eventually got up - aside from Vadim the Russian who was dead last. It was a sort of victory, I suppose.
PHILOSOPHY
In the better hostels like TIU Front Page, there is usually a gathering room of some sort. It is in this room people from all over come together to BS, tell stories and such. People who stay in the hostels and don't get involved with this sort of thing are really missing out in my opinions.
THE BLACK SEA...IS...
I went to the Black Sea with Rui and Manuall (after they had gotten done reading my blog posts on Moldova) to hang out at the beach for a little bit.
The beach we went to is straight east of the city center.
Don't bother with it. It's not especially clean nor is the water. I went into it and puttered around for a little bit. I was impressed by my lack of buoyancy as well as my inability to swim worth a fuck.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
CLUB A BABY SEAL
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
So, a huge group of us were sitting around drinking vodka...
Someone decided it would be a good idea to go out to a nightclub. I forget who or they would get the blame. Ken said that he knew the best nightclub in Odessa.
The cast of characters of who went included:
Ken (Turkey), Ilona (Holland), Marleen (Holland), Manuel (Portugal), Rui (Portugal), Adrian (USA) and myself.
Ken was the one who knew about Arcadia (name of area the club was in) so he was our guide.
Once we got to Arcadia, Manuel and Rui quickly disappeared. We had absolutely no clue where they went. We looked for them but couldn't find them.
So, we went on to the club.
It was Adrian who came up with the best one word description of the night club - it was a 'caricature' of what a night club could or should be. The people dancing there were taking themselves way too seriously. The dance floor looked like it could hold a couple hundred people but had thirty or so on it. We got offered tables several times. You generally either have to pay for a table or buy the very pricey drinks. Since I (and possibly others) were already drunk we headed straight to the dance floor.
I think to have had a good time, I'd have needed much stronger drugs.
I remember threatening Ken with GBH for bringing us to such an over the top tragically bad place.
Eventually, we made it back to the hostel where we discovered Manuel and Rui back in the hostel. They had gotten picked up by police (who may have been drunk) for peeing in the bushes. They got let go when a fight broke out near the police station. The cops had wanted a bribe but Mauel and Rui refused to give them one.
So, it was an interesting night.
It was one of the nights that I didn't carry my ID or money on me to minimize my losses if I got into trouble or robbed. This is a pretty safe city aside from the police. Which is an odd thing to say.
COSTS
Taxi ride to Arcadia, 40 UAH
Taxi ride back to hostel, 50 UAH
Getting into the lamest night club ever, 60 UAH
ADRIAN QUOTE
Adrian, another guy from the USA staying at the hostel came up with a noteworthy quote: "People have the government they want - and the government they deserve."
SERGEY AND ANNA
I met up with Sergey (yes, another one) and his girlfriend Anna. He programs automotive computers and she is in broadcasting. She didn't speak English as well as Sergey, but Anna speaks German so part of our conversation went on in that. I think she was impressed with just how rough (ie bad) my German is. But I still can make that shit work.
Anyway, here are some paraphrases of answers I got to some questions I had put to them on various things. Unless otherwise noted by an S: or A:, the answers came from both of them and the paraphrases given can be prefaced with 'to the best of my understanding what they said is'.
What is best about Odessa is the ambiance, the mix of cultures and nostalgia. They also have 3-5 clubs (drinking, not dancing) of 1970's underground culture. It's also a beautiful city.
They have a lot of different religions here, including the Mormons.
The USSR had positive effects as well - it gave a common language/alphabet as well as making the nations under it powerful and united. After WW2, the cities got reconstructed very quickly. The problem was that the government needed reforms but they were worried that reforms would tear apart the society. But, the reforms were necessary. In the 1980's, people started to understand the society was stagnant.
"There is no evil that capitalists won't do in the pursuit of profit."
What are the biggest challenges facing Odessa/Ukraine? S: Country leadership. The leaders are not interested in the country, the poor, the elderly. Taxes and prices are on the increase. If the people have to spend more on necessities, they have less for luxuries.
The presidents and leaders aren't very educated. The leaders talk about big sweeping changes but don't know how to impliment them.
The leadership is interested in 'feathering it's own nest' rather than strengthening the nation.
A: Corruption is the biggest problem in the Ukraine. You have to buy degrees and grades in schools. You have to get a visa to travel and work. To get a visa, you have to have a lot of money (2000 euros) in the bank. You can't even travel as a tourist without this.
Since the taxes are forty percent, a lot of people are paid under the table.
Also, the salaries and such here (in the Ukraine) are somehow linked to the US dollar because the dollar is more stable. Apparently, many countries do this. Paying for things in dollars is prohibited, however.
It was an interesting conversation with Sergey and Anna. I enjoyed talking to them and wish them luck!
So, a huge group of us were sitting around drinking vodka...
Someone decided it would be a good idea to go out to a nightclub. I forget who or they would get the blame. Ken said that he knew the best nightclub in Odessa.
The cast of characters of who went included:
Ken (Turkey), Ilona (Holland), Marleen (Holland), Manuel (Portugal), Rui (Portugal), Adrian (USA) and myself.
Ken was the one who knew about Arcadia (name of area the club was in) so he was our guide.
Once we got to Arcadia, Manuel and Rui quickly disappeared. We had absolutely no clue where they went. We looked for them but couldn't find them.
So, we went on to the club.
It was Adrian who came up with the best one word description of the night club - it was a 'caricature' of what a night club could or should be. The people dancing there were taking themselves way too seriously. The dance floor looked like it could hold a couple hundred people but had thirty or so on it. We got offered tables several times. You generally either have to pay for a table or buy the very pricey drinks. Since I (and possibly others) were already drunk we headed straight to the dance floor.
I think to have had a good time, I'd have needed much stronger drugs.
I remember threatening Ken with GBH for bringing us to such an over the top tragically bad place.
Eventually, we made it back to the hostel where we discovered Manuel and Rui back in the hostel. They had gotten picked up by police (who may have been drunk) for peeing in the bushes. They got let go when a fight broke out near the police station. The cops had wanted a bribe but Mauel and Rui refused to give them one.
So, it was an interesting night.
It was one of the nights that I didn't carry my ID or money on me to minimize my losses if I got into trouble or robbed. This is a pretty safe city aside from the police. Which is an odd thing to say.
COSTS
Taxi ride to Arcadia, 40 UAH
Taxi ride back to hostel, 50 UAH
Getting into the lamest night club ever, 60 UAH
ADRIAN QUOTE
Adrian, another guy from the USA staying at the hostel came up with a noteworthy quote: "People have the government they want - and the government they deserve."
SERGEY AND ANNA
I met up with Sergey (yes, another one) and his girlfriend Anna. He programs automotive computers and she is in broadcasting. She didn't speak English as well as Sergey, but Anna speaks German so part of our conversation went on in that. I think she was impressed with just how rough (ie bad) my German is. But I still can make that shit work.
Anyway, here are some paraphrases of answers I got to some questions I had put to them on various things. Unless otherwise noted by an S: or A:, the answers came from both of them and the paraphrases given can be prefaced with 'to the best of my understanding what they said is'.
What is best about Odessa is the ambiance, the mix of cultures and nostalgia. They also have 3-5 clubs (drinking, not dancing) of 1970's underground culture. It's also a beautiful city.
They have a lot of different religions here, including the Mormons.
The USSR had positive effects as well - it gave a common language/alphabet as well as making the nations under it powerful and united. After WW2, the cities got reconstructed very quickly. The problem was that the government needed reforms but they were worried that reforms would tear apart the society. But, the reforms were necessary. In the 1980's, people started to understand the society was stagnant.
"There is no evil that capitalists won't do in the pursuit of profit."
What are the biggest challenges facing Odessa/Ukraine? S: Country leadership. The leaders are not interested in the country, the poor, the elderly. Taxes and prices are on the increase. If the people have to spend more on necessities, they have less for luxuries.
The presidents and leaders aren't very educated. The leaders talk about big sweeping changes but don't know how to impliment them.
The leadership is interested in 'feathering it's own nest' rather than strengthening the nation.
A: Corruption is the biggest problem in the Ukraine. You have to buy degrees and grades in schools. You have to get a visa to travel and work. To get a visa, you have to have a lot of money (2000 euros) in the bank. You can't even travel as a tourist without this.
Since the taxes are forty percent, a lot of people are paid under the table.
Also, the salaries and such here (in the Ukraine) are somehow linked to the US dollar because the dollar is more stable. Apparently, many countries do this. Paying for things in dollars is prohibited, however.
It was an interesting conversation with Sergey and Anna. I enjoyed talking to them and wish them luck!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
FUCK ORPHANS
COSTS
Shave, with electric razor, 30 HAU
Giant schwarma (a burrito like thing with chicken and miscellaneous stuff) and a bottle of beer, 30 HAU
ORPHANS
With a great deal of help from the locals, I managed to find the orphange. It is well hidden. Naturally, they had only a fairly rough degree of English. They had never heard of front page hostel. Additionally, the kids were all in school. I was also told the kids had no interest in speaking English. I'm not seeing any real reason to stick around.
I did get invited by a couple of girls I met up with while searching for the hostel for drinks. They ended up not being home later. Doh.
THREE MASTED SHIP
In the harbor, they had a three masted ship. In this age of motor driven boats, that's a rare thing. I saw what appeared to be a seaman smoking on the pier next to the gang plank. Smoking is an easy in. Soon, I got myself invited onto the ship and introduced around. The ship seems to have sat around for too many years. Hence, the students of the maritime academy get the pleasure (well, are forced) to work on the boat for stints of one month long The total amount of money needed to refurbish the boat is about one million dollars US. In other words, I don't think it will get done any time soon. If it was able to sail and I spoke Russian, I think the crew was friendly enough that I'd have gotten to go sailing. As it was, they assigned me two English speaking tour guides and was told I could go anywhere I wanted. The only exception to that turned out to be the control cabin. That was only because the captain had the keys and wasn't on the ship. I'd have liked to get some pictures of the controls.
Also, the officer in charge gave me a big picture of the boat. I didn't try to tell him I was living out of a backpack so I gave it to the hostel to keep.
SERGEY - PART 2
A different Sergey I talked to on a different day is studying international management and getting ready for exams which start on Monday.
Here's what I found out from him:
The best thing in Odessa is the language - it's a mix of Russian and Ukrainian as well as special 'Odessa worlds'. the language came from a district that had a mix of people living there and was made famous by a writer named Smirnoff - like the vodka.
Also, tourists say Odessa has the friendliest people and prettiest girls in the Ukraine. And the port.
The biggest challenge - the tourist season is only mid May to mid September.
I had asked about the corruption problem and he said that was a previous USSR thing.
GEORGIA
Here's some info I got from Sergey on Georgia:
They love their culture.
A lot of national pride.
Very friendly.
FOR MY FOREIGN READERS
This is a stairmaster.
Shave, with electric razor, 30 HAU
Giant schwarma (a burrito like thing with chicken and miscellaneous stuff) and a bottle of beer, 30 HAU
ORPHANS
With a great deal of help from the locals, I managed to find the orphange. It is well hidden. Naturally, they had only a fairly rough degree of English. They had never heard of front page hostel. Additionally, the kids were all in school. I was also told the kids had no interest in speaking English. I'm not seeing any real reason to stick around.
I did get invited by a couple of girls I met up with while searching for the hostel for drinks. They ended up not being home later. Doh.
THREE MASTED SHIP
In the harbor, they had a three masted ship. In this age of motor driven boats, that's a rare thing. I saw what appeared to be a seaman smoking on the pier next to the gang plank. Smoking is an easy in. Soon, I got myself invited onto the ship and introduced around. The ship seems to have sat around for too many years. Hence, the students of the maritime academy get the pleasure (well, are forced) to work on the boat for stints of one month long The total amount of money needed to refurbish the boat is about one million dollars US. In other words, I don't think it will get done any time soon. If it was able to sail and I spoke Russian, I think the crew was friendly enough that I'd have gotten to go sailing. As it was, they assigned me two English speaking tour guides and was told I could go anywhere I wanted. The only exception to that turned out to be the control cabin. That was only because the captain had the keys and wasn't on the ship. I'd have liked to get some pictures of the controls.
Also, the officer in charge gave me a big picture of the boat. I didn't try to tell him I was living out of a backpack so I gave it to the hostel to keep.
SERGEY - PART 2
A different Sergey I talked to on a different day is studying international management and getting ready for exams which start on Monday.
Here's what I found out from him:
The best thing in Odessa is the language - it's a mix of Russian and Ukrainian as well as special 'Odessa worlds'. the language came from a district that had a mix of people living there and was made famous by a writer named Smirnoff - like the vodka.
Also, tourists say Odessa has the friendliest people and prettiest girls in the Ukraine. And the port.
The biggest challenge - the tourist season is only mid May to mid September.
I had asked about the corruption problem and he said that was a previous USSR thing.
GEORGIA
Here's some info I got from Sergey on Georgia:
They love their culture.
A lot of national pride.
Very friendly.
FOR MY FOREIGN READERS
This is a stairmaster.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
DANCE, DANCE DANCE
DANCE, DANCE, DANCE
So I walked across town to see Elena's (lady I met via couch surfing) dancing thing. So, I wandered over that way. I was working on avoiding spending money on a cab. Since I didn't know how long it would take to get there and such, I wound up showing up an hour and a half early. Elena seemed surprised I walked that far (me too) and seemed pleased I showed up. After that, a series of mis-communications. I asked if there was a place I could hang out. I was tired from my walk and hoping to be told about a chair I could go sit quietly on in the building somewhere while waiting for the time to tick by. She said 'perhaps after the performance'. So, I was banished from the nice cool building into the park across the street. She had mentioned various tourist stuff on the other side of the park I could go see but I was more interested in sitting quietly, even if it was outdoors. So, I waited around until it got close to the show time.
Eventually, it became time and I went in and sat down. I got a lot of curious looks. The show came and went. It was a lot of people who were in very good shape doing graceful things. What I was really looking forward to was the after the show time. While I do occasional cultural things for the experience of having done them, I'm not what anyone would call a cultural connoisseur. I was pretty much there to be able to have a nice chat with everyone after the show.
In America (note, I realize I'm not in America - this is why people keep speaking Russian to me) I've been to some plays and such in the past by invitation. After the play is the hang out time while the actors unwind and eventually everyone - actors, their friends, their acquaintances, the strange guy who doesn't speak a language anyone can understand, all go out to sit and drink somewhere.
This doesn't seem to be the case here. Apparently, it is a time for close friends and family only.
So, I was dismissed from the building and decided to wander off to see what else was going on in the city.
The answer was 'not much'.
So, I retaliated by sending out yet more couch surfing 'coffee or drink' invitations. I will find a way to talk to more people...
In later talking to other Ukrainians, they tell me the culprit may be American movies. When the girl takes the hero out, they invariably have sex. I'm not really planning on having sex in the Ukraine (or anywhere else for that matter) so I was frankly floored by this. I can see how people might be leery. I just want to talk to a table full of people and I'm happy. Sigh.
I suspect also there could be a cultural difference. For example, when I hung out with Diana and Suramon (the dark wizard) in Romania, I met their families, their friends, their business associates. I was made to feel very welcome into their lives - taken to run errands and so on. Here, it is a lot more segregated. I had asked Sylvia who runs the hotel about it and she related a story of how a lady from elsewhere who lived here never ever got invited out by coworkers for a drink or whatever after work despite getting on well with all of her co-workers.
I can respect that sort of cultural difference, but for me, meeting up with more people is what I'm here for. Fortunately, I've got a lot of the world left to look for where it is the opposite way.
SERGEY, ROKSANA AND DAVID
I met up with a couple - Sergey and Roksana who were both reporters. He covers politics and sports, she does human interest stories. She wanted to do a story on me as apparently, I am the only person in Odessa who does not own a cell phone. Interesting and weird. Sergey said he might have someone who could use a native English speaker to help teach the kids English. We'll see what comes of it. They were both nice folks.
David is a guy from Belgium who knows a bunch of languages (even by European standards) and learned Russian just for this trip. He is wanting to see the world and decided to start with Europe. Cool guy.
LOST IN TRANSLATION
Due to poor translation skills, side dishes are widely called 'garnishes' on restaurant menus.
NOTEBOOKS
I've finally gotten another one filled up so I will be sending Jana two this time, as soon as I find the post office tomorrow. I've been told it is close and no problem to find. We'll see how it goes.
In the Ukraine, they have a system for sending packages. First, you take the stuff you want sold to a little old lady who has string, tape and brown paper. She makes a nice envelope for you. The cost is about 9 UAH (a buck). Then, you take it over to the mailing counter in a different room within the cavernous post office. Cost to mail two notebooks to Jana, about 45 UAH.
NEXT JUMP
It looks like as far as couches to sleep on, Sevastopol (Ukraine) sucks. I'm going to probably look up people who might be interested in hanging out when I get down there.
I've got my train ticket down there ($21, second class sleeper. Yes, Pete, I specified a bottom bunk) for Saturday. Sadly, it leaves close to midnight.
COUCH SURFING
I'm also going to start working on Istanbul afterward to see if I can spend more time with locals. As of the time of this writing, I've sent out about 100 couch surfing requests to people in Istanbul. I've gotten a couple snooty letters back from people who didn't like a form letter. Tough. There is an amazingly low response rate on this. I haven't been keeping track of the exact numbers, but this is how it seems to go. Send out fifty requests. Five come back to 'maybe', depending on the time. Once I narrow down the time, I might have one or two that can accommodate me. Anyone who sends out ten or less expecting results will probably be disappointed.
COSTS
Siberian dumplings (a kind of ravoli which supposedly had three different kinds of meet in them) and baked in sour cream, 49 UAH. It was 300g of food which I couldn't finish and rated as 'OK'.
TOMORROW
I was told about an orphanage - I'm going to go check it out. Nike could always use more workers - right?
So I walked across town to see Elena's (lady I met via couch surfing) dancing thing. So, I wandered over that way. I was working on avoiding spending money on a cab. Since I didn't know how long it would take to get there and such, I wound up showing up an hour and a half early. Elena seemed surprised I walked that far (me too) and seemed pleased I showed up. After that, a series of mis-communications. I asked if there was a place I could hang out. I was tired from my walk and hoping to be told about a chair I could go sit quietly on in the building somewhere while waiting for the time to tick by. She said 'perhaps after the performance'. So, I was banished from the nice cool building into the park across the street. She had mentioned various tourist stuff on the other side of the park I could go see but I was more interested in sitting quietly, even if it was outdoors. So, I waited around until it got close to the show time.
Eventually, it became time and I went in and sat down. I got a lot of curious looks. The show came and went. It was a lot of people who were in very good shape doing graceful things. What I was really looking forward to was the after the show time. While I do occasional cultural things for the experience of having done them, I'm not what anyone would call a cultural connoisseur. I was pretty much there to be able to have a nice chat with everyone after the show.
In America (note, I realize I'm not in America - this is why people keep speaking Russian to me) I've been to some plays and such in the past by invitation. After the play is the hang out time while the actors unwind and eventually everyone - actors, their friends, their acquaintances, the strange guy who doesn't speak a language anyone can understand, all go out to sit and drink somewhere.
This doesn't seem to be the case here. Apparently, it is a time for close friends and family only.
So, I was dismissed from the building and decided to wander off to see what else was going on in the city.
The answer was 'not much'.
So, I retaliated by sending out yet more couch surfing 'coffee or drink' invitations. I will find a way to talk to more people...
In later talking to other Ukrainians, they tell me the culprit may be American movies. When the girl takes the hero out, they invariably have sex. I'm not really planning on having sex in the Ukraine (or anywhere else for that matter) so I was frankly floored by this. I can see how people might be leery. I just want to talk to a table full of people and I'm happy. Sigh.
I suspect also there could be a cultural difference. For example, when I hung out with Diana and Suramon (the dark wizard) in Romania, I met their families, their friends, their business associates. I was made to feel very welcome into their lives - taken to run errands and so on. Here, it is a lot more segregated. I had asked Sylvia who runs the hotel about it and she related a story of how a lady from elsewhere who lived here never ever got invited out by coworkers for a drink or whatever after work despite getting on well with all of her co-workers.
I can respect that sort of cultural difference, but for me, meeting up with more people is what I'm here for. Fortunately, I've got a lot of the world left to look for where it is the opposite way.
SERGEY, ROKSANA AND DAVID
I met up with a couple - Sergey and Roksana who were both reporters. He covers politics and sports, she does human interest stories. She wanted to do a story on me as apparently, I am the only person in Odessa who does not own a cell phone. Interesting and weird. Sergey said he might have someone who could use a native English speaker to help teach the kids English. We'll see what comes of it. They were both nice folks.
David is a guy from Belgium who knows a bunch of languages (even by European standards) and learned Russian just for this trip. He is wanting to see the world and decided to start with Europe. Cool guy.
LOST IN TRANSLATION
Due to poor translation skills, side dishes are widely called 'garnishes' on restaurant menus.
NOTEBOOKS
I've finally gotten another one filled up so I will be sending Jana two this time, as soon as I find the post office tomorrow. I've been told it is close and no problem to find. We'll see how it goes.
In the Ukraine, they have a system for sending packages. First, you take the stuff you want sold to a little old lady who has string, tape and brown paper. She makes a nice envelope for you. The cost is about 9 UAH (a buck). Then, you take it over to the mailing counter in a different room within the cavernous post office. Cost to mail two notebooks to Jana, about 45 UAH.
NEXT JUMP
It looks like as far as couches to sleep on, Sevastopol (Ukraine) sucks. I'm going to probably look up people who might be interested in hanging out when I get down there.
I've got my train ticket down there ($21, second class sleeper. Yes, Pete, I specified a bottom bunk) for Saturday. Sadly, it leaves close to midnight.
COUCH SURFING
I'm also going to start working on Istanbul afterward to see if I can spend more time with locals. As of the time of this writing, I've sent out about 100 couch surfing requests to people in Istanbul. I've gotten a couple snooty letters back from people who didn't like a form letter. Tough. There is an amazingly low response rate on this. I haven't been keeping track of the exact numbers, but this is how it seems to go. Send out fifty requests. Five come back to 'maybe', depending on the time. Once I narrow down the time, I might have one or two that can accommodate me. Anyone who sends out ten or less expecting results will probably be disappointed.
COSTS
Siberian dumplings (a kind of ravoli which supposedly had three different kinds of meet in them) and baked in sour cream, 49 UAH. It was 300g of food which I couldn't finish and rated as 'OK'.
TOMORROW
I was told about an orphanage - I'm going to go check it out. Nike could always use more workers - right?
Saturday, May 28, 2011
THE BIRDS AND THE BEES
PLANS
I'm spending a week wandering around the city of Odessa. After that, I'll probably head down to Sevastopol, Ukraine. I'm not sure when yet though I should probably start sending out CS invitations and stuff. After that, probably Istanbul. I've heard that although Georgia is indeed cheap, it is dull dull dull (also mentioned by Kenmal from Turkey who is staying at the same hostel).
ODESSA
I've been wandering around Odessa with this song (start at :26) stuck in my head. Now, you can have it stuck in yours.
From a distance - it was closed by the time I made it over there - I got to see a stage where they were having a dancing contest for kids.
SAILING ADVICE
I'm putting this in here partially for my notes and partially in case someone else wants to go sailing - for free. From what I've learned from Adam (owner of the hostel) it is not all that difficult to get aboard with zero experience. They look for those people - because they don't have to pay them. You stand watches and stuff. I can do that.
So the reason they hire crews is to move around the yachts and such for the various races that the rich participate in.
Antigua sailing week, starts in the last week in April. The month before that, you need to be in Antibes in France where they only have one hotel and apparently it's horrible and expensive. The yachts and such stack up there and then all sail across the Atlantic. Two-thirds of the are going to Antigua. That is the beginning of the Caribbean season.
Buy yachting magazines. They have information on when the races are on. Crewing companies who advertise in them though usually want experience.
You can also deal with 'Bare Boat Chartering'. Basically, this is where a bunch of people (or one guy) rents out a boat with no crew and sails it around. The job of people looking for work with this is to go get it from whatever harbor it was left and bring it back to where it should be, etc. For this, Adam advises to head to Turkey, Greece, etc - every major marina - where they rent boats.
In September, boats in California (San Diego or LA) are headed to Mexico and (via stops) eventually for Costa Rica or the Panama Canal.
NOTE ON UKRAINIAN CURRENCY
I've been told it's as useless as tits on men outside of the Ukraine. Get that shit changed to Euros before leaving. Please, God, let me get it changed before leaving!
ANOTHER AMERICAN CUSTOM
The BBQ. Here a typical American BBQ's hot dogs. [Thanks to Christopher B for finding this traditional picture.]
COSTS
Weird throat spray with honey in, 20 HUA
Olympus camera I didn't buy, 1000 HUA
Samsung 5x zoom, 2gig memory card, case, 800 HUA which I did buy because my piece of shit has finally given up the ghost after consuming some batteries really amazingly fast and I'd feel like an absolute twat doing all of the traveling I'm doing without having a camera. It's not a beautiful thing but it is light, uses a LI battery and such. I'm hoping the 220v power doesn't fuck me later, but I suspect it will.
Juice box to celebrate spending 800 HUA on a camera, 4.5 HUA.
INTERVIEW WITH DAKSH ON INDIAN CULTURE
[Disclaimer - these are all paraphrases and the best I could do from my notes. I really could use a film crew following me around.]
India is between it's traditional culture and westernization. It has rapidly become westernized due to getting a lot richer as of late. Also, TV and the internet give easy access to how things are done in different countries. In addition, Indians living in America come back to India and tell people there what is going on in America. The generational gap may be one of the biggest things pushing the new change. People are beginning to question why they should continue to do things as they have in India.
Twenty five years ago (or so) - the father and mother had the children get married when they were under ten. Until the kids grew up to approximately age 21, they stayed at their own homes though they would be permitted communication and such. When the kids became 21 or so, they would then live together.
Twenty years ago (or so) - Arranged marriage, the couple got married at age 21 and saw each other for the first time on the night of the wedding.
Year 2000's or so - the mother and father choose the spouse, asking the kids if they liked each other first but no pre-marital sex.
Today - if the couple is certain they will marry they can have pre-marital sex. If they decide to break it off early however, it could get messy.
Because you have no history in an arranged marriage, you have a lot of discovery to make. Everything is 'new and shiny', so to speak.
Something that can be a real problem is if one of the people in an arranged marriage has a 'true love' outside of it. This happens a lot.
Dowries are optional today.
Daksh has a very organized mind - it was interesting to speak with him.
THE BIRDS AND THE BEES
You always hear about the birds and the bees but when I've seen birds having sex it is usually the hopping 'frolicking' sort. Today (before I'd replaced my camera) I saw something different. One bird was standing on the wings of another and pretty much pinning it to the ground while going at it. I'm sure in bird speech he was saying something along the lines of "Take it bitch!" or "Take it you dirty bird!". I'd never seen that before in my life. When he was done and hopped off the other bird nearly get stepped on while recovering. My comment was "I thought that bird was going to get fucked...Again..."
COUCH SURFING
One of the options you can take during couch surfing is to just sign up to 'meet up for a drink' - it could be tea, coffee, a dozen shots of vodka, whatever.
So I had sent out some invites for getting together for a drink. One girl said that she had a bad experience with couch surfing and didn't even want to get together for a drink. I'm thinking that's a profile she should delete.
In order to put people at their ease, I like to have a neutral meeting site and let them choose where we are going. Unless I am feeling in some sort of danger going to where they want, I'm good with where ever. Outdoor cafes on main streets to me seem safest.
I'd sent out about a dozen or more invites and got two people writing back interested to meet. I'd detailed the first meeting in the previous blog, the second was with Julia and Vlad.
BTW - I would suggest writing people for getting together for a drink as a 'low risk' way to get acquainted with couch surfing.
JULIA AND VLAD
[Note all quotes are paraphrased. I attempted to pull what I could out of my increasingly beer soaked notes. I have also put a J: for Julia quotes and a V: for Vlad. If they both said it or if I'm not sure who said it, no letter appears. Things surrounded by brackets are from me.]
J: The best thing in Odessa is the (sense of) humor and attitude toward life.
V: The best thing in Odessa is the mix of cultures - Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, Polish, Jewish, Russian, etc.
They do Bruderschaft (Brotherhood) here as well.
In April, only in Odessa they have an April Fool's day celebration. This is even a holiday from work.
Almost all of the bureaucratic structures are corrupt. This is because they have uncertain futures so they're getting what they can now.
In Odessa, every family has Jewish roots. Much of the humor are anecdotes where in Jewish people are the brunt of the joke.
J: Old people love Russia for the stability it gave. Their futures were assured. Plus, the propaganda helped. Morality was higher - they didn't think about their own money - they thought about their country. People who didn't were ostracized. They had children's organizations called "The Pioneers" which taught kids to respect old people, etc. Nowadays, it is more anarchy.
(Under communism) people's lives weren't as good but their security was better.
[Where is Ukraine going?] Every election brings a new government. Nobody is talking to the people. The government is doing what they want.
The European Union has too many bail outs.
Ukraine should go it's own way while being a good neighbor with the countries in the region.
In western Ukraine, more people speak English. They work in the European Union as there is no work in western Ukraine.
[A weird custom in the Ukraine] After a party, when everyone gets ready to go home, you must 'na-ken-yah' [spelled phonetically as my keyboard rebels against Cyrillic]. This is a last drink - regardless of your condition. You must drink one last drink to respect the owner. It's vodka. It doesn't matter if you are on the verge of throwing up - you have to have this last drink before going.
Getting drunk is a sign of weakness.
As of last year, drinking in public places is forbidden [by law].
Hitchhiking within the city usually costs money - about what a taxi does. Hitchhiking between cities normally does not. This is seen by people as a legitimate way to make some extra cash.
V: Saying "the Ukraine" does not mean a 'suburb of Russia'.
Odessa was the southern capital of the Russian Empire.
Due to the USSR, people here want to speak and write in Russian.
Kiev is more than 1000 years old - although [due to being bombed all to shit] the buildings are new.
Georgia may have the best wine in the world.
Moscow is (or was recently) the most expensive city in the world mostly due to the prices of real estate. Also, the food and such is expensive. In Odessa, a one room flat is about $300 per month. In Moscow, $1000 per month.
People in Moscow are cold and uncommunicative. Nobody seems to be from there. Everyone goes there just to earn money. The people are self centered. Other cities [in Russia] are different than this - like St. Petersburg.
Three to four times a year, Odessa has some sort of festival involving knights.
Visit Balaclava in Sevastopol. It has an 'English seashore' and was built during the Crimean war.
To get from Odessa to Simferopol (the capital of the Crimea) you have to take a night train (8 hours, 100 HUA). From there, you take a bus to Sevastopol (2 hours, 25 HUA).
Always bargain in the bazaar.
[Julia and Vlad were one of those fun young couples that has a lot of energy. If you wanted to go walk around the city and have them explain everything to you, I'm sure they'd totally be up for it. They were also OK with sitting around and talking once they figured out I was a crippled bitch. They know a lot of stuff about their city and as a bonus (to me) they had useful information on Turkey as well. It was a pleasure to hang out with them!]
TRAVELER'S LORE - ISTANBUL
(This information came from Julia and Vlad who had spent several months in Istanbul).
Beware of restaurant scams in Istanbul - they do 'bait and switch' scams. It is very common and a meal can end up costing quite a bit. Like a hundred euros. Eat at the small and shitty looking places and on the streets.
Visit the eastern side of Istanbul - it is a lot cheaper (inc restaurants and hostels). Take the ferry there - it goes every twenty minutes and is less than a dollar.
The buses in Turkey sound magnificent - take them instead of trains. They have good roads and a good bus infrastructure.
In Turkey, you bargain everywhere - even restaurants.
I'm spending a week wandering around the city of Odessa. After that, I'll probably head down to Sevastopol, Ukraine. I'm not sure when yet though I should probably start sending out CS invitations and stuff. After that, probably Istanbul. I've heard that although Georgia is indeed cheap, it is dull dull dull (also mentioned by Kenmal from Turkey who is staying at the same hostel).
ODESSA
I've been wandering around Odessa with this song (start at :26) stuck in my head. Now, you can have it stuck in yours.
From a distance - it was closed by the time I made it over there - I got to see a stage where they were having a dancing contest for kids.
SAILING ADVICE
I'm putting this in here partially for my notes and partially in case someone else wants to go sailing - for free. From what I've learned from Adam (owner of the hostel) it is not all that difficult to get aboard with zero experience. They look for those people - because they don't have to pay them. You stand watches and stuff. I can do that.
So the reason they hire crews is to move around the yachts and such for the various races that the rich participate in.
Antigua sailing week, starts in the last week in April. The month before that, you need to be in Antibes in France where they only have one hotel and apparently it's horrible and expensive. The yachts and such stack up there and then all sail across the Atlantic. Two-thirds of the are going to Antigua. That is the beginning of the Caribbean season.
Buy yachting magazines. They have information on when the races are on. Crewing companies who advertise in them though usually want experience.
You can also deal with 'Bare Boat Chartering'. Basically, this is where a bunch of people (or one guy) rents out a boat with no crew and sails it around. The job of people looking for work with this is to go get it from whatever harbor it was left and bring it back to where it should be, etc. For this, Adam advises to head to Turkey, Greece, etc - every major marina - where they rent boats.
In September, boats in California (San Diego or LA) are headed to Mexico and (via stops) eventually for Costa Rica or the Panama Canal.
NOTE ON UKRAINIAN CURRENCY
I've been told it's as useless as tits on men outside of the Ukraine. Get that shit changed to Euros before leaving. Please, God, let me get it changed before leaving!
ANOTHER AMERICAN CUSTOM
The BBQ. Here a typical American BBQ's hot dogs. [Thanks to Christopher B for finding this traditional picture.]
COSTS
Weird throat spray with honey in, 20 HUA
Olympus camera I didn't buy, 1000 HUA
Samsung 5x zoom, 2gig memory card, case, 800 HUA which I did buy because my piece of shit has finally given up the ghost after consuming some batteries really amazingly fast and I'd feel like an absolute twat doing all of the traveling I'm doing without having a camera. It's not a beautiful thing but it is light, uses a LI battery and such. I'm hoping the 220v power doesn't fuck me later, but I suspect it will.
Juice box to celebrate spending 800 HUA on a camera, 4.5 HUA.
INTERVIEW WITH DAKSH ON INDIAN CULTURE
[Disclaimer - these are all paraphrases and the best I could do from my notes. I really could use a film crew following me around.]
India is between it's traditional culture and westernization. It has rapidly become westernized due to getting a lot richer as of late. Also, TV and the internet give easy access to how things are done in different countries. In addition, Indians living in America come back to India and tell people there what is going on in America. The generational gap may be one of the biggest things pushing the new change. People are beginning to question why they should continue to do things as they have in India.
Twenty five years ago (or so) - the father and mother had the children get married when they were under ten. Until the kids grew up to approximately age 21, they stayed at their own homes though they would be permitted communication and such. When the kids became 21 or so, they would then live together.
Twenty years ago (or so) - Arranged marriage, the couple got married at age 21 and saw each other for the first time on the night of the wedding.
Year 2000's or so - the mother and father choose the spouse, asking the kids if they liked each other first but no pre-marital sex.
Today - if the couple is certain they will marry they can have pre-marital sex. If they decide to break it off early however, it could get messy.
Because you have no history in an arranged marriage, you have a lot of discovery to make. Everything is 'new and shiny', so to speak.
Something that can be a real problem is if one of the people in an arranged marriage has a 'true love' outside of it. This happens a lot.
Dowries are optional today.
Daksh has a very organized mind - it was interesting to speak with him.
THE BIRDS AND THE BEES
You always hear about the birds and the bees but when I've seen birds having sex it is usually the hopping 'frolicking' sort. Today (before I'd replaced my camera) I saw something different. One bird was standing on the wings of another and pretty much pinning it to the ground while going at it. I'm sure in bird speech he was saying something along the lines of "Take it bitch!" or "Take it you dirty bird!". I'd never seen that before in my life. When he was done and hopped off the other bird nearly get stepped on while recovering. My comment was "I thought that bird was going to get fucked...Again..."
COUCH SURFING
One of the options you can take during couch surfing is to just sign up to 'meet up for a drink' - it could be tea, coffee, a dozen shots of vodka, whatever.
So I had sent out some invites for getting together for a drink. One girl said that she had a bad experience with couch surfing and didn't even want to get together for a drink. I'm thinking that's a profile she should delete.
In order to put people at their ease, I like to have a neutral meeting site and let them choose where we are going. Unless I am feeling in some sort of danger going to where they want, I'm good with where ever. Outdoor cafes on main streets to me seem safest.
I'd sent out about a dozen or more invites and got two people writing back interested to meet. I'd detailed the first meeting in the previous blog, the second was with Julia and Vlad.
BTW - I would suggest writing people for getting together for a drink as a 'low risk' way to get acquainted with couch surfing.
JULIA AND VLAD
[Note all quotes are paraphrased. I attempted to pull what I could out of my increasingly beer soaked notes. I have also put a J: for Julia quotes and a V: for Vlad. If they both said it or if I'm not sure who said it, no letter appears. Things surrounded by brackets are from me.]
J: The best thing in Odessa is the (sense of) humor and attitude toward life.
V: The best thing in Odessa is the mix of cultures - Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, Polish, Jewish, Russian, etc.
They do Bruderschaft (Brotherhood) here as well.
In April, only in Odessa they have an April Fool's day celebration. This is even a holiday from work.
Almost all of the bureaucratic structures are corrupt. This is because they have uncertain futures so they're getting what they can now.
In Odessa, every family has Jewish roots. Much of the humor are anecdotes where in Jewish people are the brunt of the joke.
J: Old people love Russia for the stability it gave. Their futures were assured. Plus, the propaganda helped. Morality was higher - they didn't think about their own money - they thought about their country. People who didn't were ostracized. They had children's organizations called "The Pioneers" which taught kids to respect old people, etc. Nowadays, it is more anarchy.
(Under communism) people's lives weren't as good but their security was better.
[Where is Ukraine going?] Every election brings a new government. Nobody is talking to the people. The government is doing what they want.
The European Union has too many bail outs.
Ukraine should go it's own way while being a good neighbor with the countries in the region.
In western Ukraine, more people speak English. They work in the European Union as there is no work in western Ukraine.
[A weird custom in the Ukraine] After a party, when everyone gets ready to go home, you must 'na-ken-yah' [spelled phonetically as my keyboard rebels against Cyrillic]. This is a last drink - regardless of your condition. You must drink one last drink to respect the owner. It's vodka. It doesn't matter if you are on the verge of throwing up - you have to have this last drink before going.
Getting drunk is a sign of weakness.
As of last year, drinking in public places is forbidden [by law].
Hitchhiking within the city usually costs money - about what a taxi does. Hitchhiking between cities normally does not. This is seen by people as a legitimate way to make some extra cash.
V: Saying "the Ukraine" does not mean a 'suburb of Russia'.
Odessa was the southern capital of the Russian Empire.
Due to the USSR, people here want to speak and write in Russian.
Kiev is more than 1000 years old - although [due to being bombed all to shit] the buildings are new.
Georgia may have the best wine in the world.
Moscow is (or was recently) the most expensive city in the world mostly due to the prices of real estate. Also, the food and such is expensive. In Odessa, a one room flat is about $300 per month. In Moscow, $1000 per month.
People in Moscow are cold and uncommunicative. Nobody seems to be from there. Everyone goes there just to earn money. The people are self centered. Other cities [in Russia] are different than this - like St. Petersburg.
Three to four times a year, Odessa has some sort of festival involving knights.
Visit Balaclava in Sevastopol. It has an 'English seashore' and was built during the Crimean war.
To get from Odessa to Simferopol (the capital of the Crimea) you have to take a night train (8 hours, 100 HUA). From there, you take a bus to Sevastopol (2 hours, 25 HUA).
Always bargain in the bazaar.
[Julia and Vlad were one of those fun young couples that has a lot of energy. If you wanted to go walk around the city and have them explain everything to you, I'm sure they'd totally be up for it. They were also OK with sitting around and talking once they figured out I was a crippled bitch. They know a lot of stuff about their city and as a bonus (to me) they had useful information on Turkey as well. It was a pleasure to hang out with them!]
TRAVELER'S LORE - ISTANBUL
(This information came from Julia and Vlad who had spent several months in Istanbul).
Beware of restaurant scams in Istanbul - they do 'bait and switch' scams. It is very common and a meal can end up costing quite a bit. Like a hundred euros. Eat at the small and shitty looking places and on the streets.
Visit the eastern side of Istanbul - it is a lot cheaper (inc restaurants and hostels). Take the ferry there - it goes every twenty minutes and is less than a dollar.
The buses in Turkey sound magnificent - take them instead of trains. They have good roads and a good bus infrastructure.
In Turkey, you bargain everywhere - even restaurants.
Friday, May 27, 2011
DEATH OF A DENTIST
NOTE ON EUROPEAN TIMES
All times are given on the 24 hour clock. One PM is referred to as 13:00. Since I was in the military, this is no big deal for me. We used it there. If you are confused by a time that appears too big, just subtract 12 from it. Personally, I'm glad they use it - AM and PM can sometimes get you into trouble.
DEATH OF A DENTIST
So I went back to the dental office. Today, they were telling me a different story. An X-ray of just one tooth is 40 UAH. Normally, switching the deal on Logan makes Logan say "Good day" and leave immediately but I figured I'd been delaying on this fucking tooth for long enough. So I bit my tongue, smiled and said "Certainly. Lets do it." They X-rayed the tooth. Two dentists took a look at it and discussed stuff. They then called Olga - the lady who has most of the English speaking skills of the office - and had her translate the verdict.
They said that they didn't particularly like the looks of it but nothing needed to be done. They suggested I have it X-rayed again in six months to get a new analysis then.
This concurred with my "I know I don't know shit about dentistry" analysis of the Xray.
I was a bit surprised though because this answer has pretty much zero chance of gaining them any money at all. I'm use to having medical places try to make sure I get their services so they get paid.
Weird.
So this issue is 'dead' for six months. At that point, hopefully I'll remember to get to a new dentist.
WANDERING AROUND
So, I was wandering around by the boat docks today and found one of those little cruise ships that was powering up to take off. I got lucky and found someone who spoke English. They said that the journey was about 45 minutes long and the boat returned to whence it started. It was only 70 UAH (less than $10) for a cruise around a tiny bit of the Black Sea. I'd never done it before so I figured 'why not'. Unless it turns into a Gilligan's Island thing I should have plenty of time to reach the church to meet Couch Surfer Elena by 17:30.
On the boat ride, I noticed that I was the only person who was staring out to see while we were riding around. Everyone else was looking back toward land. I had been talking to Adam the hostel owner about how a person would get work on one of the sail boats. Apparently they do take people who have no experience, skills or anything like that. They are looking for social compatibility for a small vessel for a few weeks. That I can do. And the ability to stand watch during various times. I was in the military and know exactly what standing a four hour watch starting at 02:00 is like. Tedious. But I can do that for a couple weeks to get a new experience.
The big problem is that you have to know where the boats will be leaving from and be there and available to go whenever. The availability is not a problem but these places the boats start from are fucking expensive places - like Monte Carlo. Not the kind of places you really want to sit around for a couple weeks hoping to get a boat ride for a couple weeks. So, the quandry continues. I'll get educated on it and put the info in the blog here. I'm sure that someone out there is also interested in where and when boats leave from and may want to try this out. The biggest barrier on this seems to be knowledge as well as luck to get taken onto a ship. I'm convinced I am a lucky bastard (look where the fuck I am now) so I just need to get the knowledge. And when I get it, so will you.
Note, I'm not thinking about becoming a full time sailor - I'm just thinking that sailing around for awhile in a small boat would be an interesting experience.
Through trial and error, I've finally learned how to navigate this city and find my way back to the hostel. What absolutely kills me is that Pete would have figured it out in a few minutes. Me it took a couple days. If you're thinking "Logan, you're too hard on yourself" - I've seen the man operate, I know of what I speak. If you're not thinking I'm too hard on myself, you're a mea person who sacrifices puppies to Satan. On the good side of the news though, I think I know this city better than Jana knows Prague. Zing!
According to Adam, most police shakedowns occur late night. They don't like to be seen doing it.
PHILOSOPHY
I've noticed in both Moldova and Ukraine - countries in which finding someone who speaks English is tricky, they seem to prefer American techno. This differs from the 1970's and 1980's music found further west. I suspect the people who like techno like it for the rhythms and such because they have no idea what the lyrics are. They haven't figured out a way to dub them like they do the movies (boo!) yet.
I've noticed a lot of girls (here especially) like to wear the tight/short shirts or short shorts - even if they shouldn't. If a girl has a beer belly, love handles or a muffin top I'm not sure why they believe that revealing clothing will fix this. Every time I see this sort of thing I am tempted to flash my huge hairy belly at them in retaliation.
I'm working on cutting a deal with the hostel for a reduced rate for the room if I am here longer. I may stay here a week and the go south to Sevastopol and check it out.
"A lot of people base security on routine." - Logan
COSTS
Skewer at an outdoor cafe, 59 UAH
Two cappuccinos and a fruit juice thing, 52 UAH.
ELENA
I met her through the 'have a drink' option of Couch Surfing and got to have a talk with her at a cafe. Here is what she told me [note that all of these are paraphrases!]:
Some people want to belong to Russia, others to Ukraine.
Russian people are rather aggressive, impatient, self centered and believe their point of view is the only right one. The Russians she talked to agreed and said "Yes, we Russians are like that."
The Russian government is very strict. In Ukraine, the media can criticize politicians and whatnot. In Russia, they don't have the freedom to.
In Russia, there are only five to seven cities with good infrastructure - the rest are villages. Ukraine is more developed.
People from Odessa love their city.
The older generation still likes communism. The younger generation thinks independence is better.
It's not about independence - it's about freedom of speech, thought and travel.
Corruption in Ukraine is as normal as saying 'hello'. You have to have the right friends (and contacts) to do things like open your own business.
She was a lot of fun to talk to and I think we're suppose to get together again later - though I'm not sure when just yet. I do know that I was surprised at how quickly the time went by. I'm looking forward to visiting with her again.
FUTURE PLANS
I'm going to try living cheaply here for awhile and see how that goes. I've paid through Friday, June 3rd and so I will be here at least through then. After that, I may head south to Sevastopol, Ukraine. We'll see what I figure out.
TRAVELER'S TIPS
Refuse or send back or don't touch the bread they bring to your table (unless you want it) because they will charge you for that shit. The bread served in the restaurants isn't really worth a shit. Bert makes much better. Go to Blacksburg and try to bribe him to make bread for you. Better.
All times are given on the 24 hour clock. One PM is referred to as 13:00. Since I was in the military, this is no big deal for me. We used it there. If you are confused by a time that appears too big, just subtract 12 from it. Personally, I'm glad they use it - AM and PM can sometimes get you into trouble.
DEATH OF A DENTIST
So I went back to the dental office. Today, they were telling me a different story. An X-ray of just one tooth is 40 UAH. Normally, switching the deal on Logan makes Logan say "Good day" and leave immediately but I figured I'd been delaying on this fucking tooth for long enough. So I bit my tongue, smiled and said "Certainly. Lets do it." They X-rayed the tooth. Two dentists took a look at it and discussed stuff. They then called Olga - the lady who has most of the English speaking skills of the office - and had her translate the verdict.
They said that they didn't particularly like the looks of it but nothing needed to be done. They suggested I have it X-rayed again in six months to get a new analysis then.
This concurred with my "I know I don't know shit about dentistry" analysis of the Xray.
I was a bit surprised though because this answer has pretty much zero chance of gaining them any money at all. I'm use to having medical places try to make sure I get their services so they get paid.
Weird.
So this issue is 'dead' for six months. At that point, hopefully I'll remember to get to a new dentist.
WANDERING AROUND
So, I was wandering around by the boat docks today and found one of those little cruise ships that was powering up to take off. I got lucky and found someone who spoke English. They said that the journey was about 45 minutes long and the boat returned to whence it started. It was only 70 UAH (less than $10) for a cruise around a tiny bit of the Black Sea. I'd never done it before so I figured 'why not'. Unless it turns into a Gilligan's Island thing I should have plenty of time to reach the church to meet Couch Surfer Elena by 17:30.
On the boat ride, I noticed that I was the only person who was staring out to see while we were riding around. Everyone else was looking back toward land. I had been talking to Adam the hostel owner about how a person would get work on one of the sail boats. Apparently they do take people who have no experience, skills or anything like that. They are looking for social compatibility for a small vessel for a few weeks. That I can do. And the ability to stand watch during various times. I was in the military and know exactly what standing a four hour watch starting at 02:00 is like. Tedious. But I can do that for a couple weeks to get a new experience.
The big problem is that you have to know where the boats will be leaving from and be there and available to go whenever. The availability is not a problem but these places the boats start from are fucking expensive places - like Monte Carlo. Not the kind of places you really want to sit around for a couple weeks hoping to get a boat ride for a couple weeks. So, the quandry continues. I'll get educated on it and put the info in the blog here. I'm sure that someone out there is also interested in where and when boats leave from and may want to try this out. The biggest barrier on this seems to be knowledge as well as luck to get taken onto a ship. I'm convinced I am a lucky bastard (look where the fuck I am now) so I just need to get the knowledge. And when I get it, so will you.
Note, I'm not thinking about becoming a full time sailor - I'm just thinking that sailing around for awhile in a small boat would be an interesting experience.
Through trial and error, I've finally learned how to navigate this city and find my way back to the hostel. What absolutely kills me is that Pete would have figured it out in a few minutes. Me it took a couple days. If you're thinking "Logan, you're too hard on yourself" - I've seen the man operate, I know of what I speak. If you're not thinking I'm too hard on myself, you're a mea person who sacrifices puppies to Satan. On the good side of the news though, I think I know this city better than Jana knows Prague. Zing!
According to Adam, most police shakedowns occur late night. They don't like to be seen doing it.
PHILOSOPHY
I've noticed in both Moldova and Ukraine - countries in which finding someone who speaks English is tricky, they seem to prefer American techno. This differs from the 1970's and 1980's music found further west. I suspect the people who like techno like it for the rhythms and such because they have no idea what the lyrics are. They haven't figured out a way to dub them like they do the movies (boo!) yet.
I've noticed a lot of girls (here especially) like to wear the tight/short shirts or short shorts - even if they shouldn't. If a girl has a beer belly, love handles or a muffin top I'm not sure why they believe that revealing clothing will fix this. Every time I see this sort of thing I am tempted to flash my huge hairy belly at them in retaliation.
I'm working on cutting a deal with the hostel for a reduced rate for the room if I am here longer. I may stay here a week and the go south to Sevastopol and check it out.
"A lot of people base security on routine." - Logan
COSTS
Skewer at an outdoor cafe, 59 UAH
Two cappuccinos and a fruit juice thing, 52 UAH.
ELENA
I met her through the 'have a drink' option of Couch Surfing and got to have a talk with her at a cafe. Here is what she told me [note that all of these are paraphrases!]:
Some people want to belong to Russia, others to Ukraine.
Russian people are rather aggressive, impatient, self centered and believe their point of view is the only right one. The Russians she talked to agreed and said "Yes, we Russians are like that."
The Russian government is very strict. In Ukraine, the media can criticize politicians and whatnot. In Russia, they don't have the freedom to.
In Russia, there are only five to seven cities with good infrastructure - the rest are villages. Ukraine is more developed.
People from Odessa love their city.
The older generation still likes communism. The younger generation thinks independence is better.
It's not about independence - it's about freedom of speech, thought and travel.
Corruption in Ukraine is as normal as saying 'hello'. You have to have the right friends (and contacts) to do things like open your own business.
She was a lot of fun to talk to and I think we're suppose to get together again later - though I'm not sure when just yet. I do know that I was surprised at how quickly the time went by. I'm looking forward to visiting with her again.
FUTURE PLANS
I'm going to try living cheaply here for awhile and see how that goes. I've paid through Friday, June 3rd and so I will be here at least through then. After that, I may head south to Sevastopol, Ukraine. We'll see what I figure out.
TRAVELER'S TIPS
Refuse or send back or don't touch the bread they bring to your table (unless you want it) because they will charge you for that shit. The bread served in the restaurants isn't really worth a shit. Bert makes much better. Go to Blacksburg and try to bribe him to make bread for you. Better.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
Transnistria (Moldova break way republic) photos can be found here.
You can see the current pictures that are up fro Odessa by clicking the title of this blog. Actually, you can click a lot of the past blog titles to see the pictures if you didn't know that.
LEAVING MOLDOVA
When I played NERO, my character Lumsie had a simple motto he followed: "Arrive unannounced, leave unexpectedly." That saved his life plenty of times - much to the frustration of evil doers. Especially other PC's. I still find myself doing that by habit. It paid off today. I had been talking about my blog to one of the guys I stayed with at the hostel in Moldova. He had asked for an example of the kind of things I wrote about in the blog. I brought up the articles on bribery because - face it - not a lot of people write about that sort of thing. Well, the 'how to do it' part. This guy had overstayed his Ukraine visa. The next day as I was leaving (unexpectedly) he came up with the idea of having me do the bribing of the Ukrainian border guards to get him back into the country. Being that this guy had been bitching just minutes before about losing or forgetting he spent a 500 MDL note and he was staying at a hostel, I'm thinking that he probably didn't have the money for bribing the border guards - much less bribing me to bribe them. Risking hassle for someone I barely know is not a cheap proposition. I dislike breaking laws when first entering a country unless it is a very special (for me) situation.
So I gave hi some tips and blazed off in a taxi. Later, I switched to a train. And so on.
Speaking of that, here is what I've found out about European border procedures thus far. The more expensive way you travel in, the more you are scrutinized. Plane, train, bus - in that order. Plane arrivals get asked all sorts of questions, trains might get some, buses who gives a fuck. I'm guessing that part of the reason is that the best English speakers get sent to the most expensive way in. If you know forty or less words of English it is damned hard to interview me about what I'm up to in your country.
Train border crossing - they bring on the stamps onto the train with them. They look at your passport, sometimes search the car for stowaways or that forgotten key of heroine you knew nothing about but will now go away for a long time for. They may ask a couple questions but unless you respond stupidly, they just don't care. They are more interested in the locals who are probably doing naughty shit than some scumbag backpacker.
The first time I did a bus crossing I got pretty freaked out. I'm still not comfortable with them for a couple reasons. The still do a perfunctory search into the luggage hold of the bus. It's quick enough that I'm thinking they are looking for a person or a bundle of explosives with wires coming out of it the bus driver somehow missed. The big difference of the bus experience is that they collect up all of the passports and just take them away. For what seems like a year and a half. You are not allowed out of the bus - just sit there and sweat. To make matters worse, instead of giving them back to the individuals, they are just handed in a stack (stamped) to the bus driver. He doesn't give a shit - he hands the stack to the first person who takes theirs and hands them to the next person. If anyone had any doubt what nationality you were, they don't any more. This is a bit more challenging when you are from a country that is renowned for being pretty warlike. [Reminds me of a quote: "People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome." - Serenity.]
ARRIVAL IN THE UKRAINE
Money in Odessa is the Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH) but if that isn't confusing enough, they call it the 'Grivna' in Odessa. Roughly 8 UAH = 1 USD at the time of this writing.
Honestly, there isn't a lot to tell. Roads in the Ukraine suck but they make Moldova roads look worse than washboard roads. If you ride a bus, you'll feel like shake and bake.
When I got here, I just consulted my little book and had a cab driver take me to the first hostel on the list, figuring if it sucked I could go to the next and so on. Easy peasy. No drama involved this time. That may be helping my overall opinion of Odessa. It doesn't make for fascinating writing yet but I'm sure I will go through some fucked up shit that will put a smile on your sadistic faces.
TIU FRONT PAGE HOSTEL
The owners/runners of the hostel are a couple named Adam and Sylvia. Sylvia is a really nice lady from Poland but I haven't really gotten to have in depth talks with her yet. Adam on the other hand let me pick his brain a bit. Adam would best be described as one of those 'colorful characters' you expect to see living on a remote island somewhere - for whatever reason.
Adam is a huge bald guy who is a sailor. He also wears a single hoop earring. I told him this fit in to my ideal of sailors (pirates) and I approved. In addition to a colorful narration of his life (which I won't repeat because hey, it's his story to tell) he also gave me several interesting quotes I present for you:
"People are limited by their desire (to accumulate) stuff (aka material goods)."
"When opportunity knocks, most people only complain about the noise."
"You can only get disappointed if you have a expectation. no expectations no disappointments."
On hostel running/owning: "The problem with most hostels is they don't focus on the core business. They try to do exciting things rather than focus on the mundane boring shit that makes a good hostel. Focus on the mundane - don't take your eye off the ball. When someone gets a business, the first thing they want to do is get away from the boring part - but that's what the business is all about. Doing the drudgery is what the business is all about."
It was an interesting conversation and I hope to have more with this guy. He is going to be opening/running/taking over (I'm not clear which) a hostel in the Crimea and I might head down there to stay at it after I get tired of Odessa.
ONE NICE LADY
In my preparation for going to the opera, I wanted to get some inexpensive binoculars or, ideally, opera glasses. I was willing to settle for either as I thought the chances of getting opera glasses was pretty slim. I'd have also been very pleased with a pirate spy glass - especially if it had a skull and crossbones on it and possibly a button I could push that would make it loudly spout a random pirate saying. I spoke to an Indian guy who is living at the hostel while he studies medicine. He told me about a he super mall thing where I could probably find something like that. I had bought a cheap Russian phrase book as I might (or might not) be here for awhile and a little Russian really helps turn the wheels of 'getting shit done' - especially since there aren't many English speakers here. I also looked up the word for binoculars on the internet in Russian. It is pronounced 'bi-noc-cul' - not too far off from English. Also, making the universally recognized symbol for binoculars (though in the USA it could be misconstrued for 'stalker') can get you what you want. So I caught a taxi out to the mall (20 UAH). I wandered around for a bit in the store. It all seemed to be food. Using my phrase book, I asked a random lady in a food stall 'Where (location) binoculars'? I also made the hand motion just in case. I expected her to point vaguely and try to explain in Russian. Instead, she told a lady at a different stall to watch her shop and then took me for a walk. we went out of the building, down the street, into another building. She checked with one place and cross questioned the lady. Getting no useful info (not even a vague hand gesture) from her, she took me to a different floor and a different shop where they had them. I was floored. This sort of generous nature in people and their motivation to help a complete stranger - not only at no profit to themselves but a possible detriment is amazing and beautiful. While she went back to whence she came, I picked up a cheap pair of binoculars (140 UAH) - they are small and a better magnifying glass with it's own case (10 UAH). In addition, I was given the choice of several attractive pistols with ammo to smite down my enemies. Prices started at about 1000 UAH. Since I had found what I wanted, I wasn't feeling particularly wrathful so I passed on the 'death' option. I made my purchases and decided to do something nice for the lady who had put herself out so much for me. Fortunately, my studies of cultural gifts indicated something which would not horrify any rational individual. Chocolates. There are some vegan and vegetarians who are indeed horrified by chocolates, but I did say 'rational people'. I asked the merchant I had bought the binoculars from where I could find a 'box of chocolates'. He then walked me out to another lady who only sold chocolate guns. I had no idea there was such a big market for them. If photography weren't prohibited in this mall, I'd have gotten a picture. I didn't think a chocolate 9mm would send the right message. Since the gun and binocular merchant had gone back to his stall, I then set about communicating my ideas with the chocolate gun girl.
My guess is that she'd lost every game of charades she had ever played.
I am nothing if not persistent. Eventually, she figured it out (kind of) and directed me back to the first set of (food) stores I had been wandering around in. Doh. Pete would applaud my 'spot hidden' skill as well as 'memory' skills, to be sure. Anyway, I went and looked around. They also didn't have exactly what I wanted but I found a mix of chocolates I could get (7 UAH - what a deal. I deserve a fucking medal for not buying any for myself...) and had them bagged.
I then brought them to the initial helpful lady.
Her face lit up like I'd just cured all of the ills of the world. I thanked her again and took off. It was a nice feeling.
I went and got a quick sandwich (31 UAH) and then took off to the opera in a cab (40 UAH).
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
This the opera house in Odessa. I'm told it is the most famous and best in the entire country. I bought the most expensive ticket they had available to get the best seat I could (150 UAH). That was bit more than a night at the hostel (125 UAH) but I figured that for me, opera would be a once in a lifetime event. Probably ever. It is tempting to get some opera glasses because they would come in handy elsewhere, plus I can look like a toff using them.
And this is what I'm expecting.
Well, I'm back from the opera. It was "Rigoletto". I was confusing and over the top - all of the stuff opera loves.
When I had bought my ticket earlier in the day, I was talking to an older British couple who seemed to know more than I did. I said something messed up (made a joke) and some other guy started laughing. It is my way of finding out who actually speaks English. Humor wins. It turns out that his name is Roma. He ended up sitting next to me during the opera. Roma works for a company that deals with China a lot and he travels there half a dozen times a year.
Naturally, I interviewed him during the breaks and found out some information on Ukraine from him....
The Ukraine translates to something like 'the suburbs of Russia'. The 'the' makes a huge difference.
Peter the Great didn't think he could defeat Russia unless he split the Ukraine fro it. Roma agrees with this.
Ukrainians are basically Russians. Less than half of them speak Ukrainian, yet that is what the subtitles of the opera are in. According to Roma, it's a political thing.
He doesn't think the younger generation likes Russia as much as the older generation.
I think Roma said the 'Ukraine' wasn't really a country though I'm not really sure if I understood this.
The opera was about sixty percent full - not bad for a Thursday night. This would never happen in the USA because it would be in direct competition with all of the 'ladies night' drinks half off guzzling things going on. Note, I approve of people doing legal recreational drugs.
TRAVELER'S TIPS
Allot a lot of extra time when going through a country border. It sounds trite but you want to allot several hours. They may be delayed for reasons that have nothing to do with you for longer than you think. Try to never have a 'connecting' transport scheduled immediately after a border crossing.
TRAVELER'S LORE
(Traveler's Lore is stuff I pick up from fellow travelers, usually at a hostel).
A Brit named Gary shared the following information on Thailand with me: Rent costs $150 per month, three cheap meals a day from 'street vendors' total $6 per day and girls cost about $40 each and are addictive as Almond M&M's.
PRICES
Cappuccino from a fairly trendy place, 20 UAH
Taxi ride in town: from 26-40 UAH; note that the nice cabs charge more on the virtue of their being 'nice'. Since I don't care what sort of rusted out piece of shit rust bucket death trap I'm riding in, keep it cheaper by looking for a worse cab.
Dentist - 40 HAU exam, 40 HAU for X-rays if the X-ray machine isn't broke as it was when I was there. Teeth cleaning, $55. That's USD. I asked them if they meant HAU but they said that they used the pastes and such from the USA. Since the last couple times I had my teeth cleaned in the USA they didn't use much paste (mostly scraped, actually) and I know there is no way they could use even a dollar's worth of paste) I figure they are out of their damned minds and I can get the teeth cleaned elsewhere. If they pull the same thing with any of the work I need on the tooth, I'll just get it done elsewhere. Paying $10 for an exam and X-rays is no big deal.
Night at the opera - your choice of seats. You can literally be in the front row middle if you book soon enough in advance. If you are willing to take a worse seat, it costs less, down to 25 HAU for "uncomfortable seats" - 150 HAU.
Not a bad chicken fettucini with a glass of Moldavian wine (14 HAU) for a total of 50 HAU.
FROM TJ'S WARPED MIND (NSFW)
I'm giving TJ credit for making this, whether he did or not. It's the kind of thing I could see him making. Personally, I think it's brilliant. I only wish that Jim Henson was still alive to see it. Yes, it might kill him to see it but it would be interesting.
You can see the current pictures that are up fro Odessa by clicking the title of this blog. Actually, you can click a lot of the past blog titles to see the pictures if you didn't know that.
LEAVING MOLDOVA
When I played NERO, my character Lumsie had a simple motto he followed: "Arrive unannounced, leave unexpectedly." That saved his life plenty of times - much to the frustration of evil doers. Especially other PC's. I still find myself doing that by habit. It paid off today. I had been talking about my blog to one of the guys I stayed with at the hostel in Moldova. He had asked for an example of the kind of things I wrote about in the blog. I brought up the articles on bribery because - face it - not a lot of people write about that sort of thing. Well, the 'how to do it' part. This guy had overstayed his Ukraine visa. The next day as I was leaving (unexpectedly) he came up with the idea of having me do the bribing of the Ukrainian border guards to get him back into the country. Being that this guy had been bitching just minutes before about losing or forgetting he spent a 500 MDL note and he was staying at a hostel, I'm thinking that he probably didn't have the money for bribing the border guards - much less bribing me to bribe them. Risking hassle for someone I barely know is not a cheap proposition. I dislike breaking laws when first entering a country unless it is a very special (for me) situation.
So I gave hi some tips and blazed off in a taxi. Later, I switched to a train. And so on.
Speaking of that, here is what I've found out about European border procedures thus far. The more expensive way you travel in, the more you are scrutinized. Plane, train, bus - in that order. Plane arrivals get asked all sorts of questions, trains might get some, buses who gives a fuck. I'm guessing that part of the reason is that the best English speakers get sent to the most expensive way in. If you know forty or less words of English it is damned hard to interview me about what I'm up to in your country.
Train border crossing - they bring on the stamps onto the train with them. They look at your passport, sometimes search the car for stowaways or that forgotten key of heroine you knew nothing about but will now go away for a long time for. They may ask a couple questions but unless you respond stupidly, they just don't care. They are more interested in the locals who are probably doing naughty shit than some scumbag backpacker.
The first time I did a bus crossing I got pretty freaked out. I'm still not comfortable with them for a couple reasons. The still do a perfunctory search into the luggage hold of the bus. It's quick enough that I'm thinking they are looking for a person or a bundle of explosives with wires coming out of it the bus driver somehow missed. The big difference of the bus experience is that they collect up all of the passports and just take them away. For what seems like a year and a half. You are not allowed out of the bus - just sit there and sweat. To make matters worse, instead of giving them back to the individuals, they are just handed in a stack (stamped) to the bus driver. He doesn't give a shit - he hands the stack to the first person who takes theirs and hands them to the next person. If anyone had any doubt what nationality you were, they don't any more. This is a bit more challenging when you are from a country that is renowned for being pretty warlike. [Reminds me of a quote: "People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome." - Serenity.]
ARRIVAL IN THE UKRAINE
Money in Odessa is the Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH) but if that isn't confusing enough, they call it the 'Grivna' in Odessa. Roughly 8 UAH = 1 USD at the time of this writing.
Honestly, there isn't a lot to tell. Roads in the Ukraine suck but they make Moldova roads look worse than washboard roads. If you ride a bus, you'll feel like shake and bake.
When I got here, I just consulted my little book and had a cab driver take me to the first hostel on the list, figuring if it sucked I could go to the next and so on. Easy peasy. No drama involved this time. That may be helping my overall opinion of Odessa. It doesn't make for fascinating writing yet but I'm sure I will go through some fucked up shit that will put a smile on your sadistic faces.
TIU FRONT PAGE HOSTEL
The owners/runners of the hostel are a couple named Adam and Sylvia. Sylvia is a really nice lady from Poland but I haven't really gotten to have in depth talks with her yet. Adam on the other hand let me pick his brain a bit. Adam would best be described as one of those 'colorful characters' you expect to see living on a remote island somewhere - for whatever reason.
Adam is a huge bald guy who is a sailor. He also wears a single hoop earring. I told him this fit in to my ideal of sailors (pirates) and I approved. In addition to a colorful narration of his life (which I won't repeat because hey, it's his story to tell) he also gave me several interesting quotes I present for you:
"People are limited by their desire (to accumulate) stuff (aka material goods)."
"When opportunity knocks, most people only complain about the noise."
"You can only get disappointed if you have a expectation. no expectations no disappointments."
On hostel running/owning: "The problem with most hostels is they don't focus on the core business. They try to do exciting things rather than focus on the mundane boring shit that makes a good hostel. Focus on the mundane - don't take your eye off the ball. When someone gets a business, the first thing they want to do is get away from the boring part - but that's what the business is all about. Doing the drudgery is what the business is all about."
It was an interesting conversation and I hope to have more with this guy. He is going to be opening/running/taking over (I'm not clear which) a hostel in the Crimea and I might head down there to stay at it after I get tired of Odessa.
ONE NICE LADY
In my preparation for going to the opera, I wanted to get some inexpensive binoculars or, ideally, opera glasses. I was willing to settle for either as I thought the chances of getting opera glasses was pretty slim. I'd have also been very pleased with a pirate spy glass - especially if it had a skull and crossbones on it and possibly a button I could push that would make it loudly spout a random pirate saying. I spoke to an Indian guy who is living at the hostel while he studies medicine. He told me about a he super mall thing where I could probably find something like that. I had bought a cheap Russian phrase book as I might (or might not) be here for awhile and a little Russian really helps turn the wheels of 'getting shit done' - especially since there aren't many English speakers here. I also looked up the word for binoculars on the internet in Russian. It is pronounced 'bi-noc-cul' - not too far off from English. Also, making the universally recognized symbol for binoculars (though in the USA it could be misconstrued for 'stalker') can get you what you want. So I caught a taxi out to the mall (20 UAH). I wandered around for a bit in the store. It all seemed to be food. Using my phrase book, I asked a random lady in a food stall 'Where (location) binoculars'? I also made the hand motion just in case. I expected her to point vaguely and try to explain in Russian. Instead, she told a lady at a different stall to watch her shop and then took me for a walk. we went out of the building, down the street, into another building. She checked with one place and cross questioned the lady. Getting no useful info (not even a vague hand gesture) from her, she took me to a different floor and a different shop where they had them. I was floored. This sort of generous nature in people and their motivation to help a complete stranger - not only at no profit to themselves but a possible detriment is amazing and beautiful. While she went back to whence she came, I picked up a cheap pair of binoculars (140 UAH) - they are small and a better magnifying glass with it's own case (10 UAH). In addition, I was given the choice of several attractive pistols with ammo to smite down my enemies. Prices started at about 1000 UAH. Since I had found what I wanted, I wasn't feeling particularly wrathful so I passed on the 'death' option. I made my purchases and decided to do something nice for the lady who had put herself out so much for me. Fortunately, my studies of cultural gifts indicated something which would not horrify any rational individual. Chocolates. There are some vegan and vegetarians who are indeed horrified by chocolates, but I did say 'rational people'. I asked the merchant I had bought the binoculars from where I could find a 'box of chocolates'. He then walked me out to another lady who only sold chocolate guns. I had no idea there was such a big market for them. If photography weren't prohibited in this mall, I'd have gotten a picture. I didn't think a chocolate 9mm would send the right message. Since the gun and binocular merchant had gone back to his stall, I then set about communicating my ideas with the chocolate gun girl.
My guess is that she'd lost every game of charades she had ever played.
I am nothing if not persistent. Eventually, she figured it out (kind of) and directed me back to the first set of (food) stores I had been wandering around in. Doh. Pete would applaud my 'spot hidden' skill as well as 'memory' skills, to be sure. Anyway, I went and looked around. They also didn't have exactly what I wanted but I found a mix of chocolates I could get (7 UAH - what a deal. I deserve a fucking medal for not buying any for myself...) and had them bagged.
I then brought them to the initial helpful lady.
Her face lit up like I'd just cured all of the ills of the world. I thanked her again and took off. It was a nice feeling.
I went and got a quick sandwich (31 UAH) and then took off to the opera in a cab (40 UAH).
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
This the opera house in Odessa. I'm told it is the most famous and best in the entire country. I bought the most expensive ticket they had available to get the best seat I could (150 UAH). That was bit more than a night at the hostel (125 UAH) but I figured that for me, opera would be a once in a lifetime event. Probably ever. It is tempting to get some opera glasses because they would come in handy elsewhere, plus I can look like a toff using them.And this is what I'm expecting.Well, I'm back from the opera. It was "Rigoletto". I was confusing and over the top - all of the stuff opera loves.
When I had bought my ticket earlier in the day, I was talking to an older British couple who seemed to know more than I did. I said something messed up (made a joke) and some other guy started laughing. It is my way of finding out who actually speaks English. Humor wins. It turns out that his name is Roma. He ended up sitting next to me during the opera. Roma works for a company that deals with China a lot and he travels there half a dozen times a year.
Naturally, I interviewed him during the breaks and found out some information on Ukraine from him....
The Ukraine translates to something like 'the suburbs of Russia'. The 'the' makes a huge difference.
Peter the Great didn't think he could defeat Russia unless he split the Ukraine fro it. Roma agrees with this.
Ukrainians are basically Russians. Less than half of them speak Ukrainian, yet that is what the subtitles of the opera are in. According to Roma, it's a political thing.
He doesn't think the younger generation likes Russia as much as the older generation.
I think Roma said the 'Ukraine' wasn't really a country though I'm not really sure if I understood this.
The opera was about sixty percent full - not bad for a Thursday night. This would never happen in the USA because it would be in direct competition with all of the 'ladies night' drinks half off guzzling things going on. Note, I approve of people doing legal recreational drugs.
TRAVELER'S TIPS
Allot a lot of extra time when going through a country border. It sounds trite but you want to allot several hours. They may be delayed for reasons that have nothing to do with you for longer than you think. Try to never have a 'connecting' transport scheduled immediately after a border crossing.
TRAVELER'S LORE
(Traveler's Lore is stuff I pick up from fellow travelers, usually at a hostel).
A Brit named Gary shared the following information on Thailand with me: Rent costs $150 per month, three cheap meals a day from 'street vendors' total $6 per day and girls cost about $40 each and are addictive as Almond M&M's.
PRICES
Cappuccino from a fairly trendy place, 20 UAH
Taxi ride in town: from 26-40 UAH; note that the nice cabs charge more on the virtue of their being 'nice'. Since I don't care what sort of rusted out piece of shit rust bucket death trap I'm riding in, keep it cheaper by looking for a worse cab.
Dentist - 40 HAU exam, 40 HAU for X-rays if the X-ray machine isn't broke as it was when I was there. Teeth cleaning, $55. That's USD. I asked them if they meant HAU but they said that they used the pastes and such from the USA. Since the last couple times I had my teeth cleaned in the USA they didn't use much paste (mostly scraped, actually) and I know there is no way they could use even a dollar's worth of paste) I figure they are out of their damned minds and I can get the teeth cleaned elsewhere. If they pull the same thing with any of the work I need on the tooth, I'll just get it done elsewhere. Paying $10 for an exam and X-rays is no big deal.
Night at the opera - your choice of seats. You can literally be in the front row middle if you book soon enough in advance. If you are willing to take a worse seat, it costs less, down to 25 HAU for "uncomfortable seats" - 150 HAU.
Not a bad chicken fettucini with a glass of Moldavian wine (14 HAU) for a total of 50 HAU.
FROM TJ'S WARPED MIND (NSFW)
I'm giving TJ credit for making this, whether he did or not. It's the kind of thing I could see him making. Personally, I think it's brilliant. I only wish that Jim Henson was still alive to see it. Yes, it might kill him to see it but it would be interesting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)