It's hard for me to describe what it's like to live here. So many people have perceptions about this part of the world - thanks to the Cold War - more than if we lived in, say El Salvador or Mongolia. The number of people who asked if I was going back to Russia (after I explained I was going to Kyiv) was somewhat astounding. I hold no blame here - when I joined the Foreign Service, I felt equally confused by geography. In fact, since they list the possible postings by capital cities, I was often sent running to the atlas. (Anyone know what Ouagadougou is actually the capital of? How about Belmopan? Bandar Seri Begawaan?) Yeah, me neither, and it behooves me to know since if I put it on my Bid list I could end up living there for 2-4 years!
Anyway, I was going to try to give you an idea of what life is like, one story at a time. This weekend we borrowed a car and headed around town. Driving is a bit crazy - the city was designed both for times before cars and then it was expanded at a time when very few people had cars. So folks have to park on the sidewalk. As the mother of a toddler this scares the living crap out of me. How do you warn a small child not only to look both ways when they cross the street and to look behind them when standing quietly on the sidewalk? Yikes! But I digress. A did a fantastic job of maneuvering around and through the impatient drivers, and we were able to drop M off a birthday party that was darn hard to find. The last part of the directions involved a dirt road, turning at a lake and asking a guard to unlock a gate in the middle of the woods. But he had a great time at the restaurant, and seemed to be a hit with the ladies ;-) A, S and I headed off to our friends' house for dinner, and got hopelessly lost. Not because I haven't been navigating based on maps since I was 8, but because they don't do street signs here. We got so lost we actually left Kyiv - the only sign at that point was "Odessa" - which is a bit like when you're on I-95 north of DC and the sign says "New York - 250" Oops! The reason it's hard to find addresses is because the actual signs are on the sides of buildings, about 12-15 feet above the ground, and the number is giant, but the street name is about 2 inches high. I dont' know about you, but I find that damn hard to read when driving at speed. And the big glamorous street signs at the intersection are paid for my companies, so they might have the name of an upcoming street, or just as likely, the name of an upcoming street that intersects an upcoming street but that you sure ain't never gonna find, but they definitely have an arrow pointing you to the big Fish Store or local Sport Hall. Needless to say, after driving the wrong way down one way streets and being lost for half an hour, poor Miss S heards some choice adult language as I "bemoaned" the inability of Ukraine to get their act together.
This is a common side effect of living overseas, for those who haven't. One day it's the most magical place with wonders and novelty, and the next it could be stricken from the planet for all you care. Ah, the 4 phases of foreign adjustment! But really, overall, we love it here....
