Iceland!!!

(Photo of Gulfoss Falls)

An unexpected romantic destination - we took our honeymoon last weekend in Reykjavik. Due to a roundabout set of circumstances we ended up with a two night stay at the Radisson in Iceland. In order to take full advantage of the trip, we thought we would go while M is in the U.S. in Minnesota, and we left S with the nanny. It was like the honeymoon that we never took right after we were married.

It was a lot of travelling - we had to go through Copenhagen and spent a wonderful 5 hour layover in the airport (tips available on what to do there - I recommend the spa service with facials and massage.) And for some strange reasons, in both directions Iceland Air tried to seat A and I in different rows.

(Photo of the special breed of Icelandic horses - not ponies, full-grown horses.)

A brief summary - Iceland is amazing, incredibly accessible - not geographically but culturally, physically and linguistically, and really relaxing. I'm just going to post a couple of photos here, since my toddler helper keeps trying to push the keyboard keys. The first day we did a full-day tour of the Pinvelligir (the site of the oldest Parliament in the world) the Gulfoss Falls - photo here, and the Geysir (which apparently no longer erupts, so they have a substitute geyser.) That night A and I enjoyed a four-course tasting menu of things Iceland is famous for, including local lobster, which was abaolutely phenomenal and almost made me cry, and lamb. Dinner took almost two hours and we had a real conversation, and there was no reason to hurry. It was the highlight of the trip! On Sunday we did a whale-watching tour, and saw minke whales and dolphins. The sea was remarkably calm, so I didn't feel queasy. (There is a direct correlation between getting motion sickness and morning sickness, and I have been blessed with both in life.)

(Photo of me in front of the natural geothermal energy. The start of our tour was to the geothermal plant - they're so environmental!)

Why children should listen to their parents

While at the charming restaurant described in the last post, we enjoyed our meal in a small outdoor hut. S ran around and played with the flowers and the fountains and, unfortunately for me, a large thick stick.

It was about 4 inches in diameter and about 5 feet tall - so a real piece of hardware. Dad took it away from her once, but it was attractive, so she snuck off and got it again. I went over to tell her it was dangerous and, well, as you can see from the photo, she proved that it was. She refused to let go and in the tussle it bonked me right above the eyebrow. It hurt - but not as much as you would thinbk by the attached photo. It was quite embarassing at work as folks thought perhaps there was marital discord but no, it really was the toddler, I swear!In fact, it's now been about 12 days and the bruise is still on my eyelid, part of the "settling" process, according to our nurse here at Post. Lovely, eh?

Horses and Coffee

We took S on her first horse ride about two weeks ago. She had a look of serious concentration and concern on her face the whole time, but seemed pleased in general. It was at a restaurant that had a petting zoo, including pigs and chickens and full-size horses. Notice, though, the complete absence of safety equipment in this process.

Up top you'll see the restaurant - they like to do outdoor huts where you can eat. Aaron liked this place because a woman in traditional Ukrainian dress greets you at the door and gives you a shot of vodka, one of a lightly-alcoholic fruit juice, and then a piece of, well, basically fat, to wash it down. I begged off, but he took it on - what a champ!

And above, S enjoys a latte with Dad. Shortly after this she accidentally hit me in the eyebrow with a giant stick, leading to the biggest, blackest eye I have had since I was about 7. Thanks, dear!

ROAD TRIP!

Here's a pre-road-trip photo of M handing out the 1st place ribbons to his relay team - he was the anchor and did a fabulous job. He independently won a second and third in two other events. It's a combined middle school/ high school team, and they were competing against local schools and other international schools in Eastern Europe. M's school won overall. Go, team!
We finally got our acts together and planned a trip over a long weekend in the car. We've been trying for a while, but illnesses, S's busy birthday party schedule and inertia seemed to conspire to get us down. Finally, though, we took June 6-8 to head to Lviv (Lvov in Russian) in Western Ukraine. I highly encourage googling it and looking for pictures of the architecture. I was a bit afraid of taking on a big trip - the language barrier, the quality of the roads, the poor quality of the drivers - lots of things that if they went wrong would be incredibly stressful to address. But I faced my fear head on and we hit the road Saturday morning (we're not allowed on roads outside of Kyiv after dark - not a huge problem now since the sun comes up at 4:30 AM and sets at 9:30 PM.) We took my friend Jody with us, so it was a bit crowded in the car - unless you were a toddler in your throne. For a first trip it was great. You follow one road the whole way and don't turn - for 6 straight hours.
We did have to stop for gas - see the photo below where S and I are demonstrating the high-tech firefighting equipment at the gas station!
We rented an apartment in town - a bit of an adventure trying to find it, but so much better than a hotel room. We're just too big a group to fit comfortably in one hotel room, so I am a total apartment-renter convert. Our own kitchen... not having the kids sleep in our room... and all that for less than $60 a night! And the nice landlord didn't even charge us for the drapes that A ruined by pulling out of the wall. (Long story, but they didn't close and as you see above, when the sun comes up at 4:30 it's hard to stay asleep.)
The weather was great, and first thing we did on Sunday (Pentecost or Holy Trinity Day in Ukraine - hence the 3 day weekend) was to climb to the top of Castle Hill. Here are the kids at the top, tickling each other.I have lots and lots of photos of the beautiful architechture, the restaurants, the horses, the trolleys, but here is just an example. It is just like being in Eastern Europe, but like nothing I've ever seen in the former Soviet Union. St. Petersburg is similar, but the history in Lviv is so fascinating and so obvious in the city. Lviv was Polish for centuries and also part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It's Soviet/Russian period is fairly short, and that is very evident in how people would generally speak to me in Ukrainian only. I think it was largely a question of being accustomed to it, not a political statement against the Russian language, although politicians here would have you believe it's the cause of some great rift.
So, I stayed in Lviv for work for the week, and the family headed home on Monday, which is right around the time that I realized that M didn't actually have Monday off, only A and I from work. Oops. Another point in the bad paretn book - if he doesn't get into college, it's all my fault!

All Dressed Up

Kyiv is like a different city in the Spring. People are friendlier, moods are lifted, and the social circuit starts up again. S had a 3rd birthday party, which was an excellent excuse to get her out of her typical sandbox-and-dirt stained clothing and into a nice party dress.

I was looking for a reason to try on the future Matron of Honor outfit, so we signed up last minute for the International Womens' Club of Kyiv ball. We had a great time, and there were swag bags from Givenchy - so we felt very posh. We even won a basket in the raffle - donated by the French Embassy. It had some great champagne and wine and then, oddly, some really cheap local cheese. But the scandal was that one of the sponsors who was unhappy tried to walk off with our basket! We went to pick it up around midnight, and they said it had been taken. I saw it "walking off" and made them go talk to him. I mean, really, maybe it was an honest mistake, but since they called our name out you would think that someone would know if they didn't hear their name? Odd, and caused some discomfort for my friends who were organizing. But it's the principle of the thing!

So - we got home around midnight to find that our "babysitter" needs a refresher. Apparently S finally fell asleep around 11:40, on the recliner, with a half drunk bottle and some chocolate smeared across her face. Uh, yeah. She was happy, and no harm done, but I think we may consider hiring the nanny to stay evenings. Routine is important!

London Bridge is... not what I thought it was

We had a great long weekend in London, taking advantage of the 4 day weekend for May 1st in Ukraine (Workers' Day.) As I'd been in Eastern Ukraine for business all week, and flew in Thursday morning to Kyiv, just to fly back out that afternoon (and pack in between frantically) it wasn't quite as jam-packed a trip as Lisbon. Oh, and London is expensive! But we shelled out for the full day hop-on/hop tour. It included a river cruise, and the weather was spectacular. We did a lot of walking, saw the Tower of London, ate at KFC (be still my beating heart - humph!) and saw lots of my friend Allison B, who lives there.
The photo below is standing on London Bridge (which I, like many, actually thought was Tower Bridge, which you see in the background.) London Bridge is very boring and nondescript, and has not fallen down since the 11th century, so we felt fairly safe.
Below is a photo of S working the water table at the Science Museum. THey have a special area for 3-6 year olds, but apparently S isn't so good at math. She was taking on kids 4 times her age - she was determined to work the levers and the handles and get good. and. wet. Thank heavens for the orange smocks!

During the viewing of the super-changning of the guards, which was bigger than usual we think because the Queen was holding an audience for some soccer team or some such, S and I played on a little patch of grass. THe funniest past was all of the Asian and Indian tourists who took pictures of S instead of the parade. Apparently little blond-haired, blue-eyed independent toddlers are hard to come by in that part of the world?


So a nice break, perhaps I'll photo spam later. Or you can look forward to pics of A's indoor soccer game. THe only down side to the trip was that S apparently picked up some nasty virus on the way back, got really sick and gave it to everyone else. We are all now abot 5 pounds thinner, but not the good way. Hopefully it'll pass soon and we can eat normally...

Easter & Helsinki - What a combo!

Eggs? Who needs eggs?

S and Keenan grooving out to Guns'n'Roses. Our only glimpse of her Easter dress.It's tough to be a teen, but he was a good sport. Here is M, guarding the all-important basket of... empty plastic eggs.

Look, it's sunny... but somehow still freezing cold. Not as cold as A was in Finland, though.

A went to Finland for the long weekend, and I was the sole responsible adult in the house. As you can see from the photos, it is very difficult to manage and point and shoot, so please appreciate the attempt, at least. The egg hunt was held Saturday at the Marine House, which has a lovely front yard and a huge, terror-proof 8 ft tall fence. This meant that I could let S run around with impunity. This was good, since she was totally uninterested in actually picking up the eggs, as evidenced in the photo here, where she is dropping the egg M put in her hand. (That biscuit was SO tasty! Despite being stale...) M came early and helped set up, but as the only teen I released him after S did her egg hunt - he took the pizza and soda and ran. S did a full 3 hours of running around, walking up and down steps and curbs, falling on her knees, dancing inside (with her buddy Keenan) and basically tiring herself to the point of exhaustian (yeah!)

And yes, I know how big they both are - I'd attach a voice clip of M's deep voice, but I don't think that blogspot is that saavy for me yet.

Lisbon, City of VACATION!

We spent 3 wonderful days last week in Lisbon, Portugal. As with all things in this part of the world, this was not without some drama - on the Wednesday, as we were preparing to leave for the aiport in Kyiv, we heard that there was a plane crash in Amsterdam. We were supposed to transfer planes in Amsterdam a few short hours later. I was already in desperate need of a vacation, and this almost pushed me over the edge. But miraculously, we were 15 minutes late to leave, on-time for our transfer, and landed in Lisbon 20 minutes early! (Obviously KLM, not Ukrainian airlines...)
I decided to experiment with VRBO.com and rented an apartment instead of a hotel room. For a cheaper price, we got a full kitchen, a washing machine, and most importantly an extra room, so we weren't all jammed in together. The landlord picked us up at the apartment - he even had a car seat in his car for us. Great experience all around - he ordered us a taxi for 5 AM on Sunday, so we didn't have to, and called halfway through to make sure we were all OK. The ability to stay in our pajamas and make breakfast and coffee was also a huge bonus. As you can see below, I was actually able to relax on the trip!

The first day we saw the Castle of St. George (photo on the parapet above.) We rode Tram 28 - conveniently at naptime so Sarah rested while we photographed. And most importantly, we found the local supermarket and Portugese fast food :-) The second day was in the Belem region - cathedrals and towers and Manueline architecture. Instead of the planned shopping, we went great guns and saw the aquarium, the shopping mall and, I'm embarrassed to say - KFC and Pizza Hut. (You always crave what you don't have - even if you don't want it!)

Day 3, Aaron suprised us and we took a train out of town to Sintra. It was a bit cold and rainy, but nowhere near as yucky as Kyiv weather. We were outdoors all day, and saw this fantastic pink and purple castle there. We really packed a huge amount of living into a short amount of time. A key decision on vacations, though, was to look at direct flights from now on.

I should also note that one of my highlights of the trip was how great M was -engaged and fun and interested in what we did. And as you can see from above, he was a big help with a little, extremely rambunctious, sister!

Aunt x 15

Congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law, whose third appeared on the 20th and is- a girl! Cora Jane. She is quite a bruiser, 10 lbs, 10 oz. Makes me dread the idea of having another kid - that's a lot of baby! Sounds as though delivery was swift and, well, as painless as these things can be. This now brings A's and my grand total of neices and nephews to 15 - 8 boys and 7 girls. This may explain why sometimes we confuse birthdays, and gifts aren't always forthcoming. Doesn't mean we don't think of you, we just think of you at odd times.

So here is a photo of the happy family - I hope I'm not stealing any thunder, but they look so darn cute. And another photo of S opening her birthday gift last December, a tea set that she can't wait to play on with Cora!

Success after only 6 months!

This has really been a banner week for the family and the excruciatingly long acclimitization process:
- They will install our 6 foot+ diameter satellite dish on the roof next Tuesday. Don't ask what it is costing us - just know that I love my husband very, very much. And his ability to watch the NZ All Blacks play rugby is crucial to our marital bliss.
- We have the wireless network up and running. Now I no longer have to scream at the teenager who plays 56 straight hours of World of Warcraft on the weekend that I need to use the computer. Serenity prevails. In fact, I'm locked in the bathroom right now (to prevent the baby from pushing her favorite key "Delete.")
- Our new maid starts on Tuesday. This will cut down on hubby and I spending our weekend not winding down from a difficult week of combatting Ukrainian corruption but instead washing toilets. In a sad commentary on the economic situation here (even before the crisis) our lovely maid is actually a college graduate with a degree as a speech therapist for young children. But she'll make more cleaning our apartment and nannying another mother's small kids. Tragic! I like that we're both helping each other, but I wish she could do what she's trained to do!
- The sun came out yesterday. It's been well over a week. Everyone in the city was in a better mood, and you could taste the promise of Spring. Today? Back to thick pea soup fog. Sigh.

Things that are goofy in Ukraine

Anytime I move somewhere new and foreign, I am struck daily by things that are different, bizarre, unsettling and fantastic. Over time (increasingly shorter amounts of it) these things become commonplace. So I'd like to make a few notes about odd things we have all seen recently that deserve a mention:
1. When you have a birthday, you are obligated to provide the food and drink for the party in your office. Kind of takes the fund out of celebrating when you are out of pocket!
2. While driving to pick Michael up after a basketball game, A had to stop on a one-way road that was blocked by an ambulance. As he watched, the two ambulance personnel loaded a man in the back. And then the man fell out of the ambulance! The best part is that the two men, instead of leaping over to catch him, jumped out of the way - as A said, like they had just dropped a piano. The man on the ground and the ambulance personnel then waited around and, when the police came, they all put him back in the back. We think he was drunk, but still. If i get sick - I'm driving myself to the hospital.
3. (Caution: Personal female information. Squeamish people and men read no further.) Last weekend I went to the hair and beauty salon across the street. I got a haircut, and wanted to get my eyebrows shaped and a bikini wax. No problem on the first two. And I spoke in Russian with the wax-er. Apparently there is a cultural/language discrepancy I was unaware of. "Bikini Wax" translates loosely as "Brazilian wax." I realized this fairly far into the procedure, and was able to maintain some (?) dignity. However, let's put it this way. At one point the woman said, Oh - I see you've had kids. Ahem. As the Ghostbusters said - "important safety tip" - don't order a bikini wax without explaining what you really want!
4. I suppose being attacked by a pack of wild dogs on the way back from the supermarket is normal in many parts of the world, so I'll have to think up...

More stories later. And possibly photos!

Frozen Precipitation

We are on Day 21 in a row of frozen precipitation. It isn't so much that there is lots of snow on the ground, as much as continuous flurrying, and a little melting, and lots of "slyakhot", which is Russian for slush, and very fun to say out loud. I didn't really notice the long stretch of weather, until the sun came out for a few hours last week, and we all ran to the windows in amazement. "Look, light!" This is the Kyiv winter I was promised! And the temperatures always sound so much colder in Celsius, so I think I feel colder. With windchill today it's -17 degrees C. That's really 5 F, which is cold, but not as frightening as -17. I eschew fashion and wear my snowboots everywhere, since the ground is slushy and icy, since the slush freezes nightly. Thank the Lord for our indoor parking space!


On a separate note, the photo below is from a Lawyer's Day Event I attended in October. (Lawyer's Day is a Ukrainian holiday on October 8 - but you don't get work off.) Anyway, the woman third in from the left is Olena, who works for me. And the man in the center is Ambassador William Taylor, who is absolutely fantastic. I am really unimpressed with the suit that I am wearing here, but it's part of my overall problem that after the baby I lost around 25 pounds from my original weight, and none of my clothes that I have worn for years fit anymore. The pants here are literally about to fall off, and look like MC Hammer pants from the '90s. And I am so used to wearing a badge on a laniard that I don't wear necklaces, which I may reconsider here. But enough "What Not To Wear - Kyiv edition." The event was short and focused, and the Minister of Justice made a lot of points that directly corresponded with the directions that the US Government is trying to help the Gov't of Ukraine go in. So enjoy the old photo.

More than just a baby blog.

A & M in Jerusalem, following the path that Jesus took with the cross.
**************************************************************

It has been noted that my husband and son do not make any significant appearances in this blog. Now for those of you with small, helpless children, this should come as no surprise. Why? The camera is always pointed down at the cute smiling face, not usually at the rather-bored-looking teenage face, and not at the husband, who is most often behind the lens. And mommies don't like having photos of themselves taken for a variety of reasons involving the negative image of women perpetuated by the media, etc. Anyway, here are some photos of A and M from Israel. Here, M enjoys a giant Turkey leg.

I like this photo, as M is appropriately serious as he touches the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

And finally, the boys at the Dead Sea, covered in special healthy (?) mud!

Israel Turkeys!

We spent Thanksgiving in Israel, as one does, you know. It's no Beirut - garden spot of the Mediterranean - but it'll do in a pinch. I was amazed by the following: a) it was in the low 80s, delightfully warm; b) it seemed as though everyone spoke Russian, and the food in the grocery stores was all in Russian; c) Tel Aviv is an oasis, but the rest of the country really does look like the scenery in the Charleton Heston movie; d) people really shouldn't mistreat the camels the way that they do; e) the Palestinian settlements are really RIGHT there near Jerusalem. Yet i never felt scared....

And now, photos of how S spent the trip:Who doesn't love their first slide experience? What a great face! She wanted to do this again and again and again...

Baby Starfish

Here in Ukraine, where the high is often 28 degrees, and where wild babies roam the streets, it is important to prevent your child from running off in the cold with these packs of rogue babies. One easy system that nannies have devised is the "Starfish" method, whereby a child is dressed in about 6 layers of clothing. This slows them down considerably - as noted in the photo attached, where Miss S is wearing tights, pants, a onesie, a purple knit sweater, purple knit pants, snow boots, a "combintsion" or snowsuit, a hat, mittens and the scarf that Grandora knit years ago. I think this is the only photo where I've seen her smiling while wearing this, and not with her eyes rolled back in her head from heat exhaustion.

But in Lyuda's defense, it is cold outside, and this lets Miss S play outside for 2-4 hours a day, and may also be the reason that she takes 3 hour naps every day....

Halloween Costumes!

Unfortunately, Kodak Gallery is having some issues with our new version of (evil) Windows Vista, and I can't upload photos! So until we can overcome this technical glitch, I will be providing selected photos this way. Sarah had a lot of costumes over the holiday, including GranDora-provided tutus...

Trip to the Pechersk Lavra

We took the tour to the Pechersk Lavra two weekends ago. A Lavra is the name given to a Monastery of the highest order in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was a very holy place, with beautiful churches and fantastic frescoes. Many of them were renovated after independence - the church shown here has walls dating back to the 14th Century, but the facade was redone in the 1990s. You will notice my stylish scarf - women have to cover their heads when entering the church. Sarah was exempted, but she enjoyed playing with the dead leaves more than the art anyway!

A Word picture of life here

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....

Travel Outside of Middle Earth

I returned from a three day trip to Izmail, a city on the southern border with Romania. Overall it was useful from a work standpoint, but also showed a little more of the "real" Ukraine, versus the very different lifestyle lived in downtown Kyiv. For one thing, everything is much less expensive outside of the capital. No shock there. But what surprised me was how big Ukraine is, and really how relatively uninteresting the scenery is. We drove 12 hours each way, and it was lots of fields and sheep and carts and highway. Oh, and of course, "Turkish toilets." Shudder. Thank heavens for hand sanitizer. Anyway, the scenery became more interesting down near the limans (apparently the name for a unique water feature of a small lake-like spit that connects a river and an ocean - it's like brackish water in the US? We couldn't find an exact comparison.

The photo if from our stop at the Belgorod-Dnistrovski fortress. The sign says "Danger!" but as you can see that was really the only tribute to my protection. The fortress is very well-preserved, and was a welcome break from the drive.

Take that - Babushki!

Since we've arrived, A has been chastised in Russian and Ukrainian by "well-meaning" babushki (grandmothers) for the state of poor S's dress. Even when the temperature is 20 C/68 F outside, they holler that she is freezing. Conveniently, he can't understand what they're saying, so he just says "Spasibo!" (Thanks!)
So finally, he caved the other day and bought a hat that ties in a market kiosk located in a street underpass - well, that's where all the good shopping is anyway. We had to buy a hat that ties as the whole problem all along has been a confinement issue - she just pulls the darn hats off.
We bought gloves today as well, and she managed to lose one within two hours. Such a smart girl...