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March 03, 2004

Errand Day in Kyiv

I went to the centre of the city today, to take care of a few things at the office and to pick up some grocery items available at a store downtown.

I took the metro. A few weeks ago, I read that the city transportation service was doubling the fare to 1 grivnia, beginning March 1st. It's an increase from 10 to 20 cents--still a remarkable deal compared to metro fares in other cities in Europe. However, for those who rely on the metro to commute to work, it's quite a jump from spending 30 grivnia to 60 grivnia a month. Compared to the average wage, it is a significant percentage. I didn't see a sign announcing the new fare, so I gave the lady 50 kopeks and she gave me a token. I guess the fare increase didn't go through, just like it didn't go through when they announced a fare increase a couple of years ago.

As I walked through the metro stations both in our neighborhood and in the centre, I asked the guys selling pirated music if they had any Nickel Creek cds. One offered me a Nickelback cd--not quite the same. I asked at the authorized music stores in MetroGrad--a new, underground mall. The guy there just gave me a funny look. I guess I'll just have to be patient and wait for the next time we order something from the States. (And honestly, I'd rather that these musicians get the money due them--but I'm so impatient that I have been asking around for a pirated copy! *blush*)

I saw two black men going down an escalator in the metro. I tried to listen to see if they were speaking Russian or another language, but couldn't hear. I see a black person about once a month here. I saw a trio of Asian students today, also. That's more common. One of the universities in town has a sizable international student body. When we were preparing to move to Ukraine, Marc Canner told us that many people historically have made the mistake of assuming that people in the former Soviet Union countries are very similar to themselves. He summarized that the culture in the FSU has been described as the "most Western of Eastern cultures, and the most Eastern of Western cultures." I see this lived out in unexpected ways.

I found armenian lavash at the grocery store--I haven't seen it sold in our part of town. Armenian lavash is a flat bread that isn't quite like a tortilla, but is similar enough to substitute when making enchiladas. As soon as I saw the lavash, I started craving enchiladas, so I think tomorrow's fellowship dinner will have a Tex-Mex menu.

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Alexandra--on the Nickel Creek CD...send me your address and I can hook you up with one...legally. :-)

Posted by: Kathy at March 4, 2004 04:26 AM

*grin*

Posted by: TulipGirl at March 4, 2004 09:35 AM

You wouldn't happen to know Jonathan and Heather Powell, would you? They are missionary friends of our who are in Ukraine. Well - actually - they are on furlough at the moment - but have been and will be in Ukraine.

Posted by: amy at March 4, 2004 12:16 PM

I love Nickel Creek! :-)

Posted by: Missy at March 4, 2004 01:51 PM

I know of a CD (a compilation CD set produced by our local country station DJ's) that has a couple of great live in-studio tracks from Nickel Creek. Don't know if UPS goes to where you are, but if you are interested, you can get it by going to:
www.knixcountry.com
click on enter
click on "Tim & Willy" on the right-hand side
scroll down to "Be a Proud American, Get your Box of Puppies today!"
"Box of Puppies" is the name of the CD which has the Nickel Creek tracks as well a bunch of other good live performances by country artists.

Posted by: AutMom at March 4, 2004 09:53 PM

Thanks for that info. . . I'll have to look into it.

Posted by: TulipGirl at March 5, 2004 09:05 PM

Amy, I don't know them--they aren't in Kyiv, and honestly, I know very few missionaries even in Kyiv. (They're here--we're just don't have a lot of interaction with people outside of our neighborhood!)

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Hello.

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Joe
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