Thinking Positively

I have been living in Kiev for 6 months. I am half way through my time here. Where has the time gone?! I feel like I just got here, and like I’ve been here for an eternity. I think that the next 6 months will pass too quickly, and also maybe not quickly enough! I feel like I have a lot to accomplish in my remaining time here…so I’m trying to keep my fantasies of touching down in Boston at bay for a while…

Spring has sprung. The winter here was not unbearably cold or snowy, much to my dismay I have to admit! It was just oppressively, soul-wrenchingly grey. Trees are beginning to bud and people are shedding their furs. The sun makes frequent appearances! I feel like I am also thawing. I have never felt my mood and state of mind so correlated to the weather as it has been for the past 4 months. The warmer weather (we’re talking 40s) and sunshine has made me restless. I actually want to be out of my apartment! I am a big fan of spending hours alone in cafes reading.

As I’ve mentioned before, though I think I’ve managed to censor my rants about the difficulty of living here pretty well, life here is tough! I am doing my best to think positively, and keep a running list of really awesome things that you can do/find here that you can’t do/find elsewhere. Many of the items are awesome because they are just so damn cheap…Here is what I have come up with so far:

-Fresh squeezed juice at pretty much every restaurant and BAR
-Cheap waxing
-Shoe repair kiosks on every block (this actually does come in handy)
-Shockingly convenient, cheap and far-reaching public transportation
-Cheap fur and leather goods
-Institutionalized hitch-hiking (you just wave guys down and pay them a few grivnyas…)
-Dom Buity (House of Services), buildings where you can get your shoes repaired, buttons sewn on, belts fixed, buy zippers in every size and color, get things dry cleaned and hemmed, have copies of keys made, change money, and sometimes book flights, all of course for ridiculously low prices.
-Abundance and variety of flowers for sale
-The possibility of buying a bra, a dried fish and homemade pickles from the same lady

This list seems short…I will let you know if and when I think of more!