New things to share...

Frozen River

New things to share...

• We've heard that 160 people have died in Ukraine because of the record cold - 90% alcohol related.
• We are lucky to have warm coats and a warm, cozy apartment.
• When we tell people we have 22 grandchildren, they are astounded.  One lady said, "All in one house?"  Here several generations of family often live together in one apartment.
• Not sure what's in the air, but there seems to always be black dust particals around.
• We think a baby lives upstairs from us - haven't seen it yet though.
• The shower water sometimes smells faintly of fish.
• The Christmas lights are still up across the main street - and lit at night.
• We live in the center of town and during the day there is always music playing from speakers around the main streets.  Sometimes it's Ukrainian music, sometimes it's American 80's music, and sometimes it's Christmas music in English.  We can hear it from our apartment.
• We needed new hats for the cold - see attached picture.
•   People here don't mind the cold.  When it warmed up to about 20 degrees F, people began setting up outdoor markets in the snow.  We can see them from our window in the square behind our apartment.
• We visited a lady in her apartment.  Our homes in the US are gigantic!
• We have a fairly roomy apartment, but our closet measures 25 inches in the back, 36 on one side, and 22 on the other side.  The forth side, of course, is the door.  There are about five very small triangular shelves in it also.  It seems there are no built-in closets, only free-standing ones.  I'm sure they are small because most people don't have a lot of clothes or other possessions, so no need for large closets, many drawers or other storage.  They would be very surprised to know that many people in the US have possessions that overflow the capacity of their large homes and they have to rent extra storage units to keep all of their belongings.
• We have been advised via an apartment memo that rather than let food waste and grow stuff in our fridge, if it's still good we should put it in a bag and hang it on the side of the large outdoor trash bin by our apartment, and it will soon disappear.   
• It's snowing - beautiful!
• We're loving our experiences here.

Park near our apartment

New hats for the cold

By the river

Outdoor market in the snow.  Selling oil paintings, socks, fruit, etc.

Newly scrubbed and cloroxed veggies and eggs

Scene from our window.

Countryside - miles of snow

One of many colorful bus stops in the country.  Seems miles from nowhere.

Winter wonderland!

Typical pack of stray dogs.  The good thing is they all look healthy and frisky and they don't bother people at all.  Some people pet them and feed them.

First Days in Ukraine

We've been in Ukraine now for one week and 8 hours. Our first stop was in Dnepropetrovsk where we stayed in a beautiful three-bedroom, four-bath apartment on the 8th floor overlooking the river. The days were sunny but cold, and snow and ice covered the sidewalks. The river is frozen and we could see a few men ice fishing close to the shore. On Wednesday, a driver brought us to Kherson, about a five hour drive south of Dnepropetrovsk. Kherson is a city of about 350,000 and used to be a major ship port.

First View of Ukraine from airplane.

Our first impressions: Everyone wears fur - fur coats, fur jackets, fur trimmings, fur hats, sometimes fur purses. It's blistery cold! Everyone dresses up. There are packs of homeless dogs everywhere, but the good news about that is that they all look quite well fed and healthy. We've heard that people are kind to them. No grass. I know, I know, there is snow everywhere so we wouldn't be able to see it, but there is no grass under the snow - mostly cement or dirt. There's nice tree-lined walkways that will be beautiful in Spring. It's the older grandmas (baboshkas) who chip ice off the sidewalks (usually this isn't done at all), or sweep streets, and we've heard they are also the ones who do road construction.

Our apartment in Kherson could be out of a Soviet World War II movie - including the large metal door opening to a stairwell and then another large metal door (which we were advised to always keep locked from the inside when we're home) on the outside of our apartment's entry door.

There are also large metal shutters which we open each morning and close each evening. These are operated from a crank inside the house. The window sills are very wide, the barred windows are beautiful, and the apartment is nice and light. The doors to the bedroom, living room and kitchen (yes, each room has it's own door off the hall/entry way) are quite beautiful, in a 1950's sort of way, as they are a combination of wood and glass. The furnishings remind me of a 1940's or 50's newlywed era. The small washing machine in our bathroom holds two towels and two washcloths at a time. There are no dryers, so everyone has a drying rack in their apartment. Oh yes, and to get water to come out the shower head, you have to have a stream of water running in the sink at the same time.

Food: We love the yoghurt, which is liquid. We wash all of our fruits, vegetables and eggs and then soak them in bleach water for a few minutes. We're lovin' it! We haven't had too much experience with food yet, so more about this later.

Today was a major triumph as we went to the grocery store by ourselves for the first time! We have been really lucky to have another couple here, the Lattins, to show us around, i.e., how to ride marchukas (small buses) and trolleys and how to shop. More to follow later.