Back to Харків (Kharkiv)

What a journey..Five airports and about 30+ hours of travel all up, but I finally made it, almost unscathed with about 2 hours of sleep! Yes the Vegemite and Tim Tams survived customs, but the luggage didnt travel too well. It was booked right through from Melbourne to Kharkiv, which meant I didnt have to go through customs and pick it up and re check it in at all. However, when I got to Kharkiv, no bag!!! I was lucky that Inna picked me up at the airport, as I had to go and report the lost luggage in the office. It is always handy having someone who speaks Russian there on hand to clarify and speed things along. The office actually located my luggage very quickly and told me it was in Frankfurt ! They should have it to me by tomorrow afternoon.

Finally get home & I'm almost too tired to sleep. Throw myself into bed and have a rarther sleepless night (garbage truck turned up at 2pm and made noise for about an hour, got up to have a wee and bumped into everything in the apartment, so I ended up turning on the lights& then I was wide awake!).


The airline called the next day and said they have the case, but the lock is not on the case and the zip is broken! My heart sinks as I think of all the gifts and DVD's I packed, very few clothes or personal items as I have all my winter stuff in Ukraine. Austrain airways deliver the case to PMU and Dima and I walk down to the gatehouse to receive it and have a look. Yep, it is my case and the baggage label from Frankfurt to Kharkiv is not attached to the case and indeed, the lock is nowhere to be seen and the bag is strapped up with Austrian airline tape, but funny enough, it feels about the same weight and after initial inspection, I can see a few goodies still inside.

These shots were taken from the plane to try and give you an idea of the size of Kharkiv 1.5 mill people live here, second largest city in Ukraine






 

Took these pics for insurance purposes. See how the KL-Frankfurt tag is intact, but the Frankfurt Kharkiv tag has been removed! A bit sus!

Anyway,I get home and open it up and you wouldnt beleive it, I think everything is there. All presents accounted for, all DVD's intact, even the AFL footy survived!...... more on that later...

The first two days of work were a bit of a blur.... It was great to see everyone again & I handed out the Tim Tams which dissapeared very qiuckly! I have one pack left which I am saving cause my IS guy was not in town when I got back. Seems he had a little problem with the authorities!!! Something about needing a VISA if you are going to work in Ukraine!! Unlike tourists! Now we have always known that Michal was a criminalist (see earlier blog about our brush with the military), but this was serious. Michal had to leave the country and return to Poland to get a visa to enable him to return to Ukraine. Fortunately, he had not overstayed his welcome, he came very close, so no criminal charges will be laid, however, he had to do some serious negotiating over two days throughout various regions of Poland to get his Visa. Miss you Mishka, come home soon so we can share Bear Crossing and Tim Tams together!

Turned on the TV when I got home to watch my favorite channel "Bloomberg" (the only English speaking channel I can get)........ Nothing, Nada..... no TV at all! So I raise an SR to my local help desk (sorry non PM people..... in joke), and a man arrives on Saturday morning to fix it and attend to the fact that I have no power in my bedroom! After about an hour, the TV is fixed..... sort of, an I have power back in my room. The only chanel I can now get in English is BBC! Which is great, when it works! There is something wrong with th reception in this apartment & whenever it rains, snows or the snow melts (which is every day), I have no reception! I have almost given up with the bloody thing! Its a good thing I brought all the DVD's from home. Yesterday I amused myself with a couple of episodes of Spiks and Specks & Bathurst early years (thanks Shonks). It was good viewing.

Last night, we wnet to Filipe and Paola's place for dinner. Meet Felipe and Paola.....

They are from Columbia and souch a lovely couple. Felipe joined the team while I was on home leave in Aust. Welcome aboard both of you and I hope you enjoy the journey as much as we have in the last three months!

Anyway, dinner was great , a lovely salad followed by a wonderful meal of fish and dessert and chocholate, washed down with wine and VODKA! Thanks Felipe and Paola..... That meal will be hard to beat! Sorry Mishka, you missed a good one! Music and salsa dancing followed, and a great time was had by all.

Christina, Dima & Maryna

Filipe and me

Andrey, me and Pierre-Andre

Dima & me

Us learning the Salsa

And here is how the professionals do it.... It was good to watch

Look what I had for lunch on Saturday............... black gold...thanks Eee & Lynda

The bread is not the sort of bread we have in Aust, so Vegemite on toast is not quite the same.... Still tastes good though!!!!!

I must admit, its nice to be back in Харків  with my mates, but I do miss the warmth. It is quite mild for my home coming -1 as I write this (I can see all the Aussies quivering in their thongs), and it looks like it is going to be a mild week ranging from -3 to +3, but then next week it gets back into the -18's again Ugh!!!

Still dont have full movement in the knee which is frustrating given it has now been 4 weeks, but the Doc did say it would take a while for the swelling to completely go down. Everyone has been great helping me get around & I did have a very slow walk to my local supermarket by myself yesterday, but with the conditions as they are I am still very tentative. Guess I will be a bit like a tortise for a while... slow and steady......

More soon

xm

Oh, forgot to mention. Catnap cattery e-mailed me yesterday to tell me my babies have been moved into the Presidential suite! They look happy and still fat. Thanks Jarom