Th Th Th Thats all folks!!!!

My time in Ukraine has come to an end. I think this is probably the hardest blog I have had to write & I started to write this on the 5th of June ! There have been a lot of people in my life in the last 9 months that have helped me, become friends with me, encouraged me and just been there for me..... but more about them later.

Have I enjoyed my stay here? Yes for the majority of the time I have.  This is part of Eastern Europe, is non English speaking and at times can be a little frustrating! Working for 9 months with no family & none of my usual friends. I wont lie, it has been tough emotionally, but at the end of the day, you get out of bed and do what you were sent here to do and get over the emotional side of things. Build a bridge........so to speak!

Would I recommend other people to come to Ukraine? Definitely...... but not during Winter! To all my PML work colleagues, if you ever get the opportunity to visit the Ukraine plant or do an STA , jump at the chance. It is an experience that will change your outlook on life and make you a better person, but don't expect it to be easy. It will not be like Switzerland!

Ukraine is different to any place that I have ever visited and I have learnt a lot about it and its people. I have struggled with some aspects of Kharkiv life, but I expected that it would not be easy living here . Kharkiv is not a tourist spot, so there are not a lot of places to see or visit, however, out of the region, Ukraine overall is quite nice (during non winter months), as you the readers would have seen from the blog. In the end, Language was really no barrier if you see the people on a regular basis.

Cmak, notice the car
parked on the footpath!
.... Because ... its convenient
to use!


I have become very good at sign language, shopping att my local Cmak supermarket became quite easy over the last few months. Most of the girls in Cmak smile now when they see me, when I first went in they looked worried, like "here we go again that woman that doesn’t speak Russian" !The trips to the hairdresser, while scary at first, became easier. The girls simply talk in Russian and point to the wash basin if they want you to go there or tilt your head forward in the want to get to the back of your neck! Just like at home really. Restaurants are hard if you don't have a Russian interpreter, (like Princess ( Mashka)) or they don't have menus in English. Even when they do have them in English, the translation can often be poor and when it says Chicken, you might get ...... well.... whatever!

VOLGA's! The VOLGA became a part of our daily life in Kharkiv for 8 months & Mishka & I in particular have many stories to tell about the cars and their drivers. Smelly, really smelly VOLGA's, fast VOLGA's that are controlled by kamikaze drivers with no respect for safety (no seat belts in VOLGA's), slow VOLGA's that hit 5th gear at 50km/hr, drivers that love to toot their horns, drivers that love their music and insist on playing it so loud that you cant hear yourself think, and my favorite VOLGA driver, although at times too fast... Mr. "Australian Open" who knew all the tennis results of Australia and had great pleasure telling them to me in Russian during the trip to work.!

The VOLGA
outside the factory.
Relatively new
and more often
than not, you get
old smelly
VOLGA's




My favorite
VOLGA
driver, Mr
Australian
Open - Tennis
nut!







We even had an accident in a VOLGA! In winter, there were many VOLGA's driving around with MISHKA and MERRIN written on the windows though the condensation! Of course, in the middle of winter, when the ICE was on the inside of the VOLGA window, your fingers stuck to the ICE, so you couldn't write anything on the window. At the moment with the weather so warm, you melt inside the VOLGA as the windows don't or can't wind down so its like a pressure cooker on a 35 degree day!  Oh on the last Tuesday before I left Kharkiv I even found a VOLGA with seatbelts! So I put my belt on. Unfortunately, I was wearing a white shirt and the seatbelt was black with dirt, so I ended up looking like a grot all day & for the final dinner! Yes, the VOLGA..... will remain in my memory forever!

I have lost weight and gained weight during the 9 months. I think in the end I'm back to what I was when I left Australia.  As I couldn't read any of the packaging in the supermarkets, my diet was quite basic early on. Guys, you cannot get a hamburger, fish and chips KFC etc. Only Maccas is available and I hate McDonalds! Winter was extremely hard as you have to fight the ice and snow to buy stuff. For quite a few weeks there, I hardly ventured out & didn't eat much at all apart from bread (not the sort you can toast and have with vegemite), pasta, cereal. Anything that you can recognize as food without being able to read Cyrillic and what some would call a decent meal at the PMU canteen! I would call it bland, boring and quite honestly, just lacking variety! Even the special dishes weren't that "special"! But I guess we are spoilt at PML with a different menu every day and food that actually has some flavour!!!  Trust me my Aussie work colleagues, we are very lucky to have what we have!! Breakfast, lunch and dinner with a wide variety of selection, just does not happen in PMU!

Putting on the weight was easy. A trip to Poland with Mishka and Maryna saw me eating like I had never seen food before! Mishka and Maryna...... I will remember those days with a smile on my face. Such fun really brought us so much closer and gave us a bit of an outlet from the hard work for a while.

Then back to Kharkiv spring, where I was able to walk and go out to a decent supermarket and by meat, fruit, veggie’s, (still trying to find pumpkin), nuts and one of my favorites..... Kharkiv Ice cream! The best ones are like "Drumsticks", crispy cones, but they have more ice cream at the top and they are cheap..... so I ate them.... lots of them during spring!!!! I blame the Crimea trip for this obsession as that was where I discovered them.

Winter in Ukraine! What can I say? I have never experienced minus 27 before and I hope to never experience it again! My god it was cold. An Aussie chick just doesn't see this sort of weather at home. Minus 27 is just not normal, especially when it is plus 35 back home! Kharkiv during winter is very grey and gets dark around 3.30pm. Having to deal with the ICE, was extremely difficult for me and I will never understand how the local women get around in stilettos during winter when I have good snow boots & still manage to nearly break my leg!  Then to come into Spring in June when we get temperatures of plus 35!.... Some very unusual hot weather as the locals tell me, but at least I'm getting a bit of colour before I come back to the Melbourne winter.

I really didn't think that I would see anything in Ukraine other than Kharkiv due to the long winter & project schedule, but folks, Ukraine is quite a pretty place. Crimea is definitely a tourist spot and worth a visit. But even locally, in Spring, Kharkiv blooms with colour, and the sights of the countryside leading to Svyatogorsk were lovely.

I have learnt a lot about myself and how to deal with a range of emotions that I have been through. The hardest part has not being able to just pick up the phone and call family & friends (bit expensive). Three months at a time with not hearing familiar voices has been hard. On the up side, Mum has learnt to write e-mails! If there is a next time mum, we will do it via Skype (Mum, it allows you to talk via the computer but you need a camera and it was too difficult to set up within the short time before I left). I must admit, every time I turned on the computer, the first thing I did was check my mail for news from home and it really gave me a lift to get a just a little news. The weekly pics from Catnap Cattery were a comfort to me knowing my girls were in good hands and of course the little notes from friends were very encouraging. For all those that communicated with me over the 9 months..... thank you, you don't know how much it was appreciated. For those at home that encouraged me to take this opportunity, thank you for pushing me to take on this STA. I do not regret it at all.

Bob, John, Gayle
Thanks for the
support





Frank, my fish spa man!
& Up and coming LES
project team member

Mum







Dad







Eee & Lynda








OK... Now for the hard part...... To the people who have been my family for the last 9 months....... Every one of you has contributed to this incredible journey. Actually I like to call it a detour in my life’s journey (understand Sasha?). Being so far away from home was not easy, but definitely not demotivating!. Fortunately, I had an extremely good group of friends that were on the detour with me who made it fun and they are all special to me, inspired me and enriched my life. Obviously there are a lot of people that I met during my stay here, but the people mentioned below are the ones I saw the most.

For the folks back home and especially mum, here are my Ukraine family

Vlad
















Vlad joined the team in January & was a whiz with the training. Its been fun working with you Vlad, do you want to come out & do the training in Australia?

Yevgeniy











Your a funny dude!
Where are our scanners?????

Pierre-Andre















What a great experience it has been working on such a multi cultural, international project. We had lots of fun, and we got the job done. Pierre-Andre, its been a pleasure working with such a great team.

.
Iurii
















Iurii  was always thinking! I hope you get time after this project to finish your renovations my friend!

Felipe and Paola













Felipe joined us in January. When these two smile they light up the room! Such a lovely couple and great hosts. Felipe, it has been a pleasure working with you, keep up that enthusiasm & I hope we get the chance to work together again.


Sasha S.















This Sasha, unlike the tall Sasha, is very quiet and  just goes about his business.  Sasha, I know you found it very difficult to understand the Aussie accent, but I enjoyed your company & your funny ring tones. Cheers mate & I'll have a VB (Victoria Bitter - great Aussie beer) for you when I get back home!

Andrey

















Andrey is a true gentleman. He is loving, caring always thinking of others and very knowledgeable. Andrey, I cannot thank you enough for showing me your country. I know your life's journey will be filled with happiness. xm

Christina















Hey you, keep it quiet up stairs! Only kidding! Christina & I share an apartment  building, she has the one above me. It has been nice having another female STA on the project. We have had some great times as you have written on my Ukraine flag! I know I can always call you and visa versa for "business" and hopefully a tour of the German Plant in the not too distant future. Stay in touch neighbour. xm

Anya















Anya has been with me  even before I left Australia! We were communicating late at night Aussie time to get things organised for my arrival. Anya, I cannot thank you enough for organising a beautiful apartment, bank stuff, local contacts, plumbers etc.  When
your alone in a non English speaking county, you have to rely on those that you know that can help you. You have been that person and of course, a good friend! Your English is fine... we just need to keep talking so you get lots of practice. Fly that Aussie flag proudly and tell everyone that you had a little ray of sunshine with you for 9 months! Thanks mate & lets keep communicating . I will teach you some Aussie slang!  xm

   Inna

Inna is the woman who does a lot of running around for us behind the scenes. We often hear her name when we require assistance & I'm sure she does a lot more than we know. She is my Angel.  Inna has this knack of just appearing when help is needed, and boy, did I need some help on a few occasions. On that New Years day when I didn't know who to call, you came to me. I cannot thank you enough for coming over that night and getting me to the airport with VIP service the following Monday. Of course we also had some fun together, a bit of shopping, trips to the hairdresser, sauna's, dinners. You are a very caring person & have a lovely family. I thank you for your friendship and all your help over the last 9 months. Seriously think about a trip to Australia. I would love to have you over as my guest. Come and enjoy the laid back lifestyle, the warmth, great fishing and the beautiful tropical reefs. Please keep in touch via e-mail & I will look up the visa requirements for your visit to Australia. xm

Maryna, Maryna, Maryna

This lady, started off very shy and quiet and mostly speaking in Russian, translated into English through Iurii. Look how she has blossomed! Since Poland, Maryna has come out of her shell and now even tells Mishka off ! Maryna discovered "debriefing sessions" in Poland & we had so much fun there with Mishka as the blog suggests.  One thing you have to remember Maryna, you need to balance work and life commitments, you alone cannot do it all ! I know that your life will be filled with happiness.... always.... with cats & that one other special person! Let me know when the wedding is & I will come back to Ukraine to help youu celebrate! xm

Sasha

Sasha, your life’s journey has taken you on a detour as well. Go home to St Petes. and get back on track. You mean a lot to all of us, but only you can sort things out. You know what you need to do but be true to yourself denial will not help you.  I treasure the memories of our time together & I know that you will keep in touch with me as we have the rest of the seasons AFL Footy tips to complete. Dont pick Richmond!!!! I want to hear all those stories about how Sasha knows best, (how full of shit he is), what is useful and what is not. Don't disappoint your mum any more. I know you can find your way around this detour. As I watched you walk away from the VOLGA today 30th June, I saw a confident man, full of life and fun. This is how I will remember you.  xm

Masha (Princess)

Mashka, when I see you I think of the sun, always shining! You are young and have a great future ahead of you in whatever you choose to do. You are a very special friend to me and brighten my day when I see you. Trust your instincts, you are a rational person and this will see you on the right path on your journey, but don't try and over analyse things.... Your head will spin! I thank you for all your help & friendship during my time in Kharkiv. I hope you will continue to stay in contact so we can chew the fat & just chat about stuff!...... I am going to miss that smile and the cheerful outlook on life!  xm

 Dima

My VOLGA man! Every day without fail, Dima would turn up in the VOLGA to take me to work. Dima I cannot thank you enough for your friendship and for taking care of me during winter when I wasn't in the best of shape. You got those VOLGA's to drive through the ICE and snow to get to my apartment then walked me from the building to the car. Another very caring, thoughtful person. Set up that chair on your balcony for me when I come back so I can get that Kharkiv suntan! Keep those machines running and get your quality results up to Australian standards my friend. xm

Mishka the Criminalist and the Tourist

I think I can safely say that Mishka really does put a smile on  peoples faces when he walks into the room, but I have to be careful folks, his head is getting bigger !!!!!Mishka is everyones friend. He doesn't discriminate or judge. A down to earth bloke that knows how to conduct himself, (well most of the time... there were a couple of nights when........). Mishka. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for a fab time. You have been my main support during this detour. We didnt speak much about personal stuff, but I know that you knew how I felt and I knew how you felt. Like that look we gave each other coming back from Kharkiv airport after Poland! Sometimes you just get a bond and no words are needed. I have been impressed with your journalism in your blog although regularity was lacking and you did promise me an English blog. I now consider you proficient in the Russian language, especially after the journey to work in the VOLGA today ... nice little conversation with the driver as well as directing him to the factory... smart arse!  I will miss getting kicked underneath the desk at work and those funny little  Uh ha's and Mr Ed impersonations that you do. A visit to Poland for me will be a must for me, (hopefully not too distant future)  to see your smile again. However, if you get the time ... Australia is a great holiday place.... and bring a friend :-)) My best wishes to you in your journey. I know you will be successful in whatever you do. I am going to miss you terribly Mishka......xm

To all the people in the pictures above (and all others that shared some time with me in Kharkiv), I cannot thank you enough for the fun, adventures and interesting times we have shared. I sincerely hope this blog has reflected those times. It has been fun for me to pen my thoughts of the nine months and has even been a bit of an outlet for me. If I can I will get the blog into some sort of book format (might need my IS man for that.... Mishka), and send you all a copy (48 chapters... I think I beat you Mishka) . My thanks again to each and every one of you for your friendship. You are all welcome to come to Australia and visit. I would be proud to have you as my guests.

OK! Today is the 30th June,and the last few days has been very hard for all of us. I have noticed a few moments of quietness in the office just before people were getting ready to say goodbye  Christina (Germany)  left today, we have said our goodbyes to Sasha (Russia) who flys out at 6am tomorrow, Maryna (sweet Maryna) Andrey (last Sunday), Iurii, Vlad, but I didnt get to say a sweet goodbye to Dima, but I think last night at the farewell, we pretty much covered it off. Tonight I went out to dinner with Mishka and Mashka at Pivo Bar to say goodbye to Mishka (very hard to say good bye to a little brother). Tomorrow I say farewell to Pierre-Andre and Felipe at the airport, and of course Inna and Mashka hopefully will take me to the airport.  Everything has happened so fast over the past few days that when you are put on the spot and have to say farewell, more often than not, you just say nothing but hug each other. Needless to say, I will write an email to all of you expressing a few more feelings than you can write in a blog like this. I thank you all for your messages of support and friendship on the Ukraine, German, Russian and Polish flags. They will be displayed prominantly in the appropriate locations at home.

Phew! I glad I managed to get through that without any one seeing me! It is now time for me to close this chapter in my life and go home. As I type this, it is the 1st of July Thursday, & I fly out today from Kharkiv. The removalists have come and gone, the apartment is empty & clean apart from a suit case and carry on luggage. Inna is picking me up at 1pm as per usual & I am hoping that Mashka can join us, so I expect there will be more tears at the airport. My thoughts today are to get home, (4 planes and many hours. In fact, I will have have had 31 flights in 9 months by the time I get back on Saturday), to my family and friends in Australia. Apart from going to see mum and dad, one of the first things I will be doing is collecting my babies from Catnap Cattery! Sorry Jarom, you are going to have to let them go! They need to come home to their mum. I will be there on the 3rd of July to collect them.  To my mates at home, I will send a text when I get back to let you know I am alive, but do not expect me back at work immediately. I will take a couple of days off to get back into my third winter in a row.

Until next time....... (never good bye)

Farewell Kharkiv.......and good friends. You are and always will be a huge part of my life. 

  xm

Меррин

 

Party Party Party !!!

This is a strange place! Christina and I were doing a spot of retail therapy after 13 or 14 days of work without a day off, when I decided I needed some fruit & veg! Too far from Billa (the big supermarket) Christina suggest a little kiosk on Pushkinskya up from Mishka's apartment. I had seen it before, but being a kiosk (with the tiny window opening), its a lot harder to point to what you want, so I had never used it. I told Christina that I wanted tomatoes and apples, "no problem" she said. I can say those two words in Russian. Christina does the ordering and the lady behind the counter says something and lifts an abacus up to show us the amount!!! An Abacus!! Now I know this is mostly a cash society and not many places have cash registers, they usually use calculators, but an abacus in Ukraine!!  LOL! Christina and I just looked at each other & laughed!

Sasha has since said the use
of Abacus is common in Russia





Local sights that we are now use to....

The trams! Finally
got a pic!











They really look like they have been in an accident and the panel beater hasnt done a good job.



A tram that waters
the tracks.


Why?








Cause they have water to waste and it keeps people employed and keeps the dust down.

Kharkiv also cleans the streets every morning in spring and summer with water! The water truck sprays the dirt and dust up onto the footpaths at 5am then the council workers come out at 7am & sweep the dust from the footpaths onto the street !

The bus with no
open windows
and people
crammed in








Now..... Everyone thinks that we have lots of kreepy crawly snakes, spiders, sharkes & things, But look what I found at the enterance to the factory at Kharkiv........... and look at the pincers on this thing!!




He is about the size
of a packet of twenty's
cigarettes! Click on
the pics to enlarge





I put my ID badge on the ground to try and give you an estimate of the size of this thing. I also tried to goolge it but I couldnt find anything like it, not this size anyway! I was going to pick him up & put him on my shoulder...... but Eee, I thought better of it.... Im not that stupid!!!!

The pic doesnt do him
any justice, he was huge!



Australia V's Germany in the world cup! No more be said, but if Australia bows out, I will be supporting Germany as far as they can go! Sorry Mishka, no Poland to support. Here are some pics from the night in the pub that we went to. You will notice it wasnt busy!

 Pre dinner drinks

Friendly Rivalry 

 Not happy Mishka!











Ok, so we lost badly... very badly, but as I reminded Christina, we beat them in the Hockey! So we are even. Maybe we should watch the swimming next as we have a bit of rivarly in the pool as well. A fun night, but I think we finsihed at 1am in the morning & I had to be up at 4am !!!!  No wonder I am tired!!

Christina and I did a spot of walking last Sunday to Gorky park. It was a lovely day but we walked for ages & we were exhausted afterwards.

Monument from
the street

The enterance to
Gorky Park

Gorky park in
early Spring







And during winter











We are into the final countdown and parties are being organised left right and centre. We started last Tuesday night when on the way home from work, Mishka got word that Marsha and Anya were having a celebratory drink at Stargogod (pub), so we dropped in to meet them. A huge feast was had of good tasty meat and a few soothing ales. On the way home, I mentioned that my second ever half bottle of VODKA in my apartment needed to be finished before I left Ukraine, so Marsha and Mishka came back and helped me finish it! I honestly hate the stuff but totally understand why it is so popular here when it is -27 degrees! This weekend is huge! Starting Friday night, a bit of a get together at Dima's new apartment, followed by a trip to a restaurant to eat and watch Switzerland vs Honduras play in the world cup. Saturday is free to recover (I think... but you never know), then Sunday we are going to the country side for a BBQ, kick the footy and throw the boomerang, via Mini bus (so we can all drink), then Monday, we are going to Stargorod so the STA's can officially say farewell and thank you to our Ukraine friends. Tuesday night we have our official "GO LIVE" party hosted by Uncle Phil. Somewhere in between all this , I have to pack up the apartment, clean it and get organised to come home! From Wednesday.... we all start to go home ! :-(

Agh! Mad panic! Today, Friday 25th, 8.30 am I was informed that the movers would be here today to pack up all my stuff to send home! I was expecting them to come on the 29th June! First we all had to go to the bank to get all our money out (that took 3 hours) then the notiary office to get power of attorney for customs clearance of our goods. I got home around 3pm and madly started emptying my cupboards and tring to decide what to keep for the last few days. Its quite warm here so I need some summer clothes, but I need to take some winter clothes with me in my luggage for when I hit Melbourne. Its now 5.30 pm and the movers are in Christina's apartment & about to hit mine! What a day & I haven't eaten a thing all day!

Ok, 6.15 and the movers have gone! My life is in one box 79 kg. I hope it makes it back to Australia, getting out of Ukraine is almost as hard as getting in, with all sorts of paperwork required! The apartment is empty and not homely at all. My laptop and TV( in Russian and hardly works) are the only amusments I have.

Reality is setting in. I really to have to leave Ukraine and my friends...... I think it is going to be an emotional few days until the 1st of July. I almost had a moment in the notiary office today with Sasha and Michal, but I managed to suck it up & control myself........ after all the hard work of late, we are all so tired & I dont think it will take much to tip us over the edge emotionally.

This time next week, I will be one flight away (KL to Melbourne) from the land and people I love.

Final blog is nearly written! .... might squeeze on more in before I post the final one on July 1st.

The first female Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard...... well done.

xm

Summer in Kharkiv

Its Summer in Ukraine! Yep lovely and warm with an expected top of 36 degrees today.... That's PLUS 36 folks. I am in my element! Spring just vanished & Summer is here with a bang! The heat is very similar to Melbourne in summer. Unfortunately, We are working 7 days a week 24 hours to cover the factory hours, so we don't get to see much of the good weather! One thing I am a bit worried about is that I said at one point in time that if it ever got to + 35 in Kharkiv, I would run naked down Pushkinskya street.....Hmmm, I should have kept my mouth shut! It will be fun going home in the VOLGA tonight, In most of the VOLGA's you can't wind down the windows.... they either don't have handles or they just wont wind down!  And No... VOLGA's dont have air conditioning!  I logged onto the Herald Sun online today & I see that you have good snow in the Victorian ski fields for the start of the ski season!....Ugh.... I have to come back to the cold although maximum of +11 to +15 is not cold!!!


I want you to meet my new friend........

Do you recognise
the face?







This is the new
Sasha, with
very little
hair!




Wow, things are happening here. Removalists being organised...... very slowly...... bank accounts being converted to USD so we can withdraw $,  etc, etc.... but all very slowly and I'm wondering if I will get everything done in time, but Im sure it will fall into place as it did when I departed from Australia.

I am in two minds at the moment. I desperately want to come home to my family, friends and babies....  on the other hand,  I have developed some special bonds with  people that I will soon have to say goodbye to. This I am not looking forward to!  This period is especially hard as we have just gone live with the new software and we are all tired & a bit grumpy. I hope we can relax a bit on Sunday night when Australia play Germany in the world cup soccer, (Football for Gordon) match. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi......I think we are going to a pub in Freedom square to watch it, I might get another blog out of it.
 
My Angel (Inna) appeared the other day at PMU

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She was delivering something to Anya & while I was waiting for the VOLGA, we had a bit of a chat in broken English & Russian & she asked when I would have time to go somewhere with her? I suggested that maybe the last weekend I am in Ukraine, I would be free. I said somthing about not even being to Kiev yet, & she suggested she would drive me to Kiev! Wow, what an offer. Of course, it really depends on how work goes, but what a nice thought! I will let you know how the schedule is my friend & then we can make some definite plans

Anyway, we were chatting away & I had a bit of a coughing fit (still trying to get rid of the yucky aftermath of a cold) ! Ah, she said, your not well... & trots off to the back of her car. She comes back with bronchitis cough mixture, & special tea to also help with clearing bronchitis... her husband is CEO of a pharmaceutical company & she happened to have a whole lot of supplies in her boot!! So I now have something for the cough! Then she said, come back to my place for a swim! If only I had the energy.
 
I really hope we can do the Kiev trip as we really haven't seen much of Ukraine since being here because of the timing of the project  Kiev being the capital of Ukraine should be a treat to see and of course, what better  tour leader than Inna!!  

Finished my second jigsaw puzzle this week.... here tis!

 










Now I really have no excuses not to study! I have watched all my DVD's, many times over, I cant watch TV(only Foreighn language channels), I have nearly finished my last book, (the only other thing to read is the Lonely Planet guide to Eastern Europe), so I will have to get this assignmnet finished so I can submit it when I go home !

 Mishka &  Mashka

enjoying the Baileys

& helping me to

update the blog

header pics

Bye the way ... to all my Ukraine mates. I will be pulling down the Ukraine flag from the office wall soon. It needs to be decorated with your messages and signatures..... Very important to me that this task is completed so I can take the flag home and add it to my collection.. I will start moving the flag around soon. Please write a meaingful message using a permanentt black marker on it and then pass it to the next department, keep it in the third floor for now.. Inna, Andrey and Princess, I will get the flag to you somehow so you can write your message.

That all for now folks

xm

Snowing again in Kharkiv

G'day Readers.
Before you start reading the blog, please take some time to look at the updated header pics. Thanks to Mishka updating them for me, your the IS man that every one should have!

Yep.... Woke up this morning, looked out the window & it just looked like it was snowing ! But before I get to that, last week I went to the park beside Freedom Square  & as I was walking through the park, there was lots of what looked like cotton wool flying through the air. I looked up & some of the trees were dropping this cotton wool. It was thick & fluffy with little seeds. So this morning when I saw this "snow", I knew exactly where it was coming from.... the trees & unfortunately they are right outside my apartment! I can see the vacuum cleaner is going to get used alot until all this stuff drops! Goodness help those people who get hayfever during Spring, this stuff is everywhere. The other thing I have noticed is that this stuff is highly flammible, more so than dry Aussie bushland on a 45 degree day. I have seen locals put a flame to puddles of this stuff and it is just like gas burning! 

It really doesnt show the volume of the stuff, but it was quite thick!

I left my washing on the balcony with the

windows open. The snow made itself welcome !

Spring snow on the
streets of Kharkiv and
some more painted
trees!









Speaking of trees, the locals love their gardens and greenery second only to ice cream. The parks are all full of trees & now that spring has arrived, everyone is out planting annuals and making the public gardens bloom with colour.











What a difference a couple
of months make !My neighbours
verandah during winter & now


By the way, this is where
the big black dog lives
I cut the mans head off
but it was the dog I was
trying to capture. He is
huge, & the only exercise
he gets it a very slow
walk out to the kids
playground. Very sad!















On the way to work, there are a few fields where people plant their own vegetables for home consumption. Everything is done manually. They plough the ground, mark off their own little patches of soil and plant the seedlings. Speaking to one girl at work, this has been going on for about 10 years. Aparently life 10 years ago was a bit tough & so people began growing their own food. The tradition continues today & everyday, you see people out there tending to their plots. They walk from their village to the growing fields with all their tools and most of them look to be elderly. I guess at least they know the food is fresh and where it has come from & the soil looks quite healthy & very dark brown.


I meant to put this pic in last weeks blog.
Eee, this is a local "high speed" persuit car !




Hehehe... maybe they could use some of our Commodores !






A couple of the local churches










 






















I am seeing a lot more motorbikes / mopeds these days. However, here in Ukraine, you dont need a licence to ride them, nor do they wear helmets! Very dangerous & sort of reminds me of Malaysia a little bit. I have seen three people on one bike speeding though the traffic on the pot holed roads.  No one wears seat belts in cars either. I saw a 4x4 smash into a pole today, all airbags deployed, but someone hit the windscreen! Shows you the value of seat belts.


Opps... how did this beautiful baby get in the blog ?

My Middy

 

And yes the other baby, Bella
Thanks Catnap cattery, they look
happy and healthy & I cant
wait to have a cuddle on my
return.

















Andrey  ( Maryna's Andrey, picture, above, for mums sake) called me the other night & asked if I wanted go to Svyatogorsk where there were beautiful Monasteries set on chalk hills (Holy mountains). Still on the tail end of a cold, being run down & feeling zapped of energy I almost said no, but as Andrey said, the fresh county air will make me feel better ! So I accepted my first car trip out of Kharkiv! It was about a two hour (depending on the road surfaces) drive East of Kharkiv into the Donetsk region.














One thing I noticed immediately when we left the Kharkiv region, was that the roads surfaces improved immidiately once we crossed the boarder. They were like chalk and cheese & it was so nice not to have to ride the bumps! The countryside was relatively flat, a few hills but nothing like Crimea. Most of the fields had been recently ploughed and had seeds laid. One of the fields had sunflowers in it & Andrey said that in July it would be completely yellow. That would be a nice sight!

As Andrey promised, we arrived in Svyatogorsk in about two hours & there set in the hill behind the river was the monastary. There are three of them actually & the monks actually live there & maintain the chalk caves .The hills  are called Holy Mountains and a monastery was founded here in 1844. The monks discovered the ancient caves, continued the underground corridors and built cave churches there. Svyatogorsk monastery deteriorated in Soviet times. It was used as a coalminers’ sanatorium for 70 years. In 1992 all the buildings were returned to the church and the monastery was opened again. It became a Lavra (merited monastery) in 2003.

The rules are that if you are female, you must cover your head & if you are wearing trousers, you must also cover them. So the girls, Christina, Paola and I covered up. Men were walking around in singlet tops and shorts, but that didnt matter. !!!!!

 click on the pics to
enlarge them. The covered
walkway leads up from
the caves.






There are two ways to get up to the top. Via the road or via the caves. Yep thats right, there are chalk caves that you can travel through, but you have to book a tour and from the research I did after we got back, there are only two or three per day. We missed out, but I got a pic from my research.... later.


This is Artiom Monument















Artiom was a Communist party functionary Fiodor Sergeyev (1883-1921). He was the Prime-Minister of DKSR (Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Socialist Republic) in 1918-1920.
The huge monument was commissioned by the Prime Minister of the Ukrainian Socialist Republic Grigory Petrovsky and created by the Soviet sculptor Ivan Cavaleridze. This huge monument is a monolith designed in a cubism manner. Its height is 22 meters and along with the foundation its height comprises about 28 meters.

Christina and Andrey
overlooking the river
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
A little place by the river
where the hold baptism
ceremonies
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
Holy Assumption Cathederal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Cathedral of the Protecting
Veil of Mother of God
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
 
 
The colours were truely
magic














Ringing the bells











A pic of inside the caves
from research!

Church inside the caves










An old style church made of wood












Andrey & the Ukraine
countryside







The monestary at the top
great views










Me with my veil on!












You can see how it is
built into the chalk

Paola, Filepe, Christina
and Andrey








A great day in the Donetsk countryside! Thank you as always Andrey, for giving up your time to take us to this beautiful place. We really did appreciate it & hope that one day, we can return the favour.

Getting close to hometime! 33 days is all I have left.......

xm