The Time Warp

We’ll start quickly by simply saying that most of our flight(s) were uneventful, save for about a 30 minute delay in Dusseldorf, Germany and some heavy turbulence somewhere between Dusseldorf and Kiev. We arrived on time in Germany, but our connecting flight was delayed due to weather. I wasn’t up to the “chick flicks” the airline played for on-board entertainment (understandably this has to be a “family show”) My entertainment was trying to ensure a German speaking flight attendant crew (coupled with nearly all German passengers) could speak English (and they could quite fluently), and that I would not stumble over my own tongue convincing them that my German was not good. (“Mein Deutsch ist nein gut.”) One of our German speaking friends, or our daughter will correct the spelling, although I have been told I have spoken it perfectly. Another story for another day.

Andy, Mari & Kelsey in Omaha

Mari and I made a command decision to pack our winter coats since that would be two less clumsy items to carry. The whole idea was to pack as light as possible (for winter in Ukraine) and carry as little as possible. It seemed like a good idea at the time and good ideas always looks good on paper. Little did we know we would be entering a time warp. I guess we had been advised, but one is never sure until they see it for themselves. A former co-worker put it as, “Don’t believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see.”

We have made the jump from what we know as the 21st century United States and discovered a whole new world in Kiev. Arriving at Kiev Boryspol airport is an adventure to itself. Boeing 737 jets lined up on the tarmac and buses shuttling people between the aircraft and the terminal. Even before jet ways, aircraft have been parked near a terminal so people could walk. Well fortunately for us, we had the bus. The temperature was a balmy 33 degrees F (+1C) and we were not about to walk what seemed to be a mile or so to the terminal with no coats.

Money well spent was the $130 VIP service at the airport… Nothing more than an express lane (read ‘Crew Only’) past the guards, inspectors and many, many disgruntled passengers waiting in line to be processed, and our airport tour guide led us directly to one of our facilitators, who promptly asked if we had coats (Yes, they’re packed in the check luggage – facilitator rolls eyes and laughs at us, then gives us a chance to get them out.) The packing of the coats? In our perspective it was a good idea after all, especially since we got them both in one suitcase.

Brad, why no pictures of the airport? I’m glad you asked… Nothing says ‘tourist’ (besides the fact that we are one-dimensional in the language arts (read ‘English speaking only’) and I am wearing sneakers) than having a dorky-looking passport holder and a digital camera bag dangling from your neck in a public place. Maybe as a last hurrah when we leave, I will take some.

Re-enter into the time warp… We are whisked away to the parking lot (which is packed), out into the middle of what appears to be nowhere and standing next to a VW mini-van with no driver. “Brad, can you break $100 bill, I need to pay the driver…” Great… I have an undisclosed amount of cash, mostly in $100 bills and you want change? Right… I did manage to find the necessary change and made the swap. Enter Sergei, a former history teacher at a University in Kiev about 15 years ago. “We have university, but no students, and no money to pay for heat… so I drive…” I have got to respect that. It appears to be a rather lucrative venture for him. And oh, by the way, gas here, from what I have gathered, is about 6 Hryvnia (Ukraine currency) per liter; somewhere around $4 a gallon. As we were carted from Boryspol airport to our hotel, I am amazed that Ukrainian drivers are quite skilled and courteous on the road; they manage to succeed in fitting four lanes of 40-50 MPH traffic on three lanes of road. They also do it without getting angry, frustrated, issuing hand gestures, and most importantly, no accidents, although there is an occasional obligatory honk of the horn.

Our view from Hotel Khreschatik

The history professor in Sergei comes out and he begins to point out items of interest and gives a quick synopsis of them, complete with approximate time periods. The city of Kiev dates back over 1000 years, many of the older structures are several hundred years old, and have weathered war, famine, disease, and other natural and man-made disasters. One can’t help but be in awe over things like that. As he drove, he also kept apologizing for his English not being very good. It is much better than any Russian/Ukrainian language that I have ever known, so he really has the advantage.

We have settled for the night in our hotel in Kiev, Ukraine. The view from the seventh floor for a down town hotel is actually pretty neat. A lot of well-lit beautiful architecture, both modern and not so modern blended well, so it is aesthetically pleasing. As for now, we are spent both physically and mentally after being up for nearly 20 hours. So, after a two hour playing of the “Chainsaw Symphony in D Minor” I am back on Central Standard time again; while Mari gets caught up on her sleep.

Please keep us in your thoughts as we prepare for our agency appointment on Friday and travel to Odessa this weekend. Tomorrow is another day and we will spend part of it exploring the blocks around our hotel in the down town area, trying not to look like one-dimensional tourists.