Skiing in the New Year!

After discussing a myriad of destination choices to celebrate the New Year [Lebanon, London, Portugal, Sicily, Cyprus...] we decided to do something different and celebrate in the Carpathian Mountains.

We're heading out to Lviv first. It's a beautiful city in the western part of Ukraine- bordering Poland. It was, in fact, part of Poland and then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is a very unique city. We've heard nothing but amazing things about Lviv, so we may have to return in the Spring or Summer- we'll see! We're then going to an amazing ski resort- the Bukovel Chalet for some skiing!

I am VERY excited.

Arun is VERY anxious.

Here's my last conversation with him:

"Look, once we get to Bukovel, just take some pictures of me on the slopes looking happy and make it seem like I know what I'm doing. Then I'm heading in- turning on the fireplace, getting myself some cocoa and relaxing. That's why I got a nice hotel. Because I'm going to be spending most of my time indoors...You can do all the skiing you want!"

Really- it's images of cocoa and chalets that helped me convince Arun in the first place- so he's owed that much.
If you want some more information: http://www.skibukovel.com/

[by the way- as a disclaimer- the picture up top is from the Bukovel website. I obviously did not take the picture since I haven't been yet- but don't you worry- many blog entries await my return!]

Anyway, to all of you-

HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!! SEE YOU IN 2009!

Ukraine Tidbits

Last Monday, one of my classes at the OLSC decided to do a potluck brunch. It’s the holidays, and the group comprises of adults- professional women. I was excited! I decided to skip breakfast and go straight to class expecting some nice biscuits or bread…maybe some fruit platters….Orange Juice…. Of course, I forgot that Ukrainians don’t really eat- so I ignored my grumbling stomach when I looked at the ‘spread’- a box of chocolate covered cherries, some chocolate chip cookies and tea. It was nice- but I was totally craving a nice American-style breakfast. Still- it was a lot of fun because after the official ‘class’ we ate and chatted and I learned a bunch of great tidbits about Ukraine that I hadn’t heard before:

• Apparently, there’s a huge underground economy. College professors accept bribes from students who want better grades on their exams. College deans accept bribes to enroll students. Police officers take bribes regularly to let go of speeding drivers. Doctors take bribes to facilitate and expedite health care. It’s a way of life.

• The tradition of gift-giving in the holiday season is the reverse of the way we do it in America. Over Christmas- there are no gifts given. Instead, there are presents over the New Year. And it seems that New Years is a much bigger celebration for Ukrainians [possibly vestigial from Anti-religion Soviet times.]
  
• There is a big competition between Odessa and Kiev. It's over which city is more cosmopolitan, warm, laid-back, gentile etc. People get quite animated over this.
  Finally- we had an interesting discussion about maternity leave.

It went something like this:

Me: So how much maternity leave do women get in Ukraine? In America, we get 3 months.

N: Oh, it is the same here!

Me: Really? That's surprising! Usually, the US is very low on benefits like that. Wow- so Ukraine only gives 3 months.... And it's tough on women because they're working until the last minute so they can save time for when the baby is born.

N: How much do you get after the baby is born in the US?

Me: Um. No- it's 3 months TOTAL.

N: What??! No, it's three months DURING the pregnancy. It's 3 Years after the baby is born!

Me: That's what I thought!!

N: Yes, and the government gives a sum of dollars for every baby that is born. And during the three months- the company does not give you any money.

Me: Well, yes, it's unpaid leave in the US as well. They don't give any money unless you get insurance.

N: Oh, but the government gives money right?

Me: No....

N: Well, here the company doesn't give you money... but the government does... of course.

Me: Yeah... of course.

Moldovan Sights

The sights along the road from Odessa to Chisinau were interesting. The road was this terrible bumpy mess that gave Lilia a headache. I'm sure Sasha was going crazy as well because he's an avid smoker, and we only took a couple of breaks along the 5 hour drive. I took these rest stops as an opportunity to photograph the countryside.

There is a clear, visceral difference between the standard of living in Ukraine versus Moldova. The homes slowly turned into shacks... the road got worse and worse... and the churches changed from Orthodox to Catholic Cathedrals.

When we got to Chisinau, there were a couple of things that shocked our Ukrainian friends. 1- the currency of Moldovan leis was equivalent to the Ukrainian gryvna. They were pretty disappointed! 2- the downtown was quite nice. There were a variety of stores, fancy hotels, and ethnic restaurants.

However, it was clear by the end of our 3-day visit that the downtown was really quite limited. It was maybe 10 square blocks of 'niceness' and we had pretty much covered ALL of it. More people spoke English in Chisinau- but perhaps because it is the capital of the country, and we were seeing the best and most educated. People were really, very kind and unpretentious.

One of the 'fun' things: their police cars. They were so hilariously old!

The main sights in the town included a gorgeous cathedral located in their main square, a beautiful park in their city center. There were statues of their leaders and numerous monuments.

More than anything, we enjoyed eating some meals with our friends. The first night, we had some local Moldovian fare. There was some polenta with sheep's milk cheese - this dish was called "Mamalyga". (The cheese was rather pungent, and I don't think I'll be ordering that dish again) We also had baked fish, and pork, calamari and potato fritters. All pretty decent stuff.

The next day, Arun and I had some sushi at a very fancy restaurant. Quite good.

And for dinner we had Italian. And that was the end of the eating marathon for me. I'm never having that ravioli again!

I'll end on a last couple of pictures from Chisinau: the Triumphal Arch and a sunset as we left Moldova and returned to Odessa.

Transnistria

Everyone who knows Arun, knows that he likes to visit odd places. His dream includes visiting North Korea, Syria, Kyrgyzstan. He wants to see rogue nations and see if media-representation is adequate- or spin. So of course he wanted to visit Transnistria when we went to Moldova. What is that, you ask? [I asked too] - it's an unrecognized territory that has succeeded from the rest of Moldova. It's on the Dnistr River and houses weapons and ammunition for Russia. It has it's own constitution, flag, national anthem, currency [see picture below/right] and government. They are protected by Russian 'peace-keepers' and the people feel more a part of Soviet society than Moldovan.

We researched crossing the 'border' into Transnistria. Turns out some people have some pretty harrowing stories of being hassled (taken into some back room while the border guards try to solicit bribes) and most people get sized up and wind up spending anywhere from 40-100 euros.

We decided to leave all our dollars in the hotel, and take only Moldovan leis with us. We negotiated a cab to take us there and back for about $30 [a decent amount for Moldovans] and headed out. It was about an hour and half drive to Tiraspol.

What winded up happening is that the border guard sized us up and decided our 'immigration tax' would be $10 each. So, of course, Arun tries to haggle, and the guard refused to budge [it is the holidays, afterall- he probably had some presents to buy] and we got off pretty easily.

Once across, Arun was practically giddy. Yes, there was a big statue of Lenin in front of their Parliament building. [see picture on the right]

Their president- Igor Smirnoff owns many of the country's businesses under the name "Sheriff" so there was Sheriff Supermarkets, Sheriff Gas Stations, Sheriff Fast Food everywhere. [see picture at left]

It was freezing cold, and I decided to take enough pictures to satiate Arun before finally convincing him to head for the car and back to Moldova.

It was a tiny little downtown, with just a handful of 'sights.' Most people gave us strange looks, because how many tourists do they really get?


So, some facts and impressions:

• People seemed about on par with the standard of living in the rest of Moldova.
• The currency was actually stronger in Transnistria than in the rest of Moldova.
• People looked more 'Russian' in their features. Moldovans, in general, look more like Romanians.
• There is no doubt Russian support and protection is the reason Transnistria is around.
• People celebrate the orthodox Christmas (not Dec. 25th) because Christmas trees and lighting were still being put up.
• There is a lot of hype about the city being 'frozen in time during the Soviet rule' but really, it did not feel any different than anywhere in Moldova.

Another Adventure!

Christmas in Moldova

Arun and I wound up spending Christmas in Moldova- completely unintentionally.

Arun was supposed to go to Moldova for visa-related work. He thought he would be in and out of Chisinau in a day. Instead, he wound up stuck there for four days because the 'machine' was broken at the embassy.

When he realized he would wind up spending Christmas alone, he decided to have me driven over to Chisinau by Sasha and accompanied by Lilia.

And all's well that ends well because:

Unlike Ukraine, Christmas in Moldova is celebrated on the 25th, so we wound up feeling the festive season and seeing all the amazing lights and fireworks.

• Also- Chisinau is considerably colder than Odessa, and so we awoke to a white Christmas. So that was rather joyous, and a welcome surprise.

Ultimately, Chisinau is a much smaller city. The currency was favorable, but prices more expensive than Ukraine. And after a bout of food poisoning I was very relieved to get out of Moldova. So while it was a nice Holiday, I am glad to be home in Ukraine again!

Chivalry? It still exists!

This is a very familiar scene for me in Odessa- It's a view inside the Marshrutka.

What never ceases to amaze me is the chivalry and consideration in the marshrutka. Just about every time I've been on, I've watched a teenager give up his seat for a lady. Young women give up their seats for the elderly. Everyone jumps up for a young mother. It's remarkable!

When it's crowded, people pass up gryvna to the driver and give way to allow easy access to the exit.

In restaurants, men help women with their coats and pull out their seats. Waitresses, in turn, hang the coats up and retrieve them when it's time to go. Service is attentive, but not overly doting.

Drivers flying full-speed will always stop (sometimes a screetching halt... but nonetheless) for pedestrians.

Even with the poor economy- I have NEVER heard of anyone being cheated in stores or while shopping. They quote an accurate price, always return your change [even though language barriers could be an easy excuse to misquote a price] and they are incredibly helpful.

"Cпасибо!" is always greeted with "Пожалуйста!"

Overall, I see a great deal of kindness and courtesy in this country- Bravo!

New Haircuts

So one of the things that is rather enjoyable here is the amazing hair salons. To be perfectly honest, the salon we went to is probably out of reach for most Ukrainians, but at Supercut prices, you can get the royal treatment here!

I LOVE my new haircut! But I always wonder why it is that you can never replicate the salon style at home?

Arun enjoyed his new 'do too. He says it's just nice to not be asked, "What number?" and then get the razor-treatment.

One general comment about Ukrainians- they're willing to eat bread for lunch, but they generally don't skimp on their appearance. Most Ukrainians have naturally dark hair, but the number of bleach-blondes around never ceases to amaze me. I mean- that takes money and effort to keep up!

The same goes for nails. Women here LOVE getting their nails done.

So between the pleather boots, the bleached hair and the manicures- no wonder there's no money left behind!

Money, Money, Money

So! Let's talk money!

The currency here is gryvna/hryvna... and let me tell you- there is MASSIVE devaluation going on in the country right now. When I first arrived in Ukraine in October, the exchange rate was about a dollar to 5.8 Gryvna ("грн." (hrn.))

Now- it's up to 8 hrn to $1!

The salaries aren't going up, nor are prices decreasing; so it's a very bad state for locals. For us, the exchange rate is very favorable and we've been rather shielded from the economic woes of the country. That's not to say that we don't feel its effects.

Let me illustrate-

In order to create stability- many goods are priced in dollars. For example- we pay our rent in US Dollars. We also pay our gym membership in dollars. So imagine our surprise when we went to the bank to withdraw dollars and they flat-out told us that there's a shortage of foreign currency and so there was none available for us to withdraw! A few more visits to banks and we were told the same story over and over until we were finally able to find a bank with some reserves.

So what's causing this economic turbulence?

Debt: Ukraine has been racking up billions of dollars of debt to Russia for natural gas. Putin's been threatening to cut off supplies to the country so the situation is not promising.

Exports: The Ukrainian economy is largely based on steel-wheat-and energy exports and 2 out of those 3 are not doing so well. Steel prices are plummeting and wheat is out-of-season.

Political instability: There is a tug-of-war between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko (rivals for the 2010 election) over policies such as whether or not to allow the Central Bank to repossess homes and cars to pay off debts.

Arun's been commenting on how visibly this economic downturn has been affecting Ukrainians. "They used to eat some borsch and variniki for lunch...... now they're just eating a piece of dry bread!" And for anyone who knows how much Arun loves to eat- you can imagine his empathy!

Health Care

Looks like this is my week of taking requests!

So, the health care system in Ukraine is, of course, a complex web.

The best hospital in Odessa is Intosana. However, there is such a severe lack of specialists, that Natalia, from my Odessa Language Studies Center told me that she was going to Kharkiv to seek an endocrinologist. Ex-pats generally wait until they return to the States or travel to Germany or England for care.

As for the general health of the country- here's a couple of statistics:

• Life Expectancy in Ukraine is about 5 years less than that of the US. It's about on par with Poland, Chile, Mexico or Hungary (which is between 70-72)

• Infant Mortality in Ukraine is about double that of the US. ie. 21 per 1000 live births.

However, there is no denying that healthcare is much more cost-effective than the US. Twenty times more cost-effective, in fact. The US spends about $20,000 per capita GDP.

Here, our friends talk about dentist-visits and minor procedures that shocked them because of the absurdly low cost.

A couple of last bits of info:

• The birth rate has been steadily surpassed by death rates; and with little migration into the country- the population of Ukraine is declining.

• Incidence of alcoholism is high in Ukraine- about 136 per 100,000. Drug abuse is also high- at about 7 per 100,000.

• It's also not surprising that the smoking prevalence in Ukraine is one of the highest in Europe at 53% (almost 3/4 of all men and 40% of women smoke)

It's not all bleak from a public health perspective- vaccinations and immunizations are high, obesity is relatively low and about 4 years ago, Ukraine opened its first School of Public Health in Kyiv.

Religion

I appreciate suggestions, and so today's topic is dedicated to Adriana! :)

Religion in Ukraine is rather fascinating. The dominant religion is Eastern Orthodox- but even this is split because there are two patriarchates: the Moscow and the Kiev. The Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church is also popular and there are also a million Roman Catholics in Ukraine!

All of this is rather surprising, since really, during Soviet times, religion was rather supressed. Based on observation, I would really say that the States is a much more conservative, religious country than Ukraine.

What is also interesting are the 'minority' religious practices in Ukraine. Protestant Christians comprise about 2% of the population and there is a Pentacostal presence as well.
There are 500,000 Muslims living in Ukraine and 100,000 Jews. In downtown Odessa, we have an Arabian Cultural Center- which really is a cover name for the large Mosque in city-center and there is also a large synagogue as well.

Finally, believe it or not, there are Hare Krishnas in Ukraine! We know, because I've run into them twice! Once in Kiev, a lady kept chanting 'hare krishna' to me, and I couldn't understand her! I finally realized what she was saying (it sounded like hiyee kchna) and noticed the fact she was wearing a sari and had jappa beads. It was rather exciting.

Here, in Odessa, Arun and I actually sought out the ISKCON temple. This was harder than you think because they recently moved from their downtown location to a distant area called Sukhiya Laiman (literal translation- dry lake.) We called the Kiev temple and asked for directions- then explained to the gypsy-taxi driver in my Russian where we wanted to go... He got us to the vicinity and then got confused so we had to call the Kiev temple and put our driver on with them. Anyway, we finally got there!

Once there, we sat, listening to the lecture on Srila Prabhupad (in Russian) and realized we should probably just pray and leave quickly. It was interesting, however, to see Ukrainians keeping the religion going! They were decked out in saris and the whole thing was pretty surreal.

I'll end the topic with some rather random bit of trivia- did you know that the in Ukraine, the tradition of painting eggs (pysanky) dates back to pre-Christianity? So the origin of Easter Eggs can certainly be considered to be in Ukraine!

Secondly- did you know that Christmas, in Ukraine is celebrated on January 7th? Yup- it's celebrated AFTER New Years!
[It's according to the Gregorian calendar]

So it's only been recently that we've seen lights and trees and santas come out! I will also venture to say that the holiday is a LOT less commercialized here.
Tis the season!

Azerbaijan: The joy

The joy of Azerbaijan wasn't the magnificent architecture nor the food nor the beautiful Caspian shoreline. It was truly, the people.

Everyone we met was so kind and hospitable that both Arun and I were deeply saddened to leave the country. Our driver who took us to Qobustan insisted that we keep his cellphone number for our next visit to Baki. He chatted with us for the entire 4 hours we spent on our roadtrip. He was so eager to show off his country, and was very excited to talk about old Indian films with us.

(Incidently, for pictures of Qobustan and our extended photo album: Go to http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=frzy7ll.71q1c0hl&x=0&y=-y5f2ge&localeid=en_US )

When we changed from the Sheridan to another hotel (Saturday was on our own buck!) the hotel owner was so apologetic about the fumes from his newly varnished hardwood floors that he immediately booked us another hotel. He even escorted us over and carried our luggage! He also insisted that the next time we visit Baki, that we stay at Noah's Ark Hotel, and you know what? We totally will!

Most of all, we absolutely adore our friends. Idamir hooked us up with an amazing guide at the museums he took us to. He also took us to an AMAZING Azeri restaurant and kept the food and drinks flowing all night! We had appetizers-galore: yougurt, cheese, pomegranate, bread... and a whole bunch of other stuff that I loved and Arun didn't want to 'fill-up' on. Then of course came the traditional 'Sadz' which is grilled eggplants, tomatos, chillis and chicken and lamb on a huge platter. It comes with lavash and it was GOOD!

We ordered an extra round of fish kabobs and chicken kabobs and ate till we were stuffed silly. And again- the best part was the company! We had such great conversation with Kevin and Derrick and Idamir that HOURS flitted away.

And, of course, we had Anoosh; whose recommendations Arun completely ignored. If Anoosh told Arun to stay away from a restaurant- well, Arun was sure to go and say it was the BEST meal ever. It was all good ribbing and we had an absolute blast with him at a Lebanese restaurant that served 22 courses (ridiculous! and good!) and at a great Georgian restaurant.

Not enough can be said about Anoosh and all our friends in Baki! We had an absolute blast!

Azerbajan: Baki Sights

Arun and I had most of Friday to take in the sights of Baki and so we did a whirlwind tour of the city. Arun and I really enjoyed the National History Museum and the mansion/residence of Taghiyev who was an oil baron in the late 19th and early 20th century. He is considered the Father of the Nation because of his immense contributions to the country- the first to build a water pipeline, open a women's college, donate his own property for the construction of a theater and he funded horticulture research.
When the Bolsheviks came into power, they seized his property and 'allowed' him to live in his summer home. After his death, his summer home was seized and his wife and children died in poverty in the streets of Soviet Azerbaijan. It's a source of quite a bit of National indignation and our friend Idamir (remember him!?) filled us in on a lot of the sad history.

I did see a wonderful art museum that was the State Museum of Azerbaijan. There were some beautiful miniature paintings and some illustrated manuscripts. I also took in a carpet museum that had exhibits of khilims and rugs from all the different regions in the country.

Of course, we had to go up the Maiden Tower. One of the legends regarding the Maiden Tower is that it is so named for the young woman who threw herself off the tower to resist the advances of the King (her father!).

And we saw the Shirvanshah Palace which is an ancient 15th century structure that is a UNESCO heritate site. This was during the Persian rule of Baki and we toured the divankhana (public meeting area) the palace mosque, the private bath house (hamam) and the mausoleum of the Shah's family. There was beautifully-cut stonework lattices and intricate porticos.

One of the questions I have received about Baki is the place of religion in the country. Yes, it is primarily Islamic (almost 94% of the population, with the vast majority being Shia.) During Soviet rule, the property of the Jewish population was seized and the country was largely secular. Due to this, most citizens can not read the Koran in Arabic, and it is rare to see head-coverings or burquas. The country has had a revived sense of religion since Independence. The current administration has encouraged the restoration of synagogues and locals told us that people are embracing Islam slowly. However, the Soviet history still lingers, and drinking is commonplace and eating pork is not rare. I'll end this 'edition' with a couple of last pictures from the Old City.

Azerbaijan: Baki At Night

There is something absolutely magical about Baki in the evening.

I think the gorgeous lighting brought out the beauty of the architecture and I had a great time capturing the city in the evening. It did take some patience to get the right exposure and I really wish I had a tripod, but I think these photos do a bit of justice.

The picture up top is the Nizami Museum of Literature, which much to my dismay, was under construction so I was not able to see it :( You can see the mosaic tilework and the the statues of Azerbaijani writers. The namesake of the museum- Nizami was the poet who authored Leila and Majnun (a Persian romantic tale to rival Romeo and Juliet.)

To the left is some intricate stone lattice-work of a government building. This type of work is found all over the city for railings and windows or partitions and is usually made of either marble or sandstone. The government of Azerbaijan has made quite an investment in its downtown. The cobblestoned walkways and the lights on all the buildings shows an eagerness to entice tourists!

To the right is a mosque that Arun just HAD to stop by the roadside to see. It was neat to capture the moon by the minaret.

The city definitely quieted down in the evenings. It's a conservative country, afterall. You really did not see a lot of people milling about late at night (except for drunk Brits singing loudly as they exited pubs.)

However, the downtown was entirely safe, and Arun was pretty happy because there weren't any stray cats or dogs! I'll end this entry with a couple more night-shots.

Azerbaijan

Arun needed to be in Azerbaijan for work, and it turned into a great opportunity to see an incredibly unique country. The flight we took was miserable since it arrived into Baki at 5:30 in the morning. By the time we got to the hotel we were exhausted (and Arun was supposed to be at work that very day.) The one great thing, however, is that early morning lighting is a photographer's dream and I was able to take some great shots from our hotel window. You can see the Caspian Sea and the gorgeous scenary.

We learned a lot about the unique history in Azerbaijan. They have had so many influences- at one point under Alexander the Great... then briefly Mongolian rule... then came the Turks followed by the Iranians and of course most recently Soviet rule until their Independence in 1991. The architecture, the people, the language and the food all reflect these myriad influences. For instance- their language used to be written in Arabic script but Azeri words. Now their language is most similar to Turkish and they utilize Latin script.

The food we found there was Turkish-Arabic-Georgian-and pretty much everything in between. Their entire economy seems to be based off of the abundance of oil and natural gas in the country and BP has an enormous presence. This means an enormous number of British ex-pats and so, of course, we found great Indian food as well! (Arun's eating some GREAT chicken pakoras and lassi.)

One of the more shocking things we learned is that the Azeri Monat is worth more than the US dollar. It was surprisingly expensive in Azerbaijan, and it made me appreciate how affordable Ukraine is relatively speaking!

Of the 4 million people in the country, 2 million live in Baki and there has been a large influx from the countryside into Baki for livelihood opportunities.

The first thing to see in Baki is the Old City. It is surrounded by walls that date back to the 12th Century and one of the most important landmarks of the city is the Maiden Tower. I got to do a lot more sightseeing than Arun who was hard at work, but I tried not to make him too jealous!

That's it for now, I will be adding more blog entries about Azerbaijan, and for those of you who have been missing my Kodakgallery editions, I'll be sending a link out soon (and I'll post it here as well!)