Pet Peeves

There are a few things that irk us in Ukraine. Annoyances, mostly-nothing serious. But the other day, when Arun and I were discussing them- I realized it would probably make a good blog entry. Afterall, Arun's been here for 4 months, and I've just crossed my 3-month mark! So here they are- our list of top 5 Pet Peeves:

Inconsistent credit card acceptance (Honestly, it's very hit-or-miss with credit cards here. Even though all the grocery stores seem to accept credit cards, we'll run into resistance at random up-scale restaurants, or boutique stores. Sometimes they HAVE a machine- but it's 'broken.' OR, better yet, the salesperson hasn't been trained to use it. Either way- it is generally quite the cash-economy.)

Lack of smoke-free restaurants (There are smoking sections right next to "non-smoking" sections. So there's really no barrier, and the non-smoking section gets filled up with smoke regardless. OR, there's a non-smoking table, and they'll just remove the sign and convert it to a smoking-table depending on which patron walks in! We are just so tired of coming home with that nasty smell on our clothes!)

Restaurants and grocery stores inconsistently stocking items (Countless times, Arun and I will decide on our orders at a restaurant, only to be told that they don't have that item available. It's hard enough to choose items without meat, and then to be told it's not there! Argh! And it's the same at grocery stores. We'll pick up an item one week, and the chances of that same item being stocked the next week is a complete lottery! (Not basics- but things like peanut butter or lavash or a favorite sauce.)

Lack of Quality control (You may walk into a Nike store- but there's no guarantee that what you're getting isn't a knock-off from China. You might order food at a restaurant and get who-knows-how-old products with no qualms (Arun's friends get sick here all the time.) And you have to REALLY check the expiration dates on grocery items. It's not maliciousness on the part of store owners- it's just that as a consumer, you have to watch out for yourself!)

Movies being dubbed over in Russian (We have not been able to go to the movie theaters to watch the latest releases because they're all dubbed over in Russian! The same goes for dvd's and of course, everything that is on network tv. We're going to have a lot of catching up to do when we return to the States! It's a good thing for youtube!)