Although I have been enjoying my time here, it has not been without problems - namely housing problems. The day before my trip to Sevastopol we were evicted from the apartment I had written about earlier. The landlady thought that there were three Ukrainian girls living in her flat. You can imagine her surprise when she came for an unannounced visit only to find Anita, the Polish intern, two extra beds and stuff belonging to men. The lady was yelling at Anita in Russian and generally flipping out. She was with her son and they were going through our things. They found Agi's passport on her bed and took it. Needless to say we were very upset and unimpressed with the situation. We packed our bags and left at 2am. Luckily Agi got her passport back.
Since what will henceforth be referred to as 'the incident' we have been homeless. The organization I am working through, aiesec, tried to find us another apartment. This was in fact not an apartment, but more of a pool house. When I saw it I tried to picture myself living there for two months and decided that I could not. It was very small, there was no refrigerator, and the toilet was outside. I had a hunch that this place was the first one that they found. I told them to keep looking.
Yesterday we finally found and moved into a suitable home! It has an indoor bathroom and the owner is very sweet. Moreover, she has met us and knows that we are six people from outside the country. There is even running hot water!!!
Here is the kitchen.
And here is the bathroom.
This is the main room, but it is also mine and May's bedroom.
This is Agi and Anita's room. There is a chair in the corner that folds out into a bed.
We drew straws to choose rooms and the boys won, so they have this room.
I am so grateful to finally have a permanent home. Moving around every few days from friend's home to friend's home was really irritating. Moreover, I am so pleased that I am not imposing on anyone anymore. Especially poor Eugene, who had all six of us in his one bedroom flat for a little while.
Last weekend I went to Sevastopol. Sevastopol is the largest city in Crimea. The city was formerly Russia's Black Sea Fleet base and today it is a shared navy base for Ukraine and Russia. Russia is able to use Sevastopol on loan, similar to British presence in Hong Kong. There is an on going dispute over who should permanently own the city though the current Ukrainian government does not wish to renew the lease to Russia.
To get to Sevastopol I took the train. The train was old fashioned and slow; it took almost two hours. Upon arrival in Sevastopol we set about being tourist. Here is Agi (Hungary), Anita (Poland) and Matthias (Germany) waiting to take the bus from our hotel to the city.
Our hotel was quite a distance from the city centre. We had two transportation options: a thirty minute bus ride around the bay or a ten minute boat ride across the bay. We took the boat! On our quick boat ride we saw many navy ships. The picture below on the right shows the Ukrainian (left) and Russian (right) flags.
Our boat ride brought us directly to the city centre to a square named after Crimea war hero, Admiral Nakihmov. We were greeted by some of Eugene's friends who were kind enough to be our tour guides for the day.
Because we arrived on a Saturday there were wedding parties everywhere. This phenomenon happens in Simferopol as well. When people are married here they are not married in a church, but rather in a civil ceremony. This is because according to the Orthodox church, once married, your souls are united forever. It seems people are not willing to take that risk and prefer to opt for a civil ceremony. Because of this, the administrative area of the city, usually located in the city centre, is always flooded with bridges and grooms on Friday and Saturday. Moreover, it is tradition to visit war monuments after the wedding ceremony and these are also primarily located in the city centre.
Sevastopol is full of war monuments because it was a strategic city for three wars: the Crimean War, WWI and WWII. The photo below on the right is part of a row of identical monuments that showcases cities which showed courage during the wars. The one I am standing next to says Sevastopol. We also watched the changing of the guards done by cadets.
After visiting the war monuments we took a stroll along the water front.
We eventually made our way to Balaklava, a part of Sevastopol which was home to a functioning nuclear submarine base until 1993. Below is a map of the base. The base is dug out from a mountain and is strong enough to withstand a nuclear holocaust. While functional, this base was top secret. Inside the base it was very cold and dark. It reminded me of something from a James Bond movie.
The picture below (left) is the area where they repaired submarines. This channel could only hold one submarine at a time. It took approximately one month to repair one submarine. Throughout the base there were several doors (below right). Each door weighed some ten tonnes.
This was once an entrance to a submarine; if functional, it would be vertical.
After visiting the base we took a boat to the main stretch of Balaklava. Below right is a picture of our boat driver. Below left is a picture from the boat. Do you see the towers on top of the hill? These were Italian look out towers. They are very old, though I forget which year they were constructed.
We walked up the hill to get a better view and see the towers.
Below is Balaklava. The mountain in the picture to the left of the water is the nuclear base.
Here is the Black Sea! I find the Black Sea very interesting. It can only sustain life in the top layer of water. The top layer does not mix with the deeper layer because they are different densities. I've asked a few people why the Black Sea is black and they've said that it is because the bottom layer is full of sulfur. However, I have yet to find this information in English on the internet.
During our second day of traveling around Sevastopol we decided to go to Chersonesos (I kept pronouncing it Hear-son-esque) to see ancient Greek ruins. While waiting for the bus I took the picture below. Crimea is well known for its wine and you see vineyards everywhere.
Here are the Greek ruins. They were beautiful! I didn't think that I would be able to touch them, but not only could I touch them, I could walk all over them too. It was very realistic, the complete opposite of a museum.
Here is a group shot of us on top of the ruins. Left to right: Ben (Germany), Matthias (Germany), Agi (Hungary), and me.
Among the ruins is St. Vladimir's Cathedral. The gazebo like structure that you see below is where Vladimir the Great was baptized Orthodox in 988 so that he could marry a Greek princess. This event marked the beginning of the Orthodox Church in what is today Russia and post-Soviet countries.
Here again is St. Vladimir's Cathedral. You may have wondered why in all my photographs I am wearing a scarf. I wore a scarf all weekend for two reasons: 1) I think my scarf is pretty, and 2) women must cover their heads if they wish to enter an Orthodox church. Because I had my scarf I could go inside, but I was unable to take photographs inside. The interior was stunning - a mix between Christian stories and figures and Islamic colors and details.
After a long day of traveling I bought a corn-on-the-cob, a common snack sold by old women on the streets, and sat by the Black Sea. I had a great time in Sevastopol!
The vast majority of my time in Ukraine is spent in Simferopol. I thought that I should write a post about how I pass my days here. Here goes!
The supermarket the you see below is called Cilpo and it has become my main reference point. It is a large grocery store and more or less dictates downtown's centre. If anyone wants to meet with me they must meet me at Cilpo, because I do not know where anything else is. It is also a convenient place because the major bus stops flank the store on either side.
Much of my day is spent chasing down stray animals. I never touch them because they are dirty, but I do oggle them from a safe distance. There are stray animals everywhere and I love them all! As you can see, so does Ben.
As per usual, I spend a lot of time eating. However, frequently what happens is that I cannot find utensils and I cannot ask for directions to the utensils...I think the picture explains my solution well enough. Every morning we get breakfast for free at a restaurant called Istanbul. I cannot fully explain how wonderful it is to have breakfast there every day. The picture below is a picture of breakfast made by Eugene. It's mashed potatoes, salted, dried fish and caviar. It was delicious! I had had to get used to eating dinner like things for breakfast, but now it's grown on me.
Because I do not have internet access at home I spend a ridiculous amount of time at cafes with wifi. Here we are at our favourite one. It's Russian name is something like Pudoff, but we called it Pirate Bay because of the decore. As I write this I am in a different internet cafe called 'F cafe'. Pirate Bay is a little like a dungeon, it's very dark, so I opted for a place with windows today.
And of course, I spend time exploring the city! Below is an ancient city.
Finally, for three hours a week I give sessions on soft business skills. Below are some of the students playing a game designed by Agi. The students are very sweet and eager to learn.
