On Friday I moved to a new apartment. I am sharing this apartment with four other people, May from Australia, Agi (Agnes) from Hungary, Anita from Poland and Mathias from Germany. Anita arrives in a few days, but so far we seem to be getting along alright. Here are pictures of the apartment. In all honesty, it's quite comfortable, maybe a little crowded. But I have definitely seen students in Canada live in far worse conditions. However, the apartment does have some rather unique features, such as a natural gas stove that you must light with a match, a radio from the USSR, no hot water (we're working on it), and at least a dozen floor and wall paper patterns.
When you first walk into the apartment there is an area to hang your coats and place your shoes. Immediately to the right of the entrace way are two doors, one for the toilet and one for the bathroom.
After the washrooms comes the kitchen. Here are May and Agi preparing lunch. I'm very happy to have a kitchen again.
Next to the kitchen isi mine and Agi's bedroom. We have yet to move her bed into the room. She arrived only yesterday.
There is a common area, but it's also a bedroom. Being the only guy, Mathias gets to sleep here.
This is the remaining bedroom. It belongs to Anita and May.
Just outside of this room there is a small, enclosed deck. This is where we can hang laundry to dry. Doing laundry is a bit of an ordeal. We were told that our apartment would have a washing machine. As it turns out, it isn't so much a washing machine as a vibrating bucket. I used the washing machine (I use the term loosely) and it seems to do the trick. I noticed that most other apartments have clothes lines just outside the windows, but ours is broken so our clothes take longer to dry because they are not in the sunlight. Clothes take two days to dry.
Now that more interns have arrived we've started getting to work. Monday is the official debut of Skills Matter and we will begin our presentations this week.
Since my arrival I have been babysat, an arrangement for which I am very grateful. Being unable to speak or read has rendered me essentially useless. This is usually exacerbated by the fact that I do not look foreign. If I don't speak, people assume that I am Russian, start speaking to me in Russian and then discover that I can very poorly say about a dozen words - only one of which is a swear word. For example, yesterday I was working at a promotion table for Skills Matter and a man asked in Russian if he could borrow a pen. I understood what he meant because he pointed at the pen and I just nodded. When he returned the pen I said spa-si-ba (thank you). He replied in Russian a long sentence from which I understood only niyet pro-russ-ki (not Russian). I shook my head, said Canada, he smiled, said something else in Russian then left.
I also am not particularly good at navigating the city or buses because I cannot read. I know a few landmarks and I know that if I take bus #104 I have to say na-as-ta-nov-kiyeh (next stop) pa-ja-ros-ta (please) about a block after I pass the train station. To make matters more difficult, chain restaurants which I usually use as landmarks, such as Starbucks, are non-existant. All the cafes and restaurants are small and do not make good references.
Luckily I have many people who babysit me. They read me the menu at restaurants (see below a picture of us at a restaurant that also serves hashish). They see me on and off the bus, often going out of their way riding it with me to my stop. They help me familiarize myself with the city and they make sure I get to work on time. And since I've caught a cold, they've been giving me grandmotherly remedies such as lemon slices and honey (you eat the entire lemon, including peel), spiced hot wine, Crimean cherry jam, and lots of tea.
They also take me on a variety of excursions. From Eugene showing me around the city, to Olia taking me to Yalta, to my assigned 'buddy' Iliya showing May and I around a university campus. (see below)
But most of all I cannot overlook my host, Eugene (see below Eugene and Yulia). He is so kind to me. He's a very good cook and has made me very welcome in his home. (see below the exterior of his apartment building) One evening I came home and he was out, and I noticed some dishes in the sink, so I did the dishes. When he came back, he told me I was not supposed to do the dishes. The next morning he made me breakfast and I got up to put my dishes in the sink and he said 'stop!'. I sat back down, he got up put my dishes in the sink and then told me I could go. And he doesn't just treat me like this, he does this for all his friends who frequently drop by to visit.
This weekend Olia took May, the Australian intern, and I to her grandmother's house in Yalta. Yalta means coast in Russian which is appropriate because Yalta is a city directly on the Black Sea. (see below)
Olia's Grandmother (Babushka) is a very sweet lady. She was constantly feeding us and she left out old fashioned night gowns for May and I. (see below) We thought they were pretty great!
Babushka's apartment was very near the water. Below is a view from the guest bedroom window.
We started off our Yalta adventure with a trip to Massandra Winery for a taste testing. (see below) Massandra is one of the two most famous wineries in Crimea. The wine is very good, but incredibly sweet! We tried eight different types of wine ranging from dry to sweet; by wine number four my eyes were watering. The wine is similar to our dessert wine or an ice wine rather than our dinner wines. And in case you were wondering, yes I bought a bottle to bring home.
After we were nice and sauced...I mean, completely sober...we went to downtown Yalta to catch a boat to Sparrow's Nest, a small castle built on a cliff. But before we made it to the boat we encountered something that only pictures can describe. Here they are! These photos also show a nice view of the main stretch of Yalta.
We boarded the boat with many other tourists. We sat at the very back of the boat. Meanwhile, from the deck above, people began throw little fish to the seagulls. The seagulls were hovering directly above us, and we were in their line of fire. Needless to say, we ducked. (see below)
We arrived at Sparrow's Nest seagull poop free! Sparrow's Nest (see below) was built in the early 1920's by an oil tycoon. Today it is a restaurant, a tourist destination, and one of Crimea's most recognized structures. To reach Sparrow's Nest we had to go up some stairs. On our way up we were accosted by two men each holding a giant golden eagle. They wanted to charge you 20 hyrivnas for a picture with the eagles. The men were quite pushy and really wanted to draw you in so you'd take a picture with the eagles. To make a long story short, I did not pay for a picture, but I got to pet an eagle. The men also invited May, Olia and I to have champagne with them. We did not take them up on the offer.
The next day we went to a castle that belonged to a count who was a good friend of the tsar. Unfortunately I forget his name, but his castle was beautiful. I took a tour, but it was in Russian so Olia translated. The most important thing to know is that the castle is very expensive and so is everything in it. This castle is also a symbol associated with Crimea.
Below is Olia by a bust of Catherine the Great.
Below is a picture of a fountain in the grand hall that was used to chill champagne.
After a long weekend of playing tourist, we went to a local market and bought sweets. (below May and Olia eating a kind of crepe like pastry rolled into a cigar shape with reduced condensed milk) I'm not sure if a sweet tooth exists everywhere in Ukraine, but it certainly does in Crimea. Everyone has a ready supply of sweets and baked goods. They rarely drink tea without a cookie and dessert is served regularly throughout the day.
