For Dan or the next one to follow.

Okay, this is not a whiner post, this is a “If you’re gonna come over here, be ready, accept it, be thankful and be happy” post. There’s a lot of stuff that is going to challenge you if you expect to have everything normal like you are in a hotel in the US or something. These are the things that have challenged us to be able to maintain our loving, Christ-like composure on the trip so far. It’s always the LITTLE things that get ya. Some are Jet Lag, Internet, Cell Phones, Air Conditioning and refrigeration, Dishes, Laundry, Power adapters, and sleeping arrangements.

Jet Lag:
Normally, I rebound from it quickly. On this adventure it was difficult. One reason was we had some time where we were at the apartment just waiting. I realize not, that waiting any time before 2-4 pm gave our bodies a chance to go into deep rest or sleep mode extending the adjustment period. I would recommend Tylenol PM at 8PM and a few No-Doze in the morning with tea (unless you like instant coffee or want to walk 3 blocks to the café and get an espresso. Force your body into the routine and fight letting it keep Virginia time. If not, go to bed and get up 7 hours early in Virginia for a week before you leave for Ukraine.

Internet:
If you are in Kiev, the apartment we stayed in had a high speed cable modem. I was able to access the internet, open my VPN tunnel and work using my office computer in Williamsburg. No trouble. If you use the USB modem Victor has, you’ll get good service in Keiv and Zap, but on the train or other places, no promises. It cannot handle a VPN connection, and for some reason, shortly after the VPN tunnel is created, the modem disconnects. You may get 20-60 seconds of access. If you can do your tasks in that time, you are in, if not you’ll need a better source.

Solid internet that can acquire and hold for VPN can be found in the apartment in Kiev, Ask Victor ahead of time to have the owner secure the modem ahead of time. He removed it before our second visit. If not, in Kiev – good luck. There are internet hot spots just about everywhere, but finding one that’s free, or where you can get the password can be difficult. The one at McDonalds tried for 10 minutes at a stretch to connect, but nadda. In Zap, Coffee Life is great, but take some earplugs and headsets or the music will make your head explode if your there long.

If you use the modem card, you’ll lose service 10-15 minutes after you least major cities and it will not come back until you near a city again. Don’t plan on any internet on the train.

Cell Phones:
They are all the same – NOT! Just tell Victor you want a good one with good coverage. The one we got was good, but about 4 days after we got it, it lost the network, had sim card failures, etc. It worked, but not always, and we had to keep checking it so we knew Victor could contact us.

Air Conditioning and refrigeration:
Not to much to say. US rule of thumb: apx 1 Ton/500 square feet, Ukraine, more like 1500 square feet. Sweat is the name of the game! The refrigerator is good enough. I made jello, but don’t expect an icy cold glass of milk. Let some air out of the bottles, freeze your water, and keep it in either the freeze or refrigerator. It will melt when you take it with you, as you need it.

Dishes:
Small glasses, shallow bowls, if you want a big gulp size cup, bring it. Don’t plan on frying an egg, just go ahead and super-glue one to the pan.

Laundry:
The machines are small, best guess for controls, they’re worn off, in Russian, or don’t matter because the control system is broken. Ask Victor to show you the detergent for automatic washers and not hand washing as there is a difference. Be sure they got a good spin dry, and then hang them up. Ukraine has discovered that hanging clothes up will cause them to dry, foolish Americans use machines for this. This is also why there are irons in every apartment… you gotta iron out the clothesline creases.

Power adapters:
Bring enough, or bring a power strip. We had a strip, but if you don’t, you have chargers for laptops, cameras, MP3s, etc. You’ll want to charge them all at the same time at one time or another.

Sleeping arrangements:
Typically the living room has AC with a pull out (not comfy) couch or a sofa. If ya get hot, deal with the non-comfy couch/soafa or hush.

That’s about it. You’ll learn other stuff, like take off your shoes when you come in, don’t walk where you can see AC condensate puddles, street names are on the sides of buildings, etc. If you want something unique, try the lard balls or lard roll on bread down the street from the borsht house… mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Oh yeah, your kid will love dried or raw fish… it’s a shocker. Finally, if nothing else, learn the phonetics for the Russian alphabet. You’d be surprised how many things in Russian and Ukraine are exactly the same as English (ie БигМак= Big Mac).

Have fun!