Two Dollars A Day

Photos and thoughts from the past and present and dreams about the future.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

View of Budapest (Pest) from Funicular

Despite the lengthy medical application to get into Peace Corps, where you are asked whether or not you get winded after climbing three flights of stairs with heavy groceries, sometimes Volunteers are just plain lazy. We opted to take the funicular up to Castle Hill, explaining that the "view" would be better. And it was, I'd say.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

The Budapest Opera House

This is where we went to see Othello!

Monday, September 18, 2006

The Chain Bridge

Just another beautiful day in Budapest.

Ah.... Budapest at Night

Here is a view of the castle across the Danube, taken I believe from our hotel window. Every night before we went to sleep, this is the view we had. It was even more beautiful in the morning when the sun was just coming up.

Looking Forward


In Budapest there is a Statue Park located outside of the city where they placed all their Socialist statues with many socialist heroes.

Here I am, standing next to some Communist leader who is asking us to look into the future where we can expect to see millions of workers united, living in a world of equality. I am straining to look into the distance, but I see.... nothing....

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Ah....The Long Lost Days of Training....

I have been long waiting for the ability to freely post photos on the blog again, even if it is a bit time consuming. With internet a mere 1.50 greeven an hour after midnight, it's a bargain! Even if I do have to wait some ungodly amount of time for it to post.

Anyway, this excites me more about getting myself up to visit one of the girls I went to Budapest with, so that I can share the city's beauty with all of you (ok, well, I guess just Ed! :) )

So this is a photo from the day I arrived in Ukraine nearly a year ago now, October 3rd, 2005.

Okay, so I'm kidding about that--it didn't snow in October! It was taken the day that we left our training town, K-- in December and headed back to Prolisok to be sworn in as real live Peace Corps Volunteers. As I have been reaching my anniversary here in Ukraine, it has made me a bit contemplative about how I've changed, not solely from my life prior to Ukraine, but actually here in country, and some of them are astonishing. The person in the picture could not have imagined some of the changes that have taken place since then, but it's been quite the experience, and I think (hope) that it's all been for the better.

So that's a bit too self-reflective, isn't it? But that's what happens when I have to stay up so late to use the internet at half price and faster service!

An Unusual Occurance

It's not unusual to see Americans in N---, well American men, since my town does boast marriage and dating agencies/services. But what is unusual is to see Americans in places outside of Sovietskaya-our main drag-let alone on a marshtrutka!

On my way to English club a few weeks ago, I saw a woman advance to get on the marshtrutka I was on. When she saw there was no room, she turned to her companion behind her and said, "standing ok?" When he got on I eyed him up and down, as the marshtrutka took off he lost his balance, no uncommon for those unaccustomed to traveling in crowded vans. He then attempted to pay the driver, which is sometimes the case, but nearly all the people seated in the front (myself included) pointed to the young man with a fanny pack, typically the dead give away that the driver has someone collecting the money for him. Then there was the way that he said "thank you" in Russian, unpracticed and not too far from how I say it, I imagine.

I grinned my widest smile and laughed. It is the first time in Ukraine something like that had ever happened, so as we got to my stop, I turned and said "have a great day!" and descended the marshtrutka which quickly whizzed away with the other native English speaker inside (I mean, he actually could be Canadian, I guess.)

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Houston, We Have Lift Off!

In what may or may not be a giant step for man kind, I now have internet in my apartment.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Ask Not What Your Peace Corps Volunteer Can Do for you, but what You Can Do for Your Peace Corps Volunteer

I know that you must sit beind the wheel of your air conditioned/heated car/truck/SUV/Jeep/luxury vehicle every day on the way to/from work/the gym/school/the grocery store/the movies/dry cleaners/fast food drive/ethnic restaurant of your choice/church/a loved one's home and ponder what exactly can you do for your PCV?

I know it has been taxing you as of late--but I have an answer for you!

Send me American music! C'mon burn some cd's in the name of sharing our proud musical heritage!

When I left for Ukraine I was not asking myself the proper questions, such as, "how will I share my culture with others who have never met an American before?" No. I was selfish. I thought- "I know Russian pop music is crap (with relatively few exceptions) so I can only imagine that Ukrainian pop will be worse. Better get as much Sting/Duran Duran/Morrissey/the Clash/The Police/Blur/Bowie on my I-pod as possible."

Did you notice something music fans? Yes, not only do I have questionable taste in music, but none of those "artists" are American!

Now, since I am teaching 3 American Culture courses this semester, I'd really like to offer one "fun" class on uniquely American music, like jazz, gospel, folk, country, and of cousre some Elvis, Bruce, and even some older rap. Also, I would love to have some tunes with social messages from the 60s and 70s, like protest songs. (Please remember though, Joni Mitchell is North American, not really American!) . Christmas music would be great for a class I will do during the week of Thanksgiving about both holidays--their traditions and histories (but I would need those songs a few weeks earlier).

Also, any suggestions that you'd have would be great! I want to do this class at the end of the semester, so if you are interested in sending stuff out, it would have to be by early November, which I will also note, is my birthday month, and I'll have been here well over a year by then.

I thank you. Your country thanks you, and Ukraine thanks you.

*please note that whenever I want something from now on I will be using this title. My apologies to JFK.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Thanks D-Notice!

You've Been Memed

Thanks for that www.d-notice.blogspot.
So here is what you do:
  • Post six weird facts/habits about yourself. These cannot be used against you later on.

  • At the bottom name the six people you will tag next.

  • Leave them a comment to let them know they’ve been tagged and to read your blog.

So I am now to compose "6 weird facts/habits" I possess which can not be used against me. Hmm. Sounds like fun, right? I hope you think so, Chandra, B, Eric, and Cassie.
(sorryI don't really know a lot of people with blogs, 4 will have to do.)

Well, let's just get this over with.

1. I still like to play dress up. How else is one to pass a rainy Sunday? At home it was ball gowns and vintage dresses. Here it is buisness dresses and professional garb. Kinda ho-hum, but I do what I can.

2. I have a rather perverse sense of humor. For instance, I wanted to take pictures of my puss-filled blistering feet and post them, because I'd get a sick laugh out of it. But my digital camera has been broken since Yalta.

3. I enjoy reading celebrity gossip mags. I know that stuff rots your brain, but I suppose this just in some ways goes back to #2. So if you have old ones around, forget about taking them to the dentists office. Send them to me. Besides, I can bring them to class and make use of photos and articles.

4. I collect tea towels. If that is not the lamest thing in the world to collect, I beg you to tell me what is. Now, before you get excited and send me your dead Aunt Minnie's collection, I only collect certain types of tea towels-those souvenir-ee ones of places I've lived. I've sought long and hard on e-bay for these and my collection is near complete. Only need NY state and now Ukraine. Oh, and I did like a Norway one so much I bought it, but I put it in the bathroom.

5. I have an obscenely bad stomach, so bathroom talk comes extremely easy for me and surprises most people, even those with similar afflications and turns off more refined individuals. Seriously though, what choice does one really have if you never know when it's gonna hit--where you're gonna be--or who you're gonna be with? This could also explain #2.

6. I always go for the cheap laugh, which means making fun of your ex-boyfriends and girlfriends. In my classroom here it means speaking in Russian. It never fails to make the room laugh out loud.

And there you have it.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

The Visitor

Earlier this week a volunteer stopped by for a discussion about whether or not they should stay in Ukraine. They had texted days earlier wondering if a "meeting" could be arranged.

They ended up coming here briefly and brought with them a special guest--a tiny black street kitten. Upon seeing the creature, I knew they weren't going anywhere and I was happy for the divine intervention of sorts. The little guy was really cute and very affectionate. His name had not been decided, so I made it my mission to dub the little fella since I had failed at giving a winning name for my friends newborn son (what is wrong with Sergei?). As the owner was illustrating to me the latest fashion of Oslo, I looked at the little black lump on their tummy and thought-"Yes!"-Oslo! They pondered it for more than a moment and I knew I was on to something. After an hour or so, I further drove the name in as I suggested that they could also call him "Meowslo." How could anyone resist?

It was believed that the lil guy should have a say, so names where written down and crumpled as we watched for him to make his move. He chose Buck several times. Hmm. Taking matters into their own hands, the owner tried again until Oslo was selected. And it seems that Oslo will stick.

After they took off I quite missed little Meowslo. I later talked on the phone with the owner who encouraged me to find one of my own.

I have been seriously considering it, as the owner pointed out, day-to-day life is better with a living creature and it will make up for the hassles of figuring out what do when on vacation. Things like kitty passports do exist, so it would be possible to take a cat home, if need be, but the question would be, "home to where?"

So I'm weighing the options and looking for other opinions. As the winter creeps closer and the semester settles in the idea becomes more appealing but would it be fair to get a pet while I would easily be gone one third of the year? Can you all tell me what you think?

Friday, September 01, 2006

Happy Day of Knowledge!

Today is September 1rst, the Day of Knowledge here in Ukraine. Celebrations take place in all institutions of learning with songs, poems, and a symbolic exchange between the newest students and the oldest. They get some sort of "student ticket" and a key.

My university decided to have a concert at the Palace of Culture and had a variety show of sorts. There were boy bands, break dancers, little girls singing songs, bike stunts, dudes dancing to Michael Jackson, and comic routines. Yup. I couldn't understand squat, but picked up a great racist joke about Moldovans! Yay!

So, for all of you who teach or learn for a living, today is your day, your spraznikom as they say. So enjoy yourself before you gotta open up your books!

Top Eats in Budapest (In no particular Order) or The last of the Budapest Entries Until I can post some photographs

When people travel--they often look to exerience the culture. One easy way of doing that is by food. We, however, after 10 months of being in Ukraine, were less concered about ghoulash as we were about CHOICE, something that is nearly impossible in our daily lives. Our decisions about where to eat definitely were dictated by what we were unable to get in Ukraine. Hence--

1. Pizza Hut-vegetable pizza. Tasty and the waiter spoke great English. This is the first place we ate after getting off the train and before getting to the hotel.

2. Burger King-whopper and onion rings. You can not imagine how much I have missed the BK.

So, having fulfilled the American urges we were ready to experiment.

3. Rick's (or Casablanca, or some similarly tacky name)-asparagus soup and salad. Attempt at "authentic" food gone bad as noticed entire staff speaking strangely familiar language without Ukrainian accent. Decorated tackily (perhaps a notable second giveaway). Bald man playing casio keyboard and singing. Hmm.. Well, it was past 1 am. But the completely unforgivable was the green caterpillar in my salad. Yes. Climbing on the edge of a cucumber he was camouflaged so well I almost ate him. I am grateful I noticed him. Yuck.

So much for experimenting with local cuisine.

4. Chinese fast food/buffet-some beef in sauce with rice. Went here after a visit to the baths. For under $5 a piece we got a full meal and a beer. Granted, after putting the food on our plates he turned around and shoved them in the microwave, but hey, we got what we paid for and it wasn't half bad.

5. John Bull Pub--some cambert cheese in strawberry jam appetizer. One would think typical fish and chips joint, but no. Variety, sort of pub fare. Got a unique beer-banana bread beer, it was called. Was alright. Food was okay-again pub food. I had an appetizer while the girls ate pasta meals which loked good. We ended up getting charged incorrectly after I had to hound the waiter for the bill. Upside? Was right next to our hotel.

Surprizes

6. Street fair-chicken chili. At the Buda side of the Chain bridge big huge gorgeous pans of this stuff called out to me. Was good.

7. Rinok-Chocolate Croissant. Before 1pm, closing time. She spoke no English or Russian. I speak no Hungarian. But I got a fresh chocolate croissant for less than a dollar by buying it at the market. Not a bad deal.

Special Occasions

8. Wasabi-everything and anything. An unforgettable dining experience that perhaps merits its own entry, but will be instead put here. To celebrate a friend's birthday, we let her decide where to go. She selected a vegetarian restaurant called Wabasabi but we were unable to locate it after searching for perhaps an hour. So, we gave up and instead went here-to an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet.

The decor was simple and elegant. Black chairs, interior, and tables. Only white chair covers. Every table was positioned next to a long conveyor belt with two rows. It was lit up and had small portions of Japanese food on plates moving from the kitchen, down one side of the restaurant, then up the other side before going back to the kitchen.

We were ready. I sat directly next to the sliding window and told everyone about five times just to tell me when they wanted something and I'd grab it for them.

I became boastful. "I will eat everything," I proclaimed. "There will be nothing left." And valiantly I tried to accomplish this goal--swallowing sushi, seaweed wraps, and other things. This restauant quickly became my undoing. The food started to win and I could no longer eat every fried crab leg that came jauntily by on the top shelf of the conveyor belt. I felt the food mocking me. It became too much. I conceded my victory and left ashamed. Never again will I ever eat at such a place. I learnt my lesson and it was not enjoyable.

9. Italian Restaurant-lasanga. The same day I wandered around alone and found the rinok I also found this cute (and affordable) Italian restaurant tucked away on a side street in est. Looking quickly at the menu, I decided to come back for dinner, either alone or with company. Everyone decided to come. It was very much a cute little Italian restaurant, the kind you'd find anywhere but Ukraine. The service was fantastic, the fod delicious, and again, affordable. By far my favorite meal of the week and we all left stuffed with pasta and wine.

And not so special occasions

10. Ice Cream Vendors. All over the city. Variety of flavors and just gorgeous looking stuff (more like gelattos). Some favorites were the Belgian chocolate and cinnamon flavors. But everyone was great! At about 50 cents a scoop, it is hard to get it wrong!

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