Thursday, May 13, 2010

Alive and well...

Arrived in Kyiv after approx 36 hours of travel due to "security issues" at Dulles (aka Air Force One landing), volcanic ash delays, and missed connections, only to arrive at 3 am local time. My internship coordinator is a life saver and answered her phone when I landed and let me spend the night at her apartment. First pic below is the view from her apt. It is the first thing I saw of Kyiv in daylight. She lives on the "left" side of Kyiv (divided by a river), which is actually the right side when you look at a map. This picture does not do justice to what the view really was. She said when she had moved in only 5 years ago, there was a lake outside of her building, now there is a sea of endless apartment buildings, all of which have been built since she moved in, but appear to be 20+ years old.

I've settled into my apartment, which is more than I was anticipating. It is 1 large room with a full size bed, tv, sitting and a balcony, along with a decent size kitchen and bathroom. It is about a 5-10 minute walk to the metro and only 2 stops to work.

All in all, things are well thus far, although I'm in serious need of learning some Russian ASAP.

Favorite moment thus far: when the plane landed in Kyiv, everyone clapped as though they did not expect the flight to be successful. I've never witnessed such things.

Currently, I am having issues uploading pictures, but when I'm able to I'll share what I can.

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