Getting Settled

8/1/13-8/5/13 Getting Settled

We arrived in Kiev around 4:30 Thursday afternoon, 30 minutes later than expected.  I'm not sure why we were late; the flight was without incident.  When we got off the plane we were separated by those who had Ukrainian passports and those with "other" passports.  As we went through the gate our passports were simply scanned electronically and we continued on to the baggage area.  All of our luggage arrived intact.  Using the airport luggage carts, we loaded up and headed toward the exit.  We were stopped one more time by security, but after only two or three simple questions: Why are you here? What is in your luggage? How much money did you bring into the country? they let us go.  Sasha, a Ukrainian worker at the school, was there to meet us holding a sign that said Barton.  He spoke English, but not very well.  He explained that one of the school buses was coming to pick us up and take us to our apartment, and that he was going to stay at the airport to meet another teacher who was arriving later.  I don't know if we looked worried or stupid, but when the bus pulled up to get us, Sasha decided to go with us after all.  He said he thought he would have enough time to get back to the airport in time to greet the next guest.  As we drove to our new home, Sasha and the bus driver spoke to each other in Russian.  Every now and then Sasha would point something out to us, but for the most part it was a quiet ride and it seemed to take forever.  Later that night Jay and I discussed what our first impressions were as we left the airport and drove closer to the city.  We both felt like our first hour was about what we expected; at a glance from a bus window, Kiev is a typical city. 

Our first impression of the apartment building was not as reassuring.  From the outside it appears old and not well kept.  Upon entering the building we were even more concerned.  The hallways were dingy.  The walls were painted a mixture of pink, yellow and dirty white.  The elevator was dark and slow.  If it hadn't been for the fact that I was struggling with heavy suitcases, I think I would have been holding my breath as we unlocked the apartment door.  But what a relief!  The inside of the apartment was bright, clean, modern, and very spacious.  It is not the apartment the school had sent us pictures of, but it is just as nice.

                                                                      living room

 

kitchen

 

 

                                                              sun porch/enclosed balcony

                                                        view from living room window

A Few Other Unexpected Surprises 
We have a King-sized bed!  That's the good news.  The bad news is we never expected to have such a big bed and the largest sheets we packed are Queen-sized.  Luckily the school left us a few items to get started and a set of sheets was one of them.  However, a set of sheets in Ukraine and I guess most places in Europe, consists of a flat sheet, a duvet cover, and pillowcases.  There is no such thing as a fitted sheet. The other bad news is the bed is as hard as a rock!  So even though we were able to make the bed, I have only slept in it one night and even then I hardly slept.  It is so uncomfortable  I have been sleeping on the sofa.
Another unexpected surprise was no hot water.  We thought for sure hot water would start coming out of the faucets as we went around the apartment turning them on and letting them run for several minutes, but it never did.  We found out later that the hot water is turned off in the city until the middle of August.  In the meanwhile, we are bathing the old fashioned way...boiling water and filling the bathtub!  The school is supposed to install a portable/electric hot water heater in all of the teachers' apartments.  Right now some have them, some don't.  I hope ours comes soon because we also heard that this water situation happens two or three times a year.


Coming Soon....

Shopping in Kiev
Our First Dinner Invitation
Our First Day at Work
Doing Laundry