Spring 2016: Days 2–4
The first day of spring might be in March, but we’re still early enough in the year for days to feel more like winter. Restaurants have not set up their front patios yet. There are still people in the main square, but everyone is bundled up in warm coats and most groups are moving quickly to the next warm, indoor location. Still, street performers sit out in the cold and entertain those who are willing to tolerate the weather.
Day 2:
I arrived in Ukraine at 17:00 yesterday, so it’s only natural that I head off to work at 09:00 today.
This time, I’m in the new building. It’s a very nice setup and includes a cafe, mini-gym, and rec room ( with billiards and table tennis ) on the first floor. Of course, I’m also no longer across the street from Bubbles … which means I’ll need to find a new solution for doing my laundry.
I thought I’d power through the day with no problems. After all, I managed to keep myself awake on my flights over and didn’t go to sleep until about 21:00. I was wrong. I ended up falling asleep in my chair at about 15:00. I guess there’s just no way to instantly adjust. Still, the transition to a new timezone hasn’t been bad.
Day 3:
So I kind of slept today. All of today. As in, I woke up at about 17:00 … stretched, walked around outside a bit, had dinner, and went back to sleep by 21:00 again. Apparently I was tired.
Day 4:
Another lazy day, but not so lazy as yesterday. I did wake up relatively early in the morning. I did not, however, feel like getting out of bed for quite some time. Eventually, I did.
The highlight of the day, at least so far, was watching a couple of guys play chess on a large board. One of the two was receiving quite a bit of advice from bystanders, as he was obviously outmatched.
So far, it’s been pretty obvious to most people that I speak English, not Ukrainian, from the moment I open my mouth and butcher a simple Ukrainian sentence. Still, I managed to fool a waitress at one restaurant for a solid ten minutes. I’m pretty proud of myself for that one. Another asked, a little bit unsure, if I needed an english menu. I was proud of that as well. It was obvious I was a foreigner, but she also felt that I might know enough Ukrainian to go with a standard menu. If I can just force myself to parse together sentences and embarrass myself for a week or two, maybe I’ll be able to have complete ( simple ) conversations in Ukrainian this trip.
That’s it for now. Back to work tomorrow. And hopefully I’m done with the post-travel “I just want to sleep” stuff. Look for my next update soon!
