Who has been to Eastern Europe with small children? - Page 2

[PrairieBohemian]

Originally Posted by EVC

One more thing about the train--bring food and bottled water (or juice, etc). You can buy tea and coffee (and sometimes cookies), but that's about it. Sometimes there is a restaurant car, but not always. And even if there is, the food is generally crappy and overpriced. So it's a good idea to have at least some bread, fruits, and veggies with you that you can snack on.

I totally agree. At most stations babushkas will meet the train and sell various food items so if you are really hungry, keep this in mind.

[PrairieBohemian]

Originally Posted by VelmaLou

It's funny that poster said things are dirt cheap here. I consider it more expensive than Paris here! Where I was before? Now that was dirt cheap.

Where were you before that WAS super cheap, VelmaLou? Did I miss something in a previous post?? I'm always in search of cheap countries!

[EVC]

or anyone planning to go to (or already in!) Kyiv, I must tell you a secret. I found the world's best borscht and pampusky in a restaurant not far from Zoloti Vororta down on Yaroslav Val right before the Canadian Embassy.

According to my dh, the best borscht in Kyiv is (very surprisingly!) at Patio Pizza. It has meat in it, though, so I've never tried it myself, but he swears it is just like his babushka used to make

Apparently no drinking means no hard alcohol?

Yes! And I actually found the pressure to drink more intense in Russia than in Ukraine. But sometimes you can get out of it if you say you're taking some kind of medication

[VelmaLou]

Hey! I live just down the street from that cafe on Yaroslaviv Val (I'm on Striletskaya directly behind St. Sophia). We were there the other day -- wasn't too impressed, but I didn't have the borscht. I do buy pirojki at their bakery, though.

For the train, be prepared to get no sleep! We took a trip last month to Lviv on the night train. Between bf'ing and the rocky ride it was a white night! Also, bring breakfast foods, if you want. But Russian trains can be better about this stuff. The night train we took from Moscow to Petersburg was so great! They even gave out little breakfast boxes! But I'm sure they treat trains to Minsk quite differently!

Where are you all renting apartments that are so cheap?? We needed a furnished, on the same metro line as dh's work and close to dd's school. We pay 1600/month! Dh's NGO pays 1000 of that, but still! Yeah, I guess we're paying to be close to dd's school, huh? Still, it's MUCH cheaper than anything else we saw. And we do have an unobstructed view of St. Sophia from our couch -- and it's very quiet.

Arboriamoon -- Where the heck is the Chinese market? I can't find it! I really want to go there. And, as EVC knows, I'm still looking for any other kind of flour than white -- buckwheat, whole wheat, anything!

I figure out last night that you all have had problems with documents because your husbands are Ukrainian. Duh!

[PrairieBohemian]

Originally Posted by VelmaLou

Where the heck is the Chinese market? I can't find it! I really want to go there.

Its at Libidska market/metro station. Its hardly a market, I think there are 3 tables selling stuff. I don't know how to explain how to get there exactly. Its indoors in a place that sells lots of clothing etc. You need to walk allllll the way through the main outdoor market to a building where you walk up some steps to the entrance. Then you need to find your way throught he labyrinth inside. Do you speak Russian/Ukrainian? You could always ask someone once you are there.

Too bad you didn't try the borsct at the cafe. Its the ONLY thing I go there for.

As for flour, there is tons of buckwheat--is it possible to mill it yourself?

[PrairieBohemian]

Originally Posted by VelmaLou

Where are you all renting apartments that are so cheap??

Well I lived a few minutes walk from metro Dorohozhichi (so green line metro) right across for Babyn Yar (BAD energy). Our rent for a lighly funished one room plus kitchen was $100 US but that was increased to $150 when we moved out in November 2003. Yikes, I guess I've been gone a while...

[VelmaLou]

Dh works a 10-minute walk from there. Maybe we could go look out there sometime. But it would involve taking the metro everyday to school.

I have to get off now. I am super sick. : But it's cool 'cause I pay a Ukrainian lady (a doll!) to come make food once a week. I was so hungry earlier that I scarfed down three warm, plain blini in less than 5 mins! Not a good idea. But she made yummy soup, too.

Yah, I speak Russian, so it should be possible to find the kitaiski rinok.

Have fun!

PS Yes, I'm going to have to buy a hand mill, I think.

[EVC]

Where are you all renting apartments that are so cheap??

I was on Pushkinskaya (the metro stop is Teatralnaya). It was a one room, but huge with high ceilings, so we didn't feel cramped (this was before dd came along). It was furnished, but kind of shabby and in need of remont.

I'm on Striletskaya directly behind St. Sophia

I think my friend (also American) is your neighbor Where does your dd go to school? He teaches at one of the international schools.

Where the heck is the Chinese market? I can't find it! I really want to go there.

I know this place--great tofu

I figure out last night that you all have had problems with documents because your husbands are Ukrainian.

That could well be part of it (but we left for the US from Armenia, not Ukraine, but still FSU....).

I am super sick.

Feel better

[dancindoula]

Are any of you familiar with Rusanivka in Kyiv? I spent 6 weeks there several years ago (well, I mean that's where we lived, but of course we were all over the city) and LOVED it! Also took an unforgettable 20 hour train ride to Uzghorad (sp?) on the Hungarian border. Oh, all of this is making me miss Eastern Europe so much! My favorite place was actually Sarajevo - can't tell you how good coffee in the Turkish Quarter sounds right now!

[EVC]

Are any of you familiar with Rusanivka in Kyiv?

Left bank?

[dancindoula]

Originally Posted by EVC

Left bank?

That would be the one!

[EVC]

It's interesting how many people here have been to Ukraine

BTW, we watched Everything is Illuminated last night and really enjoyed it. I was very happy that a lot of the dialog was in Russian/Ukrainian--I was afraid I would have to translate for dh the whole time, but this enabled him to follow it without much help

[PrairieBohemian]

Originally Posted by EVC

I think my friend (also American) is your neighbor Where does your dd go to school? He teaches at one of the international schools.(

I taught at the American English Centre on Kroogla Universitet just up from Bessarovka. I absolutely loved my job!

Oh the tofu was great, wasn't it! The real deal--not this prepackaged stuff we find here.

EVC, do you think you could explain to VelmaLou how to get to the Chinese market?

[PrairieBohemian]

Originally Posted by EVC

I was afraid I would have to translate for dh the whole time...

Sorry if you already mentioned this EVC but where is your dh from? Mine is straight from Kyiv. We came to Canada half way through my pregnancy so he's been here about 2.5 years. My ancestory, however, is also Ukrainian--albeit western Ukrainian.

[EVC]

Sorry if you already mentioned this EVC but where is your dh from? Mine is straight from Kyiv.

Mine is also from Kyiv (we've been here since December). Bailey's dh is also from Kyiv (I think he came over when he was fairly young, though). Hey, we should start our own tribe

EVC, do you think you could explain to VelmaLou how to get to the Chinese market?

It's easy to find, but hard to explain : If you take the metro to Libidska, exit on the side the enters into the rynok. Turn in the direction of the rynok and walk straight. After about 2 or 3 minutes, you'll get to a building at the far side of the rynok (it's the outer side as you are walking away from the metro). There will be stairs leading into the building. The first few rows of wares (inside the building) will be cheaply made clothes. The Asian foodstuffs are all the way towards the back. And there you are. At least that is how I remember it

[PrairieBohemian]

Thanks for the directions, EVC. That was much better than my attempt.

That is so cool that we all have husbands from Kyiv! When we were doing our immigration documents we could tell a western wife-Ukr husband was in the minority of applicants. My husband sure got a lot of comments like "ohhhhhhh, so you have a Canadian wife so you'll get a Canadian passport...nudge nudge". It was pretty annoying.

I'm sorry, I am not sure who Bailey is. What is her user name? (I am really poor at keeping all user names-actual names straight!)

[PrairieBohemian]

Originally Posted by VelmaLou

Where are you all renting apartments that are so cheap?? We needed a furnished, on the same metro line as dh's work and close to dd's school. We pay 1600/month!

$1600!!!!! Dh and I are still shaking our heads about that. For that kind of money, dh and I could live like ROYALTY! WOW. I wish you big luck to find some place REASONABLY priced. Let us know how the hunt goes!

[VelmaLou]

I dunno. Recently, four different people I know who live in the center (including Pushinskaya) had their rents doubled. Most stayed put as they couldn't find anything cheaper.

Dd goes to the College Anne de Kiev, the little French school. It takes me about 20 mins to walk there. In fact, I'm below my pre-pregnancy weight already as I have to do the 72 stairs there on Ivana Franka four times a day.

Thanks for the directions to the Chinese market.

You know, I've picked up some nasty bugs since moving here. This one yesterday just about wiped me out. Fortunately, it didn't stay long.

[EVC]

I'm sorry, I am not sure who Bailey is. What is her user name?

bailey228. I think she posts mainly in Life with a Babe, although I've seen her in Pets and Parents as Partners as well.

Dd goes to the College Anne de Kiev

Different school then. So your dd speaks French, English, and Russian? I'd love to hear more about how you've gone about that--I really wish MDC would open a section on multi-cultural families so that people could discuss these things more--as I understand, that's "under consideration."

[VelmaLou]

Yes, she speaks all those and is learning Ukrainian in school.

Her path as a multilingual has been not been straight. Most multilingual kids I know are not perfect multilinguals.

In any case, her father spoke French to her from birth. I spoke English. But between ages 3-5, I spoke mainly French because she demanded it. Then suddenly, at 5, she decided mama speaks English and papa French. She has never spoken French to me again, even when I have addressed her in it.

Since the age of 2 1/2 she has lived in a third culture. For three years, she did not have much contact with native French or English speakers. She had a babysitter who spoke French as a third language, sometimes quite poorly.

She attended a Russian detsky sad for 10 months (started at age 4, pulled her out voluntarily). By the time she started she had already absorbed quite a bit of Russian just from our dealings in public. I remember a shopkeeper asked her, "Where do you come from?" And she replied, "From home!"

She still mixes French into her English. She never mixes when speaking French or Russian. It is killing me trying to get the word "que" out of her English! I try so hard not to correct, but this particular one drives me nuts, for some reason! "Mama, I wish que I could have..." "Mama, what do you think que I am imagining que I am?"

But, she can now read and write just fine in both languages. She is going into CP (French 1st grade -- a big deal) next year with all skills acquired, according to her teacher.

Oh, and during the 5 months we spent in the States last Fall/Winter French was totally erased from her mind. She claimed to have forgotten it (I believe her) and wouldn't even speak it to her papa. Weird, huh? But her English improved greatly!

This is so far OT! Sorry OP!