Day One in Kiev

I began my day with two challenges to overcome: to buy food and find my package from Hope at the post office with no tracking number.

Since all the menus at the restaurants and cafes are in Russian (with no pictures), I thought it would be best to find a grocery store. I stopped several different women to ask them but no one spoke English so I had to resort to charades. You have no idea how humbling it is to try to act out finding food on a shelf, buying it, and then eating it. The first lady had no idea what I was trying to say and just walked away and the second lady understood but then gave me directions in Russian which I didn't understand. So I decided to wander around to see if I might have any luck. Two minutes into my wandering, I found a place with various food vendors inside. Challenge number one accomplished.

I went to the central post office and no one spoke English but after I motioned to them that I didn't want to send a package but receive one, I was given another address. Luckily, I found a guy who spoke some English and he was able to tell me what metro stop to get off on. When I arrived there was no package and I was told to call the next day (though I have no idea how because they don't speak English and I don't speak Russian). When I arrived at my place, I had a package slip stuck in the door. I returned to the central post office, where it had been the whole time. Challenge number two accomplished.

Some interesting observations. PDA is completely okay here...and a bit disturbing. The underground crossways are a great place for couples to find some time for a little intimacy before they go on their way. However, nothing prepared me to witness some young teenagers "attempting" to have sex in one of the dark corners. I thought it would be a great picture for my blog, but I refrained from capturing the moment. Another interesting observation was an outside cafe that gave their customers blankets. You would think that people would choose to sit inside instead of sharing their romantic dinner with their loved one in an outside courtyard wrapped in a blanket.