More Observations About
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Since arriving here God has continued to bless us with a strengthening Dollar. At times we feel like things are getting tough in the
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Let’s talk about fuel. As close as we are to the middle-east I assumed gas would be plentiful. In fact, a lot of vehicles run on gasoline or propane or a mixture of both. Gas is sold in liters. My best conversion technique shows me that gas is selling presently for $2.79 per gallon. This is the highest it has been in some time over here. It is definitely causing a crunch on their economy. After the Soviet block broke apart and
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Four common sweets connect our country with the
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Surprising weather! The biggest surprise to us so far has to have been the weather. We prepped for a normal season over here by packing long underwear, turtle necks and plenty of sweaters. To date it has been unseasonably warm. We have not yet seen snow and none is in the immediate forecast. Last week it was still in the mid to upper 40’s and the locals couldn’t believe how warm it still was in December. The forecast on the internet says we may have snow in
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Speaking of Utilities….
Our modern apartment does have hot water from 6 am to 11 pm each day. Our radiator heat keeps the apartment consistently warm. We are thankful for solid, vinyl thermal pane windows. The Ukrainian Government controls the gas supply to the buildings in this country. They turn on the gas for heat 1st of October and turn it off the 1st of May. Our apartment building is 9 stories high and like most other apartment buildings it has one huge boiler in the basement. The water pipes run across the first floor proceed up to the second floor continue across the second floor, travel to the third, etc. etc. etc. So the one boiler controls all the radiators in all the rooms of each apartment. We just learned on Friday evening from some friends in Kiev that the Government had turned off the hot water heaters and lowered the boiler rates in parts of Kiev because the residents had too many delinquent bills owed to the Government. We have not seen that scenario here in
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While the official language is Ukrainian, many also still speak Russian. We have also found English in quite a few shops and restaurants. Many restaurants have an English printed menu they provide when we ask for it. A few of the younger taxi drivers also know broken English. We are told that the younger children are learning English as part of their schooling. But it seems we always find a way to communicate. Just the other night, Barb and I discovered a new pizza parlor a block away from our apartment. The signage caught my attention as the name of the place was N.Y. Street Pizza. We walked into the restaurant and saw American nostalgia posters and
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There are orphanages with numerous children in them, but we have given the Perfect child a home.
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Your
Darrin & Barb
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