First Impression of Kiev

I forgot to turn my alarm off for the wake of a usual every morning work day. I quickly realized that will not the case this morning, or tomorrow morning, or next month's mornings. It feels a bit odd waking up and not having to rush to go to work or have any current responsibilities.

I landed in Kiev, Ukraine on Saturday and was greeted with a warm welcome by my cousin Jane and my aunt Svetlana. I've never been to Kiev so it was my first time meeting family from my dad's side. I've briefly met Jane when she came to the states so I felt a sense of comfort knowing we would easily get along. We arrived at her apartment and were greeted by her mom who prepared a delicious dinner for us. We chatted and laughed and I really enjoyed our time together. The night quickly approached and I found myself falling asleep pretty early even though I was pretty jet lagged.

The next day we got an earlier start to the day and met up with some friends from the US, Kristina and David, the recently married couple (5 months of happily ever after woot woot). We

went to this cafe called the Milk Bar in downtown, delicious although a bit pricey for Ukraine. But no complaints because compared to dollars I could probably afford 2 meals. Recently, the currency drastically dropped so currently the value of a dollar is very high. The people of the Slavic community (Ukrainians, Russians, etc) are a bit rude, well I would actually say a lot a bit. They aren't as nice, friendly or approachable as some other cultures. They aren't afraid to show their attitude or hold anything back. Customer service is extremely lacking and you quickly realize that this society works for the money and not for the people. In the short time that I've been here, I've witnessed and experienced multiple scenarios in this case.

We walked around and explored the city of Kiev. It's a bit buried underneath the snow but we managed to see some nice parts. In my mind I pictured the city to be rugged down, dirty and torn up but it's actually quite the opposite. It's a very beautiful city, nicely put together by a lot of structure.

We visited Yulia and her brother Andrey in a food market near by where they was selling coffee and advertising their new start up of Sibs Coffee (check them out!) I also tried hot wine for the first time in the food market! It was delicious but I think I still prefer regular wine, although it was pretty exciting to try something new. The day was full of walking, exploring and observing. So far, I'm really enjoying my time here!