+When you get here, you will get a cell phone, provided by the team. It has all the phone numbers that you will need. Check to see if it has 'Yugen' or 'Eugene' - if it doesn't, then ask Niko for it. Eugene drove us to court because Niko was in region with another family. He told us that if we ever had questions or needed him to translate, to please call. We did call him once from the orphanage when the nanny was clearly trying to tell us something. We also called him tonight about taking us to Hillsong Church, because he mentioned that he knows where it is. So - my point? Don't hesitate to call him! He's super nice, and very helpful. Just be mindful that if he drives you somewhere, you will be asked to pay him - obviously. When he drove us to our apartment, and then to court (about 40 minutes of driving) it was about $12USD.
+I've mentioned before that there are many, many markets to choose from. If you are staying in this region, you'll undoubtedly have one very close to your apartment. There are about 3 that are within 2 blocks of us. One is an open air market...it's in the same building/block as Celentanos...and it has lots of things like this.......
Needless to say, we don't shop at this one! It's fun to walk through - but I wouldn't buy anything here! The one we use the most is on the lower level of the Mandarin Mall. Niko will probably point this out to you on your first day. The entrance to the mall is near (next to?) Tiffany & Co. This is what the entrance looks like......
It's actually a very American-looking mall. As soon as you go in the doors, you'll see this escalator. It goes down to the market that we use the most.
It's a 'normal' looking store, and it's fairly easy to distinguish the different items. We have bought the pork from the meat department, and maybe next time we'll try some chicken. We love the fresh bread and pastries, too!
The other market that we go to is a Billa Market. It's on Kreschatyik, near Friday's. You'll find it. It's also very easy to get around here and navigate through the items.
Both of these markets have other necessities like toilet paper, shampoo/conditioner, hand soap, etc. For this trip, we didn't pack shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, or ziplocs...because now we know that all of those items can be purchased here.
+Just a fun fact...you'll see/hear these street musicians all over the place. We try to drop something in their hats when we can. It adds to the feel of the city, you know? You'll also see musicians get on the metro and play/sing.
That's all for now! More to come!
One Thing I Know For Sure: Love this city :)
Your guys' level of adapting to the new culture is awesome. You're DEFINITELY picking up all the key things and more! Good for you!
ReplyDeleteThumbs up to these tips too! Thank you so very much for taking the time to note all these things... I know I'll be printing these pages up before it's our time to go!
ReplyDelete