Moved Again

I thought I had posted a "hiatus" post on this blog a while back, but it doesn't appear that I had done so. Ok, so, I guess this blog still isn't on hiatus...yet.

Anyways, guess what? I've moved yet again, this time to the stunning city of Dnepropetrovsk (yup, just try pronouncing it). This city has about the same population as pre-war Donetsk, but has a much better transport system, complete with a one line metro and several convenient trams. I've been here for two weeks, and so far I'm digging this city.

That means, of course, that The Girlfriend is still back in the original city of Nikolaev (no use hiding the name anymore). Unfortunately, she's spent the last week or so in the hospital, due to some serious lingering health issues. I'll be returning back there next week while my employer has a week-long break for the May holidays.

Nothing much else to report right now. I may start writing on here more often, or I may not. Between my regular job and another online writing job, I don't really have much time or inclination for it.

Back to Basics

So, I'm back in my original starting city in Ukraine, and I hope I can stay here for a long time. I'm really tired of moving around so much. This last year has seen me go from here to Kiev, to Donetsk, back to Kiev, to Lviv, and then finally back here. I'm hoping circumstances can let me stay put for a while. My back hurts just thinking about hauling my luggage around on trains again.

I'm also back to teaching English. I'm kinda still working the IT job, but kinda not. It's a little difficult to explain. Anyways, just wanted to update this as I haven't written jack shit in months. Ciao.

The End of an Era

I'm back in my original starting point in Ukraine right now, staying with the girlfriend until I start my new job.

New job, you ask? Yes, it's a new job. And I won't be teaching English anymore (for the most part).

A few months back, well before leaving Donetsk, my roommate started working for an IT company, which sent him to western Ukraine once everyone was being evacuated from Donetsk. He was happily working away there, earning the big bucks, while I was languishing in uncertainty in Kiev. Back when he started his job, he promised to tell his boss about me, which all seemed well and good, but then I didn't hear anything for a while.

Fast forward again a few months. After a series of "interviews" with the ex-roomie and his boss on Skype, I was hired to work at a high level position at this company. The perks are quite nice, including a free remodeled flat, and a guaranteed salary, paid in US Dollars, instead of the quickly crumbling Ukrainian gryvna. All this, and in a part of Ukraine that's about as far away from the current troubles as possible.

Unfortunately, my last employer didn't like the short notice of leaving, so they're witholding my final paycheck. This, after charging me rent on my overpriced room two pay periods in a row, which left me pretty must destitute. Guess you can't win them all.

Война

 I'm typing this blog post from my new (shared) apartment in Kiev. I've been in Kiev for almost two weeks now, since being sent here by my job while the school in Donetsk is closed. I figured I should give a small update and explain why I haven't updated this blog.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, there's a war going on in Donetsk right now. I'm sure that anyone who is reading this blog is probably well aware of this fact, as it's been all over the news, especially after the rebels shot down a commercial airplane, killing almost 300 innocent people in one fell swoop.

So, as to what I've been doing that whole time, it's been one of two things: either working, or trying not to get shot. I was in Donetsk during the whole ordeal. I watched the ouster of the previous president turn into outrage and fear, outrage and fear turn into large protests, large protests turn into overthrowing the local government. The ordinary people turned into protestors, and the protestors turned into a makeshift milita, which in turn was largely replaced by mercenaries from Russia. The city of Donetsk turned from a relatively large, beautiful, and peaceful city into one of turmoil, and then into a virtual ghost town. 

The hotel I lived next to also ltransformed during this time. It went from a brand new hotel, into a base for international monitors, to closing down, and then just before I left, into a barracks for mercenaries. It's been eerie watching how unrest and war can transform a city so quickly. Thankfully, I get to watch the rest of its transformation from a much safer distance.

So, yeah. Now I'm in Kiev, which is supposedly temporary, but with each day it seems more and more likely that I won't be able to go back to Donetsk anytime soon. I'll be waiting out the rest of the war here, hoping that it can once again transform back into a large, beautiful, and peaceful city.

For a little more detail about the last few months in Donetsk, I did a series of interviews with Engrlish Teacher X. You can read the first part here:

http://englishteacherx.blogspot.com/2014/05/anarchy-in-ukraine-interview-with.html

Memorial Day

I woke up around noon last Monday (Memorial Day for us Americans), went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up, and then got dressed. Around the time I was finishing putting on my clothes, I realized I heard the sound of a jet flying around in the sky, and then heard a dull "boom". I didn't think too much of it, until I heard another dull boom shortly afterwards. I stepped out onto the balcony and didn't see anything at first, but I noticed a crowd of people (mostly journalists and OSCE monitors) gathered in the courtyard of the hotel next to my apartment building. All of them were looking at the sky, with a few using binoculars and cameras to track the movement of the Ukrainian military jet flying above. I continued standing out on a balcony for a while, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. The only thing I was certain about was that there was some kind of fighting going on.

The sounds of war continued for about an hour or so, and I eventually learned that Pro-Russian separatists had taken control of the airport here in Donetsk, and the fighting I heard was the Ukrainian military's attempt to take back control of it.

Later that day, I went to work, feeling distracted by thoughts of what had happened. I wasn't alone in this either. All of my students were also quite distracted in class by what had happened, and I made it a point to try to play more games than usual in my classes to help lighten the mood. Once work was over, I walked home, and during the walk heard more sounds of distant gunfire and a couple of dull booms. I still didn't see the fighter that had been flying around the city all day, but I did see its vapor trail.

This happened two days ago. Yesterday, my school was closed, with it scheduled to reopen in a week. The city streets have been nearly empty, with few cars or pedestrians about. Today, I woke up to hearing a jet flying around the city again, with a few scattered sounds of gunfire, this time very close to my apartment. Thankfully, this didn't last long, but everyone here seems to be on edge, and gearing up for an imminent invasion of the city.

Attack of the Lazy

Oh dear, it looks like I've neglected my blog for even longer than before. That's ok, though, as things have been anything but boring here. My girlfriend ended up working her way into my apartment, so entertaining her has taken away most of my free time. In fact, I've actually thought about shutting down this blog, although I don't think I really want to do that. Not yet, at least.

Not too much more I want to report. However, there should be an interview of me up soon on English Teacher X's website, so you can read about the latest news with me there.

As Time Passes

Oh dear, it looks like I've been neglecting my blog again. I just haven't had much time or inclination for updates, as things have been relatively boring. For the most part.

On the political front, things had been heating up here in my city, with daily demonstrations, most of which were pro-Russian, and even including a few spots of violence, which I thankfully missed. The demonstrations seem to have died down the last few days, although a large one briefly passed by my work on the way to storm a government building close by. I haven't checked the news, but I imagine that they didn't get too far, as the building has been constantly guarded by several large trucks blocking the entrance, and a solid line of police in riot gear covering the doors, only breaking apart to let authorized people in and out of the building.

On the personal front, I went back to my original city a couple of weeks ago to spend the week with my girlfriend and her mother, and then came back to my current city with the girlfriend in tow. She's currently staying with family here, and if this week is any indication, will probably spend the weekends with me. As I'm currently sharing an apartment with a roommate, this will save me from a full-time-girlfriend living situation for the time being. Who knows how long this arrangement will, last, though, as I do have plans to get my own apartment.

You Say You Want a Revolution?

Unless you've been living under a rock, or just never check up on the latest world news, you're probably aware that Ukraine has been experiencing a revolution of sorts here the last few months. I imagine the few of you who read this blog are well aware of this fact, so I'm sure I don't need to rehash the events for you.

However, one thing I'd like to mention is something that's rarely mentioned in any news items. Despite what CNN or most other Western news outlets would have you believe, not everyone here in Ukraine agrees with the throngs of protestors who have started a civil war in Kiev. I live in the eastern part of Ukraine, and most people here are firmly against the protestors. Pro-government rallies have been frequent, and there's been absolutely no sympathy or desire for change in the government.

Having said that, should this revolution cause a drastic change in the government, an already fragmented nation is going to fragment even more. Crimea is only part of Ukraine as an autonomous republic, and has already threatened to secede from the country should the political situation not resolve itself. Most of Eastern and Southern Ukraine also has much closer ties to Russia, and has little desire to join the EU. Most residents speak Russian on the street, even through the official language of the country is Ukrainian, and many feel that the language and cutlture is being forced on them by the people in the west.

In other words...don't expect this country to stabilize anytime soon. Which is a shame, really, as this is a wonderful country with wonderful people. They deserve better than this.

An Interesting Conversation

I recently started talking to a Ukrainian girl who is from my previous city, but now lives in the US. She's provided some interesting insights on the view of America from an immigrant's viewpoint, but one part of our conversation helped to confirm what most men who come here say.

Me: i have another question for you...what do you think of american women?

Her: mmm   
honest?

Me: yes, of course   

Her: a lot of them overweight or healthy to much, too independent and not caring like our girls, and i don't like outfits here, look like second hand   
they are try to be like a men
wich i hate about all situation

Me: yes, i agree with you 100%   
so you think it's no surprise that american men would look for a wife in Ukraine, yes?

Her: and i dont see make up often   
yes
i think it is logical then
and men here good looking

So, there you have it. Even Ukrainian women agree that they're far superior to their American counterparts.

Slippery Slope

So, I suppose I just experienced my first "real" winter here in Ukraine. Shortly after arriving in my new city, the weather took a turn for the colder...much, much colder. Temperatures were around -20C for most of that time, up until a week ago. Every flat surface was covered in at least a centimeter of ice. The snow that eventually came helped to maintain some traction, but every day, my walk to work was a struggle just to stay on my feet. Thankfully, I only fell once, a few days ago just after walking out the door of my apartment building. I landed flat on my ass, so nothing beyond my ego was hurt.

Work has been proceeding nicely. Unfortunately, my social life hasn't been as smooth. Not that it's been rough, it's just been extremely uneventful. I've only met up with a few people here, although one of those was just this last weekend, with the promise of more. I should be able to find a date for Valentine's Day, just in case I decide I need one. I still haven't made up my mind on that yet. Anyways, that's all for now. At least until things become a little less boring.

Relocation

So, I'm finally out of the southern Ukrainian city that I'd been living in for almost a year. I spent a week in Kiev, going through training for the large chain school that I now work for. Training was a bit tedious, involving training classes during the day, and then observation in the evenings.

My quarters in Kiev consisted of sharing a room with another teacher on the third floor of an office building. There were about 10 total teachers going through training at the time, including two American women. Both of these women stood in stark contrast to the thin, beautiful women we saw on the streets. Both were overweight, revelling in their own self-wrought drama, and seriously outclassed by their Ukrainian competition. That didn't stop one of them from chasing me relentlessly for that entire week, and unfortunately it didn't stop me from hitting it  after getting totally trashed on some Turkish alcohol that she loaded me with.

Thankfully, my stay in Kiev came to an end, at just the right time. The school I had to go to for observation classes was very close to Maidan. One day, while heading to the school, the group I was walking with took a wrong turn, and we ended up smack dab in the middle of Maidan. At that time, it was peaceful, but the violence erupted literally the day after I left.

So, now I'm in my Eastern industrial city, which is definitely an upgrade aesthetically from my previous city. My job is definitely giving me much more work than I had before. However, my stay so far has mostly been boring. We'll see how things go from here on out.

Goodbye, Southern Ukrainian City

As I stated before, I'm about to leave my current city tonight. I'll be in Kiev for around a week and then will be off to my new destination, a large industrial city in Eastern Ukraine. My blog has seen a bit of a resurgence in views as of late, with a person sending me an email saying I'm the "Ukraine version of English Teacher X". While I'll take that as a compliment, so should English Teacher X. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Anyway, I have a few updates to post once I'm a bit more settled. In the meantime, if I get enough emails from people, I'll post a "mailbag" update, where I'll answer your questions about anything and everything Ukraine. If you have any questions to send, shoot me a message at eccentricexpat@gmail.com.

The New Year Cometh

I haven't been updating this blog as often as I originally planned, but that's ok. I've kept up a slow but steady stream of updates during my time here in Ukraine. Since the year is about to end with a bang, and a new year is approaching like a zombie wooly mammoth, I figured it would be a good idea to do a short review of this last year.

Last year around this time, I had quit my job back in the US, and set about preparing myself to leave the country. I spent much of January and a good bit of February in a southern US state, selling, giving away, or just tossing most of the things that I've accumulated throughout my life. I initially gave myself about 3 weeks to do it, but ended up staying there for over a month, with that still not being enough time to wrap things up. I then went back to the state where I lived at the time (another southern US state), and spent the last week of my time in the US packing up and spending time with my parents.

In late February, I left the US and arrived in Ukraine, as you can read here. My flight over was a bit of an adventure, but only because I had never flown overseas before. I arrived in Ukraine, and started my first job, teaching English for a language school owned by an American.

I spent my first several months learning how to do my job, and met a few women, one of whom ended up becoming my first girlfriend here. My time with her was fun, albeit short, and we ended up parting ways after about a month. Still, she provided me with my first taste of the dating experience here in Ukraine. Not long after I parted ways with her, I started learning just how different Ukrainian women can be.

In the meantime, my job had not turned out to be quite the dream job I initially thought. I liked teaching just fine (and still do), but I didn't like working for the owner of the school, who was a habitual liar and scam artist. He ended up firing me from the school, but when things seemed to be at their bleakest, I was rescued by other, more honest people.

I started working at a new language school, and also continued to meet women, where I found out firsthand the dark side of coupling with women here. However, not long after, I ended up meeting several other women, one of which became my second girlfriend, and the other became my best friend here. If it wasn't for the latter's help, I would have had to go back to the US, or live in a cardboard box.

Thankfully, things became more stable for me again, and I was able to move into another apartment. Shortly after doing so, I met my third (not so temporary) girlfriend, who I am still with. Which brings me to now....

In less than two weeks, I'm leaving my current city for another, much larger city here in Ukraine. Unfortunately, while I've had my moments here, I've found it difficult to survive with the little amount of work that I've had. I was able to eke out a living for a while, but I'm tired of having to scrounge up every last kopek to pay rent. I accepted a job at a large chain language school in Ukraine, which is guaranteeing me a decent salary in a much larger city. I'm quite sad to leave my current city, but at the same time excited to finally go somewhere else. My girlfriend has made noises about following me to that city, as she has family there, but we'll see what happens. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the obligatory celebrating that comes with the new year.

Pimpin' It

Despite the title, this post isn't about me becoming a superfly pimp out here in the rundown ghetto of southern Ukraine. Instead, I'm pimping my mentor English Teacher X's book, "How to Survive Living Abroad" (click here for the Smashwords edition). For those of you who don't know who English Teacher X is...read his blog, and then buy his books. His blog was probably my biggest influence on becoming an English teacher, a profession that I am still currently enjoying. My blog posts, "Two Girls, One Night parts 1 and 2" are included in the book.

As an added incentive for my readers, I added a postscript to the story, which adds a few details to the story that didn't make it into my original posts, and shows the eventual fate of the girls involved. The book is currently free on both Amazon and Smashwords, so there's no excuse to not check it out.

In other news, the Temporary Girlfriend has turned out to be not as temporary as I thought. Also, I might move to another city in Ukraine. More on that soon.

Update

Just a quick post, as I feel I've been neglecting this blog too much. Things haven't changed much since I last updated. The Temporary Girlfriend is still here, although she is supposed to leave in less than a week. We'll see if she actually does. In the meantime, I've spent most of my time either working or with her. I'll probably have more to post on both of those subjects, but for now, just rest assured that I'm still alive and well. For how long that will remain, I'm not sure, but things are still "OK" at the moment.

Attack of the Crazy

Last week, I was supposed to go to Vinnitsa to meet a "friend" who I knew back in the US. My "friend" was actually a Polish/Ukrainian girl who I dated several years ago. Our dating relationship was kinda brief, as she quickly started to prove that she was a major headcase. However, even after I ended the brief and not very serious relationship, I did meet up with her a few times after. Not for sex, as we never quite made it that far, but to hang out, and to try to pick up a bit of Russian from her.

Shortly before I left for Ukraine, she went on a major campaign of trying to get me to stay. Of course, this proved to be futile, as I wasn't about to be talked out of it by anyone, least of all her. Shortly after I came out here, she called my parents and tried convincing them that I was in danger out here, and spouting off some other crazy things like saying that someone back in the US was trying to kill me. She did make my parents worried, but only in that they thought I would be crazy to keep talking to her. I emailed her and told her to never call my parents again.

Even after all that, though, I agreed to meet up with her when she came out to Ukraine. Her home town is in western Ukraine, so a long bus trip would have awaited me. Two days before I was supposed to go see her, I informed her that I was dating a girl here, and I was hesitant about going to see her, based on past history. This set off the histrionics. She accused me of hurting her by not going to see her, called me every name in the book, with her voice getting that crazy tinge to it that usually spells imminent danger. I hung up on her and didn't answer any more of her calls. That set off a flood of text messages that continued unabated until she left, presumably sometime today.

Since I'm a complete asshole, I decided to share many of these text messages with my readers. Let these serve as a lesson to you all - never stick it in teh crazy! Just imagine how much worse it would be if I actually had.


"Enjoy local sluts,baby boy! She will go to Istanbul and start a "consumation" career, asking Turks topless to buy her drinks and you'd better go to the local KozhVenDispanser,get checked for syphilis and gonorrhea! Adios gringos"

"Good evening ****achka! Is your girlie entertaing rich Turks already?"

" ****ka - moj amerikanec,ja tozhe amerikanka i imeju gorazdo bolshe prav,i ne tolko na **** ! Ukrainskie devushki nujny emu kak razvlechenie,povysit samoocenku ;) "

 "Hi ****,you know - you are very mean,heartless and cruel. We made plans to meet long before I came to the Ukraine. You hurt me real bad and I dont deserve it!Never expected that of you, how mean and two-faced you are. Why hurt me so bad???"

"Hows your Turkish Delight doing, ****? Thank you very much for how bad,mean and cruel you have been to me during this trip and breaking our plans"

" **** the Traitor double dater. Girlie is practicing her future job in Istanbul on you - Istanbul Constantinopol goddammit that shit to fucking hell" 

The Temporary Girlfriend

I currently have a temporary girlfriend. Her name is "N" (thankfully not yet another "Z"), and she lives one building away from me. I met her the same way I've been meeting all of the other girls here, through a popular online dating site.

"N" doesn't speak much English, and I don't speak much Russian, but that hasn't stopped anything. I met her only a day after talking to her online, deciding to meet in between our two apartment buildings. As per the norm, she initially refused to go to my apartment, but quickly relented once it was clear that we would have trouble communicating with speech only, and even then, only after making me promise not to put my hands all over her. Needless to say, I ended up putting my hands all over her, but only after a full bottle of cognac later. However, she didn't give in to sex all that easily, and made me wait more than a week for it.

She came over again two nights later, and then the next, and the next...and she's been over every night since, about two weeks later. We hit it off pretty quickly, and our personalities match. She has a great sense of humor, loves spending time with me, and has even cooked dinner for me several times.

So...why is she a "temporary" girlfriend? Because there's a catch (just like with every other girl here). She's leaving for Istanbul in a couple of weeks for work, and will be there for a long time. She doesn't know the exact date yet, and is going to work for a boss who wants her to marry him (typical Turkish clown). I joined in the chorus of all of her friends and family in warning her that she risks being sold into sex slavery, but she says she needs the job to pay off some rather large medical bills. I believe her story, despite the fact that Ukrainian women are generally not to be trusted to tell the truth about anything. Despite all of that, though, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time with her.

For Great Force

Saturday was another day spent with the boss, this time at the birthday part for his friend's wife, who has seemingly taken quite a liking to me (no, not like that). Birthday parties in Ukraine are quite fun, involving a metric ton of food and alcohol, both of which are to be consumed in great quantities, with the only interruptions being smoke breaks and the quite frequent toasts by each of the guests.

After only about 4 hours of non-stop eating and boozing, I informed everyone that I had to leave soon, as I was meeting a girl that evening. This quickly became the number one subject of conversation at the table, with everyone commenting and asking questions about her. Of course, this all resulted in yet another toast, made for me. The guy sitting next to me, a Ukrainian Militsiya (Police) Colonel, cautioned me on being careful with meeting random Ukrainian women, disregarding the fact that I had already met this girl and spent a quite harmless night with her. However, his toast to me was the phrase (translated from Russian), "For great force". My boss translated the phrase for me, and explained that sexual prowess and virility is referred to as "force". So...here's for great force!

Ukrainian Housewarming

I just moved into my new apartment a few days ago, and I was giving a proper Ukrainian housewarming. My boss, the owner of the small English school that I teach at now, helped me bring my stuff over, and also made a point of picking up a few housewarming presents, namely some food (sizeable chunks of ham and cheese, and Georgian bread) and alcohol (Georgian cognac). We spent the evening hanging out on the balcony of my ninth floor flat, eating and drinking while bullshitting about various things and looking out at the river. I have a great view of the river here, as I live only about 400 meters away from it, with no buildings in between. Later, after we finished, he took me on a short nightime tour of some close-by places, ending in a bar while trying some Becherovka. My boss made plans for me for the next day, to show me around more of the district during daylight. Of course, I wasn't about to say no.

So, the next day, after classes, we met up with a friend of his, a retired police officer, and took a long walk around the district. We made a pit-stop in the same bar as the night before, grabbing another shot of Becherovka, and then continued on. The tour ended at his flat, where his wife proceeded to serve me some delicious borscht while informing me that there was a wedding party with some single women who were looking forward to meeting me. I had already double-booked myself for dates that evening, but figured that visiting a party wouldn't hurt, so off we went after finishing the meal, along with another shot of home-made spiced vodka.

The wedding party was at a local pizzeria not far from my boss's flat, and sure enough, there were a couple of cute, single girls there. My boss's wife warned me before that they both like to drink, and were a little drunk, but they appeared quite sober when I met them. We spent a great part of the rest of the day at the pizzeria, where we made repeated toasts along with shouts of "Vorka! Vorka!", which apparently is a tradition that involves the guests exhorting the bride and groom to kiss repeatedly. Many of the participants were indulging themselves in vodka, but I stuck to weak Ukrainian beer, as I'd already had a few shots of hard alcohol earlier, and I'm a fucking lightweight.

Unfortunately, the beer didn't really help. Minutes passed into hours, and day passed into evening. I didn't really forget about the two dates I booked, but I was having too good of a time to really care. I made it home pretty late, with the help of my boss's friend and his wife, who proceeded to invite me to her birthday party next weekend. I went up to my flat and immediately got online and proceeded to apologize to both of the women who I stood up. Surprisingly, neither of them were very angry, at least as far as I could tell. One of them evening made the comment, "So this - typical Slavic housewarming!" I guess she was right. I hope I don't have to move again anytime soon.

An Ode to the Marshrutka

The marshrutka, for those of you who don't know and are too lazy to click on the link, is a short bus (somewhat similar in size to the "short school bus") that serves as the main means of intra-city public transportation here in Ukraine. They account for roughly a third of all vehicles that are seen on the roads here in my city. Up until a couple of months ago, I rarely set foot on one, and even then only with someone local who knew exactly where it would go. However, once I started dating my previous girlfriend, I used them quite often to go to her house, as taking a taxi every time was getting to be cost prohibitive. After moving out of my own flat located in the city center, though, they quickly became my means of going anywhere that was too far away to be a short walk, including to work.

Anyone who lives in the United States will be in for a bit of a shock the first time they board a marshrutka, and I was no exception. The small size of the marshrutka actually belies the amount of space on the inside. It's almost like stepping into the Tardis, except not quite as profound of a difference, and without all of flair, such as time traveling capabilities. However, once inside, you'll quickly find out that no matter how much space it seems to have, it's never quite enough, especially during the busy times of the day, or late at night, when only a few marshrutki are out and about.

The seats are laid out quite the same in all marshrutki (plural form of marshrutka), regardless of the type of vehicle. Most marshrutki have around 15 or 16 seats inside. Two seats in the left row, and one seat in the right, with the aisle in between. The windows are large and copious, and the seats can vary, ranging from comfortable and roomy, to cramped and torturous. Many marshrutki have a small baggage rack about the left row, and all have some kind of hand-bar that runs almost the full length of the passenger bay for the inevitable overflow passengers. Some marshrutki will even have passenger-side seats available in the driver compartment. The entry door for all passengers is on the left side of the vehicle.

Not all marshrutki here in my city have the same fare, but the average fare is about 2 gryvna (25 cents US). The fare will vary, often depending on the total length of the bus route, but most often you will pay about 2 gryvna. The fare is usually payed to the driver, who is most often quite adept at dishing out change while driving, although some marshrutki will include a second person whose job is to manage the fare. The marshrutki that run late at night will often have a security guard on board. Many people will pay the fare not immediately on entrance, but once they take their seat. They will then pass their fare on to the person in front of them, and it will be passed on in this manner until it reaches the driver, who will in turn dish out the change in the reverse order. Most people seem pretty honest about this process. I've never seen anyone try to skimp on the fare or keep someone else's change, although I wouldn't be surprised if it does happen.

As mentioned before, all of the space inside of a marshrutka is often not enough. When all of the seats are filled, passengers will still board at stops, and will stand in the aisle while holding onto the hand-bar up above. Sometimes it can get crowded enough to where people are packed in like sardines. The aisle, of course, is not very wide, and someone having to go from the back of the marshrutka to the front will have to push and squeeze their way through. Although some marshrutki do have doors in the back, most do not. Standing in the aisle, squeezed up between an old crabby babushka and a drunk gopnik while holding onto anything solid for dear life as the driver recklessly weaves through rush hour traffic is not a pleasant experience, but fortunately, this doesn't describe the majority of my times on a marshrutka.

I've come to generally enjoy my time on a marshrutka, as the frequent stops that it makes along its route, along with the inevitable logjam of marshrutki trying to jockey for position at the stops, usually means that I'm going to be on it for a while, regardless of how far I'm going. It's usually a good time to catch the sights of passing beautiful women while relaxing. Of course, how much relaxing I'm able to do when a bus with 15 seats is holding more than 30 people won't be that much, but still, it can be a fun experience.

So...here's to the glorious marshrutka, one of the many things that makes my time in Ukraine an interesting experience.