Entertainment!

So I'm signed up for the US Embassy email list in Ukraine (thanks mom). There has been one very good thing about the constant emails they send me. I get to know where and when the good demonstrations are going to be. Case in point:

ANTI-CAPITALISM DEMONSTRATION, 1 MAY 2009

AND ROCK CONCERT INVOLVING SKINHEADS, 2 MAY 2009 - KYIV



According to local media, an organization known as “The Autonomous Right” will conduct an anti-capitalism march and demonstration in downtown Kyiv, on Friday, May 1, 2009. They will assemble at 15:00 in Shevchenko Park and then march to other locations yet to be determined. It appears that labor union members from the United Kingdom and Germany will also participate in this event, in addition to other Ukrainian organizations.

On Saturday, May 2, there will also be a rock concert in Kyiv involving groups associated with skinhead gangs and extreme nationalist organizations. No venue has yet been identified.

Blending in is hard

I've had only a few problems blending in with the style of dress so far. Always wear a black coat, bundle up, and don't look or smile at anyone. It's been easy to do when it was freezing outside. With this warm weather though, I'm having problems. It's going to be 72 here today, which by all measurements is pleasantly warm weather. For me, its weather for shorts and a t-shirt. To the people here, it's weather for jeans and a light sweater. ...I don't do that. Instead I'm going to be wearing my foreigner badge on my sleeves - and shorts for that matter.

Also, I worked last night from 8 to 2AM. Why? Well since it's going to be nice today (and the entire week) I decided that if I put 4 hours in at night, and another 4 in during the morning, then I can stop work around lunch time and go enjoy the sun. It's one of the perks of not having an actual office or manager.

As for work, I'm almost done with my first feasibility report. It's taken about two days of on and off work so far and I'm hoping to have it almost completed today. The next 13 should go much faster though, as there were many parts of the report that I will be able to copy and paste into the rest of them. For instance the methodology or a breakdown of what each section seeks to analyze.

Finally, working without actual deadlines can be a real problem. In school you knew you had a deadline, and if you didn't make it you got a poor grade. In a traditional job, you'll get fired/reprimanded/ect. But with me, if I decide to slack off and not work too hard tomorrow, well...I'll just have to eventually do the work when I get some motivation. It's probably the biggest blessing and curse of this job. I like working under pressure, and there really is none here.

Thanks Mexico

As if drugs, illegal aliens, and cheap labor wasn't enough, now you've added pig flu to your list of neighborly gifts.

By the way, there are currently 0 cases in Ukraine (and Europe for that matter), but that probably won't last.

Easily impressed

I just saw someone open a beer bottle with their cellphone. That is much more impressive than using a lighter like most people on the streets do.

I love it when people blame me for their problems

Really not happy about a conversation I just had. My travel partner (who didn't return my emails or phone calls yesterday and today) sends me a text at 1245 telling me she will be in her hotel lobby til 1 and if I can bring by the money I owe her. At this point I had just gotten some tea at the coffee house and was really in a focused work mode. After some testing she says she will have the driver swing by my apartment.

I asked her why she didn't return my phonecalls or emails and she said her Internet doesn't work at her hotel and that the phone she is using here has no money. But that she was at the office until 730 last night which I know had working Internet. My last email to her yesterday was at 5. I asked her why she didn't reply to my emails then and she replies with why didn't you call the hotel since everyone else from DC did. Because apparently it's my responsibility to call her cell phone, email her, and call the hotel when I need to talk to her. So it's my fault that I missed the visit to the lab yesterday and didn't know that she was waiting for me to contact her this morning. Right.

Yeah mom I know, humility and whatnot.

Damn you coffee house!

While I was gone a few really interesting things happened in Kiev. One of them is called spring. The day I left the trees around town were just starting to get their buds, so when I came back everything was green. Kinda a shame I missed it really. The tree outside my window is the same, meaning if there is a fire and I need to jump out the window for safety it's going to be much harder to now reach anything to grab onto.

Secondly, the coffee house I usually study and do work at got free wifi (as opposed to the pay to use it kind). While this seems like a good thing (and it is), it's going to decrease my productivity, while also increasing it. Being able to do research from there will be nice, but being distracted by things like stocks, news, and the hamster dance will probably slow down my work flow. Then again, there are studies that say taking 5 minute internet breaks increase productivity around the office.

I got on the Fokker

So our plane from Vienna to Kiev was the Fokker 100, as you can see
from the picture i took of the safety instructions.