Kyiv, Ukraine,
More days in Kyiv,
I like this city and the weather is ideal. There are many cafes, and restaurants, beautiful walks, buildings, and parks.
However, I don’t feel at my best and I don’t know exactly why.
I believe I left my heart in Asia. Even though everything is great here, it is not as exotic and I don’t feel the stars that were waking me up in Asia.
Although I want to make the most of my time here. I am looking at exploring more of the city, and probably exploring the Chernobyl site if possible.
I am having a hard to plan the continuity of this trip before landing in France. As France now requires the mandatory vaccine, I have to get my jabs in Romania but need to stay at the same place for at least 3 weeks.
It looks mostly difficult to go from Ukraine to Romania even though they are neighbor countries. All information is not easy to digest.
As of now, my time in Kyiv was mostly about finding my way through the city, where to eat and what, where to go and be able to work, what to see, where to exercise, …. The language does not help, everything is in Ukrainian, or sometimes in Russian, but almost nothing is written in English, nor the people here can speak good English. It is way more difficult than in Asia, at least for the countries I have been to (Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, India, Sri Lanka). At the same time, it is funny and it forces me to learn some of the languages, but also be more tolerant as people can lose patience trying to communicate with strangers.
I found a nice coworker space that is time-based, you come to pick a clock, and install yourself, there is coffee and small snacks that are available unlimitedly. When you leave the space, you scan the clock and pay only for the time you stayed (the first hour is more expensive, second and third a little less, then after the fourth hour, it is the same amount).
Throughout the city, I recorded some ambiences here and there but nothing extraordinary. I am more focused on trying to get to Romania and get the vaccine, but I have many other tasks I need to do at the same time.
Of course, it was foreseeable that I couldn’t discover this new place and at the same time be productive at work. But I am stubborn and always think that I can achieve more than what is possible. I need to be more realistic at times so I can plan my time more accurately.
