Christmas + New Year

  Christmas and New Years have come and gone, and as usual I am finding myself wondering where they went.  Unlike past years, this Christmas season was not spent braving the malls, wrapping presents, or baking cookies.  Magic 96.5 doesn't exist in Ukraine, so I wasn't able to get my annual Christmas music fix either.  However, my Christmas was still very merry.

I spent my Christmas with my sweetheart and 10 other PCV's in Lviv, a beautiful, historic city in Western Ukraine.  My journey began the Wednesday before Christmas when I took the 17 hour train ride to Kiev, so that I could meet up with Jesse and we could then head to Lviv together.  We met up on Thursday and spent the day holding hands and wondering the city trying to pass the time until our train left that night.  We had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant where I had some of the best Italian food I've had since leaving the states.   We boarded the train at 10:00 p.m. and were asleep by midnight.  When we woke up, it was around 7:00 a.m., and we were nearing Lviv.  The first thing I noticed was the snow.  Being from Alabama, snow is not a site that I am quite use to.  Although there wasn't much of it, there was enough to make me feel like I was living in a post card.  We hopped off the train and met up with a couple of our fellow volunteers.  From the train station, we went to a lovely cafe where we had breakfast and I had my first real cup of coffee since being here.  From there, we went to our apartment, which was conveniently located near the center of the city.  Of course the apartment was fabulous.  It only had one bed, which somehow Jesse and I ended up scoring for the whole weekend!  (It was a king size bed, so we shared it with our good buddy, Simon.)  The rest of the day was spent walking around and taking in the beauty of the city.  The architecture was old fashioned and absolutely gorgeous.  The streets are all cobblestone, so that only adds to that old-timey feeling. 

That night, we decided to go out in order to celebrate our friend Mary-Katherine's birthday.  We were told by every tourist website and every PCV who had ever been to Lviv that we had to go to the Nationalist Bar. It is a Ukrainian nationalist bar that has a secret location and a password to get in.  (In case you are wondering, the password is "Slava Ukraina", which basically means "Long live Ukraine" or something like that.)  If you are admitted (Yes, they do turn people away.  Especially Russians.), you are given a shot of mysterious liquor before you are taken to your table.  The inside is made to look like an old army bunker and includes historical war memorabilia.  The menu has all traditional Ukrainian foods, and the beer is a home brew.  We had a blast dining like the locals and trying on old war costumes.  It was a great way to begin our Christmas vacation.

The next day we spent wondering the streets of Lviv.  We went to an art bazaar and a book bazaar, where being the swell girlfriend that I am; I spotted a Russian Beatles record for Jesse.  We ate our first of many lunches at a little Greek restaurant that served pitas and played Led Zeppelin.  The rest of the afternoon was spent walking the streets and enjoying the sights.  Before we knew it, it was evening and time to get our Christmas festivities started.  We played a fun-filled game of Dirty Santa (which was eventually renamed "Dirty White Yankee" in order to combine all of the names for the game), where I ended up with Reese’s pieces and spam that my pal Chris had brought back with him after a recent visit to the states.  After the game, I gave Jesse his Christmas present, which was matching Christmas Eve pj's.  (This was actually pretty hard to pull off since Ukrainian men do not wear pj's.  Since I couldn't find any, I had to settle on long john's and white t's, which suited Jesse just fine.)  Both of our families have the tradition of getting new pj's on Christmas Eve, so it was important to me to keep this tradition alive.  After the game, we enjoyed some champagne and sparklers before we headed out to a Ukrainian discoteka.  Yes, you heard right.  I spent my Christmas Eve dancing my heart out in techno music, glitter filled dance club.  It was definitely a little different than Christmas Eve's of the past, but it was fun just the same.  

We woke up the next day tired and a little sore, but content.  It was Christmas after all!  We had a lovely breakfast prepared by Chris and Patrick and then went off to explore a little more of the city.  Unfortunately, several of our pal's had to leave that day as they had work the next day. (I forgot to mention that Ukrainians are on the Orthodox calendar, so they do not celebrate Christmas until January 7th.  This means that Christmas was just a regular old day to Ukrainians.)  That night, we went to the Lviv Opera House to see The Nutcracker, which was an amazing experience.  The opera house is by far one of the most beautiful places I've ever been inside of.  The ballet itself was different than other's I've experienced.  Ukrainians have a different "ballet etiquette", so that took some getting used to.  All in all, it was a lovely performance that made my Christmas even more special than it already was.  We ended the night by having a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant and then it was home to turn in early because Jesse, Simon, and I had a train home at 7:00 a.m. the next morning.  

We made it to our train and were able to get a couple hours rest before it was time for Jesse and I to leave Simon and head back to Jesse's site.  Since Jesse's city doesn't have a train station we had to get off at another city about 3 hours away from his site.  We thought we would be able to hop on a bus and get home before dark, but things didn't turn out that way.  We encountered some obstacles, including several very rude people who were less than willing to help us.  We didn't end up getting home until around 11 p.m., so needless to say we were pretty exhausted.  We spent the next day and several after cuddled up watching TV shows and movies.  The excitement of the trip on top of all the traveling had us both worn out, so it was nice to catch up on some rest.  

We decided to spend New Year's Eve at home this year. We started with a delicious meal followed by a couple of movies.  We drank champagne, laughed, and shared a kiss at midnight.  I can honestly say that it was a wonderful and simple New Year's.  Just what I wanted. 

The next few days were spent watching movies, cooking, laughing, reading, and talking.  Before we knew it, it was time for me to head home and get back to the real world.  

School started back today and so did a handful of projects I’m working on.  I’m not complaining.  I would much rather be busy than have too much time on my hands.  I promise that I will dedicate an entire post to what I’m working on in the near future.  But for now, I will leave you with some pictures of my holiday adventures.  Happy New Year my friends.  I think it’s going to be a good one.

Lviv Opera House

My love

Twilight in the city

Street performers