Kuchma!!! Among other things.

I have too much to blog about. I don't know where to begin. I suppose now that I have Internet in my room, I have more time for blogging. But I also have more time for watching youtube videos. And applying for jobs, or whatever.

I'll start with my new favourite photo subject. Kuchma.

Pretty Kitty.

I have made it no secret in my life that I HATE cats. I'ma maybe have to eat those words, though, because I love Kuchma. He's such a suck, and I love him for it. He sleeps all day, eats, sleeps some more and rolls over for a tummy rub whenever anyone walks by. This morning, he fell asleep with his head on my foot and his paws stretched up against my leg. I challenge anyone not to fall in love with a kitty once they've done that. Kuchma, by the way, was named after the former president of the Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, who had similar colouring.

Anyway, he was the easiest topic, so I figured I'd get him out of the way first. And look at how cute he is!

My Dad and my Stepmom Tanya live in a village on the outskirts of a city, neither of which I can spell or pronounce correctly (Marianivka Village outside of Zhovti Vody. I looked it up.) It's about 4 hours from Kyiv by train to get here, and it's a pretty cool place. The roads here are mostly potholes, which is where it's handy to have a driver that knows what they're doing. Tanya's oldest son Andrei does most of the long distance driving, and he's pretty amazing, I must say. Driving in this country is amazing in general. You usually stick to your side of the road, but you often can't because of giant holes in the road. If there's someone in front of you that you would like to be going faster than, go ahead! Passing on the left in the city appears to be a-ok. Also, I haven't seen a seatbelt in use since I got here.

Road on the way between the store and Dad and Tanya's house

What else can I tell you about the place? Food and clothes and pretty much everything else are really cheap for us because we convert everything to Canadian to find out how much it really costs. Unfortunately it's not so cheap for people who don't earn Canadian money.

As for scenery, it looks a lot like Saskatchewan, except maybe a bit more hilly, but that might be just because we're by a river and in my head that means that there might be more hills, or something. I don't know.

Field between the store and Dad's and Tanya's house

The houses in the village where Dad and Tanya live are small for the most part, but sometimes not. Some are plain, others are colourful. I haven't been inside any houses except for Dad and Tanya's, which is supremely nice and full of lovely things, so I don't know what they're like inside. I'll ask tomorrow.

House in the village

Chicken house, maybe? I thought it looked cool.

 Anyway, it's super late and I haven't been able to drag my butt out of bed before noon since I got here (except yesterday, that is: 11:30!!!) so I'm going to go now. I'll try to blog more tomorrow, because I have too many topics to cover in one post, but I have things to tell you all!!! Like the fact that it snowed! I'm so glad I was a grown up and bought boots in London instead of the sneakers I actually wanted.
 

View from my window. The lady isn't always there, though.
Just sometimes.

So, I got 3 things off my list. ish. More tomorrow. Things I need to blog about: Christmas, shopping, chocolate, luggage, my dad's house, music, watching TV. Oh dear. That's a lot.