After reading some recent blogs of people in Ukraine and noting the experiences of others while we were in country I want to give a few tips to people who are traveling or about to travel.
1. Remember YOU hired these people to help you. While your facilitator may know the ropes and strings to pull to get your documents done they are not in control of your pocketbook. If a flight to your region is too expensive make them investigate other options, if a hotel or apartment is too expensive tell them no, find you somewhere cheaper. If your dragged into a restaurant and the prices in grivna look like a phone number, tell them you want to eat cheaper. While many of the expenses of this "adventure" are uncontrollable things such as these are and if your budget is tight can ad up.
2. Keep all cash and your passport with you at all times. Wear a money belt and pull out your daily needs for your purse or pocket when you dress in the morning. I never felt threatened that I had all that cash on my body but I didn't leave it anywhere either. I soon adjusted to having the money belt on and didn't think of it anymore. Take all unnecessary items out of your wallet or purse. You will not need your library card in Ukraine, that way if something happens at least your not replacing all of that stuff too. Men should keep their wallets in an inside coat pocket or front pants pocket, women make sure purse is zipped at all times and do not carry a purse w/o a zipper, also keep purse in front of you when in crowded places same goes for backpacks etc.
3. Try not to stick out like a sore thumb. When in public speak quietly. Don't wear white tennis shoes unless your under 25. If your a championship high heel walker buy some stiletto boots, if not, take very non-descript dark colored shoes. Do not wear expensive jewelry. If your wedding ring has stones in it at all leave it at home, wear a plain band or nothing. Jeans are OK to wear and are very practical as most of the time you can wear them several times before washing. Dark jeans are more common than faded washed out jeans. Walk quickly, everyone walks fast, no one strolls. Do not sit on concrete or stone walls. If it's even close to being cool weather wear a coat. Don't ask me why, everyone wears a coat even in pretty mild weather. Dress in layers, inside tends to be overheated and you will want to be able to get to lighter clothes.
4. Pack very lightly. Cars are little and there isn't much room for luggage, same goes for train compartments. If I was to do it again I would carry no more than a rolling carry on per person and a backpack. You should be able to find most anything you really have to have while there though the brands may be different etc. Consider it urban camping, you'll make do. There's no need to carry laundry soap etc it exist there. The only thing I really recommend taking is a length of twine in order to make your own laundry line if needed and a travel size bottle of fabreeze to freshen clothes and things since everyone there smokes. While every other list you find says ziplocks by the dozens, they are handy but you can manage w/o them. Save the space for reading material, DVD's, or a board game or deck of cards.
5. Remember most things in Ukraine are negotiable. Hotels, apartments, anything in the open markets, your "expediting" fees, taxi cabs, even train tickets if your facilitator schmoozes enough. I think the biggest tip for negotiating is to send your facilitator in and do not disclose you are foreign, just stand there quietly or stay outside. Again, you are the boss and he/she should work for the best price for you.
Our facilitator was very up front with us about our options, therefore I know there are other ways to do things while there. From reading others blogs I get the distinct impression that many are told we will buy a plane ticket to region, we will eat at this restaurant, we will stay in this apartment and not given options and many do not stress their wants and needs due to stress, language barrier and culture shock. For those people please stress your wants, needs, and the fact that you can't or won't afford XYZ and you want other options.
Remember YOU are the boss. Nothing can happen w/o your pocketbook paying for it.
WINNIE'S LITTER Just a little blog of the ins and outs and ups and downs in the life of a mom.
1 comment:
You've got some great tips here. In most cases, I would say they are true. However, that is not always the case. Our hotel in region was THE ONLY option available for rent. We said no and we still ended up staying there for a month. Our facilitators tried to find something else and there was nothing available. It was $100/night and had no kitchen (except a tiny mini-bar fridge) - so we also had no choice but to eat out every day.
Most of the time, we had no say in the restaurants either. Some were prearragned and underway before we even knew what was going on - same thing with gift giving. When we were without a translator, which was frequently, our only safe option was the hotel restaurant, which was rather fancy and about the same price you'd pay for a nice meal here in the states. After we all (facilitators included) contracted food poisoning at another local and deemed safe restaurant, we stuck with what we knew was safe.
Amen on the wedding rings and money belts!! Even modest diamond wedding rings here in America are worth more than most people in Ukraine make in a couple of years. We wore our money belts everywhere and did forget about how much money was in them. I accidentally forgot to put mine on one morning. I was totally freaked about it all day. Thankfully it was still undisturbed in the hotel closet with all the money and my passport still in tact. Whew! You can bet that I never forgot it again!!
As for what's in your wallet, we took one credit card and one debit card. We used them both at various times. We even used the ATM without any problems. I also had my driver's license in my wallet in case I needed it for ID at the airport, but everyone just used my passport, even in the domestic terminals. I left EVERYTHING else home.
Concrete walls: Use caution here, but don't worry too much about it. We'd heard this bit of advise over and over and over again from travelers. Imagine our surprise when we were at the Motherland statue in Kyiv and our facilitator sat down on the concrete wall...right along with dozens of other fine Ukrainians. We told her we'd heard so many times that this was taboo in Ukraine. She just laughed - and we sat on the wall. We also sat on the concrete orphanage steps ALL the time - and so did our facilitator and so did the orphanage workers.
The best piece of advice I can offer is to be respectful and flexible. Yes, stand up for yourself and express your feelings, but don't be controlling or arrogant. You ARE going to stand out and people ARE going to know you're a foreigner. Even if you are caucasian, we as Americans are by and large built differently than most Ukrainians. We also dress differently and walk differently. If you try to "look" Ukrainian, I promise, you WILL stand out.
Most of all, just enjoy the journey.
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