Зелений гай in winter

After several days of staying indoors and staring at the computer screen, Tanya comes to the rescue and drags me outdoors.

You may remember Tanya as the heroine of Зелений гай and the ☭ metro stop. She's still an English teacher, still living in Proletarska, and still a very good friend. Today we retrace our steps from that earlier adventure, but the heavy layer of winter everywhere makes it almost a new and unexplored land.

More business lunches

2013 has gotten off to a strong start for us. You know those two resolutions that everyone always has? Spend less money and go on a diet? Well, I can promise you that so far we've been sticking to it!

Of course, this is not out of a noble quest for betterment. This is simply because we ran out of money. My school shut down for the holiday season and December pay won't be issued until the new classes start. D's company also had a holiday break and with it, a break from paychecks. Our last paychecks quickly dwindled down to nothing. First came the holiday gatherings and parties. Then came our new phones (more on that later). And the final blow was my recent obscene laziness. Usually I plan out meals in advance, send D off to work with a lunch, all that good stuff.
But for the last week and a half, if not at a holiday-something-or-other, I was probably watching inspirational and educational videos emailed by friends (like this one). (If you actually clicked, I do apologize :P ) There was no energy for cooking and since we both were at home, we ended up spending the last of our cash at {cough, cough} McDonalds and on mid-day business lunches.

Not that I regret it. You remember that I love business lunches, right?



Here was one of my favorites. It's from Mafia, the Italian side of the Italian/Japanese chain that we visited for an earlier sushi business lunch. The food was okay, small portions and nothing that special for the rather high price, but check this out- you can order it online! And it was delivered in cool black boxes with reusable containers.

A big thank you, milestones, and the Liebster!

Guess what??!!

{drumroll, please.....}

Farewell to 2012

Last year we rang in New Year's Eve in Simferopol, said goodbye to a relative several days later, and visited Sevastopol and Yevpatoria before heading back to Kharkov. This year we stayed much closer to home. Coming back from Odessa on December 23rd, we found ourselves thrown into a week of chaos.

Odessa: Corporate Parties and Cafes

Now that you know how we spent our time outdoors in Odessa's winter, here's a rundown of what happened indoors.

Odessa at 21 degrees F

Holy Trinity Cathedral

 Yet again we ended up in Odessa thanks to someone's generosity. This time credit goes to D's work. While my company offers pay-your-own-way corporate parties at local restaurants, D's employers lavishly splurged on train tickets and lodging so that everyone could visit Odessa for one massive blow-out party.

A Very Champagne Christmas is Coming

The holidays are coming and that means drinking.

Well, to be honest, almost any season in Ukraine means drinking, but the festivity, bustle, and camaraderie surrounding the holidays cause many people to go above and beyond the average call of duty.

The supermarket has an overflow of champagne bottles already. They've been tossed in giant bins, displayed next to enticing sale prices. There's even a brand sold in a blank bottle with a pen so that you can draw on your own design and slogan. Next to the champagne, the hard alcohol gift sets are on display. Gift sets range from the pricey honey pepper vodka + shotglasses or Baileys + shotglasses to the ceramic-pistol-filled-with-vodka for 95 uah.