Day 10 – Tuesday, 22 December I’m settling into a morning routine: make coffee, set up laptop in the corner of the kitchen by the radiator and write before Mark wakes up. But occasionally, I have a day when I sit in front of my keyboard and my fingers simply won’t produce the words. Today was one of those days. I got up about 8:15, as our translator zipped out the door to chase more documents. By 9:30, when the only words on the screen were “Day 9 – Monday, 21 December,” I gave up and switched to a book. […]

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Day 9 – Monday, 21 December Google the word “Monday” and I’m sure you’ll find the following definition: “Retribution for a leisurely Sunday.” Our translator and I were both up around 7:30. She scurried out the door a little after 8, and told us that we would be needed maybe around 10 or 11. Perhaps at this point, a cross-functional process diagram might be helpful, but I’m just not inclined to fire up Visio. Feels too much like work. Suffice to say there are many reviews and authorizations and circular escalations to create each document in the process, and there […]

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Day 8 – Sunday, 20 December And on the seventh day, we rested. Well, ok, really the 8th, but you get the idea. After a week of running around and traveling and stressing out and running around some more, we finally had our first totally “down” day. The weather warmed to just above freezing and a light fog filled the streets around our apartment, giving us a cozy, cocooned feeling perfect for a lazy Sunday. We slept in. I made a pot of really strong coffee. I read while Mark played with the internet sharing on our computers and did […]

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Day 7 – Saturday, 19 December We must feel like this is our second home, because for the first time in a week, we both slept well and long. I woke around 8, made a cup of tea, and found a nice warm spot at the kitchen table next to the radiator to write. Mark and our translator both rose a short while later. “We have small problem.” Um…uh oh. That’s never a good thing to hear. Our translator proceeded to explain to us that the holidays in Ukraine begin on 31 December and then run the full first week […]

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Day 6 – Friday, 18 December A weak light broke through the frost-covered window of our compartment, causing me to roll and face the wall and beg for a few hours in a soft bed with a fluffy pillow. Sleep on a train is only marginally more possible than sleep on a plane; at least on the train, you have the ability to lie flat, albeit on a hard, narrow bunk with sheets the texture of tea-towels dried on a clothesline. Again, I strongly recommend the use of pharmaceutical assistance! We finally shook off the cobwebs a little before 10; […]

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