Scene from "Occupy DC," near the Old Post Office.
I don't have very much time right now. The freezer door is open and while I'm sitting here talking to you all the frozen broccoli and pelmenyi are defrosting. So I'll make this a brief update and get on with it.
In the early hours of Orthodox Christmas, I departed Kyiv on yet another Atlantic crossing. My seat was next to an expat father taking his jubilant daughter to his native Columbia for the first time. Her excitement was both palatable and contagious, so I gladly surrendered my window seat to her. Envying her zeal, I nonetheless dreaded the enforced chaos of Frankfurt which awaited us.
This time though, I had lounge access in FRA, with its complimentary glass-bottled spring water, candied nuts and library hushed rustling of cultivated travelers and their newspapers - and this made the layover considerably more bearable than ever before.
After my acclimating two hour nap, I walked out on Saturday evening in Washington in the dead of winter, wearing nothing more than a sweater. Friends from Peace Corps greeted me with a dozen vegetarian Ukrainian courses to celebrate their faux orthodoxolgy. Just what I wanted. Hadn't had vereniki in almost a week! Onward to meet friends from grad school for a drink or two.
The weekend was sunny and splendid. I brunched. I absorbed HBO into my pores. And all that week, I dined and dined. Chipotle. A feast at Hank's Oysters. Lunching three glorious days in a row at Breadline located near the White House; one of the best delis anywhere south of Newark. Watching the New Hampshire Primary returns while eating veggie noodle soup and fried dumplings at Chinatown Express.
The purpose of my trip was to take two very different courses both relating to my job in contracts. One was a law course, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The other was a cost analysis class, which I thoroughly did not. The week in between the two courses was airplane and family time.
Alabama: A forested state built like a quarterback with a big name, yet polite and savory as sweet tea. Spent time with my brother, his wife and my year old niece who is currently shaped like the world's most beautiful peanut.
Florida: A 400 mile subtropical goft resort layered with graceful Egrets, assorted reptiles and strip malls. Spent time with mother, step-dad, step-sister, two aunts and an uncle. Feasted on yet more Mexican food and the best margaritas I've had in almost 29 months (my last visit to Rio Grande in Denver).
Back to Virginia, Alexandria to be exact, which was seemingly abandoned in January, as tumbleweeds drifted across the streets (actually it was more like endangered Twinkie wrappers, but you get the idea). Had a lovely dinner with my step-sister and extended family. Watched the State of the Union - the best one yet by the current President. Had Thai with friends from grad school - a reunion years in the making all the while suffering from chili dog food poisoning from the night before. Dinner with Peace Corps Ukriane at Busboys and Poets and up above to a housewarming party. Then my three weeks trip was over and done with. No more GOP debates or HBO. Off to Dulles and back home to Kyiv.
Ukraine is freezing cold. The first morning back on my way to the metro, my contact lenses froze to my eyeballs, my face lost all feeling and the bitter cold blurred my vision. The temperature was -25F. I usually laugh at people back in the States when they assume that Ukraine is like Siberia (or located in Siberia). After all, the weather in Kyiv is normally comparable to New York or Boston, but without all the wind and humidity. But this winter, Ukraine is like Siberia.
I'm in Chisinau, Moldova for the time being and will be here for a while - but more on that later.
Now close the door, you're letting the warm in.
