Last day

I have my exit interview with Roman in 1/2 hour then I go to the bank with Yuri for a tour. Tomorrow I leave for the airport around 4:00 a.m.(can't wait). I should be home by 9:30 tomorrow night. That means I will be traveling approx 24 hours as the time difference is 7 hours. I'm sure I'll be in GREAT shape. If anybody calls me on Thursday morning I doubt I'll be answering.

It's been a great trip and I've learned quite a bit. Someone told me that it's very hard to know if you made a difference when you look back on this experience. I agree, I think I've helped with a greater understanding of how crop insurance works in the States but really didn't do much with the marketing side of things.

I think the trip they are thinking of doing in June to the U.S. might help quite a bit.

So, this is the last post on the blog unless I get stuck in Amsterdam and have to smoke pot in order to get internet time(joking). I only have a 2 hour layover there, not enough time to get into trouble.

It's been fun blogging and I will have a nice log of the trip when I get home. Keep the Doughnuts hot and the puzzle unsolved at the Daylight and I'll be there Thursday or Friday.

RoxAnn

Winding Down

Today, Monday, still a National Holiday for Women's Day. These gals got a whole three days of pampering. I'm surprised Hallmark or the flower industry hasn't picked up on this. The flowers are still going like hotcakes.

I'm winding down my assignment. I'll have my exit interview possibly today and then I'll tour the bank with Yuri tomorrow. I'm ready to come home but will miss my new friends and this great city. I think I won't miss the bed. You can look back for the picture of it.

I hope to see some of these people(YES, including Yuri) in June as they are visiting the U.S.). We'll see what happens. It will depend on where they go.

It rained all day yesterday and today. I am getting really in to the Hallmark Channel(it's the only english channel except for CNN and BBC). I have watched every Mystery Women ever made and Sea Patrol sometimes twice. Also, I watched Larry King live with Janet Jackson three times. That's the breaks. I had very nice weather up to this point so I won't complain too much.

The people in Ukraine are very hardworking, honest people. They work very hard to understand you and don't try to swindle you because you don't understand. Keiv is a very nice city. When I went to the internet yesterday I could have gone to any designer store you could name. No Chicos or Coldwater Creek but Gucci, Yves St. Larent, Guess and my favorite shoes Ecco. Wichita doesn't have anything on Keiv.

One thing that I haven't mentioned that I find really neat is the underground street crossings. To cross the street you go under the street. There are stores, flower markets and fruit vendors there. One time a guy was carrying a bunch of pluck chickens and people were gathered around him. I passed on that. I'm posting a picture of the only public toilet that I graced. No sitting, only standing. Yulia tried to convince me that is was much more hygenic that way. I think I'll stick with my own apartment or the office.

I had to get a lesson on How to use this

The famous Yuri on the left. Roman the project manager and Lina the head of CNFA in Ukraine.

More Pictures

Really cool buildings

Crimea was a no go

We did the math and Crimea did not work out. It was supposed to be rainy the whole time and Yuri wants to give me a tour of the Bank and Insurance Company Tuesday and we wouldn't have been back in time.
We did, however, check out Keiv on Women's Day and that was well worth it. Street Fairs everywhere and even a car race with Women Drivers Down the main street of Keiv. We also hit the market where I got all kinds of things to remember my trip with(watch out Bob, I spent some money).
I have to tell one thing that happened Friday that I didn't have time to write about. The men in our office hosted a party for the women. While we(about 10 of us) were visiting they told me about the Orange Revolution(2004). This is when the Ukraine decided that they had had enough of everyone taking them over and they had a peaceful demonstration about it.

The people in my office got very animated and told how the main street of Keiv was blocked. It would be like blocking Kellogg in Wichita. There were people camping on it and they had come all over the Ukraine to peacefully support the Orange Revolution. It was winter so it was really cold but people that lived in apartments along the way ran extention cords out to the tents so the people could have some electricity. They said it was a very fun but scary time. At first they were really happy because they thought winning would solve all their problems but now they just think of it as a time of a change that didn't solve much as they hoped. They are really proud and peaceful people. They are tired of being ruled by other people so they accept what's happening now as a better life.

I am in an internet cafe right now which I paid $2.00 for an hour of internet. I think they saw me coming and doubled it. Oh well, it's still very cheap.

Listen up guys...WOMEN'S DAY HAS ARRIVED

As I walked to work today(30 minutes with stairs uphill), I saw all the effects of Women's Day. This is a THREE day holiday. Most offices are closed on Monday. This is THREE days to honor the women of the country. There were flower stands everywhere and the guys were lined up at each one. The street and underground walkways were filled with fragrance. Most offices have parties this afternoon to honor the women in their offices. I could really get used to a holiday like this. There is a holiday mood in the air and all the women are actually smiling.

I am going to Crimea this weekend. Yulia and I will take an overnight train tonight and goof around all weekend in Crimea. It's on the Black Sea. She is making all the plans. Having an interpreter is like having a personal assistant. She makes sure I'm safe and happy. I think I need her to come with me to the States. I think for everything she does her price would be to high for me to pay. I know she would agree.

I won't be posting this weekend as I will be by the Black Sea enjoying myself but will try to post some pictures Monday.

I also recieved tulips from Yuri. Can you believe it???

He also brought me my first Ukraine "freebees". He thinks the word freebees is really funny. I think this means he is, after all, a nice guy.

Adventures with food

I can't believe I have gone this long without talking about food. I really like the food here. My two favorite dishes have the main ingredients of beets and potatos(imagine that). There also is a bit of mayonaise and oil involved. My favorite salad is called in english Russian Potato Salad. It has boiled beets,potatos and eggs with pickles, cucumbers and onions chopped up in it. It also has capers in it. Add sour cream and some oil and it's really good.
The other salad(I use the salad word with the ideal that it may not be a healthy salad) has some of the same ingredients as above but there is mayo and pickled herring involved(herring under fur is the Ukraine translation). This is my favorite dish of all. It is very filling and 1 cup of it is a whole meal.

I also love the dumplings. The ones filled with cabbage are very good. Yesterday it was really cold so I had Borshch(borscht to you Americans). Ok, now that I've been talking about all this I am really hungery so Roman my project manager is bringing in Borshch for lunch.
Yuri called and can't come today(dang) so I'm shopping for mini-shirts and whatever else I want with Yulia. She will keep me from going crazy. She is very practical. She makes all her own clothes including her coats. They are really pretty and well made. The sweaters that she makes are beautiful. I could learn a thing or two from her(NOT). She doesn't have enough time in her whole life to teach me what she knows.

Yuri Yuri Yu R Killing me!!

I know I'm here for marketing but today Yuri and I figured claims all day. Thanks to Bob White and a little bit my brain we figured premiums and claims all day. I now can figure a premium by hand. I told Yuri he needed a better computer. He actually cracked a smile. Now he wants to see a policy on tomatos. Who the heck grows tomatos in Kansas???? Oh well, thanks to Kent L. at the RMA I can find one now. You guys are really helping me to look smart. That is a tough job.
(note to Bob, at least he didn't ask about sun-dried tomatos)
For the next project they are wanting to develop some new policies similar to RA and CRC. It would be very interesting but would require more knowlege than I have with crop insurance. It would be in April of this year.
If someone is reading with an interest check out the CNFA.org site.
Tomorrow people start getting ready for womens day. It's really Saturday but they start doing things on Thursday. This is similar to Valentines day but only for women. I think Yuri owes me a flower. Let's not hold our breaths.

Business Casual???

I have to tell about this because it has been very entertaining in my mind but I can't share this in the Ukraine as I don't know how it would be recieved.
The CNFA briefing book, this is suppossed to be the bible for all volunteers, says to dress very businesslike for seminars and to still dress business casual for meetings. Before I go on I have to say that this booklet must have been written by a blind and deaf person. It says to bring candies and chocolate and lots of ink pens. I looked in a cabinet in the apartment and there is a stock of these things abandoned by other volunteers. I have eaten some of the most amazing chocolate here and pens are not an issue. The booklet needs an overhaul.

Back the the attire issue. The girls in this office are very beautiful. One came to my desk to chat yesterday. Pardon my frankness because I am a girl but she looked HOT. Mini-skirt, high heels, makeup. I immediatly picked up my purse because I was sure we were finally going somewhere fun to party. No, my hopes were dashed, she had a very important luncheon at the embassy(watch out Ambassador).

This gives a whole new meaning to business attire. In the U.S. this outift could have been business just something different. I've gotten used to it by now and wish I could throw on a miniskirt or two.(watch out Rotary, I'm shopping for business outfits today)!!

This is called the Golden Gate. Yulia says it used to be the gates to the city

This is a street market several blocks long that we went to this morning

American ways

I'm amazed that people know I'm an American even though I haven't talked. I think I've figured out a few things. YOU MIGHT BE AN AMERICAN IF.........

• you smile at all
• you are too polite
• you think a sidewalk is for pedestrians
• you think pedestrians have the right of way on a sidewalk
• you look at things with too much curiosity
• you wonder why that really old american is doing with that beautiful young ukraine woman

I think that's the most I can come up with now. Just so you single guys know I see alot of guys with Nebraska ball caps that are straight off the U.S. farm with beautiful Ukraine women. When they figure out I'm American they get embarrassed. Hmmmm I wonder why??

I meet AGAIN with the Insurance Exec. he has more questions. I'm about out of answers but it's still very interesting. I went to dinner with another volunteer last night. It was nice to speak english for awhile.

I saw on CNN this morning that Obama and Clinton are in a dead heat going into the primaries today. (That's SRMC in case you forgot Craig)

The casino as viewed out my window. I'm not sure what exit it is at or who approved it I just know I haven't had ANYTHING to do with it. So close but yet so far away.

The only polar bear I have seen. (in a shop window)

This is Yuri talking after my talk.(i'm on the right looking very official with coffee grounds in my teeth)

LOST IN TIME

I spent the first half of Sunday exploring the city and the second half in the apartment as it was sleeting and not very nice out.

A friend of Bob and mine, Craig, has been telling me about Pillers of the Earth by Ken Follit. I brought the book along with me and have been lost in time. It is set more in England but it is during the time of castle building and monestaries, lords and Queens and Kings. When I walk down the street and see a Cathedral I can almost imagine that I am in the book. I think, unfortunently, I would not be Aliana(the hero, but Ellen(the good heathen) and sometimes my temper would get the best of me and I would put a curse on everyone(you would have to read the book). I also visited a monestary and it fit right into what I was reading.

Today I meet with Yuri, the Insurance Exec., I will work hard not to be Ellen.

One more shout out to Craig, make that check to SRMC hospital foundation as I have been Ellen and put a curse on a certain campaign.

Thanks for all the e-mails they help me to not be homesick and I really apprecitate them.

RoxAnn & Yulia's great adventure

Our Mission????? Should we choose to accept it????



4:00 a.m. We were picked up by the driver at my apartment

4:30 a.m.-Picked up Yuri(the "Boss")

11:00a.m.-arrive in Odessa(no stops at all)

11:05-offered coffee-TOOK A BIG SIP----BIG MISTAKE-FULL OF GROUNDS

11:06- time for my marketing talk--mouth and teeth full of coffee grounds-worked well because couldn't smile much because teeth full of grounds.

12:00 done with my talk-Yuie Talked until 1:30

1:31-back in car-no lunch-no water-straight to Kiev

6:30-dropped at taxi stand

7:00 finally back at apartment. Yulia and I are giddy with hunger & laughter. We decide that I should be grateful to Yuri because he contributed to my weight loss goal. I decided we should go out to a very nice dinner and present the check to Yuri Monday. PLAN COMPLETED

The meeting was very formal. More Women than Men. The stars are putting revenge on me for all the times I was rolling my eyes when State Farm brought in someone to talk about marketing. I got about one whole person out of 27 worth of feedback. Yuri(of course) thought it was a great success. If he treats great success this way I would hate to see what failure got. I will have a talk with him Monday as we are supposed to do the 2 more times. On one hand I WILL lose weight, but on the other I am somewhat responsable to be treated with respect and this won't do again.

Yuri and I are going to have a come to terms meeting. MY TERMS(easting,drinking and bathroom)
Slept untill noon-sat and sun off to freedom square to look around.

I call this the bed that will lead me straight to a Chiropractor when I get home

All the books in my apartment(all in Russian)

Subway, very clean and modern.

Newer new plan

I am going to Odessa tomorrow morning(not Odessa Texas). I will leave by private car at 5:00 a.m for 6-8 hours. They talked about an overnight train but could not get me a private compartment. I asked if the car had a mini-bar. Yulia couldn't translate mini-bar(or wouldn't). Yulia totally keeps me out of trouble, she doesn't drink much. I know, I know, I would have to get the only translator in the Ukraine that doesn't drink vodka. I'm considering this a good thing. I(we) will do a 1 hour talk and ride 6-8 hours back. Hopefully this weekend I will get to see more of Kiev as I have the weekend off.

I had another adventure at the grocery store when I decided to buy Ukraine wine. This guy kept bugging me while I was looking at the wine. Finally, in english, he said "I am the wine steward". (Oh, come on, we are in a grocery store). He really was the wine steward, I told him what I wanted and he picked a bottle of wine for me($8.00 American). I decided he was pretty nice even though he scared the crap out of me at first. It was really good wine(sorry Teresa and Bob, went off the diet).

I went home and there was a terrible racket going on in my apartment. I looked and looked and finally decided someone was trying to drill a tunnel into my apartment(my guess was the wine steward). If he made it in I didn't notice as I was watching SEA PATROL. There's a guy on this show that looks just like Andy from the sitcom with the UPS guy. He hasn't improved much. When I woke up this morning I could hear children cheering(no, it wasn't because they saw me in my PJ's). The school next to my apartment had set up a rink and they were playing ice hockey. It was fun to watch.

The interesting thing about the crop insurance is they don't have all the government reporting that we do. They decide what might be the highest yield for an area and a person can buy what they want up to that point. The government pays around 5% of the premium and that's it. The farmers don't trust the government(can't imagine why).

I won't be posting tomorrow as I will be enroute to Odessa(minus mini-bar). I will see some of the country outside of kiev so hopefully that will make the long ride go by quicker. By the way, farmer is pronounced fierma(feeairma) in Ukraine. If we average this out I should know about 5 words by the time I return.

New Plan

They have been discussing a new plan for me. I think it's because the insurance executive thinks I know all the insurance secrets. I will have to think tonight to know if I do. The plan seems to be to get to the office at 11:00 and leave at 7:00. What is that all about?? This is cutting in to my Sea Patrol TV show. The new plan will involve going somewhere in a car Friday. This is all I know. I hope they have Toilet paper.

Famous

I was just told I will teach an agriculture seminar on March 6th. They have invited 150 people to attend. Roman, my project coordinator told me I will be famous after this seminar. I told him I am already famous in the U.S. with my blog.

Worked Late

Worked untill 7:00 last night. For me that's pretty late. I figured out that I have cable in my apartment. The only thing in English was CNN and Sea Patrol. Sea Patrol was so exciting. Only because it was in English.

Today I started work at 11:00 a.m. Shout out to Teresa(my wellness coach) I walk to work and it takes 30 minutes uphill. I choose to do this instead of the subway.

Everybody in the office seems nervous and excited. I think that's good. Hope they didn't watch CNN this morning and that they are nervous just because I did a good job not because Russia is a little miffed with the Ukraine.

Yulia explained about the collective farms during the Soviet reign and how things have changed. It's not a great situation for all involved but better than it was. She also told me that her parents had to buy liability insurance for their car for the first time this year because the government required this. It is around 100.00 american per year and it doesn't pay enough if you get into an accident. Some things are the same everywhere you go.

Passed the test

I was just told that the Head of Ag. at TAS wants to meet more with me as he considered that I had knowledge that he would like to have.

YES

Big Meeting

I had my first meeting with the Head of Agriculture insurance at TAG. He was quite nice and very demanding. I'm not on an airplane headed for home so I think I passed the first test. He is very challanged with the insurance system in the Ukraine. It will be interesting to see how this goes. I'll keep you posted.

A little note: they do not use good lighting anywhere and I have trouble seeing in these meetings but yet noone wears glasses here. This makes me wonder.

Very romantic

This is the "bridge of love". When a couple professes their love for each other they write their names on a padlock and lock it on the bridge and throw the key into the river below.

Yulia, my super interpreter. She is very patient with me.

The quest for TP

It is Tuesday morning. I don't meet with my executive until about 3:00 p.m. This meeting was originally sceduled for 9:00 a.m. and changed 4 times and ended up at 3:00. I am told this is the usual thing. We are going sightseeing this morning.
The quest for TP(toilet paper) last night was very interesting. My interpreter left me at my apartment for the evening and I decided to go grocery shopping(on my own). The apartment had no toilet paper so I really needed some. I spent an hour looking around the supermarket, this is better sightseeing than a anything. I looked and looked for toilet paper and couldn't find it. I finally stopped a worker to ask. No english!!! So I pantimimed what i needed(not the most delicate thing I've done). Turns out you must check out on the first floor and go to the second floor for those things. My quest for TP was successful.
My interpreter read my Lonely Planet guide book and laughed at the restaurant recomendations. She said we would eat much better than that!!
I just got confirmation that we are on for 3:00 p.m. I think this is when the real work will begin(although the TP adventure was quite a bit of work). By the way Yulia(interpreter) got me wonderful fruit and I tried it last night. I decided it was the best fruit ever. I decided I would have to eat one every day since I couldn't get them in the U.S. I asked Yulia what it was this morning and she said it was *****. (That means I can't pronounce it)
A little later she told me she looked up the english translation and it was a persimon. Hmmm I think I won't have to eat one every day now.

It is hot

I brought the long underwear and have a heavy coat and winter clothes. Today it was 50 degrees. I walked everywhere today. Kiev is a lovely city and very modern. I had borsht(beet soup) and Chicken Kiev. I am now a local. People watching is very good here. It's like being in a really cool airport. My interpreter Yulia took me all over the city today.
THE BEST NEWS. There are casinos.
THE BAD NEWS, I doubt I will go because I would never figure out the money. And they are not regulated.
Tomorrow I meet with the head of agriculture marketing for the company I will be working with. He is going to guage my knowledge and decide what to do with me. Off to the supermarket and home.

I MADE IT

I am here. I have moved in to my apartment and have already gone grocery shopping. My interpreter spent some time at Texas A&M so we had quite a bit to talk about.

When I got on the plane in Amsterdam I gave myself a little pep talk about getting used to being the only American from now on. It turns out that a bunch of Billy Graham missionaries were on the plane and I sat by a guy from Alabama that was going to see his "girlfriend". I now have the scoop on Russian brides.

I was so excited to see a whole wall of books in my apartment only to figure out they were all in Russian. Oh well.

PREPARING FOR COOOOOLD WEATHER

I am preparing to go to the Ukraine. I'm packing warm clothes, that way when I get there they will have warm weather. Check back often as I will try to post daily starting February 23rd.