It’s Thursday here now, and strange to think that I’ll be leaving in just a couple days.  I won’t say my time has gone quickly here, at least it hasn’t felt that way on any single day,  but cumulatively it still kind of feels like I’ve only just arrived.

Last night I violated one of the tenets of my guide books:  I stayed out after dark.  It wasn’t far after dark, but the street lights were on and things were a lot quieter.  So was I in danger of roving gangs of Ukrainian street thugs?  I’d say no, at least not where I was.  I was actually more concerned about tripping (the sidewalks aren’t always in the best repair) than I was about being accosted.  But since there were people with small children still walking the street I was on, I felt pretty sure there wouldn’t be any trouble.  I might have felt differently in a different part of town, but here, it was no problem.

I’m thinking that when I get back I may need to write a guide book, because it seems that much of what I had read in preparation for this trip has been wrong or out of date.  For example, Customs; this was a concern of mine, because I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  My two main books differed on what I would encounter, but were in agreement on carefully filling out the landing/immigration form and keeping that paper with me at all times so I’d be able to leave the country without excessive questioning.  WRONG.  There were no landing forms passed out on the plane, and the form I filled out while waiting in line wasn’t needed (which I know because the passport control agent told me so).  In fact, the only reason I had to wait in line at passport control was because two international flights had arrived at the same time; otherwise I would have breezed through.  Customs was equally quick; they x-rayed my bags, asked me the value of cash and gifts I was bringing in, and whether or not I had any medicines (drugs).  That was it; weeks of wonder and worry dispelled in 2 minutes.

Smoking is another thing.  I recall reading that Ukraine is a very health-conscious country, and that smokers are something of a rarity.  WRONG.  I don’t know if there are more smokers here than anywhere else, but they are certainly not rare.  In fact, many times it’s hard to avoid them.  Street kiosks sell many different brands of cigarettes, and most bars, restaurants and cafes permit smoking (although by law they are required to offer non-smoking sections as well).  I was flipping through Ukrainian TV one evening, and saw a smoking-related commercial.  Of course I couldn’t understand it, but from the illustrations it seemed that if you bought this spray (which you sprayed into your mouth, like Chloraseptic or something), you would be able to reverse the damage caused by cigarette smoking.

Still, not everything in the guide books has been completely wrong.  Yesterday evening I was walking through the central park downtown, and saw a chess club playing.  It was almost exactly like you would imagine:  several older men — plus one or two younger ones, and a handful of lookers-on — taking over a number of tables and benches, with chess boards and timers situated between competing pairs. It could almost have been a scene from a movie.

A couple more words about McDonalds.  I mentioned before about the one in Odessa; there is a McDonalds here in Mariupol, and I saw one in Donetsk as well.  (The one in Donetsk even had a drive-through!)  The one here is new — about a year old — and it seemed pretty busy when I last saw it.  It didn’t go in; it was just in the mall I was checking out.  It’s still very much a novelty and kids are more inclined to go than adults, but apparently most people don’t think the food is all that good.  They seem much more fond of their “tasty Ukrainian dishes.” 🙂