kyivlifeblog

OK – so we have all heard stories about Soviet-style hospitals – how they are grey and foreboding and there are 4 people lying ill in one room. Well, I have been there (briefly) and can report back – it’s all true. A friend of mine, Sasha, had to go in to hospital for some minor  surgery, so prior to West Ham pulling their socks up and beating Manchester United I thought I’d pop in, take some grapes – that type of thing.

He, fortunately was in a “private room”, which is the same as all the others (complete with 4 beds but he was allowed sole occupancy and the room had access to a bathroom rather than the communal block shared by others. Even so, it was grim. Clean (ish) but grim. Sasha was bearing up and like most people in intense pain was just happy to be looked after. As usual with Ukraine it is the infrastructure which lets it down – the care he was having was fine but the hospital was on par with Kievs roads.
As I left I walked past a man with what we would call “severe head trauma” trailing bandages right out of Michael Jacksons Thriller video. In the west he would be walking in to the hospital but he was on his way out – I followed quickly.
Memo to self – look at the private healthcare card in my wallet and have the phone number tattooed on my arm.

Spring has definitely sprung – everywhere you see people with stripes down one side signifying they have leant on a lampost and although everyone gets wise to the newly painted benches it pays to be very cautious. For the first shoots of Spring means that the municipal works units are out in force with grey paint for the street furniture and white lines for the kerbs. It is not also not uncommon to see 10 women beating at a wall with small toffee hammers to remove grime which could be stripped in 5 minutes with a pressure washer.
Meanwhile, as the buses carry more and more “paid dissidents” each day into the City Centre, everyone is waiting to see whether this period of rest will “spark unrest” – will the week holiday mean more people coming or less? Will the flag wavers decide to stay at home / go fishing or will the trip to Kiev be an even bigger adventure? I’ll keep you posted but will probably miss some of it as I am off home to Blighty. I will be back however, for the day off the following week (I love Ukraine) to celebrate Victory in the Great Patriotic War – Here I am expecting big tanks, lots of alcohol, more tanks, fireworks and plenty of pop music – with fireworks fired from big tanks. I will let you know if my expectations are met.
But …can you imagine such a thing in the UK? Cue a solitary Spitfire over the mall and everyone looking embarrassed and apologetic for causing all that noise.

Flags are currently in vogue in Kyiv. Walk down any street without one and you will get some very odd looks. “Look Mama,” says a small child to her mother, “that man is not carrying a flag”. The mother looks on in disgust shaking her head slowly and adjusts her armband. “Perhaps he does not like pop music” she replies.

Yes, it is time for a revolution and that means coaches of supporters for pro-this or anti-that blocking all the roads whilst large trains of the great unwashed gather for pop music in the square. Rock, gospel – whatever floats your boat but there is usually a pretty girl wearing lycra kicking it all off and a fat guy with a stoney face bringing it to a close with a megaphone proclaiming that he is anti-this or anti-that.

One thing that is sure – we have another 2 weeks of holiday coming up to celebrate victory in the Great Patriotic War and so the crowds will be dispersing to the seaside. Stuff the Revolution – I want a Mr Whippsky 99 with red sauce.

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