Friday - I finally got down to reading the Lonely Planet ..half of it was missing so I had to go down the cyber and download it - Friday - didn't go out Sat - Beach Picnic The weekend - First went to the beach day Yulija from the Language Exchange Club organised. We all metup at 8am at a metro station then took a mashruta to the Stugno river in 'Ukrainka town' 25Km south of Kiev. (Bus 319 from metro 'Vidubichi'). - We still had to walk past a busy stretch of beach, and had to pickup the garbage the last had left. It was an OK beach, but the water was cold, the chemical factory could be seen around the corner, and the ants were viscious. We were about 8 people Mark a Honolulu pilot who was staying with Gary turned up a bit later. We tried to play volleyball, but the sand was too hot. Sat 18-19- Volunteer weekend at the cat/dogs sanctuary - I had to leave the beach party to get to the volunteer weekend at the cat/dogs sanctuary. On the CS forum it gave the timing as 6pm-6am which seemed strange, but I'd rationalised that it a Russian way of doing things. Then sure enough when I got back to Kyev and telephoned to check directions she said "but we started this morning we all finished", It was all turning into a big pitz-di-etz, but they'd made a big deal of the camp experience, musical instruments etc and there was still Sunday to work. So I wanted to get there anyway. It took me an hour to get to the North Bus Terminal at Shevshenko Square, where I bumped into American volunteers coming back. PD1 There was no bus to the town, but there was a frequent mashruta service 50Km north to Dymer on the main road then I'd have to hitch the side road. PD2 I still hadn't got my phone repaired and for meeting people this was proving to be a pain .. when I got to Dymer there were no phones. I found the side road and started to hitch. Actually the junction was much closer than I thought. I got a ride with 4 lads in a Lada & after 12Km they said we just passed the junction. PD3 I knew I could walk to the farm, but a drunk driver offered me a ride. 2 minutes later he'd ripped his car bonnet on the gate post. - No-one spoke English, but I did an hours work. I could see where the piles of logs needed clearing to get the dog cages through. - The organiser Alexandra Mezinova took me in her car 2Km to the river sand dunes where the camp was. PD4 The camp wasn't atmospheric as only 4 people were there 1 Russian woman and 3 women from local volunteer agencies. - PD5 As well as the campsite location being too far away from the farm it also had viscious mosquitoes. I put my hammock further away, but got bitten a lot. - Sun - 3 of the girls had decided to take the 10am bus back so only me & Anna went to work at the sanctuary & she had to leave at lunchtime. - First I helped the women mix and move the dog food. ..It would have been a lot easier if they had a trolley. - They had made the 3 dog compounds by hammering stakes ito the soil,ut some dogs had already begun to dig tunnels so next I started to fill the in and block future escapes by hammering extra boards in. - I helped the guys from the Mitsubishi club off load the dog cages and furniture. The truck driver sat around watching I guess he feels he's not paid enough to do exta work. - I helped the carpenter move rough cut wood and build more cages. - 4.30pm got a ride back with the nice guy from the Mitsibushi club. - After so many days of feeling tiredd this was the first day I felt normal . - It was surprising that the project was not initiated by foreigners, but by Kyev women who feel sympathy for the street cats/dogs. There is a deal that instead of shooting street-dogs the councils send the dogs to the shelter. But I could see the problems I'd already anticipated : They house 500 dogs, but the number of people taking home dogs from the sanctuary is low maybe a couple each month so most doggs are just being kept alive to live all their life in the sanctuary. This is not sustainable - better put down most of them so that they can concentrate on 100 or so. Although they could have things like open days to generate more take-up. - Yasnogorodsky animal shelter (http://dogcat.com.ua/en) Sun - CS picnic at the National History Museum - Mitzy man dropped me at the Cathedral and I walked to the CS meeting. There were about 20 locals and 20 foreigners so it was too much to make good conversation. I got to finally meet Mike Ham the zany energetic American phenomenon and teacher. 9pm heavy rain came and I fled home. Mon - Big Food - Big Sickness - While I'd been on the volunteer day my host Elizabeth had been all weekend visiting her mother and returned late on Sunday from the countryside with heaps of meat. So feeling guilty that all week she'd been busy working Monday night she cooked up big pork steaks. Trouble is this activated the bacteria hiding in the corner of my stomach and my Indian stomach upset came back. Tue- Conversation Club and move house - I was feeling guilty about staying with Elizabeth too long and another guy in the suburbs was inviting me so I decided to move. Vova was coming to meet me at 6pm, but his email was bouncing mine so he hadn't received the email saying that it was best we go to the conversation club for dinner before moving to his house. So I didn't understand when I took him to the meeting which was nearby in Kontractova why he was surprised. He not got my message and had planned a party at his house. - So his friend Yuri and his girlfriend Oxanna took us to Vova's house. Of course since my stomach sickness had comeback I was a complete lightweight. Wed - Meet Natalia in Podol - yes I went to stay with Vova in Vishanovya (Cherrytown) , which is outside Kiev City on the far side of Zhulyany Airport. He owns a small apartment, that he was lucky enough to buy for $10,000 a few years back and is a very good interior designer even though his his real job is travelling around the country setting up office telephone systems - His friend Yuri took good care of me bringing me to meet with the scientist Natalie on Wednesday. If you ever need a freelance driver he's a great guy. He gets $200/month to do odd jobs for a lawyer, but otherwise he's often available and he has his own beaten up BMW +380 5054 32835 - Natalia took the day off work to practice her English and we walked around Podol river bank. We saw new expensive apartment buildings and churches oligarchs are building to counter their guilt. We stopped at the Golf Club which is really only a driving range. Her friend who is nanny to some businessman came down, but by then I had to be 30Km across town to meet Yuri who drives Vova home. - Again we had a bit of a party, but I had to plan my journey : Rather than go to the obvious tourist cities like everyone else I decided to investigate the industrial East. Where I hoped to bump into work. Hosts in Cherkasy had not replied so I decided I would first travel overnight to Dnipr-Petrofsk. The train seemed full and Vova said it might hot so I decision to take the bus. ....bad decision Thursday - repair phone /ready to go - Yuri took me to get a bus ticket and then to get my phone repaired at Radio Radma. Even though Yuri could translate my technical knowledge was more of a help against these expensive guys... I got my loose wire reconnected for 80Gr ..it took them 10 minutes so these guys earn 480Gr an hour ..that's not bad is it ? - After I went to the Damian Hirst exhibition .. I thought it was crap .. Good job it was free I wouldn't have paid money. - I tried to meetup with Natalia, but by the time I found her it was time for the bus... Thankfully I made it from the Main Medan Square to the Southern Bus Terminal in 20 minutes.