Windows to Russia

As I was sipping that wonderful cup of coffee this morning. I was thinking about how Ukraine has changed the way they present coffee…

The last three times that I have been to Ukraine. When you order coffee they will ask you American or Eastern style. Eastern style is a very small very strong coffee full of grounds. American is a large medium to weak strength coffee, no grounds and with lots of milk… (Sugar on the side!)

Actually the Americana style coffee is very good and they have done a good job trying to imitate American coffee. It looks like McDonald’s has had an awful lot to do with this changing trend in Ukraine. In Russia you still must be very specific and order large coffee with milk and you get something that resembles the new Ukraine American style coffee. Full of coffee grounds… 🙂

But this morning I sat in my hotel room and made my own coffee. Now that is the best way to do it. There was a cool breeze coming off the river this morning. The sky was clear, the sun was bright, he birds were singing and the cars going beep – beep…

The best coffee is still one that you make yourself. In this part of the world everyone carries a cup heater for boiling water in a cup. It is part of the necessary survival equipment that all good Easterners would never be with out…

I have learned to use the water glass that is supplied in the hotel room and make hot coffee right in the room. When I have to stay a while in Ukraine I just buy a 5 liter bottle of water and I can drink coffee when ever I feel like it. Which is every morning. Instant coffee is very plentiful in this part of the world and boiling water plus a water glass plus instant coffee equals a good start to the day…

But I find it interesting that Ukraine has Americana coffee. Interesting to watch changes in little things like that…

Just another reason that I enjoy Ukraine…

Kyle
Windows to Russia!

This excerpt below is a very good example of a desperate empire called the West (NATO)…

I have written more than a few articles on the American Russian Reset. A few months ago I slammed the processes that were destroying that said reset. Well now those processes are winning out in the world. The reset between Russia and America is all but dead in the water…

Oh they will try to put a couple of band aids on it and for a while those band aids will cover some rot, but as with all band aids they fall off and expose what is underneath. If you put the band aid on a dirty nasty sore and did not clean it. Then you could have issues and just too many issues are slapping that reset in the face…

Dark storm clouds are collecting over the much-heralded “reset” in U.S.-Russian relations, with both sides working to blacklist the others officials, new tensions over U.S. missile defense plans, and a leaked CIA paper supposedly blaming Russia for a bomb blast near the U.S. Embassy in Georgia… Read More >>>

Most people tell me I am full of crap all the time. But I watch and tell it like it is. I have told from the beginning that Russia could not trust America on the reset and it is coming true…

Maybe Medvedev and company are starting to wake up and smell the coffee…

Windows to Russia!

Well today that cup of coffee I drank was alone in a hotel room. My sweetie is back in Moscow, Russia and I am stuck in Kiev, Ukraine for two weeks. Those visa rules are definitely changing at a fast pace. It is still confusing at the consulate and I can not blame them. They apologized profusely and explained in detail what is happening with the visa situation. I am not upset, just disappointed…

After checking out various Internet situations available to me to be able to do my work that I need to do and to post on the blogs. I came up with the same situation that we now use in the village that we have a home in. The little Sim card modem. That is what I am using right now as I type this article…

For less than 20 American dollars I get unlimited Internet anywhere that I can get cell phone reception. That money includes modem and two months of unlimited internet. It cost me 150 HRV or 18.5 dollars! HRV convert at about 8 HRV to 1 dollar. The hotel wants 45 HRV a day for Internet WIFI or 45 HRV an hour for Ethernet connection. As you see the route I took is by far cheaper…

So while I am here I will take the time to update the visa process for Americans. Well with at least what I have experienced. Many things are the same but it is the changes that cause the issues…

As always the Russian consulate in Kiev was very nice and they tried hard to take care of me. That is always the case and they really are a great consulate to work with. It is always good to see old faces and talk with the people about what is happening around the world…

The train trip to Kiev was a very good trip except we did not have air conditioning. It happened to be broke. So we all felt like we were in a sauna and believe you me lots of fluids were drank during the trip. I have learned to take lots of bottled water and I know of an 80 year old babushka that had a better trip because I gave her a liter of water to drink on the train trip. It was deadly hot on that train car…

I will be posting these next two weeks from my hotel room and they gave me a fan to help keep me cool. I also brought all kinds of movies to watch. Last night I watched the latest Transformer Movie and it was a blast. A movie like that you do not have to think because there is so much action that you do not have time to think…

That is all for now and stay tuned as I get settled in and keep the ball rolling on Windows to Russia…

Kyle
Windows to Russia!

I was thinking this morning about the train that I will be traveling on to Kiev. I am a creature of habit and like the same place to sit in the train when I go. I like and prefer the last car on the train. I like to go to the back door and look at the world speed away at a furious pace. I have never used the dinning car and I dislike sitting with other people…

If you look at the diagram above you will see numbers from 1 to 54 in red boxes. Those are seat numbers. Odd numbers are lower seats. I try to get 53 as my first choice of seat then second choice of seat is 51. If the train I pick does not have those choices then I chose another train. Sveta does not understand why I want those seats because they are on the side of the train and are almost always empty when going to and from Kiev…

But since I have traveled for years now to Kiev every few months. I have acquired what suits me and those seats suit me… 🙂

I do not like to fly to Kiev and even though I would prefer to drive to Kiev, it takes too long to get there. So the train is a balanced travel arrangement that just works for my situation. It also is by far the cheapest way to travel. It costs about $30 American dollars to go to Kiev and $20 American dollars to come back. Besides you never know who you will meet on the train…

As I leave today on my excursion to Kiev. Sveta and Boza will stay behind. It is sad to leave them and they always look so forlorn as I leave. But hopefully I will have a short visa run and will be home by Monday at the latest. I will have the EeePC and will post articles while I am gone. (hopefully)…

This will also be the last visa run for awhile because I am getting a year visa with multiple entries this time. Sveta an I plan on leaving several times on some interesting trips this next year and I have to be able to come and go from Russia more than once or twice…

Stay tuned and in the next few days I will have updates on what is happening in Kiev, Ukraine…

Kyle
Windows to Russia!

Coming Down to EarthBy
Tai Adelaja
Russia Profile07/25/2011Despite what sometimes seems like a passionate pride in their cramped and crowded tower blocks, most Russians quietly dream of life in a low-rise, single-family home. And they may be getting closer to realizing that dream as politicians here ramp up their pre-election rhetoric with more promises of social spending ahead of crucial parliamentary elections set to take place in December this year. “People are fed up with high-rise condominium buildings springing up everywhere,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a televised meeting on low-rise housing construction on Friday. “Most Russians would like to live in low-rise homes,” Putin said, citing public opinion polls. “Overall, low-rise housing is one of the government’s priorities and it will receive considerable backing, first of all, [through] funding.” Read More

Windows to Russia!

A while back a Russian newspaper made a false statement about former Moscow Mayor Yury and he got mad and sued. Well he won, not a lot of money but he won the principle of the matter. Check your sources before you decide to call it fact…

Former Moscow mayor wins damages from newspaper:
Moscow’s Savelovsky Court awarded damages of 20,000 rubles ($715) to former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov on Monday after he won a case against Russian newspaper Tvoi Dyen, and its owner News Media…

I thought that was interesting and only correct. It is a fact that ex-mayor YTuri did not have property in Abkhazia…

Then we are winding down on the investigation on the Volga riverboat incident…

Final death toll rises to 122 as last bodies recovered from cruise ship:
The final death toll from the sinking of a Russian cruise vessel on the Volga river was confirmed at 122 on Monday after rescuers found the last two bodies that had been missing following the tragedy…

That was a sad happening and lots of children died in this tragic accident. They are saying that the Captain who went down with his ship was trying desperately to reach a shllow area of the river and ground the boat. They say he was 40 meters from grounding the stricken boat and saving many lives… 🙁

Just too many people dieing right now from just too much stupidity. Lets look at the political and energy section of Russia, it seems that Gazprom has a plan to help the Korea’s with energy and make North Korea’s use of nuclear energy defunct as a sound reason to implement…

Russian Gazprom may reconcile two Korea’s:
Russian gas giant Gazprom is preparing a project on gas supplies to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that will be implemented if Pyongyang winds up its nuclear program…

Lets hope that Gazprom plan can be of use to the Korea’s…

This was surprising! At least to me, because I see Russian police all the time. I have to wonder about the performance reviews that were conducted. 90% – Hummm…

Over 90 pct of Russian police pass performance review – interior minister:
Over 90 percent of Russian police have passed their performance review as part of the ongoing police reform, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said on Sunday…

Lets end this with an interesting nature story:

Single swan father hatches offspring all by himself:
An amazing story of love and fidelity has taken place in southern Russia, where a male widower swan has unexpectedly managed to hatch baby swans after his partner was killed by a stray dog…

That is a good daddy and now all he needs to do is find another mate for next year. But that is not easy to do because he is a rare black swan from Australia…

Hope that sparked a little interest in you today. It gives you some idea of what is happening in Russia…

Windows to Russia!

My thinking’s this morning have centered around getting the next visa for Russia. I leave on Wednesday and will spend some time in Ukraine getting my next visa. As I said a few weeks ago I will be getting a year visa this time. The reason for the switching from every three month visa is because for me to get a three year business visa I have to have a recent one year visa first. This is little known information and I am now in the process to be able to get a three year visa next time. Then maybe I will be able to finalize getting a residency permit during the three year visa span…

I have already gotten my HIV test done and I have my office form that says that I do not have HIV. We have already confirmed that the telex invitation is at the Russian Consulate in Kiev and is good for the days that I get there. We are hoping that this invitation will allow me to get a fast visa? We even had them put on the telex for a hurried visa. I really dislike hanging around Ukraine for two weeks when I could be busy back home getting things done…

You still have to have invitation, two filled out applications, two visa/passport photos, one copy of your passport and a copy of migration card to get the visa. It is just that this time I need an HIV certificate to get a year visa…

Everything around getting a Russian Visa is changing for Americans. This is not for other countries and I will update this visa experience after I get back from Ukraine… 🙂

Windows to Russia!

I am too mad sad to say much about what happened in Norway…

While you are at it maybe we should all take a break and say a silent prayer for all the needless deaths all over the world. From those dying in needless wars, those drowning in boats on the Volga in Russia, those starving from no food and those that are killed by warped idiots that target innocent children playing on an island…

This quote came to mind today:

I don’t know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn’t. ~ Jules Renard

Nuff said…

Kyle and Sveta
Windows to Russia!

Back in early 2008 I posted an article about:

Russia: Beer Is Not Alcohol?

I was poking fun at a sign in that article at a grocery store, who was apologizing for not having alcohol. They had every kind of beer in the world but hard liquor was not available. Beer was considered a softdrink…

Well the Kremlin just made the connection and made it law. Beer is now an alcohol…

Medvedev signs law that likens beer to alcohol

They also are going to reenforce rules that have been in effect ever since Soviet times but have largely been ignored.  Such as no selling alcohol to minors and no walking around with a bottle of beer…

They also, according to what the news is saying, will by 2013 make kiosks stop selling beer. Now that will shut down about 80% of the eyesore kiosks…

I have mixed feelings about rules like this. It seems that rules like this are just enforcing the obvious and I always wonder why we have to be such lowlifes that we have to force governments to enact rules to protect ourselves from ourselves…

Simple example is: There is a beer place near us parents send there 8,9,10 and what every year old kids with a note/money in hand to the beer store. The young kid then carries a bag of beer back home. This is common and I tell Sveta all it is about is a lazy ass parent who can not even walk to get their own beer. Well the laws are going to be enforced… (I hope?)

(Reminds me of so many people I knew in America, who always had their kids get them a beer out of the fridge. Just plain lazy.)

So most rules have been on the book for ever in Russia and most people do not realize that. Many of these rules were just stopped being enforced after the Soviet Union died. But the most important rule that beer was never classified as an alcohol was missing. Now beer is an alcohol in Russia…

Windows to Russia!