The Ukraine is a big country, the largest company all in Europe by area. It is about the size of Texas so traveling across the country takes time and patience. On our long travel days, we could travel up to 8 hours by van. It was also made interesting by the condition of the highways in the Ukraine. The up/down and side to side weave at high rates of speed was referred to as the ‘Ukrainian roller coster’ by our hosts. But they got us safely to where we were going including through areas in which you didn’t want to dawdle.
Our days would start in a hotel with a provided breakfast, usually at the hotel. The hotels were pretty reasonable, either a nice mom and pop or a European chain. We would then proceed to the clinic. We would work through about 1:00 or so and then have a lunch of sausage, bread and cheeze. We would see patients to between 4:30 or so. Then we would pick up and stow the supplies in the truck for the next day. We would then go back to the hotel to freshen up a bit before dinner. Depending upon transportation, dinner could be between 7:00 and 9:30 and was generally excellent. Ukrainian food was fun to explore including some of the ethnic variants (Crimean). Other ethnic food was outstanding. I had never encountered Georgian food (the country) before but I would go back in a heartbeat. Let’s just say that I lost some weight while walking the Camino, but I am sure that I put some back on at dinner in the Ukraine. I should also note that we consumed no alcohol on this trip so that we didn’t set a bad example for a population already suffering from high rates of alcoholism. After the usually prolonged socialization post dinner at the restaurant, we would go to our bedrooms and wind down for bed. This was a routine made entirely pleasurable by the team we were with and the patients that we saw.
I fly home tomorrow, but will continue to post until I run out of things to say. Thanks for following along.
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