Adriano had called us while we were at
the sushi house after I visited the Russian embassy. “Does Pavlos
still need to go to the dentist?” he asked. Pavlos had broken a
tooth while in Romania and when at the dentist there, he was told he
should see about another tooth. We decided to meet with Adriano so
that Pavlos could get his tooth done, meanwhile I would continue
arranging the papers that the Russians had requested. I sat back
down at El Mate to drink some cappucino and get my affairs sorted
out. I then called Adriano to see what the progress on Pavlos was.
“Oh, he's been done,” Adriano told me. “We're at my house now.” And so I went on to his place, a one bedroom apartment in downtown Kiev, overlooking a nice Italian restaurant and a busy street filled with cars and pedestrians. Adriano was busy preparing a hookah for us to smoke, while Pavlos was getting comfortable in one of the armchairs in the main room.
“Oh, he's been done,” Adriano told me. “We're at my house now.” And so I went on to his place, a one bedroom apartment in downtown Kiev, overlooking a nice Italian restaurant and a busy street filled with cars and pedestrians. Adriano was busy preparing a hookah for us to smoke, while Pavlos was getting comfortable in one of the armchairs in the main room.
 |
| a street in Kiev |
We sat about smoking
shisha for a while when I told Pavlos, “Look we need to get going
to get our stuff at Alex's at four and then on to meet our next
couchsurfer at five. So we can hang around here for an hour.”
“I'm not staying with you guys,” Palvos said. He continued, “I found a girl couchsurfer to stay with tonight. And I have a date at seven, too.”
“A date?”
“With a couchsurfer.”
“Pavlos, that's not a date. That's a coffee and a drink,” I told him. “That's not how couchsurfing works. It's not a dating site, it's a traveling site.”
“Whatever. If something happens it happens, I'm not against anything happening.”
“No, you're rather for something happening and you really go for that happening.”
Pavlos naturally disagreed, saying there's nothing wrong with something happening. Pavlos settled on Adriano's extra bed and fell quick asleep.
“He can sleep through anything,” I told Adriano. “Even when we were on the train from Budapest, when we transferred tracks, he slept right through it. When he woke up an hour later, he asked me if we had switched yet!”
Adriano and Pavlos were planning on going to a gym to work out, but I went ahead and left for Alex's. When I arrived there, I realized I had left my phone at Adriano's. Alex called my phone and Pavlos picked up, saying that he was on his way over. “He sounded a bit upset,” Alex told me. I thought maybe he was upset for leaving him snoring on the couch.
Alex and Katsia sat down to drink tea with me while I waited on my phone. I had to push back my meeting an hour with my next couchsurfer since I had left it. “You know, one of my hobbies is going up to rooftops,” Alex told me. “But a lot of these buildings, they've started locking the doors. So I ordered some lockpicks from China. Then I can start roofing again.”
“We had some couchsurfers request us in January,” Katsia told me after she sipped her own tea. “Alex was really excited, since they were into roofing too, so we emailed them. But then they said that they didn't know when they would be in, since they were going to go to Belarus for the women. It's so annoying how people just come here for the women. I mean, that's not what couchsurfing is. Of course, romance can happen, if it happens, it happens. Alex and I met on couchsurfing. But it's not for that.”
When Pavlos arrived, he handed over my phone. “That was stupid of me,” I said.
“Yes, it was,” he said, turning into his usual father figure tone, “You have to be more careful with your things.”
“Thanks, dad,” I muttered.
We parted ways again and I met my next host, Andrew, at the metro station across town. Andrew was an older Canadian, in his forties, living in Ukraine. He had a wife in Budapest, but they didn't work out and he ended up falling in love with a young Ukrainian girl in her early twenties whom he was teaching English. So he decided to come to Ukraine to live with her. “Where is your traveling partner?” he asked me.
“He found some couchsurfing girl to stay with,” I said.
“One of those guys, eh?” he said, chuckling.
“He did keep referring to himself as a fox in a henhouse,” I said, referring to him and all the beautiful Ukrainian women. Though it's true that saying “beautiful Ukrainian woman” is a bit redundant. I shared that feeling at times, my eyes overloaded with the sheer amount of eye candy walking the streets. It's possibly the second thing a person notices in Kiev, after the amount of McDonald's. After we situated my things at his house, he told me the plans. “We can go to visit where my girlfriend works, at this chocolate shop, and then get something to eat, if you want?”
“Yeah, lets do it.”
Andrew was a real laid back guy, full of positive talk. Along the way, he shared with me his story of traveling across the sea and ending up with his current love. “I really adore her,” he said. “But even so, there are so many beautiful girls here! I wouldn't ever cheat on my girl, but there is a lot to look at. And she knows it anyway. I mean, she knows I'd be lying if I told her I never look. But that's part of what's great about her.”
We sat at the chocolate shop for a while and drank some hot chocolates. The hot chocolates, as most hot chocolates available in the chocolateries in Kiev, seemed to have been made of a full bar of pure chocolate, simply melted and poured into a cup. They're thick and rich and served with a spoon. I had the impression that I should eat it quickly else it would turn into a cup of chocolate, stuck to the bottom of my mug. It seemed apparent that Ukraine was rich in two things, and thus perfect to visit for both men and women: beautiful women and delicious chocolate.
When Andrew's girlfriend, Olya, got off of her work, we went on to a Ukrainian cafeteria called Puzata Xata, which translates to “Paunchy house.” It's rather appropriate to call the place that, since huge meals of greasy meat cost no more than five Euro (including beer), leading one to eat their often and develop a mighty fine beer holder above the belt. The following days, I ate there often, almost twice a day, showing it off to everyone I met with, from Pavlos to random guys at the hostel I later stayed at. I had my own nickname for it, “the viewing gallery”, since you could just sit back and watch all the pretty girls walk around and sit nearby. It had become a real henhouse for Pavlos, as when I brought him there later, he was unable to sit still, always itching to go talk to girls, getting the numbers of the less attractive ones for me, at least trying to make picking up women a group activity, though I didn't really care to take part.
“I'm not staying with you guys,” Palvos said. He continued, “I found a girl couchsurfer to stay with tonight. And I have a date at seven, too.”
“A date?”
“With a couchsurfer.”
“Pavlos, that's not a date. That's a coffee and a drink,” I told him. “That's not how couchsurfing works. It's not a dating site, it's a traveling site.”
“Whatever. If something happens it happens, I'm not against anything happening.”
“No, you're rather for something happening and you really go for that happening.”
Pavlos naturally disagreed, saying there's nothing wrong with something happening. Pavlos settled on Adriano's extra bed and fell quick asleep.
“He can sleep through anything,” I told Adriano. “Even when we were on the train from Budapest, when we transferred tracks, he slept right through it. When he woke up an hour later, he asked me if we had switched yet!”
Adriano and Pavlos were planning on going to a gym to work out, but I went ahead and left for Alex's. When I arrived there, I realized I had left my phone at Adriano's. Alex called my phone and Pavlos picked up, saying that he was on his way over. “He sounded a bit upset,” Alex told me. I thought maybe he was upset for leaving him snoring on the couch.
Alex and Katsia sat down to drink tea with me while I waited on my phone. I had to push back my meeting an hour with my next couchsurfer since I had left it. “You know, one of my hobbies is going up to rooftops,” Alex told me. “But a lot of these buildings, they've started locking the doors. So I ordered some lockpicks from China. Then I can start roofing again.”
“We had some couchsurfers request us in January,” Katsia told me after she sipped her own tea. “Alex was really excited, since they were into roofing too, so we emailed them. But then they said that they didn't know when they would be in, since they were going to go to Belarus for the women. It's so annoying how people just come here for the women. I mean, that's not what couchsurfing is. Of course, romance can happen, if it happens, it happens. Alex and I met on couchsurfing. But it's not for that.”
When Pavlos arrived, he handed over my phone. “That was stupid of me,” I said.
“Yes, it was,” he said, turning into his usual father figure tone, “You have to be more careful with your things.”
“Thanks, dad,” I muttered.
We parted ways again and I met my next host, Andrew, at the metro station across town. Andrew was an older Canadian, in his forties, living in Ukraine. He had a wife in Budapest, but they didn't work out and he ended up falling in love with a young Ukrainian girl in her early twenties whom he was teaching English. So he decided to come to Ukraine to live with her. “Where is your traveling partner?” he asked me.
“He found some couchsurfing girl to stay with,” I said.
“One of those guys, eh?” he said, chuckling.
“He did keep referring to himself as a fox in a henhouse,” I said, referring to him and all the beautiful Ukrainian women. Though it's true that saying “beautiful Ukrainian woman” is a bit redundant. I shared that feeling at times, my eyes overloaded with the sheer amount of eye candy walking the streets. It's possibly the second thing a person notices in Kiev, after the amount of McDonald's. After we situated my things at his house, he told me the plans. “We can go to visit where my girlfriend works, at this chocolate shop, and then get something to eat, if you want?”
“Yeah, lets do it.”
Andrew was a real laid back guy, full of positive talk. Along the way, he shared with me his story of traveling across the sea and ending up with his current love. “I really adore her,” he said. “But even so, there are so many beautiful girls here! I wouldn't ever cheat on my girl, but there is a lot to look at. And she knows it anyway. I mean, she knows I'd be lying if I told her I never look. But that's part of what's great about her.”
We sat at the chocolate shop for a while and drank some hot chocolates. The hot chocolates, as most hot chocolates available in the chocolateries in Kiev, seemed to have been made of a full bar of pure chocolate, simply melted and poured into a cup. They're thick and rich and served with a spoon. I had the impression that I should eat it quickly else it would turn into a cup of chocolate, stuck to the bottom of my mug. It seemed apparent that Ukraine was rich in two things, and thus perfect to visit for both men and women: beautiful women and delicious chocolate.
When Andrew's girlfriend, Olya, got off of her work, we went on to a Ukrainian cafeteria called Puzata Xata, which translates to “Paunchy house.” It's rather appropriate to call the place that, since huge meals of greasy meat cost no more than five Euro (including beer), leading one to eat their often and develop a mighty fine beer holder above the belt. The following days, I ate there often, almost twice a day, showing it off to everyone I met with, from Pavlos to random guys at the hostel I later stayed at. I had my own nickname for it, “the viewing gallery”, since you could just sit back and watch all the pretty girls walk around and sit nearby. It had become a real henhouse for Pavlos, as when I brought him there later, he was unable to sit still, always itching to go talk to girls, getting the numbers of the less attractive ones for me, at least trying to make picking up women a group activity, though I didn't really care to take part.
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