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Daily Life:
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Although
the Ukraine now boasts being a democratic country, there are symbols and
traditions of communism that persist. Memorials for Soviet
soldiers lost, of Soviet battles won and statues of prominent Soviet
leaders claim town squares and countryside drives. There are 15
governmental holidays
during the month of May commemorating various battles fought during
WWII. While downtown on one of these days, I was surprised with
the sounds of patriotic Russian songs being played over loud speakers in
the square. Men and women were dressed in traditional Russian
attire and military uniforms. I asked what the commotion was about
and was told it was a celebration of the conquering of the Khans.
The Tatars had a 700yr history in this land before they were
"conquered".
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 A
common site in town are groups of men sitting together and groups of women
sitting together. The men and women in deep conversation in their separate
respective groups.
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Along the
streets of the city or the country women sit at little tables selling anything
from single cigarettes from a variety of pack brands to sunflower seeds to home
grown vegetables to cows milk to sour cream to cheese, well, you get the
picture.
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 Each
town has a "bazaar". The history of the bazaar is unclear but
seems to have an Arabian influence. It reminds me of a Super Walmart.
The areas are split into clothing, household goods, food products, hardware and
personal items. Great bargains can be found. No matter what day of
the week, the Bazaar is teeming with people.
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Clothing
styles are western. Young people wear jeans and tee-shirts. 
The trend for young ladies is 3-4" wedged shoes with short skirts
and a wide variety of fancy panty hose. It's not uncommon to see
women in their 50's and 60's with orange, blue or magenta hair
color. Black leather jackets are also popular. It is
customary for women to dress up when leaving the house, even if it is to
take a short trip to the store. A young boy was wearing an NFL tee
shirt that said "Fastern Division" (should have read Eastern
Division). Since the traditional writing for the area is Cyrillic,
the mistake is easily missed by the buyer and prime opportunity for
distributors and manufacturers to get rid of some mishap stock to this
unsuspecting market. |
 Riding
on the roads was an adventure indeed. Most of the driving rules are
similar what we have in the US; stop at red lights, yield to pedestrians, speed
limits, drive on the right, etc. One item of interest, however, when
passing another auto on a two lane road, the oncoming auto and the one being
passed move to the sides to allow the passing auto to move through. In
essence, the two lane roads in Crimea are really three lane. It sure
solves problems with traffic back up between cities. There are drivers
who, when being passed, do not move over, but they are few and far
between. The on coming auto always moves. If you can find one that
actually works correctly, a seatbelt law does exist, but is rarely
enforced. Little children and babies must stay in the back
seat. No children's seats are required and the babies are held on a lap or
placed on a pillow or blanket with one of the parents. Police check points
are seen everywhere (a left over of the communist system) and traffic circles
are common in the cities.
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