[iknowexactly]

This is impressionistic travelogue, hate writing papers since grad school. On about 5th day in Ukraine, beauty is off the chart for slim northern Slavic and Dark-Haired versions as well. in the 18-23 age group percentage of 8+'s if you like the slim model type is probably 10-15%. I'm sitting in a cafe with a platinum blond model who is bored out of her skull sitting here in the cafe NOT APPROACHING because my Ukrainian language skills are shit. Apparently Ukrainian is more like Polish that Russian, which might serve those well show want to avoid the Russian visa requirement cluster-fuck.

Smoking is a problem here, the last two tables of cute students were smoking in the cafe.

One thing is WATCH OUT for trying to get oriented by using MTS roaming on your cell when you get here: They rip you off for about $10 per MINUTE. Short term thief thought like that is what keeps Ukraine from getting into the EU for now.

For Cell, what I SHOULD have done:

1) Buy a KYIVSTAR SIM card for your multiband phone in a cell phone store or even a grocery sometimes. ( iPhones are great here, the compass and internet capabilty are great.)
2) The SIM will only have about $10 on it, DON'T use it for internet yet as it will eat your $10 very quickly.
3) Call info ( I think 466) hit 2, then 9, and I think you will get an operator. they have some English speakers, but they speak very fast-- they are very smart people whose vocabulary is good from book-learning but are not actually used to using it much. Speech cadence is hilarious. It sounds like a female drill sergeant politely giving you rapid fire instructions.
4) They will tell you about the plans, if you are going to use email on smartphone, you want to prepay a larger MB/ month plan
5) I got the 10,000 MB plan ( 10 GB) for about $16 for a month. 1500 MB is like ~$10 , so it's worth it to get the larger amount.
6) The way you get on that plan is to go to machines that look like ATM's but which accept GRIVNA (Ukrainian money) that are near in many PREVET banks ( spelling? ) which have a sign with green color scheme.
7) Press the KYIVSTAR icon on the machine. The machines service several phone brands, and other things as far as I know. THere was about 16 corporate icons on the home touchscreen.

I'm in a really good internet cafe that sells salads and coffee in the center

Fatties percentage < 10-15% which makes everything else pretty much fall in line in a positive way regarding the sexual marketplace-- this place has crystallized for me how Whale-ism RUINS EVERYTHING. That one variable, when skewed, shifts demand so much that nothing else but incredible game, millions, fame etc can reduce bitchshields to tolerable levels. Here, really classic 30 year-old 6-7's are desperate-- they're looking at never getting married. Watching the 20% of girls who are sub-6 it's almost too heartbreaking to take for a soft-hearted beta like me. They walk around with a stolid pitiful, hopeless look. Women here haven't bought the (for them) emotionally crippling bullshit that it's just great to be alone because you're just so special. But this unfortunate situation makes things better for us so long-abused in Murka.

As with Iceland, 8+ are not IOI'ing me but I'm an old guy. 6-7's who would be flooded with attention in the USA appear really doubtful of getting ANYONE with decent looks, charm and a solid income. Iceland gets a plus on the more enlightened view of smoking ( it's disgusting, murcerously unhealthy and should not be done around civilized people who don't). No one that I saw smoked in Iceland cafes.

This place is great, if quite sad in it's way. I guess there's no free lunch. Except for rich psychopaths.

Oh, and the pollution here sucks on the frequent damp muggy days. Those who rail against gubmint regulation should take a breath of real free-market air here on a busy street here where there's no pollution control. Then look up "tragedy of the commons." i think it's manageable if you live in a surrounding area, then just come downtown for brief periods.

I have a full month to fail miserably here, so there should be more news.

[BigAlexBoss]

Gold quality information on ROAMING in the Ukraine. Many thanks for that - please post back with a date sheet or more first impressions on Lviv when you get a chance as its on many people's "possibles" list.

[Deluge]

FYI Ukrainian and Russian are East Slavic. Polish is West Slavic. In most of Ukrainian cities the girls will speak Russian, but not where you are in Lviv which is in Western Ukraine and not Central, Southern and Eastern Ukraine where the urban language is Russian, even in Kiev the capital.

Heres a good Lviv datasheet for everyone http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-8073-p...#pid117687

@iknowexactly Checkout Conversation Clubs where people go in groups to practice their language skills

The Duke had this to say about them in his Kharviv, Datasheet. I can't find the link to the thread, I copied this from a word file I saved for future reference. Which I do for every good Datasheet I read on this forum.

Quote:

Here is a Spanish-themed one (I did not attend). Use google translate to translate this page from Russian to English.

http://vk.com/event30225218

The meetings have anywhere between 12 and 30 people. They last between 90 minutes to three hours, just leave if you get bored. The most popular meetings are English-themed ones. I went to an English one that my friend found on CS. There were some very good looking girls at these events. Good ratios too. I felt vibe from pretty much every girl I talked to. You'll find regs at these events and if you become a reg, you are basically doing social-circle game. One of them asked me "would you like to come to my friend's party?" After a few meetings, one straight up told me to call her.

[The Duke]

(12-12-2011 05:51 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

For Cell, what I SHOULD have done:

1) Buy a KYIVSTAR SIM card for your multiband phone in a cell phone store or even a grocery sometimes. ( iPhones are great here, the compass and internet capabilty are great.)
5) I got the 10,000 MB plan ( 10 GB) for about $16 for a month. 1500 MB is like ~$10 , so it's worth it to get the larger amount.

Is that 2G or 3G? When I was in Ukraine, a few months ago, Ukraine Telecom (state-owned) was the only 3G provider. If your Kievstar sim is only 2G, I dont think it's possible to get anywhere close to 10GB in a month, even if you are using it all the time.

When I was there, Kievstar did have a 3G sim but the regular phone was DISABLED on it.

After using Kievstar and others, I settled on one called Life. Service sucked but it was incredible cheap as everyone else was using it. In the Kharkiv datasheet I posted, I commented more about using cell phones in that city.

[iknowexactly]

About languages, I don't know deep history but it seems some basic and old words are dissimilar in Russian versus Ukrainian. For instance "thanks" in Russian is "spaSEEba" but in Ukrainian is st like yooHOOkoo" -totally different. This just from asking waiters an acquaintances so I could have distorted pic. I do think in this region you get a better reception at least with working/middle class if you use Ukrainian because Russia shat on them for decades/centuries.

Thanks for conversation club idea, social circle game is best for LTR guys because we want to screen on looks but require more, for me cooking and cleaning.

About cell. 2g vs 3G is over my head, I'm just trying to check bank accounts etc, not download movies which may be as you said too slow in 2g. I'm working on own creative projects and too much media addiction is a barrier. This forum is bad enough! From looking at online dating sites, lugansk and eastern ( ethnically russian) chic are even hotter, may get there and report. Deb bauchery nevr responded to my PM's before disappearing and described himself as a 6'5"model so IDK how applicable his stuff will be.

[Layercake]

A question, regarding internet in coffee shops or internet cafes? Are they common? What is the deal there if you just want to use your laptop?

[TheSmith]

Look forward to reading your stories @iknowexactly.. I looked up thank you on Google translate Ukrainian (who knows how accurate it really is).. and apparently it's pretty close to Russian:

спасибі / spasybi

Maybe the yoohookoo is local slang?

[iknowexactly]

(12-12-2011 05:50 PM)Layercake Wrote:  

A question, regarding internet in coffee shops or internet cafes? Are they common? What is the deal there if you just want to use your laptop?

It seems pretty easy especially in the central city to find places that let you use and also have signs in window for wi fi. Not every block but easy to find. All the student types sitting around me , this was near university, seemed to light up as a misplaced ritual which made it stinking, but they were genial, i opened a set with local suave alpha and two chicks and they were vey helpful and deferential. I'm unbelievably grateful rudeness has not become seen as a sign of strength everywhere like it seems in Murka. This place like 2nd and third tier cities e erywhere seems to have more genial, less rushed and less arrogant staff- much like I found in Minneapolis and sacramento.

I was with a female acquaintance and her hotter friend and the friend commented in a outdoor market with Xmas type stuff for sale for free that I could try out vodkas for free. I automatically did smartass "oh she's try ing to get me drunk and it just baffled them. Wise-ass BS needed to keep a Murkabot/Murkabitch in place just wounds these more feminine chic. The polluted, low income environment beats everyone up enough, they don't have to do it to each other.

[iknowexactly]

(12-12-2011 05:50 PM)Layercake Wrote:  

A question, regarding internet in coffee shops or internet cafes? Are they common? What is the deal there if you just want to use your laptop?

It seems pretty easy especially in the central city to find places that let you use and also have signs in window for wi fi. Not every block but easy to find. All the student types sitting around me , this was near university, seemed to light up as a misplaced ritual which made it stinking, but they were genial, i opened a set with local suave alpha and two chicks and they were vey helpful and deferential. I'm unbelievably grateful rudeness has not become seen as a sign of strength everywhere like it seems in Murka. This place like 2nd and third tier cities e erywhere seems to have more genial, less rushed and less arrogant staff- much like I found in Minneapolis and sacramento.

I was with a female acquaintance and her hotter friend and the friend commented in a outdoor market with Xmas type stuff for sale for free that I could try out vodkas for free. I automatically did smartass "oh she's try ing to get me drunk and it just baffled them. Wise-ass BS needed to keep a Murkabot/Murkabitch in place just wounds these more feminine chic. The polluted, low income environment beats everyone up enough, they don't have to do it to each other.

[Layercake]

A question, regarding internet in coffee shops or internet cafes? Are they common? What is the deal there if you just want to use your laptop?
[/quote]

It seems pretty easy especially in the central city to find places that let you use and also have signs in window for wi fi. Not every block but easy to find.

Thanks for the feedback on WiFi

[iknowexactly]

I've got to amend my ratings of chicks , I fell victim to over-rating( 10% 8+ is unrealistic) there ARE really 10% with beautiful figures and facial bones , but I think it's hard here to get good nutrition on 200 dollars a month because 2/3 of those elegant looking girls have either bad teeth or skin problems. I think others have pointed this out on the more kharkov centered Ukraine thread currently in play, the Russians in Eastern UkrAine are probably hotter.

[Layercake]

(12-14-2011 08:59 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

bad teeth or skin problems. I think others have pointed this out on the more kharkov centered Ukraine thread currently in play, the Russians in Eastern UkrAine are probably hotter.

So just to confirm, you say that they have bad skin and teeth in Lviv.

Why would they necessarily have better skin and teeth in Kharkov?

Can you elaborate further?

Thanks

[iknowexactly]

(12-14-2011 01:55 PM)Layercake Wrote:  

(12-14-2011 08:59 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

bad teeth or skin problems. I think others have pointed this out on the more kharkov centered Ukraine thread currently in play, the Russians in Eastern UkrAine are probably hotter.

So just to confirm, you say that they have bad skin and teeth in Lviv.

Why would they necessarily have better skin and teeth in Kharkov?

Can you elaborate further?

Thanks

To be more exact, there 's a lot of variation in skin and teeth, and the MurkaWhales have them beat in the teeth dept. Gotta keeping chomping down that chow! re: skin, healthier girls here have exquisite skin because it's a cloudy climate and no money for tanning. So maybe half the girls who are SHAPED at 8+ ( for me , that's long slim legs, firm, pert boobs , well-defined features in face) ALSO have beautiful creamy skin. I dunno why Russians are hotter, it just looks that way from reports and pics I've seen. Possibly Russia's oil money gets that extra $50 a month to incrementally help nutrition. Maybe harsher climate has weeded
Out less perfect specimens, prob both.

[iknowexactly]

Day 8 of 31: Bad Sidewalks, Bondage Girls, Busted Dudes Data Point, and Magic.

I'm finally sleeping through the night, almost. Jumping 9 time zones at 50+ totally spaces me out for a long time. Here it's been expressed as a weird sleeping pattern where I get really tired about 7 PM, sleep until 1 Am, then go back to sleep from about 6 Am to 8 Am.

I'm actually maybe above average height here at 5'9". I think basic nutrition is a problem. I've seen two short guys with 7's taller then them. ONe guy was about 5' to 5'2". This is bad, I'm going to run out of excuses.

It's really cheap to live here, in the convenience store across from the apartments yesterday I bought 2 1.5 liter bottles of lemonade, 3 small containers of yogurt, and a medium sized Red Bull drink for about $4. Grivna equal about 12 MurkaCents, so if you just multiply prices by 10 you won't be far off in dollars unless it's an expensive item. There are no sugar-free versions of anything here except in the Slipo giant supermarket, which has no protein powder. Only athletes here are into the protein nutrition thing.

My expensive Italian hiking boots, bought several years ago in the States as an indulgence when making good IT contractor money, have seen more duty here on the streets of Lviv than they ever did in the mountains of the USA. I swear, some of the mountain bike trails in the Sierras have smoother routes than the sidewalks here. Practical Advice: Bring some sturdy shoes with thick soles if you're not going to do a total downtown hotel visit here.

The problem is, a dirt path will become smoothed, but a concrete sidewalk when neglected for years; and poorly built to begin with, becomes an jagged obstacle course of broken, shifting pieces. Even in the central "tourist" area, sidewalks fall off down to street level at random points, and I am always worried about getting a sprained ankle as I walk through the cities. The chicks have all spent half-a-months salary on high, sexy boots with near-spike heels; which look good but seem to require a methodical and systematic walk.

There is a telepathic system, hidden from men, that intermittently requires all the women on the planet to acquire a particular fashion item immediately. It communicates worldwide with minor variations to accommodate local mores, for instance the "high boots now" telepath signal expressed itself in Murka as the Ugg boot phenomenon, because MurkaChicks don't want to look like they're trying-- it would be submissive to men. Here in Lviv they're wearing just short of full-on functional bondage boots. Liking pain and calling a guy "master" is just one more option here on mamba.ru.

As I stumble along the treacherous sidewalks of Lviv doing really badly at decoding IOI's (more later), I've started online searching for chicks. Mamba.ru seems free so far (except for the advanced search for details like who's a bondage chick) and the only trouble I had signing up was figuring out the exact sequence for a Ukranian number such that it could be called from Russia, home of mamba.ru. Most but not all girls put a qualifying age range that counts me out, but as the staff at another Ukraine agency said about how women specify 35 as a maximum age, "They all say that at first."

I've just started to realize IOI's are really subtle here, I'm not sure why, this is a really strange place for a Murkan. I commented to the female acquaintance who's been helping me here with apartments that some Russians refer to Americans as being "like robots." I explained that's what I often felt back home, the moneypowerfame worship, the television, the relentless fake enthusiasm ( as opposed to real optimism which is among the best traits of Murka.) If they just stand there stolidly ( Slavs do everything stolidly) and gaze at you with no expression, I think this means "I'll fuck your brains out." Compared to the smiling flirting of the States, it's almost a hostile look.

Magic is in Part II for today, coming real soon now, he said optimistically.

[PseudoExpert]

(12-13-2011 02:11 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

I was with a female acquaintance and her hotter friend and the friend commented in a outdoor market with Xmas type stuff for sale for free that I could try out vodkas for free. I automatically did smartass "oh she's try ing to get me drunk and it just baffled them. Wise-ass BS needed to keep a Murkabot/Murkabitch in place just wounds these more feminine chic. The polluted, low income environment beats everyone up enough, they don't have to do it to each other.

That's just plain wrong.Why do you put all Murkan girls and all Ukrainian and Eastern European girls as if we're talking about 3 people only?National culture can only influence you that much.There's a lot more factors that make everybody a little bit different.
P.S. My roommate just farted and woke up LOL

[Layercake]

Great Diary iknowexactly.

One question - I want to rent a cheap but clean double room or studio apartment in Lviv but I don't want to pay "tourist prices" - can you provide some good sites for this please? Thanks.

[iknowexactly]

(12-17-2011 04:41 AM)PseudoExpert Wrote:  

(12-13-2011 02:11 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

I was with a female acquaintance

That's just plain wrong.Why do you put all Murkan girls and all Ukrainian and Eastern European girls as if we're talking about 3 people only?National culture can only influence you that much.There's a lot more factors that make everybody a little bit different.
P.S. My roommate just farted and woke up LOL

Well, I'd like to argue about me overgeneralizing-- but you're totally right!!

However, my feelings of disappointment at being called out on an overgeneralization are far overshadowed by the fact I got someone to use the term "Murkan."

Score! Score!

Murkan, Murkan. I'm a Murkan!

But seriously, women do act more feminine here. I don't think the use of the word "attitude" would be used admiringly here like I've heard it used in Murka. I do think, that in general, friends and family are viewed more as a refuge from the harsher economic and physical environment. I keep forgetting to get a photo of the absolutely jammed transit busses that people pack themselves into.

Sorry about your roommate farting, but it may be for the greater good.

[iknowexactly]

(12-17-2011 04:50 AM)Layercake Wrote:  

Great Diary iknowexactly.

One question - I want to rent a cheap but clean double room or studio apartment in Lviv but I don't want to pay "tourist prices" - can you provide some good sites for this please? Thanks.

I'm happy you're enjoying it. I'm really starting to like the Ukrainians, they aren't plastic but with enough Murkan influence we could certainly plastic coat them in time. Also, even on a $1200/month income it's just so cheap, you can just get everything you want in the grocery store and not worry.

About housing, I pretty much took it on the tourist chin because I won't stay in a hostel at all while searching. All the following is for stays of a month and up, although there may be some way to maneuver for shorter stays.

Lodging still took up a considerable amount of time setting up. I had a contact who set me up with a Lviv local, who then negotiated with a real estate agent and even went out and looked at apartments for me.

This is the background: Nothing personal to real estate agents here, but it is the most parasitic profession that does nearly nothing and collects a huge percentage for [not] doing it.

They are just like that here as they are in Murka. I wanted to rent an apartment for a month. True or not, the agents claimed that this was the high season as Christmas ( Jan 7th or 8th here.) and New Years ( The biggest holiday of the year here. ) were coming and apartments were in demand. She asked her usual fee of 50% of a month's rent, but my contact got her down to $150.

I got a nice one-bedroom (nice inside, the streets and outside of th

[Pilgrim37]

(12-17-2011 08:42 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

(12-17-2011 04:50 AM)Layercake Wrote:  

Great Diary iknowexactly.

One question - I want to rent a cheap but clean double room or studio apartment in Lviv but I don't want to pay "tourist prices" - can you provide some good sites for this please? Thanks.

I'm happy you're enjoying it. I'm really starting to like the Ukrainians, they aren't plastic but with enough Murkan influence we could certainly plastic coat them in time. Also, even on a $1200/month income it's just so cheap, you can just get everything you want in the grocery store and not worry.

About housing, I pretty much took it on the tourist chin because I won't stay in a hostel at all while searching. All the following is for stays of a month and up, although there may be some way to maneuver for shorter stays. I wanted to stay a month but not longer because (1) the 90 day limit (2) I want to receive my household shipping in Italy because I'm not a citizen here and I think they might freak at a small container load of MurkaClutter.

Lodging still took up a considerable amount of time setting up. I had a contact who set me up with a Lviv local, who then negotiated with a real estate agent and even went out and looked at apartments for me.

This is the background: Nothing personal to real estate agents here, but it is the most parasitic profession that does nearly nothing and collects a huge percentage for [not] doing it.

They are just like that here as they are in Murka. I wanted to rent an apartment for a month. True or not, the agents claimed that this was the high season as Christmas ( Jan 7th or 8th here.) and New Years ( The biggest holiday of the year here. ) were coming and apartments were in demand. She asked her usual fee of 50% of a month's rent, but my contact got her down to $150.

I got a nice one-bedroom (nice inside, the streets and outside of the building are run-down looking) with wood floors fully furnished for $900. My contact said this was bizarre for her because the average Lviv resident makes about $200 per month.

The 900 broke down as:

Landlord got $750
Agent got $150

My contact refused payment for looking for me.

Astute students will remember landlords were done away with here 90 years ago, and there was a reason for that. However, the other aspects of totalitarian communism were even worse then having landlords, I guess.

If my contact had known someone who was renting their own apartment, I might have gotten a better deal.

I can ask my contact if she would like to sort of start a service for people visiting, she is very accommodating and having someone on the ground is unbeatable. I would still tell her to charge something like $50 bucks if she finds something you like, I don't know but I bet she makes under $400 per month for a full-time job so $50 for a couple hours looking at apartments would probably be a win-win for her and someone coming here.

I can't help a whole lot since my Ukrainian is awful and I haven't got my GPS working here yet.

Hey ,

Nice write ups...are you there just looking for poontang?

How about you throw up some pics of the general surroundings you're in and some of the women if you get the chance.
What's the temperature at the moment.

Thanks

[Brian]

how hard is it to get around w/o speaking English there?

[ManAbout]

Have you tried approaching any women yet?

[Layercake]

(12-17-2011 08:42 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

(12-17-2011 04:50 AM)Layercake Wrote:  

Great Diary iknowexactly.

One question - I want to rent a cheap but clean double room or studio apartment in Lviv but I don't want to pay "tourist prices" - can you provide some good sites for this please? Thanks.

I'm happy you're enjoying it. I'm really starting to like the Ukrainians, they aren't plastic but with enough Murkan influence we could certainly plastic coat them in time. Also, even on a $1200/month income it's just so cheap, you can just get everything you want in the grocery store and not worry.

About housing, I pretty much took it on the tourist chin because I won't stay in a hostel at all while searching. All the following is for stays of a month and up, although there may be some way to maneuver for shorter stays.

Lodging still took up a considerable amount of time setting up. I had a contact who set me up with a Lviv local, who then negotiated with a real estate agent and even went out and looked at apartments for me.

This is the background: Nothing personal to real estate agents here, but it is the most parasitic profession that does nearly nothing and collects a huge percentage for [not] doing it.

They are just like that here as they are in Murka. I wanted to rent an apartment for a month. True or not, the agents claimed that this was the high season as Christmas ( Jan 7th or 8th here.) and New Years ( The biggest holiday of the year here. ) were coming and apartments were in demand. She asked her usual fee of 50% of a month's rent, but my contact got her down to $150.

I got a nice one-bedroom (nice inside, the streets and outside of th

Dude

$1,200 a month - you'll live like a king in the Ukraine!
Mine is similar.

I hate the Real Estate Agents too. I remember once I looked at a apartment to rent in Prague for 1 year and the agent walked in, mumbled some shit under his (bad) breath, didn't show me around properly and wanted $500 from me for a two minute viewing! I told him where to go...

The UK has the best system, the landlord pays all the fees for the agency. No disgruntled clients then.

BTW you did not finish your story - how much was the apartment you rented? Actually just saw. $900. Also what website can I look at? The Ukrainian Gumtree / Craigslist alternative???

Mate I will be honest $900 for a 1 bedroom apartment in one of the cheapest countries in the world is far too high. That's UK prices....short-term, long-term makes no different. I'm renting in Krakow for FAR less than that.

These agents and websites are simply tourist traps & you fell in it. Sorry to say this. Think about their outgoings? Mortgage? Maybe $200 a month. MAX.

[rudebwoy]

Nice report Iknowexactly!

Still seems better than Murka to me, in Canada women 35+ with kids still think they have choices.

The apartment does sound rather expensive for a non-western country.

[iknowexactly]

(12-17-2011 01:27 PM)Layercake Wrote:  

..... Also what website can I look at? The Ukrainian Gumtree / Craigslist alternative???

See, that's the problem I've run into. Even my local contact who works in IT doesn't really know of a Craigslist-type alternative. She just went to local real estate agents. Unless there's something we're missing, people here just haven't gotten the idea of cutting out non-productive middle-men.

In general, people here I believe are intimidated by "bizness" people, and ascribe more expertise to them than they have.

I'm sure it'll start to change, but guess what: Then there'll be more people like US here.

I went downtown today to shop for an extension cord and some computer speakers. The number of feminine 8's is really amazing. Lots of variety too, tiny petite 5'0" brunette pixies, blond monsters 6'1" with cheekbones wide enough to serve as airplane wings. And big soulful eyes, dude. These chicks seem romantic to me, which is what is missing in Asia for me; I'm sure someone else feels Asians are just as emotional, but from my point of view I don't see it.

Yesterday I had a fun adventure looking for some women's stockings to serve as a pop filter for some recording I'm doing. I went into at least 15 stores that sold shoes, clothing, and NO ONE had freaking stockings.
This is the magic story I hinted at in today's earlier post.

I was wandering around the central oval in the city, and saw a passageway into a set of buildings, and thought maybe there's a cheap little shop that would sell something like this. I mean, these women definitely wear stockings. So I found my way into a small interior mall, and as if by magic I found the stocking store. Only it was really just a glass display case in the mall, about 2 feet square and 5 feet high. With an adorable, wiry Ukrainian 8 patiently sitting beside it, waiting for me as she texted. It was just so freaking cute, her store was this tiny display case.

Google translate on my iPhone prevented her from thinking I was a transvestite, and she officiously got her key ring out and opened the case. I got the stockings I needed, along with a big crush on her. I text-translated for her " This is a new story for you today, yes?" and she giggled and agreed. The sweetness that bubbles out when you give them a humor stroke is a wonderful contrast to their initial formality.

This chick would have been upper-middle class wife bait in Murka, here she's just getting by with her little stocking store I guess. there are a LOT of women who are not just "sort of" thin, they have NO extra flab AT ALL. And they like to show it off with tight stovepipe pants showing their elegant legs.

============

Some more scuttlebutt:

1) I haven't seen a pharmacist yet who was less than an 8, out of 4 so far. "APOTEK" or similar is the pharmacy name here.

2) I think they wear their wedding rings on the right hand here.

==============

I now have servants. Well, one anyway.

My contact recommended a cook and housekeeper, and I am in heaven. I haven't washed a dish since I got here. Luda comes over every 3-4 days and cooks a big pot of authentic borshcht and carrot salad, and I am eating healthier. I was told $6 per hour is decent pay, and that's what I've been paying her, but I can't get rid of her She ATTACKS my house and wants to clean every cranny, won't take more money for working more hours, and I have to plead with her to get her to leave! Today I told her I was going to record and I had to be alone.

============

I've started to realize why everything is so expensive in Murka. It's a product of absurdity. Everything is so expensive because everything is so expensive. By that I mean that there are these core items that are so extravagantly expensive-- 800k houses, 35k cars, a defense budget that equals the rest of the world's put together-- so the cost of everything that you need for everyday life is hugely inflated due to the ripple effect of everyone paying down these insane bloated luxuries.
Why else does Yogurt cost half as much here as Murka? They can keep the McMansions, bitchy chicks, and F14's. I'll take the life of leisure and a place where Fat Chick Jihad is just not needed.

[Layercake]

In Canada women 35+ with kids still think they have choices.

HaHa - love this - quote of the day!