Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Tour of the новий будинок (ukr for new digs)

 Welcome to Dudnichenka Street, my new home.


Come around the corner of the building to enter through the back, as is customary in Soviet-era apartment blocks.


Make yourself at home and head on in the left-side door.  No need for a buzzer system in the village.


Walk up to the third floor.  Be careful while climbing the stairs!  Each step up is a slightly different height.  Fine communist craftsmanship at work.

 

I'll just let you in to apartment 8.



Take your shoes off in the entryway.  It's important to keep the dirt from the unpaved roads out of the apartment.  Don't worry, I've got spare тапочки (slippers) for you so you don't catch a cold from walking around barefooted.

   

First let's head to the living room.  Have a seat on one of the omnipresent Ukrainian couch-beds.  Plan on staying a little longer?  Don't worry, they're great for sleeping too!



The floor's not too bad either!




Check out the snazzy Шафа.  You can store your clothes, assorted knickknacks, and books all in one place!  And if your landlady inexplicably locks them and you have nowhere to hang up your clothes, they are easy to break into using brute force.


 

They also double as a quiet place to make a phone call during a party.
 
I suppose you might want some tea and cookies.  будеш чай?  чай будеш? What a terrible hostess I am.  Lets walk to the kitchen.




Sorry about the mess, but the water isn't on during the day, so I can't always wash my dishes in a timely manner.

  

We also have coffee, blended drinks, and distilled water.



Let's have a seat at the table on the stoolchyks.

Would you like to check your e-mail?  We can do it in the bedroom.  Don't worry, it's only 6 kopecks/minute during the day.  We don't need to wait for evening prices (3 kopecks/minute).  Let's just hope the phone line is working.




This is the office side . . . 




. . . and the sleeping side . . . 

. . . and the entertainment/ironing side.

Oh!  You need to use the restroom?  Too much tea, I suppose.  Right this way.


This is the toilet room.  See that little door to the right?  Open it up and turn the red handle clockwise in order to fill the toilet-tank with water.  What?  It didn't work?  Oh yeah, the water's off until 6:00 PM.  There's a bucket of water for flushing behind the door.

 

Head across the hall to the shower room to wash your hands.  The sink sure looks pretty, but remember you'll have to use water from the bucket below the sink to wash your hands right now since the water's off.  At least when the water's on it's hot!



See you next time!  Hopefully you'll come back after I put the hammock up on the balcony where the clotheslines are on the left.  What a nice, private place to relax!  Thanks for coming!  Goodbye!

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