I've decided that as well as using this blog to document my time in Odessa, I may as well use it to document my half marathon training, as it might help me keep a little more motivated. I've been wanting to do a half marathon for some time now, but I couldn't do one last summer as the one in my hometown has stopped and I had left for Russia before the Robin Hood Marathon in Nottingham.
A couple of weeks ago I saw that the date for the Robin Hood Marathon in Nottingham had been announced and that it was open for entries, so I rather impulsively filled in the form and paid the fee without giving it a second thought. Ten minutes or so later it did dawn on me that I had now in fact signed up to run further than I've ever ran before, and I did ever so slightly fill up with terror! 13.1 miles is A BLOODY LONG WAY.
Since being in Odessa I have been running 3-4 times a week, but it has mainly been aimlessly plodding around the park, simply running to burn off a few of the extra chocolate bars I've eaten. I also forgot to bring my Nike+ sports band, so I wasn't sure how long or far I had been running for.
However, the addition of a new gadget in my life has changed all of this in the last fortnight. I was lucky enough to receive a Garmin Forerunner 410 as a birthday gift from my mum, and now I have got the serious running bug back, and am running thinking about the half marathon and getting faster/fitter.
The Garmin does EVERYTHING, it is an insane piece of kit. It has GPS which means it really accurately tracks your runs and a heart rate monitor, which often just scares me as I have a freakishly high working heart rate (often I'm running at 102% of my max, which probably means I should have collapsed). It is definitely making me more motivated, and doing runs and knowing how far and fast I'm going has made me realise I have a small way to go until I get times that I will be happy with as I go to do the half marathon.
My average 5km time currently lies between 25 and 26 minutes, and I'd like to get this down to somewhere between 23 and 24 and I managed to do 10km in 53 minutes this week, which isn't too terrible. I am desperate to run the half marathon in under 2 hours - 1 hour 50 minutes would be a dream. I am going to aim to do a weekly update on here - I think it may help me feel that little bit more determined to shave a few extra seconds off and just push myself that little bit further, we shall see!
20/04/2013
15/04/2013
'It's been switched off, obviously'
The last 24 hours have been quite unfortunate. Yesterday morning I tried to switch the hot top on to wash my face, and nothing came out. I kind of just passed it off as one of those things at the time, but as the day went on, nothing was coming out of any of the hot tops on my floor. This morning the same thing happened again.
On my way out of the building to get to class this morning, I asked the bab downstairs why we don't have any hot water. Her response 'It's been switched off, obviously', as though it was a really normal occurrence. She even kind of smiled when I asked her, as though I was stupid for asking such a question. I asked her to find out more about it and tell me more when I got back.
So, I got back and there she was with some bloody brilliant news, 'the water in the whole building has been switched off''. Ok, fair enough. 'Until when?' I asked. 'Oh, you know, maybe until October, the whole town has started turning the hot water off'. I thought she was having some sort of really unfunny joke with me, and stormed upstairs and bust into my room screaming 'WTF?! She said until October, what kind of a sick joke is this?' to my roommate. I'd be perfectly happy with it being switched off for a week, or maybe every other day, but the prospect of having no hot water for the rest of my stay here is actually haunting.
So, what does a girl do when the only thing that comes out of the shower is freezing cold water? Yes, that's right, she buys a purple tub with a picture of some fruit on the bottom.
So, after a terrible run in the pouring rain I got on with the tedious process of boiling water with the two kettles we own. I reckon it took around 6 or 7 goes to fill the tub up before I could finally attempt to get clean. I hope my repeated boiling of kettles makes the electricity bill for this place pathetically high, that would teach them!
In addition to this, two little visitors paid a visit to my room last night. Some cockroach-y things. Cue panic attack. I'm still not sure how the little buggers get to the 7th floor of a building, as I'm out of breath when I make it up here.
I know I pay bugger all to live here, but I think I'm entitled to have a hot shower. I'm actually really pissed off, even more so because the people who run this place don't actually seem to care when something like this happens, which is pretty crappy of them. The prospect of living here for the next two months is actually pretty grim now.
On my way out of the building to get to class this morning, I asked the bab downstairs why we don't have any hot water. Her response 'It's been switched off, obviously', as though it was a really normal occurrence. She even kind of smiled when I asked her, as though I was stupid for asking such a question. I asked her to find out more about it and tell me more when I got back.
So, I got back and there she was with some bloody brilliant news, 'the water in the whole building has been switched off''. Ok, fair enough. 'Until when?' I asked. 'Oh, you know, maybe until October, the whole town has started turning the hot water off'. I thought she was having some sort of really unfunny joke with me, and stormed upstairs and bust into my room screaming 'WTF?! She said until October, what kind of a sick joke is this?' to my roommate. I'd be perfectly happy with it being switched off for a week, or maybe every other day, but the prospect of having no hot water for the rest of my stay here is actually haunting.
So, what does a girl do when the only thing that comes out of the shower is freezing cold water? Yes, that's right, she buys a purple tub with a picture of some fruit on the bottom.
So, after a terrible run in the pouring rain I got on with the tedious process of boiling water with the two kettles we own. I reckon it took around 6 or 7 goes to fill the tub up before I could finally attempt to get clean. I hope my repeated boiling of kettles makes the electricity bill for this place pathetically high, that would teach them!
In addition to this, two little visitors paid a visit to my room last night. Some cockroach-y things. Cue panic attack. I'm still not sure how the little buggers get to the 7th floor of a building, as I'm out of breath when I make it up here.
I know I pay bugger all to live here, but I think I'm entitled to have a hot shower. I'm actually really pissed off, even more so because the people who run this place don't actually seem to care when something like this happens, which is pretty crappy of them. The prospect of living here for the next two months is actually pretty grim now.
13/04/2013
2.
Yesterday marked exactly 2 months since I arrived in Odessa, and something strange has come over me whereby I feel like I ought to take some time to reflect on the 60 something days that have passed. A really crazy old lecturer at university told me that I needed to use my time spent abroad to 'find myself'. I responded to him by awkwardly laughing as I didn't really know what to say in reply, and just thought he was talking his usual nonsense. I now realise that the old fella was actually giving me some sound advice, and that during these last two months in particular I have actually come a long way, and changed quite a lot as a person.
Firstly, I've realised that I can do things, and that I shouldn't talk myself out of doing things. I've managed to get to Odessa in one piece, sort all of the boring paperwork out upon my arrival and travel to Kiev by myself, all without any massive drama or major freak outs from me! It may seem really odd to some people that I'm proud of myself for travelling somewhere on my own, but I was initally pretty terrified by the prospect of it all. I'm also in such a position whereby I can't rely on anyone to do the talking for me, which means I am having to ask questions if I'm not sure of anything, and having to actively make conversations with people, which is something I hate doing when I'm speaking English, mind about Russian. Luckily, Ukrainians, as a rule, are generally a bit more friendly than Russians, which has made life a little easier.
Another thing I've learnt is that you don't need a huge group of friends to be happy. I've never been one of those people who has about 700 Facebook friends, and is acquainted with virtually everyone - that just isn't me. It has sometimes been really hard here, because I don't really know anyone apart from my roommate, my teacher (lol), and a few others. It seems really difficult to meet people, as everyone is kept so separate. It's a complete contrast to last semester, where I seemed to have plans every day and was often out from 11am until 11pm, which was completely exhausting. Conversely, I'm learning to enjoy my own company here, which isn't all that bad. It's really nice to have time to do things and be a little selfish. I'm reading for pleasure more than I have done since starting my degree, I'm learning Ukrainian, and I'm doing some seriously good running. I'm obviously not going to turn down making new friends here if the opportunity arises, but for now it's just really nice to be so relaxed and be getting so much done.
Since being here I've also realised that some people aren't as prepared to help you through the shitty times as others. Which I guess is fine, because some people don't want to have to listen to someone else's emotional baggage, but can also sometimes be a little deflating. I guess it's just surprised me at times, because I've found myself talking to people who I really wouldn't expect to be talking to about how I'm feeling when something Ukraine related has annoyed me, or when I'm feeling homesick. I guess it goes without saying though, that my parents have been just as good as ever at listening to my whinging and whining (poor sods).
Most of all, I think I've learnt how to feel content and happy since I came out here. It really hasn't always been easy, but I've managed to keep it together. It feels I've come a long long way recently, as over the past year or so I've had some really shitty times where I've not felt like getting out of bed, or doing anything constructive for days on end. Right now, it isn't like I'm on some massive life high or anything daft like that, things just feel really steady and normal, which is all I want really.
07/04/2013
A proper trip to Kiev.
People here love to leave everything until the very last moment, which really doesn't suit me. I found out that I could definitely go to Kiev about 12 hours before I was due to get the train. The wait to find out whether or not I could go was terrible and certainly wasn't good for my stress levels. I am so glad I managed to go, because the week was crazy good. Here's what I did...
Friday 29th March
I found out I could definitely go (as I said above), realised I didn't have a bag big enough for a week's worth of packing, ran to the shop, bought one, packed.
I found out I could definitely go (as I said above), realised I didn't have a bag big enough for a week's worth of packing, ran to the shop, bought one, packed.
I was really nervous about the overnight train, as I didn't want anyone smelly/scary/loud sleeping near me. It also took me a while to work out how to get up to my top bunk. The people in my little section were alright though, and it gave me a chance to practice a bit of my Russian. Managed to get some sleep, despite the slightly weird man breathing very heavily as he slept.
Saturday 30th March
Arrived in Kiev just after 8am, felt gross as the train was really warm and sticky, saw how heavily the snow was falling and freaked out a little. I got the Metro to Khreshatik (the main road in Kiev), found a McDonalds and had a coffee, went to another McDonalds and had a cup of tea. Still felt pretty groggy despite having consumed a fair amount of caffeine.
Arrived in Kiev just after 8am, felt gross as the train was really warm and sticky, saw how heavily the snow was falling and freaked out a little. I got the Metro to Khreshatik (the main road in Kiev), found a McDonalds and had a coffee, went to another McDonalds and had a cup of tea. Still felt pretty groggy despite having consumed a fair amount of caffeine.
Found out I could drop my bags off at the apartment at 10am, and somehow I managed to quite easily find it, which was a shock considering how bad I am at directions and map reading. I had a couple of hours to kill before meeting Alex at the airport, and excitedly nipped to Topshop (yes, really). This excitement lead to chatting to the girls that worked there, impulse buying jeans and socks, and cheekily blagging some student discount.
Alex's flight got in at about half one, and we got a taxi to our place. Alex doesn't know any Russian and was looking quite lost and confused as I was chatting and laughing with the rather enthusiastic taxi driver, who asked if I was able to pay him '1 million pound sterling', umm no. Spent the rest of the day having a little wander, and ended it with pizza and beer (traditional Ukrainian cuisine, ofc).
Sunday 31st March
I forgot about the clocks changing, and woke up feeling far too confused for my own good. We went for a wander, and ended up at St Sofia's Cathedral, so we popped in for a look. It was very beautiful, but you aren't allowed to take pictures inside, boo :( We did get some from the outside and of the surrounding buildings though.
I forgot about the clocks changing, and woke up feeling far too confused for my own good. We went for a wander, and ended up at St Sofia's Cathedral, so we popped in for a look. It was very beautiful, but you aren't allowed to take pictures inside, boo :( We did get some from the outside and of the surrounding buildings though.
We walked back into town via a steep and icy street (I've forgotten the name of it), which it's fair to say wasn't my favourite. This street was, however, lined with souvenir stalls which are always fun to look at. I didn't buy anything, but Alex bought some fridge magnets - very exciting, eh?
Later on I excitedly dragged Alex to the SPB bar in Kiev, as I've had a fair few good times in the one in Petersburg. It's a very studenty place, with cheap beer and food, which is exactly what I want 99% of the time. I was very excited to discover that they had widened their range of fruit flavoured beers, which is basically cheap lager with a shot of syrup, and ended up with a nice luminous green pint. I also insisted that we ordered some of the nice breadstick things (forgotten their exact name), which seem to be a popular bar snack over here.
Monday 1st April
The day started with a search for a hedgehog. Yes, really. Said hedgehog is right up there on TripAdvisor's list of things to see in Kiev. The hedgehog was only a couple of minutes from our apartment, and didn't really seem like much of a tourist attraction, so I felt a little daft taking pictures. I'm not entirely sure why it's so highly up in the list of things to see, but I guess it was pretty cute.
On another TripAdvisor related note, sometimes the addresses they give for places aren't very accurate/correct. We found this out when searching for the micro-miniatures museum later on the Monday, and ended up walking up a really long street for no reason.
After the very unsuccessful search for the museum, we decided to go and look at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, where the Euro 2012 final was held. We couldn't see much of the stadium, but it was pretty impressive from the outside. Alex also paid a trip to the Dinamo Kiev shop to buy his brother a shirt. I turned into a proud (read: nerdy) Forest fan, when I found a section about them in a book about the Champions League in the shop.
Tuesday 2nd April
Tried to find Sculpture Alley, but it was far too well hidden! After a couple of hours of looking for it, which included a walk around a nice park, and a trip on the 'Funicular', we gave up and went for fajitas at Tequila House. Once again, we really excelled when it came to trying out traditional Ukrainian cuisine. The food was pretty good though when you consider that we were eating Mexican in Eastern Europe. It was even a bit spicy, which is pretty rare out here.
Wednesday 3rd April
We finally found Sculpture Alley thanks to a combination of more internet searches, and Alex's improved knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet, which allowed him to be in charge of directions. It is extremely tucked away, and probably impossible to find without prior research, but even in the melting snow it looked pretty impressive. I particularly liked how it was possible to sit or stand inside some of the sculptures, which provided me with a great opportunity to pretend to be a rabbit.
We then went to Pinchyuk, which is a modern art gallery. It's free to get in, and something I'd really recommend to anyone visiting Kiev. We saw works by the Chapman Brothers and Damien Hurst, and also went in a very odd room, which made us both feel like we were in an episode of Black Mirror.
After another brief trip to SPB for more fruity beers I decided to cook at home to save a bit of money, and we watched the first season of Girls, which is so damn good! I urge you to watch it if you haven't already.
Thursday 4th April (Alex's Birthday!!)
We spent the morning opening birthday cards and having creme eggs and milka for breakfast (chocolate for breakfast is perfectly acceptable on birthdays), and then went and finally found the micro-miniatures museum. It was so amazing to see something so tiny, yet so intricate - I was amazed by all of the pieces we saw. It only took about 20 minutes to get around, but it only cost about £1, including entry to the monastry grounds in which the museum is situated.
The evening was spent in TGI Fridays and the Irish Bar near our flat, pigging out on ribs, burgers, cocktails and beers. It was nice to celebrate with Alex, as I'll be spending my birthday here at the end of my month without my nearest and dearest. Alex brought my birthday presents from him and my parents over with him, and I got some absolutely top gifts, so I guess without meaning to steal his birthday, we kind of celebrated our birthdays together.
Friday 5th April
Our final full day in Kiev involved a trip to the Chernobyl museum in the morning. It was interesting, but we didn't get an audio guide, and none of the exhibits were explained very much in either Russian or English, which meant you kind of just ended up walking round looking at stuff, and not finding out that much about it. I'd still say it's worth going though, as we all know how much of a tragic event it was, and as with most museums in Kiev, entry was extremely cheap.
In the afternoon we went and bought vodka and other gifts for Alex to take home, before stopping for some tea. We then went home, packed and watched a film. It was nice to wind down after a fairly busy week exploring the city.
Saturday 6th April
Went to Borispol, and got all sad, and had to keep being reminded that it's only just over 2 months until I'll be coming home for good, and there won't be any more sad goodbyes. God, I sound so emo, but being really far away from home is pretty sad at times.
After killing several hours in Kiev doing barely anything I went and got my train back. I woke up this morning in Odessa unable to hear out of one ear, which has meant today has involved a trip to the chemist for some ear drops in the hope that soon I'll have my full hearing back. I had a really great week, and would do it all over again tomorrow if I could, but I'm here to hopefully get better at Russian (one can only dream).
Later on I excitedly dragged Alex to the SPB bar in Kiev, as I've had a fair few good times in the one in Petersburg. It's a very studenty place, with cheap beer and food, which is exactly what I want 99% of the time. I was very excited to discover that they had widened their range of fruit flavoured beers, which is basically cheap lager with a shot of syrup, and ended up with a nice luminous green pint. I also insisted that we ordered some of the nice breadstick things (forgotten their exact name), which seem to be a popular bar snack over here.
The day started with a search for a hedgehog. Yes, really. Said hedgehog is right up there on TripAdvisor's list of things to see in Kiev. The hedgehog was only a couple of minutes from our apartment, and didn't really seem like much of a tourist attraction, so I felt a little daft taking pictures. I'm not entirely sure why it's so highly up in the list of things to see, but I guess it was pretty cute.
After the very unsuccessful search for the museum, we decided to go and look at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, where the Euro 2012 final was held. We couldn't see much of the stadium, but it was pretty impressive from the outside. Alex also paid a trip to the Dinamo Kiev shop to buy his brother a shirt. I turned into a proud (read: nerdy) Forest fan, when I found a section about them in a book about the Champions League in the shop.
Tuesday 2nd April
Tried to find Sculpture Alley, but it was far too well hidden! After a couple of hours of looking for it, which included a walk around a nice park, and a trip on the 'Funicular', we gave up and went for fajitas at Tequila House. Once again, we really excelled when it came to trying out traditional Ukrainian cuisine. The food was pretty good though when you consider that we were eating Mexican in Eastern Europe. It was even a bit spicy, which is pretty rare out here.
 |
| I'm not entirely sure what Alex was shocked about? |
We finally found Sculpture Alley thanks to a combination of more internet searches, and Alex's improved knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet, which allowed him to be in charge of directions. It is extremely tucked away, and probably impossible to find without prior research, but even in the melting snow it looked pretty impressive. I particularly liked how it was possible to sit or stand inside some of the sculptures, which provided me with a great opportunity to pretend to be a rabbit.
We then went to Pinchyuk, which is a modern art gallery. It's free to get in, and something I'd really recommend to anyone visiting Kiev. We saw works by the Chapman Brothers and Damien Hurst, and also went in a very odd room, which made us both feel like we were in an episode of Black Mirror.
After another brief trip to SPB for more fruity beers I decided to cook at home to save a bit of money, and we watched the first season of Girls, which is so damn good! I urge you to watch it if you haven't already.
Thursday 4th April (Alex's Birthday!!)
We spent the morning opening birthday cards and having creme eggs and milka for breakfast (chocolate for breakfast is perfectly acceptable on birthdays), and then went and finally found the micro-miniatures museum. It was so amazing to see something so tiny, yet so intricate - I was amazed by all of the pieces we saw. It only took about 20 minutes to get around, but it only cost about £1, including entry to the monastry grounds in which the museum is situated.
Friday 5th April
Our final full day in Kiev involved a trip to the Chernobyl museum in the morning. It was interesting, but we didn't get an audio guide, and none of the exhibits were explained very much in either Russian or English, which meant you kind of just ended up walking round looking at stuff, and not finding out that much about it. I'd still say it's worth going though, as we all know how much of a tragic event it was, and as with most museums in Kiev, entry was extremely cheap.
In the afternoon we went and bought vodka and other gifts for Alex to take home, before stopping for some tea. We then went home, packed and watched a film. It was nice to wind down after a fairly busy week exploring the city.
Saturday 6th April
Went to Borispol, and got all sad, and had to keep being reminded that it's only just over 2 months until I'll be coming home for good, and there won't be any more sad goodbyes. God, I sound so emo, but being really far away from home is pretty sad at times.
After killing several hours in Kiev doing barely anything I went and got my train back. I woke up this morning in Odessa unable to hear out of one ear, which has meant today has involved a trip to the chemist for some ear drops in the hope that soon I'll have my full hearing back. I had a really great week, and would do it all over again tomorrow if I could, but I'm here to hopefully get better at Russian (one can only dream).
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