picking cichorium

The ocean is rough, it rains every day, but the people are few. The annoying hippies-wanna-be, Israeli just-got-out-of-the-army dudes and screaming Eastern Europeans prefer to come only during high season, which makes Goa during monsoons an amazing vacation get away.
The gray sky and empty beaches bring about calmness. Busy worry gives way to introspection and soul searching. You sit in one of the few beach shacks with a warm belly of a Goa dog on your feet, and wonder, “Why, why, why?” All of the whys buzz around, and you spend the day watching the waves, thinking.

haning around Charminar

I have no idea what mad person would rather chase after some Cournot Equilibrium than explore pretty things. This clearly makes me, to put it in mild terms, less than excellent profit-maximization-focused MBA student. There is nobody to hang out with during exams, which forces self-entertainment; thus, forth come such posts.

Charminar court

street madness can never be understood from a picture

I have no idea why one would need to go to Philadelphia to eat some poisonously greasy food, and yet I know of people who do that. Weirdos.

Boryspil Airport, Ukraine, together with Aerosvit Airlines, Ukraine, the beacons of customer care, should win an award for the poignant jokes all over the place.

[Ex]change your baby for a new and improved model, take some “fluid soap,” wash it down the drain with water, not coffee or juice (apparently Aerosvit is fighting some sort of a precedent) and don’t flush your towel. To come in, always “push door open for.” In case you had second thoughts about bringing your towel on board of a plane, think again, for Aerosvit is clearly considerate of the common intergalactic travel practices.

I have looked up “airport awards” in Google, and www.airlinequality.com does not have a category “The Wittiest” (I will complain). Instead they list customer comments. Some Westerner writes

“Have used terminals A and B on a regular basis. Things are improving but for a country of this size Borispol is a poor introduction to the Ukraine. It will grow over the next few years and hopefully by 2012 it might be adequate for the international traveller. Staff speak little English which is bizarre as the many times I have been there it is often filled with English speaking customers! I have never had a problem with the toilets in terminal B but A is different, too small and not cleaned very often. The bus ride to the planes in winter can be like sardines in an icebox – be warned! Passport control is all about knowing the system, on my first visit it took me over an hour. I then learnt to jump the lines and got it down to 10 minutes, standing in line for anything is not the Ukraine way, pushing to the front is acceptable. To avoid taxi sharks learn a little Russian, and they leave you alone, never had a problem. Finally, it is a developing country give it time and it will come good, overall Borispol is OK, crowded, noisy, too small with little Western style ideas of customer service – accept these things and you will be fine. ”

What can I say, my Western friend, just like many of us, learn some Ukrainian or Russian and stay away from the Terminal A! Plus it’s “Ukraine,” not “the Ukraine,” so learn English as well while you are at it.

Lastly, this website is in the business of foretelling a horrid future for all of Eastern Europe. Beware, the world!

“In the next few years, Boryspil will actas a central hub for Eastern Europe with hundreds of flights and thousands of passengers daily. If you ever land at Boryspil, you will be positively surprised at the modern infrastructure, pleasant atmosphere, and regulated climate – all of this brought to you by the controller systems from B&R.”

Thanks, B&R, please don’t bring me anything.

I completely forgot to post this executive summary of Ukraine that I was enlightened with during my stay in Kiev.  Enjoy.

Awaiting the beheading

A complete summary of Ukrainian life as of today can be found in the first chapter of Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita.” Even trying to order sashimi at the fancy Buddha Bar in the down town Kiev where a champagne bottle goes for $1000 ended with the waiter coming back to inform that there was no yellow tail. Choices one, two and three were also unavailable. Shortly,out of the 9 kinds of fish on the menu, you could get only 5, one of them being raw shrimp (bleh).

- Дайте нарзану, – попросил Берлиоз.
- Нарзану нету, – ответила женщина в будочке и почему-то обиделась.
- Пиво есть? – Сиплым голосом осведомился Бездомный.
- Пиво привезут к вечеру, – ответила женщина.
- А что есть? – Спросил Берлиоз.
- Абрикосовая, только теплая, – сказала женщина.
- Ну, давайте, давайте, давайте!..

Here is the same in my free translation, written especially for our no-Russian-understanding friends

- Some seltzer, please, – asked Berlioz.
- There is none, – answered the woman in the kiosk, and, for some reason, got offended.
- Do you have beer? – Bezdomny enquired in a hoarse voice.
- Beer’s being delivered later this evening,- the woman replied.
- Well what do you have? – Berlioz asked the woman.
- Apricot water, only it’s warm.
- All right, all right, we will have that!..