Update from Kiev

Glenoverland
Fri 15 Apr 2011 13:43
50:26.9N 30:33.2E
 
This should be a better fix. Google how to find your lat/long and hey presto!
Not that it matters a damn. Weâre still here, stuck and going nowhere! (from Sand)
 
SO WHATâS IT LIKE LIVING IN KIEV?
Very mixed!  There is a massive contrast between people you come across in the street & people you meet properly.  The former donât hold doors open for you, donât return a smile, donât return a good morning, donât even return eye contact!! But the latter are incredibly smiley, helpful and charming.
Thu 14/4/11 â 2 achievements!! (1) got our Kazakh visas extended, (2) moved house, into an apartment â cheaper & nicer than the soviet style hotel we were in, but entered via a HORRIBLE staircase & numerous metal doors!
People talk very openly about the government â apparently itâs run by a president who has a criminal record for sexual abuse and has been imprisoned.  His deputy is said to be an idiot who can hardly string a proper sentence together in Ukranian, & the 3rd in charge (pm?) communes regularly with God but is actually a martian.  This govt was voted in by the old folks who are now v. numerous.  They were promised great things, and given benefits just before & just after the election, then it all dried up.  There was a saying âsave Ukraine: steal your Grandmaâs passportâ.
On a lighter note, there are some seriously cobbly streets in Kiev, & the girls like to wear seriously high platform shoes, which makes for some funny sights. 
Hopefully a picture of this, and the Interesting Loo, which I have already described, to follow (from Stef)1