Saturday started fairly quietly for us, a long lay in after all the work during the week. Still no internet unfortunately. We spent most of the day wandering in the zoo; I can’t get over how many visitors there are. Just as we were near the elephant, a huge crowd of visitors appeared; Brenda the hippo had come into her outdoor enclosure. The Ukrainian word for hippo is behemoth, which I think is great! Brenda stays indoors over winter due to the cold weather and her old age, but in summertime she stays in her outdoor enclosure and pool 24 hours a day. The keepers have to wait until it is consistently warm enough, particularly at night before she comes out. She is a wonderful animal, very calm and relaxed. She took a little stroll around the enclosure, nibbling on the grass and flowers before delicately tip-toeing down the steps into her pool where she had a good splash around. She is a popular animal with the keepers and visitors and her keepers have given her the “pet” name of Little Froggy!
At the end of the work day we were invited to drink some vodka with Kyril and Sergei who work in the Aqua-terrarium department at the zoo, in celebration of the National Holiday. We had a little drink with them, but Steve and I refused to try a traditional accompaniment to alcohol – raw eggs with salt! Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, but I just couldn’t face them. One of Kyril’s friends showed us some photos of what he had been doing last weekend, and Steve was amazed. There is a thriving community of battle re-enactors here in Kyiv. The photos of the costumes, chain mail and armour were fantastic, and they have promised to take us along to the next event in June.
Kyril’s wife wasn’t working at the zoo today, but phoned Kyril and invited us all to their apartment for an impromptu gathering and to see all their animals. We first met Kyril and his wife Anya last year at the zoo and very much enjoyed their company. Anya also works for the zoo, with invertebrates and as a bat rehabilitator. Both Kyril and Anya are studying for PhDs at a nearby university. Their apartment is quite close to the zoo, so about 10 of us piled into taxis and made our way there.
Kyril told us that their apartment building is typical old Soviet style – originally built for the workers at a nearby factory. On the ground level they have a building attendant – an old lady who keeps an eye on people going in and out of the building. The building does have a lift, but as we wouldn’t all fit in we took the stairs to the fifth floor. The apartment used to belong to one of Anya’s relatives, but since she and Kyril were married, the apartment became theirs. They have renovated it to their tastes and it is very nice. It is a two room apartment with a small kitchen, bathroom and tiny balcony. Here, the apartments are described by the number of rooms, not by bedroom and living room numbers. They have one room for them and one room for the animals. Kyril and Anya have an extensive collection of reptiles, invertebrates and various others. The animal room was packed floor to ceiling with glass vivariums that Kyril has made himself. Amongst their snake collection they have some venomous species. There are no regulations on what species of animals you are allowed to keep in Ukraine, unlike the UK where you must have a Dangerous Wild Animal Licence. Anya also has rehabilitation bats at home and I think bats are the subject for her PhD.
After meeting all the animals, we all sat down for some drinking, toasting and eating. We had lots of herb cheese, apples, nuts, pickled mushrooms, salt fish and the best pickled cucumbers I have ever eaten, which were pickled by Anya’s grandmother. It was a great evening, we talked about all sorts of things, Sergei and Kyril played their guitars and I got to cuddle and play with a lovely little kitten.
Sergei is a very talented musician and plays the violin in restaurants to supplement his meagre zoo wages. Most of the zoo staff has secondary jobs as the wages are not good here, but like zoo people everywhere, working at the zoo for conservation is a passion and a dream and they will do whatever is necessary to be able to continue working at the zoo.
At the end of the work day we were invited to drink some vodka with Kyril and Sergei who work in the Aqua-terrarium department at the zoo, in celebration of the National Holiday. We had a little drink with them, but Steve and I refused to try a traditional accompaniment to alcohol – raw eggs with salt! Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, but I just couldn’t face them. One of Kyril’s friends showed us some photos of what he had been doing last weekend, and Steve was amazed. There is a thriving community of battle re-enactors here in Kyiv. The photos of the costumes, chain mail and armour were fantastic, and they have promised to take us along to the next event in June.
Kyril’s wife wasn’t working at the zoo today, but phoned Kyril and invited us all to their apartment for an impromptu gathering and to see all their animals. We first met Kyril and his wife Anya last year at the zoo and very much enjoyed their company. Anya also works for the zoo, with invertebrates and as a bat rehabilitator. Both Kyril and Anya are studying for PhDs at a nearby university. Their apartment is quite close to the zoo, so about 10 of us piled into taxis and made our way there.
Kyril told us that their apartment building is typical old Soviet style – originally built for the workers at a nearby factory. On the ground level they have a building attendant – an old lady who keeps an eye on people going in and out of the building. The building does have a lift, but as we wouldn’t all fit in we took the stairs to the fifth floor. The apartment used to belong to one of Anya’s relatives, but since she and Kyril were married, the apartment became theirs. They have renovated it to their tastes and it is very nice. It is a two room apartment with a small kitchen, bathroom and tiny balcony. Here, the apartments are described by the number of rooms, not by bedroom and living room numbers. They have one room for them and one room for the animals. Kyril and Anya have an extensive collection of reptiles, invertebrates and various others. The animal room was packed floor to ceiling with glass vivariums that Kyril has made himself. Amongst their snake collection they have some venomous species. There are no regulations on what species of animals you are allowed to keep in Ukraine, unlike the UK where you must have a Dangerous Wild Animal Licence. Anya also has rehabilitation bats at home and I think bats are the subject for her PhD.
After meeting all the animals, we all sat down for some drinking, toasting and eating. We had lots of herb cheese, apples, nuts, pickled mushrooms, salt fish and the best pickled cucumbers I have ever eaten, which were pickled by Anya’s grandmother. It was a great evening, we talked about all sorts of things, Sergei and Kyril played their guitars and I got to cuddle and play with a lovely little kitten.
Sergei is a very talented musician and plays the violin in restaurants to supplement his meagre zoo wages. Most of the zoo staff has secondary jobs as the wages are not good here, but like zoo people everywhere, working at the zoo for conservation is a passion and a dream and they will do whatever is necessary to be able to continue working at the zoo.
No comments:
Post a Comment