One Week Before EuroCup Comes to Town....

Since we moved here 19 months ago (but who's counting??), it seems like nothing has mattered more to the officials of Kyiv than EuroCup 2012.  For my American friends, this is a soccer tournament held every 4 years for all of Europe.  This year Ukraine and Poland are sharing the hosting duties.  Beginning a week from today the games will begin here with Ukraine vs. Sweden.  Then follows Sweden vs. England, Sweden vs. France, the quarterfinals and the final game here on July 1st.  For these 5 games we have endured 19 months of constant roadwork, stadium construction, and endless promotions.  Positive changes have included English now peppered around the city- on road signs (more on that later) and in announcements on the metro.  Prices are being hiked on everything- hotels rooms now cost up to $600 a night, often with 4 night minimums.  Needless to say, in a country like Ukraine, corruption abounds.  The stadium, with a 70,000 capacity, apparently cost over $550 million (a staggering sum by any measure but especially in a country where the construction workers were paid less than $20 for an 11-hour day). The country poured an estimated $10 billion into the entire EuroCup effort.  The Ukrainians I walk with in the park each morning have no interest in attending any games and are bitter about the entire thing.  Now the European press is broadcasting stories of rampant racism in Ukraine and warning its citizens against travelling here.  We are curious and anxious to see how it all goes.

Here are some images from the last week....

Embracing the Ukrainian fashion of giving children toy guns as soon as they can walk.  These, at least, were water guns.  

Ah, a true Ukrainian.  To give him some credit, he did ask why she did not have on pants. 

Countdown clock for Eurocup. 

The central road on Kyiv, Kreshatik, was closed to traffic last weekend.  Barriers (for rowdy fans??) were erected by Thursday.

I think I could knock these down, even without the added strength of a belly full of beer.

But just to be sure rowdiness does happen, beer kiosks are set up every 5 feet all along the mile long road to the stadium.  

To add to the fun, the beer kiosks are interspersed with the protestors camped out to demand the release of Timoshenko.

Their campground sits right in front of some of the most popular and expensive shops in Kyiv (including Gap where prices are more than double the US).

These English-language signs were put up all over the city last month.  I was grateful until I heard they each "cost" $1100, which really means that someone in the government just took delivery of a new black LandRover.

Enzo has embraced water.  He now spends much of his park time wallowing in various fountains and, in this case, a replica of the Black Sea.  

And speaking of wallowing, there is a new bouncy castle in the park.  Gio loves it as the windows allow him to rest frequently!

Saturday nights there are free dance lessons on the stage.  Gio insisted on joining in.  

Who needs a partner?

This is a new resident of the park.  He appears to be an abandoned pet, which breaks my heart.  A beautiful, sweet fellow.  He has taken to following us home.  We wish we could adopt him but we just cannot take on a second dog right now.  I am working on trying to find him a new home.  

One week in and Gio continues to love his new bed.  Here is how I usually find him when he wakes up.  Yes, he is still in there somewhere.  I think he does still miss his crib a bit and so has found a way to make his bed a bit more cave-like.  

Trying out his inflatable bed for our road-trip to Italy.  He is excited to share the floor with Enzo....