Heat!
Kyiv's centralized heating systems were turned on today! At least the one in our region. It's probably the most energy inefficient and frustrating way of heating apartment buildings. I guess with abundant natural gas and coal in the Soviet Union, Soviet engineers never gave much thought to how incredibly wasteful and generally ridiculous the system is. Now, when it will warm up, we will all have our windows open because it's too hot in our apartments!
Today was the funeral for Ira and Natalya's mother. Many of us were called into action to help organize the memory meal after the funeral and cremation. It was an odd, long, and sad day today. But we went to a morgue, prayed over the body, stood in the cold, cooked, washed dishes, made salads, sliced bread. The memorial meal was held at the church building, the first "wake" for that place.
I came home to find the heat was on. I was very thankful. I didn't want another night with no heat.
Lena has a cold and isn't well.
Steven Spieldberg, whose grandparents are from Ukraine, visited Kyiv this week for the release of a documentary he and a Ukrainian director produced on the Babi Yar massacre, a ravine where more than 40,000 Jews were executed in 48 hours by the Nazis and thousands more were executed later. It's a horrible place., about 1.5 miles from our apartment.
Today was the funeral for Ira and Natalya's mother. Many of us were called into action to help organize the memory meal after the funeral and cremation. It was an odd, long, and sad day today. But we went to a morgue, prayed over the body, stood in the cold, cooked, washed dishes, made salads, sliced bread. The memorial meal was held at the church building, the first "wake" for that place.
I came home to find the heat was on. I was very thankful. I didn't want another night with no heat.
Lena has a cold and isn't well.
Steven Spieldberg, whose grandparents are from Ukraine, visited Kyiv this week for the release of a documentary he and a Ukrainian director produced on the Babi Yar massacre, a ravine where more than 40,000 Jews were executed in 48 hours by the Nazis and thousands more were executed later. It's a horrible place., about 1.5 miles from our apartment.
posted by Kyivmission at 12:47 AM
1 Comments:
I think the main problem of Kyiv's heating system is that it's still a state-owned enterprise. In Russia central heating systems (at least in large cities) don't belong to state or local authorities and they're generally in much better condition than in Ukraine. Of course, tariffs in Russia are higher, but the temperature in apartments is pretty comfortable all throughout heating season.
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