27:42 and counting...

Okay, this whole having a timer on the screen of you computer telling you how long you have makes me nervous. But a dollar an hour for internet isn't that bad so I'll be back here. Yesterday I went jogging and my goal was to find an internet cafe place. So up and down streets I went, eyes peeled for anything that looked like a computer screen. The funny thing about advertising in Ukraine. Most places would want you to know that their business existed, but in Ukraine, this is not the case. Stores are hidden inside apartment buildings and behind construction sites where only the most gifted explorer can find them. Exploration has never been one of my strong points, but maybe this is where running about as fast as a gopher tortoise pays off. There's even a bus that goes from my school right to the front door of this place. Definitely a plus.

As more evidence that "explorer" should not be one of my top career choices, yesterday I went on a hunt for a hair dryer. 3 days was all I could go before sorrow set in and every time I looked in the mirror I thought for sure it would break. (7 years bad luck would have been rather redundant though after having lost our internet, our telephone, and most of Lori's computer all in one week. ) I had seen hairdryers at a couple stores recently, so after school that's where I headed. Two hours later I had nothing to show for my exploring except for an empty coke light bottle and a candy bar wrapper. The elusive hair drying mechanism was nowhere to be found. I tried all the stores on my bus route before giving up. I moped defeatedly to our apartment complex when I remembered there was a little hole-in-the-wall store next to the bread stand so I figured I'd give it one more try. 5 beautiful models of blowdryers awaited me in the store window. There was one for only 12 hryvnas! $2.50. How could I pass that up? I bought the little blowdryer and headed home to take a shower and make my hair look presentable. I had the blow dryer plugged in for about 12 seconds when i saw a flash of light. And then it was over. My hairdryer worked for a total of 12 seconds. That's about a quarter a second. I'm glad the rate at the internet cafe is a little better.