Digenis.org

According to an October 19th US State Department press briefing, the US Board on Geographic Names has decided to change the official US English spelling of the Ukrainian capital from Kiev (pronounced Ke-yev) to Kyiv (pronounced Keev). The new version reflects the Ukrainian transliteration of the name, while the old spelling came from the Russian transliteration.

The population of Ukraine is split in two, with half of its citizens being Russian-speakers and half being Ukrainian-speakers. Of course, it would seem that the State Department has now taken sides…

Many people see this as a US tactic to woo Ukraine further to the West, the direction that President Viktor Yuschenko has been taking the country since he came to power after the 2004 Orange Revolution. Call it what you like, but supporters say that the US is just coming in line with the spelling standards of international organizations like the UN and NATO.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey says, “…I don’t think this decision has anything reflective in it.” But if we’re putting all politics aside, what about the scores of other cities with English spellings far off from their native pronunciations? Why is Myanmar still referred to as Burma in the US? Will Moscow ever become Moskva? Will Munich become Munchen?

Though Kyiv will now be used on all maps produced in the United States, it would seem that not everyone is ready to board the ship just yet. According to this article in the International Herald, the Associated Press will continue to spell the Ukrainian capital as Kiev.

I suppose only time will tell if this change will stick.

Fifteen years ago today Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union. Congratulations to all Ukrainians who may read this post.

I figure it might be helpful to list a few of the cafes and restaurants I liked while I was in Kyiv. Here’s what I can recommend:

Double Coffee - A chain of coffee shops around Kyiv. I believe they have three locations, but the one on Khreschatik’s the best. They’ve got a veranda and it’s a nice place to enjoy coffee on the weekend, when Khreschatik is transformed into a pedestrian street.

Dim Kavi - The name means ‘house of coffee’ in Ukrainian, but please, oh please, do not confuse this shop with Кофе-хауз. We often stopped at the location on Proreznaya ulitsa (coincidentally located near a Кофе-хауз) for cheap espresso. You can get your coffee to go and sit on the benches just outside the cafe.

Repriza - A great European cafe and bakery with three locations, but go to the one on ulitsa Sagaidachnogo; it’s the most comfortable. They’ve got a great tomato soup that comes in a tasty bread bowl. The stuffed eggplant and perch is also decent.

Kozak Mamai - If you want some authentic Ukrainian food for reasonable price, check out this place. It’s also on Proreznaya ulitsa, just off of Khreschatik. People-watching is a fun pastime here.

Himalaya - Great Indian food on Khreschatik. On weekdays they have a business lunch for 40 grivna (8 dollars). I asked for it to be spicy and that’s just what they gave me. They’ve also got wifi.

Vedenskiye Bulochki - At least that’s what it’s called if my memory serves me correct. It’s near the intersection of Proreznaya and Pushkinskaya streets. They’ve got some delicious pastries and the coffee isn’t too shabby either.

Olimp Located next door to Vedenskiye Bulochki. It’s kind of smoky in the evenings, but they serve a yummy greek salad and offer free wifi. Worth checking out.

Anything I missed while I was there? Not that I plan to make it back anytime soon, but let’s make this page a good resource on the best eats in Kyiv.

I said I’d post some quick observations on the Ukrainian language. All I have time for now:

• I mentioned in the last post that it can be humorous for Russian-speakers to see and hear Ukrainian. When walking down the streets and seeing signs that read продукти, пошта, and Ñ�лухай it’s easy to think you’re in a country of poor spellers.
• One thing that you’ll notice quickly about Ukrainian is that, unlike Russian, it lacks o in closed syllables. For example, when you enter the metro you’ll see the word вхід on the door. “Oh, вход becomes вхід.â€� I thought to myself. Of course, I was a little confused when I saw немає входу (no entrance). When I saw a few more examples, like він, вона, and воно (he, she, and it) and рік and році (nominative and locative year) it became clear to me that the o can come back when the noun is declined. Interesting.
• One of the first words I picked up in Ukrainian was Ñ�мачно, which means ‘tasty’. I’m guessing it came through Polish smak from German schmack (flavour). In Russian there’s the word вкуÑ�но/вкуÑ�ный for tasty, but there’s also the more colloquial variant Ñ�мачный and the verb Ñ�маковать, which means to savour or relish something . Also, youth these days use the slangish Ñ�мачно to mean cool.
• Україно моÑ� мила! Ukrainian is the only East Slavic language to have retained the vocative case

My curiosity is certainly sparked. I’ll be taking a look at Ukrainian language (but no, I’m not attempting to learn it; my hands are full with Russian) and grammar in the next few weeks. It’s disputed history is of great interest to me.

Today should be my last day in Kyiv. I’m schedulded to pick up my passport and visa at the Russian consulate this afternoon and I’ve already purchased my return ticket to Moscow. I’ve really enjoyed my time here, but to be honest I’m ready to go back home; six days is more than enough time to see what needs to be seen in Kyiv.

Arriving on Saturday morning was a great idea. We took the metro to Khreschatik, which is like the Tverskaya ulitsa of Kyiv, to look for a suitable place for coffee and brunch. I’m glad that my first impression of Kyiv’s downtown was formed on a Saturday morning, when Khreschatik is closed to all traffic and turned into a giant pedestrian street. Coffeeshop verandas are so much more enjoyable when you don’t have the sound of cars whizzing by you. Sadly, as Neeka has been documenting, even Khreschatik is not immune to the sidewalk parkers.

Kyiv gives you the strange feeling of being in Russia, but not being in Russia at the same time. On one hand you walk around the streets and hear the people -who are distinctly Slavic, by the way- speaking Russian amongst themselves. Text is all in Cyrillic around you and it even causes you to giggle under your breath when you see things like ???????? or ?????. Then there’s the impression that the city yearns to be part of the West, but it can’t get away from it’s common history with Russia.

I plan on posting an entry about the Ukrainian language when I get back to Moscow, but for now let me just say how surprised I was at the amount of Russian that’s being spoken here. I would have expected it had I travelled to the Donets region, but I had been told that especially in Kyiv there was a movement to restore pride in the Ukrainian language… And I suppose there is; streetnames and advertisements are generally in Ukrainian but everyone around me seems to be speaking Russian. At least that meant that I could get around easier.

Having come from Moscow, Kyiv seems like a small city. In reality, its population is 2.5 million, which is quite larger than any American city where I’ve lived. I stayed in several places around the center and I feel quite confident that I could navigate my way around the streets blindfolded by now. Having only one specific task (applying for my new visa) this week left a lot of time for exploring and seeing the sights. Maidan Nezalezhnosti was pretty cool, and of course reminded me of Okhotny Ryad in Moscow. Andreevsky Spusk wasn’t as impressive as everyone people claimed it to be, and the funicular not far from it was also a bust. The Kyivan cave monasteries were worth seeing and there was even some Medovy Spas festivities going around the area.

The subway system in Kyiv was also quite easy to get around on. It’s much smaller than the Moscow metro, of course, and much cheaper too; here you can get 10 ride-tokens for about 1 dollar. Dirt cheap.

Much more to say, but time has already run out. I’ll write more about my impression of Kyiv, its restaurants and cafes, and the Ukrainian language when I get back to Moscow.

Поеду на Украйну через 3 дн�! В Киеве буду первый раз, ничего там не знаю. � что там делать-то? По�оветуйте, что интере�ного можно у�петь по�мотреть за 4 дн�?

I’m traveling to Ukraine in three days. It’ll be my first time in Kyiv and I’m still not sure what to see or do. I’ll have about 4 days. Any suggestions?

Suddenly, due to the elections in Ukraine, my site is getting hundreds of hits per day from people searching for Tymoshenko images. They’re ending up at my January 31, 2005 post, where I point out the former prime minister’s resemblance to a certain Hollywood heroine:

And it seems I’m the #10 search result at Google Images for “tymoshenko”. Not sure how that happened.

For real news on the election, check out Neeka’s Backlog.