Cigarettes and the Red Army

Hmmm... cigarettes. No I don't smoke and neither does Joe, but we'll get to that. Now, safely back in Ukraine, I can mention that, while in Poland we did partake of the holy creme cake (pronounced kremkova). I've added a picture at the end of my previous blog entry of the famed "Pope's favorite bakery."

Also, on our trip we witnessed a cigarette smuggling scheme that was pretty crazy. I failed to mention earlier that while walking (quickly) across the Ukrainian-Polish border, we saw hundreds of abandoned cartons of L&M cigarettes. In addition, we saw young men taping cigarette packs to their legs, around their stomachs, up their sleeves, and in their crotches (well, I'm not sure if they used tape there). Anyhow, it was pretty obvious, and we hustled past the hustlers who were literally "gearing up" in the outdoor passage way from the Ukrainian check point to the Polish one. You can legally take one carton through. So, each one of the "guys" dutifully carried their "allowed" carton openly. When we got to the Polish checkpoint, they were asked how many cartons they had. They said, "one"; that was it! I guess it would be too much trouble to shake down each and every one of these guys. Appparently, Ukrainian cigs are way cheaper than the Polish ones.

Not to mention that coming back to Ukraine involves a long layover at the border . . . while we waited, what looked like a workman climbed over our train seats (I thought he was replacing a burned out light), opened overhead compartments and heating? vents shoving some kind of cartons into them. Now wait... this time we were headed for Ukraine... where the cigarettes are cheaper, right? Well, the next step involved the train actually being checked by Polish "officials" who didn't find anything. Then we took off. A woman in front of us hurriedly dismantled her "table" and must have pulled out some ciggie cartons. The climbing man hurried back and pulled the cartons out of the ducts... then everyone proceeded to quickly put them into plastic bags and throw them off the train where other young men were waiting in the weeds. The only thing we can figure is that the cigs came into Poland on the train then stayed on the train until the "operatives" could board and rid the train of the "goods" before reaching Ukraine. I had never heard of "Ma Barker", but after Joe explained why he was calling the lady in front of us that, I thought it was perfect! Before reaching the actually border checkpoint in Ukraine, "Ma" had dutifully reassembled her train "table" with the screw driver and duct tape she had brought along. While officials were checking her passport, she was cool as a cucumber.

Now onto the Red Army in Kyiv ... Wednesday was "Victory Day" when Ukraine celebrates the Red Army's participation in the end of World War II. They were the first to get to Auschwitz and officially liberate the prisoners there. On the tour we took in Poland, we learned that at that point, most of the prisoners were so weak that they had to be kept at the "death camps" while medical aid was sent in to help them get healthy enough to leave.

We walked around town looking for parades ... any kind of ceremony. It was a rainy day and we didn't find much but a few veterans carrying flowers and visiting war memorials. While in the park in central Kyiv, we also saw where the demonstrators hang out in hundreds of little tents. Each political party has its own area and surrounding posters and representive flags. The area with the "red flags" has members of the party that has recently formed a coalition with Viktor-East, hence the poster of Julia and Viktor-West carving up Ukraine (into East and West). "Why can't we all just be one happy county under communism?" is what I think they're trying to say.