Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Seen around town...

From a group called "Fed up with it!"
Recently I've cut back on taking photos around town, switching instead to jotting interesting things down on a tiny notepad from the grocery store. A lot of the things I've noticed have been on the metro which means a blurry, grainy photo anyway, so a notepad works just as well.

An ad for a wallpaper store:   
"Anti-crisis measures! All wallpaper now at 2013 prices!"

A tour agency's blue-and-yellow-swathed poster: "Rest from politics!" followed by prices for 7 days in Egypt, Greece, Poland,...

A placard from Comfy, a major electronics store, promises "Low prices will unite the country."

What first seemed to be a recruitment ad- a picture of a soldier with the words "The chance to serve your country has appeared"-


- has turned out to be a major campaign sponsored by a group called the Ukraine Crisis Media Center. The solider poster was just the first of many. There's since been:
  • The doctor: "The chance to build a healthy society has appeared."
  • The miner: "The chance to lift up your country has appeared."
  • The student: "The chance to pass a test and not a bribe has appeared."
  • The grandparent: "The chance to raise your grandchildren in an affluent Ukraine has appeared."
Grandparent ad in the background, purple ad partially blocked by the marshrutka.
I don't know that many doctors, miners, or grandparents, but I do know a lot of students and they've made no secret about the fact that a little extra cash is often required as they progress through their studies. As for soldiers, it used to be that I only knew one, but now more and more acquaintances are getting surprise phone calls and then leaving to serve.

I hope that the future does bring affluence, health, and stability for the country.

5 comments:

  1. Is this your last post from Kharkiv Katherine, a rather final sentence?! :-(

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    Replies
    1. Not quite yet, Rupert, even got another post coming today : )

      There will be a few more posts, we're still waiting on some cat paperwork to come through...

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    2. Yes I have seen the river picnic, nice to see an air of returning to normality, despite today's activities further south of your location. Take care, the three of you!

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  2. Low, low prices will DEFINITELY be the way to unite a country. Love these posts to see the real going ons in Ukraine.

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