August 2018 I-129F Filers

[JMEngland 438]

5 minutes ago, Shiran said:

Do be prepared to some disappointments. E.g. "Are streets always so empty?" And "Tomatoes taste absolutely terrible and are not even the same fruit" Also American Coca Cola is not nearly as good as the one made in Kyiv. 

Hm, that's weird. I didn't notice a difference in tomatoes or Coke there. Might just be that only drink Coke when it's mixed with whiskey or rum though, so the "Coke" taste is pretty masked 😂😂😂

 

All in all, food in Ukraine is pretty horrible. I'd get so irritated when I went to the store and you had to pick through rotting produce to find a good one. Zero health and quality standards there.. I'm sure Kyiv is nice for a quick tourist trip, but it honestly sucks living there long term. For being such a big city, you run out of things to do really quickly (unless you're into drugs, clubs, and prostitutes). I do miss being able to get herbs really cheap there. A whole bunch of fresh dill is like 50 cents, compared to a few dollars for a tiny pack here 🤬

[JMEngland 438]

26 minutes ago, Prizm123 said:

i cant wait to see the look on her face when she goes to her first rock concert.....she is very excited

Yea, there's a huuuge 3 day concert coming up in NC that I'm planning to take her to. It's a mix of genres and it just happens to be featuring almost every artist that has a song on "our" list (as in memorable songs in our relationship, for one reason or another). It should be awesome. I will give Kyiv credit in the concert world though, they had some awesome concerts almost every weekend, including American artists. I saw Skillet while I was there 😁

[Prizm123 1,086]

yeah most tours  only go to Kyiv, or sometimes outside of Lviv there is a large festival.

i think i know the show you are talking about, its in May? there are a LOT of bands there i want to see again, including a band with one of our songs too

[Prizm123 1,086]

32 minutes ago, Shiran said:

Do be prepared to some disappointments. E.g. "Are streets always so empty?" And "Tomatoes taste absolutely terrible and are not even the same fruit" Also American Coca Cola is not nearly as good as the one made in Kyiv. 

i am just looking forward to the disappointment of starbucks also 😄. neither of us drink soda, so its water or tea, but she likes basically infused with fresh fruits tea, and very very fresh tea, and hot. she thought i was off my rocker when i mentioned i drank iced tea

[JMEngland 438]

5 minutes ago, Prizm123 said:

yeah most tours  only go to Kyiv, or sometimes outside of Lviv there is a large festival.

i think i know the show you are talking about, its in May? there are a LOT of bands there i want to see again, including a band with one of our songs too

Yeaaa, I believe it's in May, in the Charlotte area. 

[JMEngland 438]

Just now, Prizm123 said:

i am just looking forward to the disappointment of starbucks also 😄. neither of us drink soda, so its water or tea, but she likes basically infused with fresh fruits tea, and very very fresh tea, and hot. she thought i was off my rocker when i mentioned i drank iced tea

Yea I do think it's cool how they have actual "tea menus" in restaurants there, not just sweet or unsweet 😂😂

 

 

[Prizm123 1,086]

i am jealous. I havent seen Tool in about 20 years....

Just now, JMEngland said:

Yea I do think it's cool how they have actual "tea menus" in restaurants there, not just sweet or unsweet 😂😂

 

 

yes, i was surprised at this

[Shiran 1,134]

Y'all Ukranian crew need to report back to this thread or RUB subforum once your partners actually make it onto US soil hopefully really soon, because the tomato thing fascinates me. I do not drink sodas myself recently, so when I tried a few sips of Coke in Kyiv it didn't really register. The tomato thing I've heard before, and it is not as much a matter of it tasting badly, but just very different, and having different (firmer) texture. 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Shiran

[JMEngland 438]

7 minutes ago, Shiran said:

Y'all Ukranian crew need to report back to this thread or RUB subforum once your partners actually make it onto US soil hopefully really soon, because the tomato thing fascinates me. I do not drink sodas myself recently, so when I tried a few sips of Coke in Kyiv it didn't really register. The tomato thing I've heard before, and it is not as much a matter of it tasting badly, but just very different, and having different (firmer) texture. 

The tomato thing might just be because you gave her a different variety than she's used to. In Kyiv they pretty much just have Roma tomatoes, and occasionally you'll see the ones that are slightly bigger and rounder and usually sold on the vine here. In the US it's not uncommon for grocery stores to have 5 or 6 varieties at one time, whereas people in Ukraine might go their entire life only eating one single variety. It's not just like that with tomatoes, but pretty much every type of produce. In a store in Kyiv, they'll have "apples", keep that in mind the next time you're at Walmart browsing the apple "section", lol. 

 

But yea for sure, we'll be around after she's here. I'll probably stay hanging out in these progress forums helping out where I can as well as over in the country specific. I feel like we're all basically family at this point, I can't just walk away 😁😁😁

Edited March 3, 2019 by JMEngland

[Prizm123 1,086]

12 minutes ago, JMEngland said:

The tomato thing might just be because you gave her a different variety than she's used to. In Kyiv they pretty much just have Roma tomatoes, and occasionally you'll see the ones that are slightly bigger and rounder and usually sold on the vine here. In the US it's not uncommon for grocery stores to have 5 or 6 varieties at one time, whereas people in Ukraine might go their entire life only eating one single variety. It's not just like that with tomatoes, but pretty much every type of produce. In a store in Kyiv, they'll have "apples", keep that in mind the next time you're at Walmart browsing the apple "section", lol. 

 

But yea for sure, we'll be around after she's here. I'll probably stay hanging out in these progress forums helping out where I can as well as over in the country specific. I feel like we're all basically family at this point, I can't just walk away 😁😁😁

well if all goes well, im gonna be here for 10 years.... after we go through AoS, RoC, Citizenship, then we start over to bring Anastasia, her adult daughter here. THAT's gonna be a hell of a wait...

[JMEngland 438]

1 minute ago, Prizm123 said:

well if all goes well, im gonna be here for 10 years.... after we go through AoS, RoC, Citizenship, then we start over to bring Anastasia, her adult daughter here. THAT's gonna be a hell of a wait...

oh man, that's gonna be long. I'm planning to do the same thing, but for her kid brother and maybe even her parents. As of right now there's no interest in them actually coming, but I'd still like to get the process going anyway just in case things degrade any further there or Russia invades and they need to take some time away while things get sorted out. 

[Prizm123 1,086]

yeah thats why she really wants her daughter here, she is sort of between Donbas and Crimea about 70-100 miles east and south respectively

[JMEngland 438]

32 minutes ago, Prizm123 said:

yeah thats why she really wants her daughter here, she is sort of between Donbas and Crimea about 70-100 miles east and south respectively

Yea, that connecting land between the two is probably the most dangerous place to be. Russia wants that land bridge to Crimea. 

[Prizm123 1,086]

i met a guy who said he had to take his family from Donbas because of all the fighting when i was there, he spoke English really well, he was just driving a taxi to make ends meet, he really wanted to return home, but it was too unsafe.

 

had a really nice conversation with him as he was driving me to where i was staying one night... its the sort of thing that i will remember always

[Shiran 1,134]

1 hour ago, Prizm123 said:

well if all goes well, im gonna be here for 10 years.... after we go through AoS, RoC, Citizenship, then we start over to bring Anastasia, her adult daughter here. THAT's gonna be a hell of a wait...

Is there a reason why you waiting for her citizenship to petition for Anastasia? I am pretty sure Green Card holders can petition for  adult children.