This was such a blessing to me while in Ukraine. However, there were a few drawbacks.
On the second day I was stopped for going too fast. I really didn’t see the sign that the speed limit had dropped but that didn’t change things.
The policeman expected me to have an International Driving Permit. I told him I was here last summer and didn’t need one at that time. He said things had changed and wrote me up. The fine was almost $100.
I paid the fine but decided I should study the road signs so as not to pay more fines along the way.
Frustrations in parking.
Parking was also questionable. I parallel parked along one street in Zhitomer. I was at least two car links away from a handicap parking sign. Evidently not far enough. Frustrating.
One day in Kiev I was looking for a place to park and found a place to parallel park. To make sure the car was parked legally I looked at the car in front of me and the car behind me. Both had parking tickets under the wiper blades so I moved the car.
I found another place and was absolutely certain, according to the signs, I parked legally. However, a parking cop came out and started
taking pictures of some vehicles around where I was parked.
I approached and talked with him about my parking spot. He said it was legal and he wouldn’t fine me. But he wouldn’t be surprised if someone else fined me. I argued with him about their tactics.
Most of the time when parking I would drop a pin so I could find the car. The hassles of parking, reparking, and arguing with the parking police and I didn’t drop a pin. I looked for the car for almost two hours when we were ready to leave.
That was frustrating. I scolded myself but finally decided I was where I was supposed to be, doing what needed to be done. This was part of it.
Frank and I separated. He found the car much sooner than I did and sent me a message. I didn’t receive it until I found the car. However, while Frank was waiting on me to find the car he was able to witness to a man. It wouldn’t have been possible if we simply jumped in the car after evangelism.