Days in DONETSK

Pryvit, mene zvut Andrii Lowenko

Soon tell what that means.

So I learnt yesterday that if I was Ukrainian, my name would probably be 'Andrii Lowenko'; I'm still trying to decide which version I prefer ... that sure sounds more exciting than plain, so-so 'André Lowe'.

You probably figured out that I said "Hello, my name is André Lowe" at the top there; not bad huh?

It was a great day for Jamaica yesterday, three medals including two gold medals had me beaming and gave me a chance to get back at USA Track and Field's Katie Branham, after both Martin Manley and Jaheel Hyde beat Americans to the 400m and 110m hurdles gold medals.

A few local friends of mine actually brought me a bottle of Ukrainian beer 'Stare Misto' in the Media Centre in celebration of the young Jamaicans success.

Earlier we had all gone on the road to grab some food, authentic Ukrainian food. We walked out of the Olympiyskiy, hopped into a tram and heading into local eatery Novia Stolovaia for some food.

I promised I would try some more local fare and before long I was looking down at some Mlyntsi (roll stuffed with mushrooms and all sorts of meat) - that I didn't like too much, probably because it's served with what is essentially the top part of milk that is beginning to spoil. That is used like a garnish of sorts.

The 'Cutlets' were much better and are thin, breaded slices of meat, rolled together and stuffed. Good stuff. I helped that down with some Borscht, which is basically a soup made with onion, tomatoes, beetroot and all sort of stuff. I had some earlier this week and it's growing on me actually. I will have to try to make it when I get back home.

Ukrainian expletive

So someone in the Media Centre learnt their first Ukrainian expletive yesterday, it's basically like saying 'Very awesome!' in English; only that 'Very' isn't the word used, if you know what I'm saying. Anyway, before long, we all knew the word ... and before long everyone was saying it - wait, everyone except me of course. They haven't seen me in a while but the folks at Faith Gospel Hall know I was raised well (lol).

Back to the story ... before long, all the locals were covering their mouths in shock and laughing so hard. Most of us know each other very well and it was just one of the countless light moments that erupt on a regular basis amongst Journos when deadlines aren't so tight anymore (lol). Anyway folks ... lata.

- André Lowe