First days in Poltava

I arrived in Poltava the evening of Thursday, Jan. 28, by train from Kyiv. I was assisted both getting on and then off the train with my heavy duffel by a very nice fellow named Alex. Alex was trying to practice as much English as he could via speaking with me, so I spent a lot of the trip in the hallway chatting and drinking very hot tea. I learned that he and his wife would be new parents in June. Thank you and congratulations again, Alex from Siberia!
When I arrived in Poltava, a literal welcome wagon awaited me, with two of my new colleagues from the Institute plus a couple of fellows from the agency with keys to my apartment (mind you, this was well after 9:00 PM). My colleagues gave me a bag of food and coffee, tea, fruit, cheese - all sorts of goodies to make me feel right at home! My apartment is up five flights of stairs, but it is very nice once inside, and I crashed pretty much immediately after everyone left.
The next day, Friday, I enjoyed my first full day in my host city. I had lunch with two of my associates in the Institute in a traditional Ukrainian eatery (very European - plain, very simple and clean, but with excellent food), then met the rector and others high up the administrative chain. I was then formally introduced to all of the Institute's faculty (you can see photos at http://tinyurl.com/yb5qmwo ). They are fantastic folks! They really seem happy to have me here, and later we all had dinner, Ukrainian-style, in the dining room of the Institute's dormitory. LOTS of food, with traditional meat / potato / cabbage dumplings (pirogi, actually), a delicious type of coleslaw with a light vinaigrette dressing instead of mayo, assorted meats and other stuff, and between talking and eating, several (like 5 or 6) toasts with vodka or brandy - I felt like I was among my kind of people!