Now I have seen a lot of strange things here in Ukraine (particularly boy racers showing off their Lada's with OZ alloys!!!) but this has to take the biscuit. No, it wasn't in the zoo, it was standing outside the outdoor shower just chilling. To say I was freaked out is quite an understatement! It's like Jurassic Park in this country really!!!!!

Giant Spider

Anyways, I don't know if they are any relation to Tarantula's but they look very similar don't you think? This one was about half the size of my hand, I have never seen a spider so big in England before. Apparently they live in holes in the soil where the crops all grow (Tanya's family grow all their own vegetables. Very organic and very nice really - although too much fruit gives you the trots, take note!!)

Oh balls just as I was trying to send this my internet ran out! It's a 45 minute trip to buy more so I am actually typing this on the laptop in preparation for my cyber cafe visit on Friday (which for you will be today! Unless you are reading this later that is!).

On speaking to Tanya's dad (translated by Tanya of course) people used to be paid 1 Ruble to catch these spiders for the hospital for testing. In translation they are called "Crucifix Spiders" because they have a cross on their back. God knows what the Russian word for these spiders is (maybe someone here can tell me?) but I am now more than sure that because they are venomous (although not lethal) they are related to Tarantula!

No one told me this when I came to visit!! And here I was scared of the tiny spiders that seems to just float in mid-air here, I guess now I'm over that phobia! They seem quite small and placid in comparison.

So, on another note I think I have put on at least another 14lb on here. I am being plied with food and beer constantly. Don't get me wrong, I love it, it will just be hard work to get out of this amazing routine when I get home. What people forget to realise here is that the diet is for a genuine working man, not someone who sits on his arse all day doing nothing but typing and fixing PC's. I guess they no longer think I am skinny anymore!

You know, I have enjoyed it so much here. The summer is hot (36 degrees here now) and I feel like I can cope a bit better with this heat now, but alas tomorrow will be my last day here in Dnepropetrovsk. On Saturday I will travel back to Kiev where it's not quite the same. It's a much bigger richer city than here and it hasn't quite got the same Quaintness. When I look around me I see how simple this place is, so humble a beginnings my wife has had. But their manners and kindness stand out so clear - from an early age they understand the concept of hard work and close friendships. I don't see that so much in England, it's much more dog-eat-dog. People care about each others belongings here, it feels as though everyone is in the same boat so-to-speak. I really feel part of this family and so I will book another adventure here for Christmas. We will fly on 28th or 29th December and enjoy New Year here, and then on 7th January we will have our second Christmas! Only this time it will be white (confidently assuming our first Christmas in Liverpool wont be white again this year).

I'm a lucky lucky man really. Tonight we shall have a party to celebrate our marriage and assuming I am posting this blog on Friday I will have been rather pissed! So in advance I shall say "Ouch my head..."

Edit - I've just been promised something if I post this pic! I'm guessing I was still scared after the spider incident the night before!

Hmmmmmm