We decided to register with OVIR first. Yevgeny had earlier obtained
registration forms and made enquiries about the procedures. We went to a convenient
branch of the OVIR in Simferopol’s centre. It was a small crowded building, with
many people waiting to get paperwork done. Not a pleasant place in the hot summer
sun. The place was filled with impatient smokers and sweaty smell. Tempers
were high and people were shouting at the top of their voices. Yevgeny pulled me
along, and navigated through the counters and various rooms in the building. Brief
conversations took place and all I understood was “Nyet, nyet, nyet.”
“What happened ?”
“They said you must get yourself registered through the
American-Ukrainian Cultural Dialogue Foundation, who sponsored your visa. And they
must do it in Kiev. But I told them you have entered Ukraine from Simferopol and
will be attending to business in Kiev in 3 days time. You wanted to see the Crimea
first, and it’s therefore logical to register here in Simferopol. Don’t
worry. Let me try persuading them again.” He used the Russian name
Kiev. In Crimea, they speak Russian, and in any case, Kiev is more well known
internationally than the newly politically correct Kyiv.
More discussions, followed by brief phone calls by
the fat women who gave me that Screw-You-Foreigners-Look. Phones off and again,
“Nyet, nyet, nyet.” Followed by long speeches perpetuated by the all too
familiar Nyet-nyet-nyet.
“Wee Cheng, she says the Crimean OVIR Head Office
says you can’t register here. She suggests we go to the Head Office to see how the
matter can be resolved.”
And so we went to yet another crowded, smoky and
sweaty building a few streets away. Again, the fat ugly creatures there sang the
usual chorus “Nyet, nyet, nyet.”
“Wee Cheng, they say you would have broken the law
if you don’t get yourself registered immediately in Kiev. The police will arrest
you if they check your particulars on the streets.”
