Hospital, snow, seatbelts and blankets

This morning I had to go back to hospital to have my stitches removed, which was quick and almost painless. Bob was going to drop me there and carry on to Kyiv, as the hospital is north of where we live. However, the snow, which had been predicted, fell with a vengeance and the roads were chaotic so Bob has postponed his aid trip departure until tomorrow.
It turned out to be a good thing for him because, whilst he was in the hospital, he had an initial investigation of his hearing, which has deteriorated since COVID.

I have had such amazing care from all the staff in this hospital, especially from my treating doctor, Ostep, who also found an audiologist for Bob. And whilst I was waiting to have my stitches removed, the cook came over to greet me. I'm not sure why, but she told me, through translation, about the different dialects in Ukraine.

Bob is usually the one to have a rant, but I feel the need to have a rant about seatbelt use, or the lack of it, which is another peculiarity of Ukraine. We took a taxi to the hospital as the weather was so bad (and also taxis are very cheap). It was an old car and there were no seatbelts in the back. The driver opened the boot to push one through but it still didn't work! The driver, himself, didn't even wear a seatbelt! We've noticed that a significant proportion of people don't wear them. We have explained that it's against the law in England and we are told that it is here, too.
So I guess the difference is that the seatbelt law is not enforced here, unlike speeding laws. There are Police with speed cameras all over the place, as we know. But if you have an accident and you're not wearing your seatbelt, you can be seriously injured or killed, whether you're speeding or not. Especially here, where the driving is often impatient, and therefore dangerous. Maybe one of our Ukrainian friends can explain this...

Meanwhile, our Polish friend, Tomasz, has travelled through the snow from Krakow to deliver 250 - 300 heavy duty blankets to our bookshop contact in Lviv. She has informed us that these blankets will be going to the soldiers at the front in Bakhmut tomorrow. And this is all the result of us going through the front door of a school in Lviv to enquire about English books!

The new leaves on the trees are covered in snow for now, but not for long.

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