Ukraine

My very first night set the tone. Air raid sirens at 2 a.m., and all the foreigners slowly worked their way down to the bunker, if you really call it that. I went down to the hostel reception and asked the guy at the desk if he was coming. In a thick Ukrainian accent he looked at me and said: "If you scared, you go to bunker. If you not scared, you go to sleep. I'm staying here working." By the third air raid I put in my earplugs, lay back on my top floor bunk, stared up through the skylights above me, and meditated myself to sleep.