I talked to my dad for half an hour. I just spent $20.

“Your call has ended.”

Earlier this week, a relative called an old friend in Kiev. He has a medical condition that requires prescriptions imported to Ukraine from the U.S. They discuss their health, the foreign pills, and insurance costs for about an hour. Then he grows quiet.

“I think they’ll put me on a list if I stay on the phone with an American number for over an hour. Do you think America will put you on a list for talking to me too?” They hang up, and he doesn't answer her calls for a while.

If you do manage to connect one of your very expensive international calls, somebody else knows about it. And that somebody is paying attention. There is a way around the caller ID kiss of death. It isn't easy, or obvious, but so far, it’s been getting my family’s calls answered.

KeKu.com has cornered the market on the "Call from Computer" feature offered by many phone services. The caller in America can register a Ukrainian number, have it verified as active by the person they are calling to, and then they can use that Ukrainian number as their caller ID, as long as they willing to call from computer. Spoofing the number takes time, you’ve still spent at least $20, and you could ace the pre-reqs for a telecommunications degree, but you got to check in on a sick friend to make sure he's getting his medicine.

“Insufficient Funds”

Protesters hold mirrors up to police to show them "what they've

become." REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

My auntie is retired. She collects a pension once a month and has to go to the bank to do so. That means she’s been walking most places to avoid the rerouted subway and bus lines.

If Kiev were New York City, and the protests were in Times Square, she would live on East 70th Street, and her bank would be in Columbus Circle. Public transportation is currently avoiding the protest area completely.

At her bank, a large chain comparable to New York’s HSBC, bank members have priority lines. Non-members have longer, slower lines. When she arrives, it's a madhouse. The lines are jumbled, and they can't help her collect her pension today. An employee attempting to control the herd of people claims it’s due to the crowds.

She calls me and asks if I can set up a bank account for her in the States that her pension can go into automatically. She likes the idea of Bank of America, or maybe just the idea of banking in America. She's worried her bank didn't have the cash on hand to give out pensions. It's hard for me to explain to her that in America, it is impossible (and actually illegal) to set up a bank account in someone else's name.

To help my aunt collect her pension (and pay her bills, buy her groceries) I would have to commit identity theft. My mom offers to send a Western Union transfer, but my aunt refuses. She's going to try another bank.