Adventures in Ukraine

I know that it has been hot here…all you have to do is just be out in it for a few minutes and you KNOW that it is too hot. But today Jane saw on one of the buildings a temperature. She said “Look, Jackie, it is 47! to which Rita replied “that is100 degrees F, I think.”

Welllll…I just happened to have a handy dandy little conversion chart that I wrote on my address book. It seems that 47 C = 116.6 F (if you believe the Internet chart, of course)! Wow…I knew it was hot, but this is ridiculous! Since there is no a/c in our flat, we try to stay in the mall or at someone else’s place who DOES have a/c. So far it has worked and I haven’t completely died of heat exhaustion!! I think there is supposed to be a wintery chill of 41 C on Sunday (105.8 F)…I may have to get out my long sleeved shirt at this rate!

What do I have to complain about, really? I am sitting in my flat with a wet towel around my neck and the fan blowing right on me? I have a place to live…food to eat…clean water to drink…friends here who love me…a huge family at home who are praying for me…thank you God for all that you provide, before I even know that I need it, you are providing it! I am learning a lesson from Paul…be content in all situations…and when I have it bad I go back and read about TRUE trials…like the ones Paul experienced in II Corinthians 11! What’s a little heat?

till later…

I was just thinking ,as I was recently being gently baked, while riding the taxi van…what is so specific with my memories of times in Ukraine. As I closed my eyes and thought about it…it came to me…the smell.

Stay with me here…this is not a criticism of Ukraine…far from it. My sensory receptors are awakened every time I come to this wonderful country. BTW…I LOVE this country!

Back to the taxi van…I try to sit as close to the open window as I can because, unlike a lot of Urainians I am not opposed to sitting in a draft. In fact, I encourage a draft to be around me at all times! As I was sitting inside this Easy-Bake Oven Van the smells of the city began to hit me. The smell of different people in different stages of being “deoderized” while being sardined into an 18 passenger vank, from the very tired and sweaty c. The heat of the asphalt reaching up to grab my attention…the smell of dirt in the air, much like a West Texas dirt road after a pick-up truck has roared down it…intermittant smells of decaying garbage like the sweet and sour mix of smell in a Chinese restaurant…the choking brown haze from the diesel trucks as they pass by with the tailpipe at about window high on the van…the almost cool breeze with the faintest teaser off of the Dneper River, where you can almost smell water…the mixed bag of cooking breezes coming from first story flats and all of the little kiosks with sausages, pancakes (not Americn pancakes but more like a burrito), and kvass (a “non-alcoholic” [very MUCH alcohlic] drink sold on the street (by the cup) by street vendors…

The smell from the first time, as I arrive and take a taxi to the city, to the very last day and a ride back to the airport in a taxi…remind me that I am home! If only for a few weeks!

What could be bad about my two favorite foods in the world. Chocolate and corn! The chocolate was the syrup variety, which would not be my chocolate of choice (think Ghiradelli or Hershey Kisses), but it will suffice! And the corn is just plain old whole kernal corn, the frozen variety I am sure.

Imagine my surprise to see a “Corn Stand” at Daffy (the mall). I looked at it again. I asked Jane, “What is that?”. She looked at me as if I had lost my mind. Her answer, in typical Ukrainian bluntness, “It is corn, of course.” As if I had suddenly lost my mind and could not recognize corn, for Pete’s sake!

“Why is there a booth selling corn (by the cup) here at Daffy?” Of course she didn’t really know why except that Ukrainians love corn. Well…I do too! So those of you who know me understand that of course I was going to investigate a booth selling my favorite carbohydrate!

When I went up to the booth and began to talk to the lady working there I began an new adventure in corn. Did you know that some people like hot whole kernal corn with carmel on top? Or chocolate?  Or cheese? Or maybe just plain old butter and salt and pepper? Wow! A whole new universe of taste sensations has been opened up to me!

I being the chocolate lover that I am, decided that it would have to be chocolate as my first taste test. I have to tell you, when she poured chocolate syrup over corn and stirred it up…I wasn’t that excited about it! It made the corn look like mud, and all of the sudden, I wasn’t so sure about the whole adventure! BUT…someone had to cross the Rockies first…it might as well be ME!

Jane, my interpreter, was watching my face closely to see if I would spit it out or swallow! I have to admit, it was very tasty! Now, I wouldn’t want it every day…and it would not be my first carb choice…but it wasn’t half bad. I ate the whole 1/2 cup.

And now, fellow bloggers, you know the rest of the story!

till later…

Yes, Karen, I do have cucumbers and tomatoes almost everyday for breakfast. Karye’s not here so I don’t have to eat her tomatoes, but I am getting at least one tomato per day,  at some point in the eating chain. I get up and have breakfast, with tomato and cucumber, have a snack of nuts or cheese or fruit, then lunch is cheese on bread, a boiled egg, and cucumber and tomato. Dinner usually is some kind of whole grain, a piece of salmon or chicken, a piece of fruit and…you guessed it…a tomato and a cucumber.

All I can say is that I am blessed by the good food. Two of my favorite foods are…you guessed it again…tomatoes and cucumbers! They are fresh, some so fresh from the garden you can smell the tomato smell! Nothing like it!!

For breakfast it is a different story. At home I am really boring with my breakfast choices: cold cereal, oatmeal, scrambled egg, malt-o-meal…you get it…very BORING! Here the one thing that you can not call it is boring. Everyday is a new adventure. Jane is the best hostess and she really tries to please me with different food choices.

Some mornings I will have Kasha (real kasha not the stuff in the instant box or the cold cereal box) with big pieces of fruit in it (with the above mentioned t & c), green tea w/honey, a piece of fruit, water or juice. Some mornings I will have buckwheat w/pan grilled chicken, t & c, bread, fruit and tea, other mornings have been salmon with the before mentioned items, or chicken w/assorted other whole grains. I have also had “dumplings” with meat inside as the main dish…very tasty indeed

Not the usual McBreakfast at home, but I am really enjoying the different kinds of things, and I am NOT having to cook it myself, so that is a HUGE blessing to me!

On the last night in town for Steve, we were all in the taxi van together. I don’t remember what started it, but he had a whole conversation with one of the riders who spoke English. As the van stopped, each person who got on he introduced himself to. Then he made sure that he knew all of the names of each of  the riders. He really had the whole van going. I wish you could have seen the eyes of the people. They were either thinking…”who are these crazy people”, or “when can I get off this crazy van”.

It was definately not something they had experienced before, or are likely to experience again. We laughed and had a great time. He even paid for the guys ride, I think it was a misunderstanding, but regardless, the guy got a free ride, and that van will never be the same…

till later…

I must describe a typical meal at a restaurant. At least in my experience…in the States (I know, I know, we’re spoiled) all the people at the table get served their meals within minutes of each other (usually). The glasses are refilled for free, and you automatically get ice.

Now, for a change of pace, is the Ukrainian way. After ordering, and in my case it is much worse because you must first translate what I am trying to order, so the ordering takes a long time to begin with. The drinks are usually brought out pretty quick, the ice you may have to ask for more than once. It is not on the typical order, and they may not believe that you really want ice! But once they are aware that  the people ordering are American and love ice, you can usually get as much as you want…well…maybe not as much as I want, but more than the usual amount.

The orders may start coming as fast as 15 minutes, but each place is different. Sometimes the salads come before the meal sometime not. Once we ordered rice to go with the meat selection, it came when we were almost finished with the meat. But…it was very good, so it was worth the wait. We also ordered fried potatoes as a side dish and some meat dishes, the meat dishes all came and then almost 20 minutes later, the potatoes came to the table. No real rhyme or reason that I can see. They will tell you that a certain dish may take 45 minutes to prepare, so I always try to order something else when that happens. The food is almost always good, but it is not timely, and the service (just like in the States) is hit and miss.

We have had some very good servers this year, and they are always trying to smile and make the order to our liking. It is always a pleasure to go and see what is on the menu. And I think that lamb is one of my new favorite things to eat. If it is lamb, I really like the flavor of the meat dish that I have eaten, and would like to have it again!

till later…

Another trip to the airport produced all five of the bags that had been lost. It was so nice that all of them made it, not in pieces, but whole and with nothing missing! We did have to go thru customs when we arrived. The customs lady was VERY serious and asked questions about some of the stuff. I went thru first, then Greg, Steve and Kathy were at the tail end.

When the doors opened, we got the “greeting” that we missed expected on the first time thru. Of course it was a little staged, since I was one of the greeters for Steve and Kathy! But, we did get our bags, and we did get greeted!

Steve treated us all to dinner after leaving the airport. We were on our way to TGIF’s, as the second choice, when we suddenly stopped at a Ukrainian place. I think it was Glen, but I’m not sure, who said (while looking out the window of the taxi van) “That place looks good, what about it?”. So we all jumped off and walked back to it. The karaoke music was very loud, and the singer was…well…he wasn’t THAT bad…so we went inside to eat. The food was very good, a little expensive, but very tasty. And to top it off, they turned the A/C on for us. What more could you ask? Tasty food, good company, and A/C that worked great!

till later…

How many Ukrainians/Americans/Etc. can you get in an 18 passenger van? Answer: as many as the van driver will stop and let on! Yesterday after leaving the church building we were on our way to Daffi to meet with Ira and Kathy. They were having coffee at Coffee Life (Americans think  Star Bucks) and just discussing things that needed to be discussed. Anyway…there were no #53 vans, Murphy’s Law, but a #29 stopped at Kirova with all the 18 seats taken. In fact there were three already standing in the aisle when we got on. (hince the addition of “American” to the list of who would get on an already full van!!) In the next 15 minutes not one person got OFF of the van, but 12 more people got on. When we arrived at Daffi, sardined in the stairwell and the aisles, some people had to get off before WE could get off. Of course there was the obligatory drunk waiting at the van stop not wanting to let anyone off just in case he couldn’t get ON. I said excuse me and he said back to me, very loudly, “EXCUSE ME…EXCUSE ME…” Of course Rita just pushed us on by, and we shook off the wrinkles and moved on to Coffee Life. Apparently van #29 is very rare on a Saturday evening, and many people needed to go where it goes. That was proved out by the seven or eight people who got on when we exited, including the drunken couple who were so polite!

till later..,

When we arrived at Larissa’s and Dima’s, they were so shocked…they called Jane for me and then put me on the phone. She said “who is this?”, when I answered it was me, she said “Where are you?” Like, where did she think I was? She had just talked to Masha…in Ukraine…and then 2 seconds later…of course I was here. She was SO shocked she was speechless. And any of you who know Jane, know that is nearly impossible!

I got home, dropped my stuff, grabbed some food, chatted with Jane, and crashed! It was nice to hit the bed, lie horizontal, and not have to go to the bathroom in a tin can in constant motion! The food was MUCH better as well!

The next morning we would start our stay off with meetings, etc. But we are here…in one piece…all to the glory of God!

till later…

After an uneventful flight to Dneper, we landed and got thru passport control and on to pick up our luggage.  And then on to pick up our luggage…we stood by that silly conveyor belt for an extra 10 minutes refusing to believe that there were NO more bags coming around for us to choose from. Like little boys standing at the fridge, just sure that dessert would appear in there if they only waited long enough.

We went to the young man nearest us, and I asked him about more luggage. He said “oh no”, and hurriedly walked away to inquire for us. Very shortly we were told to take our carry on bags thru the security and then go around to a different place to make some paper work.

I said, “Well, at least we know that when those doors open, there will be a whole lot of Ukrainian faces happy to see us…”

Did I say it couldn’t get any worse? I shouldn’t have. When the doors opened, there were a few faces, but they were not happy to see us. In fact, no one on the other side was familiar at all. It was surreal. I only think there has been one time when I wasn’t met at the airport by the party that was supposed to be there. It was dreadful then, and it was worse now. With no interpreter, and no one to help us get a taxi…it didn’t look promising. The only phone number that we had was ‘not taking calls at this time”.

I would have taken a van to the city, but they wanted a taxi. Now, where to ask them to go. After struggling for awhile with what to do, I said “just tell them Daffi, everyone knows where that is”, so finally they did. And of course they knew where that was. After grabbing something to eat at Daffi, now what to do. Again, we grabbed a taxi. I told them I knew where Larissa and Dima lived, but they told him to turn too soon, that was okay, but when we got closer to their house, they again told them to turn too soon ( I knew to turn at the light, and to turn on the second street….) but don’t ask me, I’ve only been coming here since 1997! I also could have gotten them to Janes house, but they said she might not be home (she was!!) The whole situation was a little…okay very…frustrating to me.

In the long run, it didn’t really matter. We got to Larissa’s and Dima’s house, and boy were they surprised. They were sitting there drinking tea in their underwear (after just finishing showers, etc) and the look on their faces was priceless!

They were expecting us on Saturday and had a big shibang planned for our arrival! What a difference a day makes.

And…who needs a stinking interpreter…we made it to town on our own! (btw, that last part was a joke!) We DO need interpreters and are glad to have them!

till later…