This last weekend, I had the pleasure of being invited to three different students' houses for a meal and to meet their families. I've been to a handful of homes by now, and I'm really learning not to take ANY nuances for granted when it comes to these homes. There ARE several rules that remain steady, however, and here they are:
1. EAT. Kooshite means "eat" in the imperative form of Russian, and it's the word most often repeated by Ukrainian mamas and babushkas and even papas. Just obey, and all will be well. While Americans will hold their stomachs and lean back a little to show how full they are, Ukrainians are a little different. They gesture their fullness by indicating a level on their esophagus, kind of like a thermometer. I had to learn this one the hard way, when I was trying to insist that I was VERY full with the American non-verbal, which was completely lost in translation and I was fed another plate of food.
2. Wear the slippers. Every time I walk into a house, no matter how thick my socks, I'm always offered a family member's slippers. Since I have a feet thing and these slippers generally looked well-worn, I'd refuse, but then my hosts never seemed content with my comfort level. Now I look forward to my borrowed tapechkee, as it really is a bit warmer for my feet!
3. Bring something. Cookies, chocolates, candies, it's all good. I haven't been able to figure out WHEN exactly I am to present these gifts, however. Some visits have been for full-on meals, but I don't know this until we are well under-way with the chatting. Other visits have been for tea and butterbrot (open sandwiches) and my gift seemed ill-timed/sized/tasted. I just let it get chalked up to me being the ignorant American.
4. Be prepared for questions. Being asked about what I think of Ukrainian government (a subject best left alone), food, people and the weather is common. I love talking about the food for the absolute shock I can generate when I tell them that we don't have certain dishes in the States. My favorite of these such moments is in discussion of their homemade juice called compote. They make it by stuffing a bunch of fruit into a jar, adding hot water and sugar, and then sealing the jar. They drink it all winter, then make more each summer. Almost every family makes compote, and it's different every time and always tasty. In every home, I have caused my hosts' jaws to drop in amazement when I say we don't have compote where I'm from. "How can you not have compote?" they ask. "Don't you have fruit?" :)
There will be more. Enjoy these for now!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Not nearly as cute as Fifel
Mice. Gross, sneaking, eating-through-my-bag-of-flour, vile, despicable rodents. In my kitchen. I first saw their poop maybe two weeks ago, cleaned it up, and resolved to keep my bread-like foodstuffs locked tightly away. Unfortunately, I kept getting poop on my counter and so finally, I decided to take action. I bought mousetraps in my bazar, set the bait and retreated to my room.
Only minutes later, I heard noises. I knew the raid was going down, and I waited, getting just a bit tense and uneasy. Finally, the noises ceased and I ventured out. The crackers were gone and the traps still set. Sneaky little buggers! And worse of all, I didn't wait quite long enough...I heard one scurrying away! EW. I threw my slipper at the wall to make sure he wouldn't try to just ask for the next cracker face-to-nasty little nose, and re-set the trap, this time using a raisin to really wedge the cracker in this little prong thingy. I then retreated.
It was late-ish and I had one lesson plan to finish. Half-way through it, SNAP! That's when I started to freak out a bit. Then a few minutes later, SNAP! That's when I REALLY started to freak out. My stomach was churning, I was shaking, and I felt like I was going to cry. All this from some mice! I went out and checked, and sure enough, there were two bodies and four bulging eyes for me to gaze upon. EW EW EW. Both crackers were still there, even! I have NO idea why these little things bothered me so much, but I was not in good shape. I still had to brush my teeth, a process that has to be done in the kitchen, and so I put on my boots. Then I tried to sleep, but only had the SNAP! SNAP! running through my head.
The next morning, I donned the latex gloves that came in our med kits and I very nearly threw out in efforts to conserve space only a few months ago and, touching the traps as little as possible, managed to shake the little rigor-mortised bodies off the wire. EW. I didn't want to risk a bad toss (in my imagination, it would be a flinging half-toss that would result in the nasty thing landing on my head) over my wall, so I dropped them into the garden bed thinking the cats that loiter in my yard every day would be grateful for the snack. Instead, when I came home, my dog had chewed on the heads of these poor things and left them in the middle of my driveway. EWWW. Thinking avoidance the best solution, I stepped over them and went on with my life, still hoping for a visit from the cats.
Instead, I got a visit from one of the teachers at my school, who called at 7:30 am (on a Saturday!) announcing that she would arrive at 8. Frantically, I was washing my dishes and tidying my kitchen when I remembered the foul things she'd see when she walked in my gate, and on went the boots. I ended up using a stick to kind of balance each body enough to chuck it over my wall. Of course, my dog's interest was regained, and he decided he wanted to chew on them again. This was mildly disturbing and definitely created some problems with the precarious stick-balancing. EW EW EW. Finally, though, both bodies sailed over my wall, which happens to run along a major street. Oops.
Only minutes later, I heard noises. I knew the raid was going down, and I waited, getting just a bit tense and uneasy. Finally, the noises ceased and I ventured out. The crackers were gone and the traps still set. Sneaky little buggers! And worse of all, I didn't wait quite long enough...I heard one scurrying away! EW. I threw my slipper at the wall to make sure he wouldn't try to just ask for the next cracker face-to-nasty little nose, and re-set the trap, this time using a raisin to really wedge the cracker in this little prong thingy. I then retreated.
It was late-ish and I had one lesson plan to finish. Half-way through it, SNAP! That's when I started to freak out a bit. Then a few minutes later, SNAP! That's when I REALLY started to freak out. My stomach was churning, I was shaking, and I felt like I was going to cry. All this from some mice! I went out and checked, and sure enough, there were two bodies and four bulging eyes for me to gaze upon. EW EW EW. Both crackers were still there, even! I have NO idea why these little things bothered me so much, but I was not in good shape. I still had to brush my teeth, a process that has to be done in the kitchen, and so I put on my boots. Then I tried to sleep, but only had the SNAP! SNAP! running through my head.
The next morning, I donned the latex gloves that came in our med kits and I very nearly threw out in efforts to conserve space only a few months ago and, touching the traps as little as possible, managed to shake the little rigor-mortised bodies off the wire. EW. I didn't want to risk a bad toss (in my imagination, it would be a flinging half-toss that would result in the nasty thing landing on my head) over my wall, so I dropped them into the garden bed thinking the cats that loiter in my yard every day would be grateful for the snack. Instead, when I came home, my dog had chewed on the heads of these poor things and left them in the middle of my driveway. EWWW. Thinking avoidance the best solution, I stepped over them and went on with my life, still hoping for a visit from the cats.
Instead, I got a visit from one of the teachers at my school, who called at 7:30 am (on a Saturday!) announcing that she would arrive at 8. Frantically, I was washing my dishes and tidying my kitchen when I remembered the foul things she'd see when she walked in my gate, and on went the boots. I ended up using a stick to kind of balance each body enough to chuck it over my wall. Of course, my dog's interest was regained, and he decided he wanted to chew on them again. This was mildly disturbing and definitely created some problems with the precarious stick-balancing. EW EW EW. Finally, though, both bodies sailed over my wall, which happens to run along a major street. Oops.
Monday, February 16, 2009
I'm an auntie again!
My counterpart's birthday was last week, and in typical Ukrainian fashion, there was a dinner party. When I arrived at the house, there were several new faces for me, including an adorable 2-year-old one. And that's when it happened: to this spunky little girl I was introduced as "Teota Sarah," or Aunt Sarah! I have so many awesome nieces and nephews in the States and have absolutely treasured being Auntie Sarah to them (or Sister, but that's really just a difference of dogmatics...). Being someone's auntie here has deepened my sense of belonging in this community and my counterpart's family. And I see so many awesome pictures of my States-side short ones! I'm really getting the best of both worlds, and I love it!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Hearts
Guess who's really excited for no discernible reason for Valentine's Day AGAIN? Me! I know that being single and all, I'm supposed to hate this holiday, but it always fills me with such anticipation and joy at the prospect, though nothing "romantic" happens. I should start to feel a little rejected by Cupid by now, but I think I just so treasure the concept of a love-day, that I can't feel myself the jilted, un-requited lover left bitter and single. This is pretty much the only area where I don't whine, "what about me?" and that's a happy fact!
I hope that you all enjoy this day of love, no matter its outcome or expectations. It's a beautiful life with many beautiful people, and there is so much room for love that why wouldn't we? So love boldly, unabashedly, and forget what's not given to you this day, because you have love to give.
I hope that you all enjoy this day of love, no matter its outcome or expectations. It's a beautiful life with many beautiful people, and there is so much room for love that why wouldn't we? So love boldly, unabashedly, and forget what's not given to you this day, because you have love to give.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
I'm too excited not to share this with the world and you are all still sleeping.
DREW'S COMING TO VISIT! He found a super cheap ticket online and will be here in 3 weeks! I am SO thrilled I can hardly sit still. I'll show him around my town, we'll go to Odessa for a few days and also Kiev for the weekend. It works out perfectly, too, that I'm going to Kiev the weekend he arrives, so we can take the train back together and he doesn't have to brave mass transit in Russian/Ukrainian alone the first time he's here. YAY! The kids are going to be SO excited to meet him, too. Ukrainians really value family, and so it will mean a lot to them, too, that he's come all this way to see me. Plus, they love American culture, and will love seeing one more aspect of it! What an awesome brother!
Here's a pic from the last time we were in another country together: this was taken when I visited him in Guatemala two years ago. We'll definitely have a different background/climate from pictures of this trip!
Here's a pic from the last time we were in another country together: this was taken when I visited him in Guatemala two years ago. We'll definitely have a different background/climate from pictures of this trip!
Monday, February 9, 2009
I drink rainwater
Since Wednesday, I haven't had water. The mechanical pump that I turn on to fill the cistern in my kitchen which then feeds my faucet broke, and once my reserves ran out (it's always good to keep some buckets around...nothing is guaranteed here!), I was gettin to be a very thirsty (and dirty!) girl. Today, one of the awesome maintenance guys at my school came over to take a look and unscrew stuff.
In the process, he went outside to see what I was talking about when I said I had "gorodovskaya voda", or city water. He looked and looked for this supposed hook-up (as had I when my last bucket was nearing its bottom) and finally looked at me and laughed, and asked me just how far away Los Angeles is. Turns out, I actually use rainwater that drips from my roof to some sort of underground cistern network. Equally confusing is that somehow my pump is connected to one of them and I drink rainwater. This definitely explains the slight brown tint and occasional foliage floaty...
In the process, he went outside to see what I was talking about when I said I had "gorodovskaya voda", or city water. He looked and looked for this supposed hook-up (as had I when my last bucket was nearing its bottom) and finally looked at me and laughed, and asked me just how far away Los Angeles is. Turns out, I actually use rainwater that drips from my roof to some sort of underground cistern network. Equally confusing is that somehow my pump is connected to one of them and I drink rainwater. This definitely explains the slight brown tint and occasional foliage floaty...
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Pics!
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