їсти…їсти (Eat…Eat)

I have a food dilemma..or, should I say a food obsession. Our host mothers had been cooking all our dinners and we had been cooking our own breakfast and lunches for the last nine months. These meals were very simple and consisted of Kasha (oatmeal) or an egg for breakfast and soup for lunch, I had no problem cooking these meals.

I had been very excited to move out on our own because I knew I would get to do my own meal planning and cooking, something I had looked forward to. Well….my excitement has turned into me “loosing my mind” in the last two months!

Problem #1: I realized Americans like BIG – There are no big box stores in Yaremche, no Sam’s Club, Costco, Walmart and Targets. Just tiny little specialty stores with hardly any room to move, personal space does not exist here. And..usually each store sells something different so you have to know where to find what you need. For example, I have to go to a store to buy my meat then another one for my dry goods and sometimes they have a small selection of dairy products. Of course you can’t forget the days I go to the Bazaar for my produce and the bread stand that sells the best bread. Yaremche does have a little supermarket in town. However, I don’t care for it because it is normally busy with tourists, long lines and they sell all their home goods, liquids and chips on the 2nd floor. I find this a hassle and I just remind myself I am getting amazing products from these small specialty stores.

Besides, the ladies in each market are getting to know me. This is good, because they keep the products behind the counter or in a small refrigerator case so you have to know how to ask them for exactly what you want, there are times they don’t have something in stock and I have to pick something else. They are nice enough to deal with my poor language skills and ultimately my pointing at what I would like. I think I amuse them and they are probably thinking “crazy American” as I leave!

Problem #2: Everything is SMALL – You will find no “gallons” of milk, giant bags of chips, big blocks of cheese or bags of produce and bread here for two reasons. Majority of the people here walk and do not own cars. People cannot load up there vehicle with groceries to stock up. Or, they are like me…not only do they have to walk home, they have to climb 5 flights of stairs to get to their home! So, sometimes I’m very happy for the small bags of flour and salt. I feel the second reason is the most important, they don’t have preservatives in the food. You couldn’t buy your milk, produce or bread in bulk even if you wanted to, it will spoil within just a few days..you have to eat everything quickly.

I have included some photos for you to get an idea. It seems like as soon as I “stock up” on something like pasta and rice, I turn around to find out I am out of pepper!

John is usually just sitting down to eat his dinner when I am moving on to ask him what he would like for his next meal, he begs me to please just let him eat! I find the products only last us up to 2 meals and if your having meat you have to take into consideration “thaw time” because we do not have a microwave, this makes me think and strategically plan our dinners all the time.

And, on hot days I have to think about my milk and meat not getting to warm on my 1/2 hour walk home, there is a store by our apartment building but they only sell milk in bags..yes, bags. I personally don’t mind my milk from a bag but John cannot seem to wrap his mind around this and prefers the cartons.

I was talking with my sister who had lived in New York for a year. I was telling her my dilemma and told her I imagined it was the same for her in NY. She replied “no, she couldn’t understand because she had her food from the grocery store delivered” I don’t think they offer food delivery in Yaremche! However, while talking with my counterpart Maryana, she seemed to think they offer something like this in Kiev.

Then my panic grew worse.. all the ladies at my work started to prepare for winter by canning all the delicious food from their gardens, I started to wonder if I shouldn’t stock up my pantry with as much as I could, then Maryana put me at ease a bit by telling me that in the fall a truck comes by with cabbage, potatoes, onions and carrots for the apartment residents. They use their balconies as  “cold storage” this made me feel a little better!

While it may sound like I am complaining I really am not, this is just part of the “cultural” experience that I think it is important to share with people. I love experiencing and learning how other people live and it always reminds me of how I took for granted the many luxuries I had that made my life easier. It also makes me have more respect for woman with large families. The struggle is real my friends, and I don’t know how they do it!

All I know is that I have to stop at several stores every few days to find everything I need. Oh..well, ultimately I am a better person for this.

 

This page reflects my own thoughts and opinions and in no way reflects the Peace Corps or the United States government as a whole.

An adventure in our own back yard!

John and I thought we would hop a marshrutka last weekend to visit a neighboring village just to have an adventure, but then we had remembered being told that there was a spring behind our apartment building where you can get fresh water, we decided to go find it and have an adventure in our own back yard!

As we set out searching for it we ran into a lovely older couple who spoke no English but were carrying jugs , we communicated that we were trying to find the spring. We walked the rail road tracks with them right to it, while the husband filled their jugs with water, his wife was kind enough to take me up the hill to show me where to pick  blackberries in the forest.

 

After they left we ventured more into the forest and found others picking berries, probably to sell in the bazaar or take home for their families. John also climbed a tree to pick prune plums for us to eat right on the spot. For years John has told me stories of his childhood and how he would climb trees and eat fresh fruit along with berries from his grandmothers yard in California. I think the day brought back childhood memories for him.

We saw scary spider and critters in with the berries…

We then chose to walk to the other side of town to look at the Prut river and observed many people basking in the sun. Suddenly out of nowhere a couple of goats that chose to enjoy the sunny weekend with us. As we were walking home we noticed some baby chicks too!

Just goes to show, you never know what you can find in your own back yard…

 

This page reflects my own thoughts and opinions and in no way reflects the Peace Corps as a whole.

Casa Capelli

John and I love house guests. So much so, I sometimes think we should get into the tourism department when we return to the U.S. and own a guest house just so we can meet new people! We have had a few volunteers stay with us since we moved into our apartment, but we recently had 3 people who wanted to come and spend a few days hiking.

I love watching the “old soviet” trains go by behind our house every day but this time it was different to see it passing outside our window knowing it was carrying 3 friends. I did however wonder how we all would fit into our tiny apartment.

I am happy to report we all did just fine, thanks to the fact John and I brought our camping mattresses and sleeping bags, we all were able to fit comfortably. We also had enough room to have a big spaghetti dinner and play games.

I admired everyone who awoke early every morning to hike Mt. Hoverla and Mt. Homiak, I chose to opt-out this time beings I had already  hiked these two mountains and had other things to do, or should I just say I am getting “plum tuckered out” on hiking. But they had a fantastic time and were a little disappointed they did not have more time to do additional hiking.

As for me I was busy going with our team to evaluate everything we need to do for our “Save Huk Waterfall” project. I am happy to announce the project is officially underway, our grant has been approved and we now have the funds to start work.

I have also been baking, falling in love with animals, doing many fun activities along with enjoying every moment of summer and all it has to offer before it comes to an end.

And John? He has started a photography workshop this summer that people love and when he’s not hiking he’s trying to remember not to leave for work with his “house slippers” on!

 

This page reflects my own thoughts and opinions and in no way reflects the views or opinions of the U.S. Peace Corps.