Smachno!
Which is Ukrainian for tasty.
Everything is tasty. The borscht, the cabbage rolls, the potatoe pancakes, the assortive desserts and soups. I have yet to have something that I did not like. My favorites included some soup had at babushka's place, the potato pancakes and this rice salad made from canned peppers, carrots, onions and rice. It was incredibly good.
What I did not enjoy, although it wasn't bad tasting, was the clear jello like substance that was boiled salty meat. I just didn't like the texture of it. I mean, what would you do with clear gelatin meat? Do I spread it on bread? Put it in my soup? What the heck?
Unfortunately, as anyone who has either travelled with me or spent significant amounts of time with me knows, I have a stomach problem. I tend to get sick easily and from no rhyme or reason with the food. This has continued in Ukraine but has only intensified because of my stress level (try learning a new language and being responsible for teaching a subject that you don't really know anything about) coming to a point where I at times barely eat anything. I explained to my host mother originally that I have a bad stomach and I have to be careful about what I eat. What this somehow translated into was "I want to lose weight and be really really skinny." Because the message is the same, I figured, whatever, if they want to think that, that's fine. However, my eating habits (or lack thereof) has become such a topic of conversation that another PCT has told me that her mother now asks what the hell is wrong with me. Great! She likewise told her host mother (who is younger than her) that I have a heard time digesting things. The topic turned into, well, is it milk products? No. Well, I just don't understand? So she told her that I have a heard time breaking down carbohydrates, and considering that everything here in Ukraine is a carbohydrate, that worked. I have not really gotten any other questions from my family, they just ask me what I ate when I was away from the house and push me to eat more of the tasty food, which I gratefully would if I lived in my own flat and could have the luxury of using my own bathroom.
Also, speaking of such things, I am super grateful that I have a toilet indoors unlike the older couple in my group and our link group a ways away that we have group trainings with one a week. When we travel to that town, which as far as I have seen consists of a big lake and a bunch of dusty roads and old people, we have to get dressed up and walk out back behind the house, the well, and the garden to get to the outhouse and do our business. That's a freaking joy, let me tell you! So far the weather has actually been really nice, so it's hasn't been so bad, but when the snow comes.... Oi!
In my house, and in most of the houses here in Ukraine, you can not flush anything that does not come out of your body down the toilet either, so ponder that thought for a moment. This is not uncommon in most of the world, but there are certainly times when I wish that this was otherwise.
Bucket baths continue to be the norm as well, although I have gotten quite lazy about it, pushing for three days before bothering with one. They keep us so super busy that I just want the extra forty minutes to sleep in rather than get up, put some water in the pot and then wait for it to get hot. But those are really the only inconveniences, and they are both relatively small.
Everything is tasty. The borscht, the cabbage rolls, the potatoe pancakes, the assortive desserts and soups. I have yet to have something that I did not like. My favorites included some soup had at babushka's place, the potato pancakes and this rice salad made from canned peppers, carrots, onions and rice. It was incredibly good.
What I did not enjoy, although it wasn't bad tasting, was the clear jello like substance that was boiled salty meat. I just didn't like the texture of it. I mean, what would you do with clear gelatin meat? Do I spread it on bread? Put it in my soup? What the heck?
Unfortunately, as anyone who has either travelled with me or spent significant amounts of time with me knows, I have a stomach problem. I tend to get sick easily and from no rhyme or reason with the food. This has continued in Ukraine but has only intensified because of my stress level (try learning a new language and being responsible for teaching a subject that you don't really know anything about) coming to a point where I at times barely eat anything. I explained to my host mother originally that I have a bad stomach and I have to be careful about what I eat. What this somehow translated into was "I want to lose weight and be really really skinny." Because the message is the same, I figured, whatever, if they want to think that, that's fine. However, my eating habits (or lack thereof) has become such a topic of conversation that another PCT has told me that her mother now asks what the hell is wrong with me. Great! She likewise told her host mother (who is younger than her) that I have a heard time digesting things. The topic turned into, well, is it milk products? No. Well, I just don't understand? So she told her that I have a heard time breaking down carbohydrates, and considering that everything here in Ukraine is a carbohydrate, that worked. I have not really gotten any other questions from my family, they just ask me what I ate when I was away from the house and push me to eat more of the tasty food, which I gratefully would if I lived in my own flat and could have the luxury of using my own bathroom.
Also, speaking of such things, I am super grateful that I have a toilet indoors unlike the older couple in my group and our link group a ways away that we have group trainings with one a week. When we travel to that town, which as far as I have seen consists of a big lake and a bunch of dusty roads and old people, we have to get dressed up and walk out back behind the house, the well, and the garden to get to the outhouse and do our business. That's a freaking joy, let me tell you! So far the weather has actually been really nice, so it's hasn't been so bad, but when the snow comes.... Oi!
In my house, and in most of the houses here in Ukraine, you can not flush anything that does not come out of your body down the toilet either, so ponder that thought for a moment. This is not uncommon in most of the world, but there are certainly times when I wish that this was otherwise.
Bucket baths continue to be the norm as well, although I have gotten quite lazy about it, pushing for three days before bothering with one. They keep us so super busy that I just want the extra forty minutes to sleep in rather than get up, put some water in the pot and then wait for it to get hot. But those are really the only inconveniences, and they are both relatively small.
posted by Molly | 10:30 AM
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