Good Friday in Ukraine

Last night was Good friday for us and I was invited at the last minute to go to a traditional Ukrainian Cuisine restaurant with Britt the Peace Corp volunteer who has been here in Artemivsk for the last 2 years. She and I had only met once before (the first week I got here) and hadn't been able to meet up since because she travels a lot for her Peace Corp project. Anyway she invited me to dinner with some friends and it was the craziest collection of people...Britt from the States who speaks fluent Russian, Vlad from Ukraine (Artemivsk) who speaks fairly fluent English, Ana and her mother Mary from Ireland (Ana is part of the European Volunteer Service and has been here 6 months but will leave next week) who also speak English fluently (but with an awesome Irish accent), and finally Yulia from Artemivsk who also speaks fluent English. We stayed so long and ate so much that we closed the place....literally all the staff members were hovering around our table sort of just waiting for us to ask for the check and then when we left the restaurant and Britt tried to quickly run back in to use the restroom they had already locked up behind us! Ha! Probably all anxious to get home for Easter festivities.

I had the most interesting conversations at this table with people from three different countries...we talked about Easter traditions and shared in an Irish tradition by sharing a large hollow chocolate egg that Ana's mother had brought for her for the holiday....you should have seen the faces around the table as Britt and I described the "easter egg hunt" talking about plastic eggs and giant rabbits with baskets....it was priceless! Ana also had a box of Cadbury cream eggs which she shared with the table (even gave one to our pre-teen waiter whose sour face indicated that he was in need of a sugar rush from some friendly foreigners). Britt and I ordered a traditional Ukrainian dish called verianki...they are basically giant dumplings that are steamed (so they are super fluffy) and stuffed with mashed potatoes and bits of bacon meat). This was my frist time trying them and I am officially hooked now. Britt and I were so in love with our verianki that we actually asked for doggie bags...something our Ukrainian friends Vlad and Yulia said "is just not done!" However our cadbury cream egg must have done the trick to sweeten up our sullen teenager of a waiter because after dissapearing to who knows where he came back with two tiny plastic carryout dishes and Britt and I rejoiced in a way that firmly identified us as American foreigners :) As I type now I am looking forward to enjoying my leftover pockets of potatoey goodness when I go home for lunch!
Other topics we spoek about included the recent suicide bombers in the Moscow metro (which then led to a discussion about racism and stereotyping about Muslim people...which then led to a discussion about racism and prejudice about African Americans...). Mary and I had a side conversation about the differences in choosing a college in the US vs. Ireland. They do it on a lottery system...everyone takes the same exams and fills out the same application and then you rank your top three choices. You are placed in a University based on a points system that fluctuates by demand for that University your particular year. She explained how they pay for college and was shocked when I shared how much my private US university cost even with grants and scholarships.
We talked about business practices in Ukraine (and the lack of honesty surrounding them) and all the holidays they have here (I have already had 3 long weekends here because of holiday celebrations...many of which are religious and yet everyone takes a day off work no matter if they are religious). The Ukrainians at the table explained that they thought it was because when Ukraine was part of the Russian empire people weren't allowed to celebrate Ukrainian holidays (especially religious ones) and so now that they are independent they celebrate them as grandly as they can. There is also some undertone of fear that maybe someday they will be controlled again and so they better celebrate now while they can and create some long lasting memories. It is a collective understanding that I imagine rivals the feeling Americans had on Independence Day in 2002.

It was a really fun evening and now I have more people here that speak english to be friends with! Britt will leave in just 6 more weeks and then a new volunteer will come...hopefully someone nice...it is a shame she is leaving so soon but after being here almost 2 years I am sure she is anxious to get home.

Today I am going to try and make an easter dessert for my friends here (something my mom always used to make-rice crispy birds nests) you should check my blog in the next few days to see pictures of the baking extravaganza....also yesterday I cut open a coconut all by myself....who would have thought the first time I would cut open a coconut it would be winter in eastern europe!