Food

I have been very fortunate when it comes to food because my host family tends to eat a lot of fruits, vegetables and that sort of thing. Almost everything is made from scratch, which makes it all very healthy and yummy. For breakfast I usually have a bowl of oatmeal. For lunch there is usually some form of bread with deli meat, cheese, tomatoes, green onions, etc. For supper we usually have something like a nice vegetable soup, deli meat, and of course, perogies!! I have never had such delicious perogies as these ones! Yum!

There is also always a basket of cookies, a jar of honey, and always, ALWAYS, ‘chai’ or tea. The best part, however, are the many different types of jams! They make them here with the very fruits of the garden! Orest told me that when the time comes for harvesting, I can help them pick the fruits and vegetables and they will teach me how to make this delicious jam :D I just have to be careful and moderate, hahaha, otherwise I would stuff my face with bread and jam! Hahahahahahahaha. But I won’t let that happen :P

We do not drink the water out of the tap, but instead we filter it and/or boil it. Then, it is put into a jar which has a few special stones and a silver spoon in it! It is supposed to clean out any left over impurities. The interesting thing is that the water actually tastes pretty good! Better than bottled water, in fact. To wash dishes we also boil water, which we pour on them when they are soapy.

When BahBah turns the stove on she makes me a little nervous, since she opens the gas knob, lets it run, and then lights a match which she throws into the element, hand and all! There is always what appears to me like a big flash of fire, hahaha, but she seems to know what she is doing and it doesn’t scare her. She also refuses to use the electric kettle, and she always boils her water on the stove, especially if it is for tea.

She is also picky when it comes to doing dishes. And by that I mean, she always wants to do it herself. I think it is a hospitality issue. Yesterday I had something to eat and there was nobody else in the kitchen, so I proceeded to wash my dishes. Then, I saw that there was a pan sitting there with some oil, and since I was already washing my dishes I figured it would be just as easy to wash the pan also. Well, BahBah came in and she seemed visibly distressed. She carefully took the dishes off my soapy hands, and proceeded to continue washing them herself while mumbling in Ukrainian. I got a little worried. I hope she wasn’t offended. Maybe she thought that I thought they didn’t clean the dishes so I would do it myself. Of course that was not it at all! Today I will make sure to tell Orest when he comes back to tell his grandma I’m sorry and that I hope she did not get offended. Yikes! Hahaha. It’s all good though. I’m sure it will be fine.