Adventures in Kiev and yogurt buying
The aprtment we are renting is on Druzhbyi Narodiv street, friendship of the people's street. I find it at once amusing and appropriate.
Flash back to the day before yesterday. I was hungry and wanted to buy some yogurt and sausage to have around the house. I needed munchy bits. So I dropped buy a little gastronom near the Druzhbyi Narodiv train station. I was absolutely embarrased at way I studdered and resorted to hand gestures while ordering. Then the lady asked me how much cheese I wanted. I had no clue... So she cut a small piece for me, which looked about enough. This was less of a language problem and more of an I don't think in grams problem.
Shit. I thought. I'm here and speaking Russian and I can't even buy yogurt! The other issue is my accent. I don't have much of one in Russian. Therefore, when I screw up, people don't assume "Oh she's a foreigner trying to learn the language." People just assume that I'm stupid.
Then, I went out with Nadya, her brother Kostya, and Kostya's wife Masha. Masha drove us all through the center of town... They showed me the Golden Gates, the church Sofia, and the square where the Orange Revolution took place. Kostya was telling me about how he and Masha were some of the first people out there, and they were constantly scared to death of getting arrested. It wasn't until a few days later when the tent city went up, that they thought maybe they had a chance at not getting locked up. But even then, there was always the fear.
I asked them all sorts of questions about the Politics of Ukraine, what they thought about the dismissal of Parliament... Where they think Ukraine is going. The politics of Ukraine right now are absolutely fascinating... Moreso than I had even expected.
I can talk about politics in Russian till the cows come home, but I can't order yogurt. Behold the story of my life.
Flash back to the day before yesterday. I was hungry and wanted to buy some yogurt and sausage to have around the house. I needed munchy bits. So I dropped buy a little gastronom near the Druzhbyi Narodiv train station. I was absolutely embarrased at way I studdered and resorted to hand gestures while ordering. Then the lady asked me how much cheese I wanted. I had no clue... So she cut a small piece for me, which looked about enough. This was less of a language problem and more of an I don't think in grams problem.
Shit. I thought. I'm here and speaking Russian and I can't even buy yogurt! The other issue is my accent. I don't have much of one in Russian. Therefore, when I screw up, people don't assume "Oh she's a foreigner trying to learn the language." People just assume that I'm stupid.
Then, I went out with Nadya, her brother Kostya, and Kostya's wife Masha. Masha drove us all through the center of town... They showed me the Golden Gates, the church Sofia, and the square where the Orange Revolution took place. Kostya was telling me about how he and Masha were some of the first people out there, and they were constantly scared to death of getting arrested. It wasn't until a few days later when the tent city went up, that they thought maybe they had a chance at not getting locked up. But even then, there was always the fear.
I asked them all sorts of questions about the Politics of Ukraine, what they thought about the dismissal of Parliament... Where they think Ukraine is going. The politics of Ukraine right now are absolutely fascinating... Moreso than I had even expected.
I can talk about politics in Russian till the cows come home, but I can't order yogurt. Behold the story of my life.