food food food fooooooooood

I'm hungry... insanely hungry. My new diet (for 2 weeks... gack) includes: boiled-in-water-no-sugar cereal grains, eggs (thank goodness), boiled veggies, boiled chicken or fish (and I decided that baked fish or chicken is good, too... I mean, let's be real here...) and hard unsweetened bread stuff- like the stuff they let babies chew on when they're teething.

Oh, and I can have salt.

wow.

So far, I've been tickled pink to eat all that stuff and feel good afterwards... last night, though, I went to bed hungry... woke up hungry... ate an egg... hungry... ate some cooked buckwheat... hungry...

toughed it out till lunch

hungreeeeeeeeeee

baked some tillapia- tiny bit of lemon on top, brushed with an egg and breaded, salted, grated carrots on that and topped with leftover baked potato. Oh yeah- wrapped in foil. Baked it. Ate it.

hungry

ummm

hungry hungry hungry

Phyllis says it's a good sign... that all's going to be well... Let's hope. All I know is My.Appetite.Is.Back. Big time...

I'd like some of this:

My birthday cake... gorgeous, no?

Mom brought these- they're still in the cupboard... drool

oh my goodness sakes alive... a BLT

or how about this?

this was my reward after all my pre-op tests were done... poppy-seed crepes... truly lovely and delicious... and I will have more someday...

someday...

sigh

hungry

I'll go have a cup of tea and some hard tack...

Rocky Road... not just an ice cream flavor

time for an update? ya think?

The Welcome home bouquet from Colin and Elaine Nov 24 :)

so, details? There are details, of course... fairly boring except to me... and maybe to my mom... at least she patiently listened to every last one the other night. Let's just say the title says it pretty well. I had some rough nights and then better ones and better days and all was just tripping along splendidly. Some company in and out and great to see them all... had a yummy Thanksgiving Dinner with special people... didn't stuff myself, had a little of most things and life was just ducky...

Until about 9pm Sunday evening... it 'unducked' itself pretty fast... by Mon afternoon, I was sicker than I think I've ever been. With a fever to boot, not able to eat or drink anything (and keep it with me) since the night before... ok- call the doctor... go see the doctor... and... well, let's just say that when you put on a spectacular show for the doctor (who quickly calls for assistance in the wipe up department), the doctor just fast forwards to iv's and an ambulance and off you go... to the hospital. Only, this time to City Hospital #5, Infectious Diseases Division... cause they don't know what's wrong with ya and there are health regulations and such and private clinics (at least that one) can't take 'infectious patients'... (that'll make you feel good).

Well, turned out to be an attack of pancreatitis. But I'm here to tell you that pancreatitis is nasty stuff. You want sick and dehydrated and bottom-of-the-barrel yuck? There you go. (But don't google it and read all you find online about it- that'll scare 2 nights' sleep right out of you... thank goodness for nice doctors in SE WI who answer emails on Sundays and calm people down again.)

A few days of completely boring food, iv's and drugs got that back under control. Some very dear friends brought me home Fri afternoon... where this little bear (a gift from Phyllis) was waiting to celebrate...
(He needs a name- any suggestions?)

So, now we really are being careful... no fat, no dairy, almost no sugar (just a little in my tea)...

While I was in the hosp, I came across this article on my news feed: Nice doctors heal you faster. I've had my share of encounters with doctors the past 3 months. I never before appreciated just how much a really truly good doctor- the kind who listens to you, responds to what you say, acts like he cares- wow- that kind of doctor makes a huge difference. Mostly I noticed this because my first main doctor here in Kyiv did NOT fit that description...and I spent a lot of time worrying about how I was going to convince him that things were not as he thought they were. In fact, had the ultrasound tech not sent me to the surgeon/specialist she did, I probably would not have consented to have the surgery here at all. You have to be able to work with your doctor, to have confidence in him/her. Mine is the greatest...

home!

I’m home! Writing this from my laptop! Yeeha! It’s so great to be back here. Phyllis and Elaine came just before 6 and we got in about 7, I suppose. Had a little supper and am now ready for bed… You’ll be surprised (and pleased?) to know that I’m tired and heading to bed…at 9 pm! J

Standing at the window waving

Actually. Those are my toes waving at you from the foot of the bed. They were ecstatic to be freed from their pressure garment-tights-torture chamber last night. The other is just me on A recent bad hair day... There've been a few lately. Had a hair wash last night, though... could have (gingerly) danced!

Thanks for all your care, thoughts, wishes, commiseration, etc.. Mostly, I do feel better... Just have sore muscles by the incision. I spiked a fever last Fri, so still getting antibiotics... But that should slow down today. I'm hoping to go home today. There was talk yesterday of maybe waiting till Weds, but I'll bust into tears if it helps him release me today...

Haven't posted because it's not all that easy to get a decent connection here.

a whole lot of silence

from these parts... and more to come.

Cut my nails
Vacuumed my room
Packed my bag
Ate a leftover piece of pizza
Had a cup of coffee
Did what I could for me

Oh- and I watered the plants

That's what you'd do in the last 2 hours before leaving for the hospital to have surgery... right?
Today's the day... the last day of my association with the space aliens inside...

And I'm glad about that.

Take care and see you when things calm down around here! xo

Pac Man!

I was a kid in the 80's. Occasionally on a Friday night, I'd go home with my friend Sondra whose big brother had fun stuff... like Atari and a computer with computer games (that is ALL we did with those things back then...what else was a computer for?! Come on...) It was always rather a competition, of course, trying to get to the computer... I was never any good at any of the games. Sondra and I never got much game time in, as I recall... after all, the stuff belonged to Mike... but we did play some Pac-Man... played it at school, too, on the school computers when we could get time on them.

Well- this real-live Pac-Man recreation is just too cool for an 80's kid/nerd like me! I guess it was inevitable that they'd eventually program a Roomba to do this... ;)

Nov 9... 20 years ago

This spring was the 20th anniversary of my high school graduation; a month or so ago, there was a 20 year reunion...which I didn't attend. I was curious though... brings back a lot of memories.

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of something bigger... far bigger. I don't have a lot of clear memories of the day, but someone (likely our floor counselor) came to our door room and said we needed to go to the common room where the big screen tv was, history was being made. I went... and sat there in silent awe watching people an ocean away in the dark lit by bright lights (guard tower lights?) and flash bulbs tear down a piece of the Berlin Wall. They swarmed on and up and over it. My memory is of watching a surreal event with a feeling of wonder, awe, amazement. If this is really happening, what else can happen? In fact, What won't happen? Anything was possible.
And it was true.
The Velvet Revolution in Czech. The (not-at-all-velvet) revolution in Romania. East and West Germany ceased to exist as separate countries and reunified. And other revolutions, resistances... the crumbling of the Soviet Union.
And even to a young person- for whom nothing ever seemed to happen fast enough- it all happened quickly. I knew it was history and that, even though I was watching from across the water, I was 'watching' history happen.

I didn't dream then that I would ever visit (never mind live in) part of what had been the USSR. My life then was all about other things- classes and getting through undergrad as fast as possible. Later, we heard stories about Romania, what it was like to be there during the Communist regime and the revolution. It was all fascinating, but I never connected it with myself. Ever.

In October, 2000, I moved to Ukraine. A brand new world to me. The next summer, I visited Germany for the first time- more new stuff, but it felt like home- America with a German accent. The following summer, my friend and I spent a week in eastern Germany and later we visited Berlin. It was fascinating. I remember one story we heard in that summer:
Sunday morning, November 12, some of our friends were together in the home of a mutual friend in Berlin... just together. A knock at the door. The knock answered. A family they knew from the East standing there, Can we come in? Everyone in shock. They spent the morning together and a lot of tears were shed. The family from the east was visiting East Berlin that weekend and heard that the wall had come down. Can it be true? They drove towards a checkpoint (Checkpoint Charlie was the most well known), expecting to be stopped any minute. Nothing happened. In amazement, they reached the checkpoint and drove through. Still no barriers, no guards, nothing. They're across, in the West! Where to go? Let's see if our friends from 'way back when' are still where they were... and off they go... and get there in time to drop in on a very special gathering of special friends, the icing on the cake... Old friends reunited...
To hear it told by some of the participants was truly goose-bump material. (I hope I've recounted it more or less accurately here.)
We stayed with the mother of a friend in Berlin. My friend took me to see Checkpoint Charlie and I had my pic taken there with Flat Stanley at a USSR memorabilia kiosk... I need to find that pic!

So- this has all been rolling around in my head the past few days as the 20th anniversary of this monumental event approached. Here are some of the links that have come through my news feeds the past few days...and one from wikipedia about the wall (you can get good stuff there if you filter it through your brain cells!) ;)

The wall came down- eyewitness account

wiki link on the wall

Peter Turnley's essay on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the iron curtain and the accompanying slide show, narrated by Peter (just wait out the ad)
an essay and slide show about East Germany
Kottke.org's post

Back

To the land of questions and sometime confusion but that gets into your heart and being and keeps you coming back for more... and glad of it, thanks! ;-)

And we're currently on a very icy road in a full bus headed for our beloved capital. I reckon we're going to be very late, the rate we're going. You know what they say- Better late than never. Amen. Here's to cautious and careful drivers. 4 hours worth of them.

stomach ache?

hmmm- it seems these are sort of small... hopefully you can read them well enough to enjoy them...

We didn't often trick or treat when we were little... there just wasn't a lot of it going on out there where we lived. I'd be like John in the FBFW, though, if I had kids and took them down the street ringing doorbells... yummmeeeeeeeeee

And- it's just over 2 years since the first short order blog post. I've loved it, for sure... Thanks for the good times (or whatever) and for stopping by! xo

not much

all's quiet
at least here.
Last week we went over to Western Ukr to help out in the kitchen with food preparation while some of the guys were around doing some work. Lovely! I mean being with the people... all of them! The food part went not too badly as well.
We also used the shop vac to slurp up millions (I'm sure) of flies- that was oddly satisfying. They worm their way inside this time of year and then zoom around drunkenly and litter the place up with their corpses after awhile (when they're done zooming)... if this happens to be in the attic/upstairs part where no one actually lives, well their dear little departed left behind selves accumulate... and then crunch into the floor when you walk on the floor... This just sort of offends some part of me- some sissy weak part of me- so we bribed someone to haul the shop vac from one upstairs to the next and then mindlessly slurped them up- chic, ching, chic, ping, pong, chic... they make such cute little pinging noises on their way up wand of the vac... I'd go out and do some more just any old day... ;)
*******************************
Have I told you about 'Tushene Myaso'? It's literally 'Stewed Meat', but I'm here to tell you that it's nothing like what N Americans usually think of when they hear 'stew'. No pix, but I did pork that way one day:
-cut the meat into chunks (like stew-size pieces)
-brown it in a bit of oil (or butter...or both) with a bit of salt and pepper
-reduce heat to low and pour sour cream over it (this is best but milk also works wonderfully well); add a bay leaf or 2.
-Let simmer for 2 hours (or more), replenishing the sour cream/milk from time to time. You don't need lots of liquid, just enough to cook down and keep the meat from burning. I let it cook uncovered at first and then towards the end, put the cover on the skillet but cracked open.

This is an excellent way to do any meat that is likely to be tough... and the flavor- out of this world! Serve over rice, potatoes, macaroni- whatever. Works well with a white sauce gravy made at the end.
*********************************
In other news, Ukr is in the middle of an H1N1 scare- all schools and universities (in Western, Central, Northern Ukr at any rate) are closed for 2 weeks; supposedly there are travel restrictions into and out of the 3 areas in Western Ukr that have been hardest hit. No one seems to know just how serious it really is but people are scared... and it certainly seems that the flu season has gotten off to an early start. There isn't a lot of flu in Kyiv yet but someone told me that their city has been hard-hit and that the pharmacies are out of typical respiratory meds... Lots of masks out in public... I'm maskless... can't stand that wet stuffy feeling up by my mouth. Besides- do they help? I am washing my hands often and, as Jill says, Keep your hands away from your face!
Ok!

en route to Poland tonight... border time... again... hurrah... (for Poland that is... border crossings are for the birds, mostly)

what you don't see

when you ain't got a gun.
well- not really... but it was memorable, to say the least!

Don't you just love this lady's hair?! I'm pretty sure she's some kind of dolled-up gypsy queen... I've never seen hair like it before. It looked like she'd put a cutting board at the base of her head and then wrapped her hair and a lace scarf around it... the pix don't do it justice but it was hard to get anything decent while 'undercover'... She was at the bazaar buying flowers...

and in case you were going to ask: That brick building is a brand new Orthodox church... in the bazaar... in the most logical place to put a church...

yup

right by the flower vendors. In fact, the flower vendors used to be in a pole barn right there where the church now is.

Makes perfectly good sense to me.

yup

last among peers

everyone else in Kyiv has had it nearly a week now... and in some cities, they've had it longer than that... Welllllll

We have heat now, too! On a day that is actually warmer outside than many lately, they've turned on the heat! Yay!

I have no idea at all who decides when to turn on the heat in the various parts of town or buildings. Hospitals and such get it first, that's a fact. Other than that? I reckon they draw straws...

dampish

This is what it looks like outside today... a little bit on the drip, drop, chilly side...

and there's no heat yet... so we've done this
Light the oven and open the door...
Oh- and I'm having a cup of hot Earl Grey Tea...
:)

Наша Україна/Our Ukraine

Ukraine is a land of many colors- both literally and figuratively. Coming back to Kyiv Saturday, we drove along some beautiful roads lined with trees all decked out in Autumn's best. It was beautiful.
When I was learning Ukrainian, every teacher wanted me to read, read, read. Yes, that's a great way to learn a language. But... I couldn't. Why? The literature...
See, Ukraine is a land of many colors figuratively...but many of those colors are dark or at least framed in dark colors. The history of Ukraine is one of domination by other cultures and people, one of famine and starvation, one of war and loss, one of bitter disappointments... and these are the things people write about. I just couldn't take it- reading about all the tragedy. If you've ever read 'My Antonia' by Willa Cather- that's what it's like.
Or Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath'.

I know this has been going around the internet- Kottke.org finally picked it up- here's his link to Kseniya Simonova's amazing sand animation of the German invasion of Ukraine. At the end, she writes: You are always close. 1945.

And this depicts only one brief and tragic even in the recent history of Ukraine. There are many many more...
The amazing thing is, the people are resilient and mostly hopeful. There's an election coming up in Jan... V was telling me the other evening: We'll choose well this time. He was all smiles and looked eager to vote.
Ukrainians are amazing people. I'm humbled by their spirit.

bus stop

got up at... I don't even remember. What I remember is waking our hosts at 5.38 am so they could let us out the door. Walked to the bus station. A nice 20 min early morning jaunt. Ah yes. Get on the bus and turf out the people in our seats. You could always sit somewhere else and let them stay...but about 75% of the time the people who have tickets for your seat show up and make you move... and then there's a mass shifting of passengers as seat 18 claims their seat and that person goes up to 15 and claims theirs and then that one boots out the #13 person and so on and so on until the person in seat 3 crawls back to seat 25. I just get it over with ASAP (unless I'm holding the ticket for 31... then I'll stay in #10 and hope like anything that person doesn't show up and claim their seat... I got over liking the back of the bus in Oh Grade 5 or so). BUT- this is beside the point.

so we hit the road. We doze. We wake up. We read a little. We fall asleep. We lurch into a bus stop (after what seems like 5 hours... or no time at all, depending on how much sleeping actually happened).





First- locate the WC... this is rather vital.













Next, off to find some kind of coffee. Another machine, another coffee... not bad, either. Claimed to be 'whole bean'... hmmm... vanilla flavored. Good stuff. But it's a 20 min stop so there's still heaps of time. And there are still hours of trip ahead of sitting and dangling your feet and wishing you could move... so now's the time to do it. Here we go. Bus station. Fun stuff. You want junk food? You want something to drink? (I can see the Pepsi from here).














This lady had no idea she was the star of my little photo op but she sure did a nice job of posing anyway.

If you need tobacco, you'll have to move on, this stand's closed... but the friendly little grandmas selling sunflower seeds will gladly scoop up a bag full for you. (I think it was cold right there...)


about face and head back towards the bus (small town- ours was the coolest bus in the lot)


How about a fun little kid clowning in front of the bus? Eventually though, you have to get back on the bus and point your mind to more hours of travel.

There were a few other stops more or less like this one. We got back to Kyiv- pulled into a bus station I didn't even know existed... stumbled off and looked around... and found the steps down to the metro...

In Kyiv, if the metro's nearby, you're un-lost Pronto. Thankfully. Home about 3 pm...

But the people we saw were super and the day was a good one.

Булочка з маком!/Poppyseed bun!

There's a story behind the title... wherein 2 of my co-workers travelling together on yet another bus stopped in yet another bus station and 1 went on yet another snack run... then there was a cell phone conversation- What do you want? Oh, whatever... get a булочка з маком (poppyseed bun)... Later the hunter/procurer (that's a word, right?) returns and triumphantly holds aloft the poppyseed bun and says булочка з маком... whereupon the whole bus breaks up in laughter- they've understood nothing except the булочка з маком bit. But as everyone knows, a булочка з маком is so yummy that even the foreiners had oughta like 'em... and for sure, they know how to say it!

My own take on them- they're either drop dead gorgeous good or awful. They're most often found in some little kiosk on the sidewalk where a million people flock by... they're always proclaimed to be fresh and Just What You Need and Crave Right Now... but... they're often dry and seriously lacking in the good stuff- the poppyseed filling. I seldom get one because it's such a collossal disappointment to get your hopes and salivary juices all worked up and then... pfffffft Nothing more than old bread. So, when we saw this one the other day at the bus stop I just walked on by. But the stop was seriously lacking in any kind of food... unless you wanted chips, candy bars or soda. So, back to take another look. Jill says- It looks pretty good...if you like poppyseed. I took a chance... and Wow- was it worth it! Soft! Fresh! Plenty of filling! It was Super!

birthdays are best in chocolate

It's been great having the fall with this gal... and she decided to have her 2009 birthday here... with us... wild...
so we did what any red-blooded North Americans living in Kyiv do on a birthday- we went to TGIF and had some food! And then we had some dessert...
<--- Hers
<-Mine!

fish tank

This is the end table at 'my' clinic... it doubles as an aquarium. Love it!

food... again

Today's lunch... really hit the spot! Simple omelet- filling: sauteed onions, ham cubes, chopped fresh basil and cilantro, grated cheese (proly Dutch cheese, but I just grabbed what was in the fridge) and then... and then... *happy smirky grin* I drizzled just a bit of olive oil and lemon dressing over the top of the other stuff and folded it over. Oh My... (cough- some of these flavors aren't exactly used to meeting in the same dish...but they got along just fine!) ;)

Sharon A and I went out for lunch awhile ago... dessert was this: crepe with a scoop of ice cream, folded over and deep fried then drizzled with strawberry sauce... and the garnish at the back? Wow- was that nice- slice of green apple, slice of kiwi, slice of banana, bit of strawberry sauce with sprig of sweet fresh mint. Finishing with the mint was really really nice!
the 'before' shot of my new favorite roast- did I do this already? Yes- here pork chop done in a bit of butter with olive oil (not much of each), sprinkled with French herbs, salt and pepper; just before it's finished, put coarsely chopped fresh basil on. Carrots done in the pan with the chops. When everything's cooked, remove the food then add a spoonful (for a single serving) of water to the pan- just enough to get the juices and herbs that are on the bottom of the pan. Scrape around and stir then pour over the meat and veggies.

and this! When your friends go to Italy, have them bring back fresh Parmesan... I did... it's Nummeeeeeeeeee

pit stop

on the way to Kyiv. The trip is 5 1/2 - 6 hours by mini-bus. And there's one stop. After nearly 3 hours scrunched in your seat, you're more than glad to stretch your legs... you can also grab a cup of tea or coffee or find some chips or chocolate. The last time I wondered into the cafe to get something to drink and found our driver hunched down in a booth wolfing down some food. It's also the only bona fide bathroom stop. Oh the driver will stop for you... anywhere... and we'll all patiently wait for you to return from the bushes/tall grass...


so this is a welcome stop

The parking lot is nothing more than a wide spot in the road- they just sort of widened the shoulder. There are usually anywhere from 3 to 10 or more buses (marshrutkas) pulled off here at one time. We were just off the road this time... my hair was blowing in the breeze of the passing trucks... but it was a welcome break.

recent events with people...recently

do you get the 'recent' idea? ;)




These 2 are new (and welcome) additions here! L (on the left) teaching English. J (right) hanging out with me for a few months.




This lady and her husband are back... rumor has it they kissed and hugged on their grandkids all summer (or part of it) and when the g'kids got sick of all that, they came back to us... or something... (you know how rumors are...) ;)

so we had a ton of company recently (and please forgive the pic quality... I seem to be into taking trembly pix these days... it adds to the aura, don't you think?) So- L took in 2 arrivals at something like 3 am the other day... we were heartbroken that they went to her place and not ours at that time of the day... yawn...



Later, we all met up there and did a bunch of yakking. I just want you to notice L's completely cool slippers over there on the left... they're pink... well- a bit hard to see- they're lamb's wool (pink lamb's wool, in fact... how about that?!) with harlequin cut out top. I love them!

and speaking of cool slippers... and cool in general- J's slippers- love that color! And the top- the next time it ends up in the laundry, well... it might get lost on its way back to her cupboard... that's all I'm saying...

so then there was the bday to celebrate. How considerate of her to do that while she was up by us... we're always looking for a reason to have cake around here!



there were people everywhere- at my desk, on my floor... I just rambled around for a bit ;) (it's awesome to have friends!)

in the kitchen...






people in the living room... A there at the back? She's wearing my shoes... used to be mine, I mean... sniff... well you can't see them all that well either, so I'll just show ya....


Here ya go. The rotten thing is, something in my foot changed and they hurt my feet like fury now... but she had great fun waltzing around the apt in my 'big girl shoes'... so they went home with her... it just seemed the right thing to do. But I really did like them.... (I'm looking into visitation rights...)



oh yes- S up there- she's getting to know Mackie... as in Mac-ie... as in Steve Jobs as opposed to Bill Gates... you get the picture... takes some time, learning to know Mackie... Mr Husband (of the lady with the squash) came home eventually and gave a guided tour (another really bad pic...



<--but shows Mackie a bit better).





eventually, everyone left... here's Little T with her brand new completely orange scarf...








So, on to another day



O's smiling because it's her bday; V's smiling cause he's married to O... They're both smiling cause I'm taking a pic of them.

and this? This is M holding up A's shoes... proof, Ange, that he has your shoes and should be taking them back this weekend...so if you never see them again, don't blame us!