Walking on egg shells

It was inevitable I suppose - but sad all the same.
Haggai broke 5 of our favorite pysanky. Unfortunately the ugly thanksgiving genre Turkey that I couldn't bring myself to throw away survived - but all of our favorites were cracked or shattered.
It came at a rather bad time too as I was trying to make lots of eggs to take with us to England - and now I feel obligated to replace the patterns that we liked so as not to forget how to do them. This plan hasn't worked very well. The black floral designs I reproduced quickly - but they broke when in the blowing process. The 40 Apron patterns all turned out great - but not the same brilliant pattern. Pysanky are really alot like snow flakes.
Fortunately - none of the goose eggs were broken as that would have been really tragic.

Meanwhile, I gathered a group of people together Saturday and we went to a pysanky master class by Оксана Білоус. She lives close to me and is my supply distributor she also paints pysanky for Yushenko. Anyway, I thought that it would be a good time to try out what sort of toys and tools she has and decide if I want to invest more or not. My wish list of what to buy in America (where things are oddly cheaper) has added up and so my main waffle is to buy or not to buy the electric Kitsak. She makes and sells an electric set of 5 and it is cheaper than the states - at least with current exchange rates - and it is amazing what they do - I finally took the plunge and decided to try an Ivano Franko design which is vitrually impossible for all but the expert with a regular Kitsak. I suceeded - but still have a long way to go. This design took me at least 2 hours!!

oops and Misc.

For those of you with Blog readers or who daily visit my blog - apologies for the post in Russian. I was posting to the Bible in 47 weeks blog that we are doing with my church - but was in a hurry and Blogger apparently changes the order of which of your blogs are on top in dashboard based on last usage. I would prefer they just keep them alphabetically, but oh well.
Sorry for the confusion.

From our window we can see snow. It has been snowing the last 3 days after a relatively warm week from before. Alister and I are headed to the UK end of next week so am trying to get things together for that.

For Valentines day Alister took me to see Cyrano de Bergerac - it was a modern rendering - or at least a modern set. Gotta say - I may be doing ok with day-to-day Russian - but literary is definitely something else. Thank goodness that I already knew the story and that, well, acting is acting - even on a modern set.

(re)Discovering root vegetables

Winter is the dreariest time to go shopping for vegetables in Ukraine. While there are supermarkets - most of the fresh veggies look sad - not to mention the fact that they are expensive. Frozen veggies were an option - but with the crisis they seem to be one of the many products that were deemed "unprofitable" and taken off the shelves - OR - the price was raised so high that I won't touch them (400 grams of frozen peas for 22 uah!!! -only when I really want chinese noodle casserole . . .)

The vegetables that are available year around are as follows:
Cabbage: starting out a brilliant pale green - as winter wears on the heads progressively become whiter and whiter. We saw them in the cellar in the village where our hut is - they harvest them, put them in the cellar and then when they are ready to eat/ sell them they take them out and peal away layers of blackened leaves. Thankfully - in the market and I don't have to think about the blackend leaves.
Beets: As mentioned in other posts - they are actually tasty - but you have to think ahead if you want it in salad as you have to boil it - let it cool, peel it, and then prepare it.
Carrots: Definately the cheapest option - I am discovering that carrots don't just have to be carrot sticks. Last week I baked them with parsnips, rosemary and potatoes.
Parsnips: A new one for me - and not to be confused with the parsley root or the diakon raddishes. They really add a some tasty variety and are great boiled up/baked with the carrots. I don't really know about their nutritional value - but I personally rate it higher than the cabbage for appeal. Here, they grate them up and add them to salad or soup. (Which is also what they use the parsely root for - anyone know if you can eat paresly root as a side dish on its own?)

ODPs

My first Official Document Photo was taken in 1998. I was traveling to Japan an was getting a passport. I parked my parents Buick in front of the AAA on main street and strolled into the modest office. They took me to a back corner. Everything was white. My hair was long at the time and I wore a blue colored polyester shirt I had bought at the thrift store down the street. I loved that shirt. The camera stood firmly anchored on a tripod. I made sure to look straight ahead. I smiled. The camera had 2 lenses and though they snapped "one" picture, two were taken. The picture was printed and developed immediately. It was still damp and smelling like vinegar when they slipped it inside the special passport photo envelope - your passport to adventure.
Since then, I have posed for many an ODP: In a photo booth at the Zagreb train station, in a small photo shop in Vukovar, at a store in Philadelphia's China Town, in a Kiosk in front of Velika Kushenija Supermarket. The times have changed. Digital has swept the old two/lense cameras into history - now they can print identical pictures from a single digital image much faster than any standard developing procedure.
Today I got an ODP at the computer and Photo Store at Friendship of Nations metro and it tops all and is on the record for most unique ODP experience to date.
After asking to have an ODP, they ushered me around the corner to a small, darkened room. There was a coat rack, a desk with a computer, a barrier of screens and a high backed chair in the middle of the room. The man pointed me to a coat wrack and as soon as I got my hat off, he said "There is a mirror around the corner you can use." Well, I know I had been out and about all day, and had been wearing a hat - but i didn't think I looked all that bad, all the same I obediently left the room or arrange myself in front of the mirror. It was an ODP - really what did I have to do - they have a reputation of looking terriable.
I sat on the chair in the shadowed room. Back against the chair head straight, no smiling with an open mouth. His commands came in a quick, no-nonsense order as he stood between the screens. Snap/ flash. the room illuminated for an instant and the screens faded to purple from bright white. Snap/flash. Snap/flash. A succession of seven shots followed - the photographer readjusting and checking his shot each time.
We move over to the computer and he pulls the shots up - I pick one (they pretty much all look the same - so there was ONE lazy eye shot - but really all the rest were basically the same - for all his maneuverings.) He then magnified the picture, popped it into photoshop and started airbrushing. I'm standing right there beside him and he is airbrushing my face. Really makes you feel your imperfections. I had to stop myself from bringing my had up to my eyes or my lips - or that shiny spot on the forehead while he was jogging around the screen with his little circle. ZHup. Zhup. Zhup. Look - flawless skin! Then he started on the eyes. First, he removed the shadows, then he intensified my eyeliner. When he started drawing eyelashes (no kidding) I finally said - "That's nice - but its just a document photo - I don't think you really need to do this."
"No," he said, "on a small photo this will really make the eyes stand out."
Finally he was done. he brought up the brushed photo and the original to compare. "Well?" He asked.
In truth, I actually liked the original, non-airbrushed version better. It wasn't that it was significantly different - just something about the color looked, well more real. But he had spent his time on it, and obviously it was supposed to be an improvement - so I said "Great" And he printed it off and for $2.50 I have 4 identical airbrushed passport photos. Not only that - but they keep them on file for the year - and if I ever need ODPs again - I can just go in and pick them up. No waiting, no added airbrushing - just print and pay.
I got home, and Alister said that the pictures were great. The photographer was right about one thing - on a small picture, the eyes do really stand out - and without magnification - you can't even tell that he added extra eyelashes. Its a shame really that this ODP is just going in a government registration file and won't really be used or seen - all that airbrushing for nothing. ;)

About green tea

Did you know that green tea is best after its 3rd steeping of water?
I didn't know this interesting and economical fact either until coming to Ukraine - but everyone says it - so it must be true. Anyway - the tea does loose its bitterness and other flavors come out and for a really good cup you can even do 4 steepings. (Probably one of the health benefits is the amount of water consumed . . .)

Across from metro Lvov Tolstovo you'll find cafe Monomah. While it has coffee it is best known for its selection of teas. You can sample and smell different mixes and once you decide on the brew - a personal pot is 16 uah ($2). You can then refill the pot with hot water as often as you like. You could sit there all day. The cafe is small and personable.
Monomah's one draw back is that the chairs are not very comfortable - so while you could sit there all day drinking tea - you might not want to. The chairs are wooden and ridged - no padding the few booths that you can kind of spread out or lounge in are quickly snapped up. Still highly reccomend it for a couple of leisurly cups of tea.

All quiet on the Eastern Front

So the gas has been restored to Europe, the cold snap has lifted and the holidays are over. In short - life is back into full swing. Alister and I are still going back and forth with being sick - but I hope (fingers crossed) that we've both kicked it.
Now we are busy getting back into a routine and catching up after being sick. I don't have Russian classes anymore - but am moderating a Russian project. Mostly I am in the headache process of organizing our trips back home. Always when I traveled alone - trips have never been a problem I could make an instantaneous decision and If it ended up being a bit hectic I had no one to blame but myself but had made that schedule to accomplish my goals - so ultimately I was always satisfied. With two people with two different sets of goals and expectations - it makes it incredibly more difficult- esp when trying to make all the different airline connections through budget flights to get where you need to go. Really gives you an appreciation for travel agents. So will hopefully have something more interesting to write next week- but for now not so much.

Addicted

Hello. My name is Haggai and I have an addiction. Err . . . addictions.
1st there's water. Especially when they get it out of the water pump and put it in the tall silver dish. My head just fits in it and water is always a thrill. It doesn't matter that I have to go to the bathroom 5 or even 8 times a day - that water just makes me feel good. I've discovered that even though my head doesn't fit inside the see-the-other-side dish, I can still get water by tipping my dish with my paw. I have to do it just right - otherwise the water runs away and disappears. Even if it doesn't run away - its not tasty anymore. You need the danger rush.

2nd, I like cheese. The minute I hear the cheese wrapper crinkle I rush to the scene and try to figure out how to get my precious fix. Often the man turns his back when he is using the hot-box-pop and that is always my chance to leap and grab the wrapper. If I pull it all down to the floor I get to eat it all. Cheese is still tasty EVEN after its fallen on the floor
.
3rd, I sniff menthol. Not just sniff, lick, bite and devour that's my motto. Oooh, just the thought of it gives me shivers. The people have been lying on the place called "Bed" all last week and their necks and noses glistened with menthol. I couldn't resist. Oh, if only they had let me dig and bite at their necks a little longer - then I would have had all the menthol I could want. I found a jar near Bed and the top of it smells like menthol too. I licked and licked but the smell is still there somewhere. I don't know how to get it. I keep trying - but it won't crack.

I need help - the addictions are ruling my life- I don't have time for anything except trying to get my next fix or dreaming about it. In fact - I think I'll go dream about water laced with menthol now.