Friday, November 27, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
A Trip to the Market
A trip to the market is never boring. If it's a bright, sunny day, it can be a fun thing to do. People are out shopping, selling, browsing. My favorite market in Kherson is the Central Market. I like it mostly for its location: it's easy to get to from our house: it's just a few bus stops away. When you step off the bus, it's right there. You can see buses in the picture below that are pulling away from the Central Market stop. 
I turned 90 degrees from the spot where I took my first picture, and here is one of the isles leading toward the entrance (the archway in far back). Here, at this isle, people are selling flowers, both cut and for growing, and other decorative plants. 
The marketplace can get very busy and crowded, and one needs to watch for pick-pockets. I had it happen to me once: I was buying something, and someone bumped into me. I knew immediately what that meant and looked down at my purse. Sure enough, the guy's hand was half-way inside. He and his partner were gone in a flash. They did not take anything (by God's protection, I carry my cash elsewhere), but it was an unpleasant experience nonetheless.
The picture above is an electrical kiosk. They sure pack their merchandize well! You can find anything from lightbulbs to chandelliers to batteries to electrical wire there. There are regular stores where one can buy similar items, but some people prefer to shop at the market. I generally like to buy my lightbulbs at a store, but this time I just got them here.
The kids asked to make some more peanut butter, since we were almost out of the previous batch. The sales lady in the picture above is scooping some peanuts for me. I bought slightly over 2 pounds, and it makes a couple of jars of PB.
One reason I like to go to the market is great prices on seasonal produce. And there are more choices than at a supermarket. I think I go to the market once a week on average.
I turned 90 degrees from the spot where I took my first picture, and here is one of the isles leading toward the entrance (the archway in far back). Here, at this isle, people are selling flowers, both cut and for growing, and other decorative plants. The marketplace can get very busy and crowded, and one needs to watch for pick-pockets. I had it happen to me once: I was buying something, and someone bumped into me. I knew immediately what that meant and looked down at my purse. Sure enough, the guy's hand was half-way inside. He and his partner were gone in a flash. They did not take anything (by God's protection, I carry my cash elsewhere), but it was an unpleasant experience nonetheless.
The picture above is an electrical kiosk. They sure pack their merchandize well! You can find anything from lightbulbs to chandelliers to batteries to electrical wire there. There are regular stores where one can buy similar items, but some people prefer to shop at the market. I generally like to buy my lightbulbs at a store, but this time I just got them here.The kids asked to make some more peanut butter, since we were almost out of the previous batch. The sales lady in the picture above is scooping some peanuts for me. I bought slightly over 2 pounds, and it makes a couple of jars of PB.
One reason I like to go to the market is great prices on seasonal produce. And there are more choices than at a supermarket. I think I go to the market once a week on average.
The lady below is a friend of mine. She does not own the kiosk, and she does not work on comission. She thinks it's a great job, because it pays quite well regardless of how much or how little she sells. She works in the open air, so when it gets cold, she 'winterizes' by wearing a heavy furcoat, double pants and warm boots.
I had to ask the lady below to put on a mask for the picture: she was wearing it around her neck. A lot of salespeople and bus drivers are wearing masks during quarantine. Back to the lady below, she sells frozen foods: meatballs, cutlets, pelmeni, stuffed peppers, cabbage rolls. We tried some, and they are really good AND they are very reasonably priced (less expensive for a kilo than ground beef at a store).
This is the back entrance of the market.
I like this picture because it is so typical of a market here: you can buy fishing gear next to shoes. I only had to buy chilren's shoes so far, and some I bought at a store, and some at the market.
Spring and fall are some of my favorite seasons at the market, because of overabundance of planting material. Most people at the market sell bare root plantings: trees, shrubs, herbacious plants. Most fruit trees and fruit shrubs that are grown locally are very affordable: a 2-year fruit tree averages $3-$4. Some decorative shrubs and perennials can be quite expensive, since the demand is greater than the supply: most local nurseries specialize in fruit trees and shrubs, and most ornamental plants are imported from Europe.
I bought 3 plum trees: a columnar plum tree, an American plum Ozark Premier and a pollinator for Ozark, a different local plum hybrid. Hopefully, they are what the sellers said they were. If not, we will be surprised in a couple of years when they start producing.
I had to ask the lady below to put on a mask for the picture: she was wearing it around her neck. A lot of salespeople and bus drivers are wearing masks during quarantine. Back to the lady below, she sells frozen foods: meatballs, cutlets, pelmeni, stuffed peppers, cabbage rolls. We tried some, and they are really good AND they are very reasonably priced (less expensive for a kilo than ground beef at a store).This is the back entrance of the market.
I like this picture because it is so typical of a market here: you can buy fishing gear next to shoes. I only had to buy chilren's shoes so far, and some I bought at a store, and some at the market.
Spring and fall are some of my favorite seasons at the market, because of overabundance of planting material. Most people at the market sell bare root plantings: trees, shrubs, herbacious plants. Most fruit trees and fruit shrubs that are grown locally are very affordable: a 2-year fruit tree averages $3-$4. Some decorative shrubs and perennials can be quite expensive, since the demand is greater than the supply: most local nurseries specialize in fruit trees and shrubs, and most ornamental plants are imported from Europe.
I bought 3 plum trees: a columnar plum tree, an American plum Ozark Premier and a pollinator for Ozark, a different local plum hybrid. Hopefully, they are what the sellers said they were. If not, we will be surprised in a couple of years when they start producing. Monday, November 16, 2009
The 10th Anniversary of Our Church in Kherson
Last Sunday we celebrated 10 years since our church held its first service. Our joy was doubled as it was the first time that our worship service was held in our new sanctuary. It is far from being finished, but God has been good to us, and we trust that He will provide for the rest of the construction project.
Here are some pictures of our church family.
Here is our sanctuary. There is still quite a bit of work to do, but we are very thankful.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
In case you haven't noticed, it has been a while since we wrote. The reason is mainly very slow internet. Our previous post took us a total of 6 hours to upload the pictures. It dropped us a couple dozen times while loading up the images.
When we came back from Kiev, we hit the ground running and haven't slowed down since. Jamie went back to his responsibilities at church, the kids started new school year, and Agatha keeps me busy. The break came last weekend with the Ukraine shutting down for 3 weeks because of the swine flu. Schools are closed, universities are closed, daycare centers were open (so parents can go to work), but now some have closed since there was no heat (we had freezing temperatures at night for a few days last week). Our kids don't have gymnastics, dance, art class for the three weeks. We keep doing school at home, of course.
I was at the market today -- everything is the same, except for some people wearing masks. I had to take Timmy to a children's clinic yesterday for a Dr appointment -- it was closed. I think the hospitals are open. A friend of hours who teaches at a college here in town said that because of the 3-week break the college will be going on Saturdays and Sundays until March 15. The professors will have to teach in double shifts every day AND work on Saturday and Sunday, partly because only one building out of the 4 that the college owns has heat, so only one building will be functioning. The story is oh, so familiar! Every year when they city first turns on heat, it seems, the pipes need to be dug up and worked on -- well into the cold season. One but wonders, why couldn't they do it in the summer? Back to quarantine, though, it will be interesting to see what happens. They call it 'California flu' here.
I have to confess it's hard writing a post after such a long break. I feel I have to write something profound. I will try to write updates on our lives over the last 2 months and on current events as well. I am falling asleep at the computer -- last night Aggie was up a lot. I better get some rest before she wakes up tonight. It's good to be back.
When we came back from Kiev, we hit the ground running and haven't slowed down since. Jamie went back to his responsibilities at church, the kids started new school year, and Agatha keeps me busy. The break came last weekend with the Ukraine shutting down for 3 weeks because of the swine flu. Schools are closed, universities are closed, daycare centers were open (so parents can go to work), but now some have closed since there was no heat (we had freezing temperatures at night for a few days last week). Our kids don't have gymnastics, dance, art class for the three weeks. We keep doing school at home, of course.
I was at the market today -- everything is the same, except for some people wearing masks. I had to take Timmy to a children's clinic yesterday for a Dr appointment -- it was closed. I think the hospitals are open. A friend of hours who teaches at a college here in town said that because of the 3-week break the college will be going on Saturdays and Sundays until March 15. The professors will have to teach in double shifts every day AND work on Saturday and Sunday, partly because only one building out of the 4 that the college owns has heat, so only one building will be functioning. The story is oh, so familiar! Every year when they city first turns on heat, it seems, the pipes need to be dug up and worked on -- well into the cold season. One but wonders, why couldn't they do it in the summer? Back to quarantine, though, it will be interesting to see what happens. They call it 'California flu' here.
I have to confess it's hard writing a post after such a long break. I feel I have to write something profound. I will try to write updates on our lives over the last 2 months and on current events as well. I am falling asleep at the computer -- last night Aggie was up a lot. I better get some rest before she wakes up tonight. It's good to be back.
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