Life in "New Moscow"

I got an e-mail from a fellow PCV who looked up the origin of the name of my city of Novomoskovsk and as it turns out it means "New Moscow". It seems that in the long history of Soviet domination, place names, street names, and even monuments still stand and may well stand for another 100 years. It may not have been a glorious history, but it is history, none the less. There are statues of Lenin all over the country. Almost every town has a tank in it's Center, and every city a MiG Jet...and sometimes both! I lived on Lenin St. in Myronivka, and now I live on Lenin Square, which abuts Sovietskya Street. When I shop at the bazaar the venders ask me for Rubles instead of Greven!

The differences between Ukraine and America are many, but some things stand out considerably.  Most notably I find that the packaging of products is a bit strange. I thought this was breakfast sausage.

Chocolate Ice Cream

Milk comes in plastic bags, salt in non-moisture resistent paper bags, and many items are packaged in that type of crinkly plastic that, once opened, rips all the way down the side. Fresh spices are packaged in paper cones that the vender assembles on the spot. There are no cooking extracts...although you can buy "Vanilla Sugar" as opposed to vanilla extract. I can't find lemon juice, but I found packaged lemon powder.

Potato chips continue to baffle me.  Just today, after 5 months of looking high and low for "regular" chips, I found some that resembled Pringles. They were actually quite good. When I say "regular", I mean, as in just potatoes and salt and no additional flavors.  Chip flavorings that are quite popular here are cheese, mushroom, fish, crab, lobster or crayfish, some kind of meat (bacon?), sour cream, and others that I cannot identify. Fish-flavored anything would most likely remind me of cat food, so I won't be going there anytime soon.

What constitutes snacks here are alien in everyway so I tend to just stick to what I know. There are rows upon rows of dried fish packaged like, and hanging with the, potato chips. I can't figure out where to buy non-popped popcorn and wonder what the mysterious little crunchy "things" are beneath a colorful wrapper with the name "Pirate Snacks".

I can't figure out so many things in the store because I can barely read so suffice it to say that marketing is a bit of a challenge. What's great in Ukraine though, is a little something of what American venders offered to its customers years ago...a chance to sample the goods. Before you buy cookies from the vender, you can taste one. Want to buy a pear?  Here, have a taste! Cheese? Smoked meat?  Sure, belly up to the counter and get a slice. They want you to be happy with their wares so you'll keep coming back.

Aside from shopping I have been planning all kinds of projects to engage my community in, one being the start up of an English club at my local library. After meeting with the director yesterday I was given a green light and it was decided that the best place to hold the club is at the Youth Library. Apparently the young patrons have been complaining of a lack of English language books recently, and when I walked in the door I was the answer to their prayers. As my mom likes to say "timing is everything". I have several connections to get free books for the library, and a schedule in place for the club that officially opens on September 18.  Plans include a field trip every 3 weeks along with American and British Film days. (Thank you for all those wondercful DVD's Katie!)

As for the rest of you who have faithfully kept up with my blog and have e-mailed with news from home, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Good night from "New Moscow"!