An evening in Ukraine

We went to Ukraine tonight.

Just kidding. I'm still recovering from last weekend and believe me, I'm not going anywhere.

Ukraine came to us! Missionaries from Ukraine that are dear to our church came tonight to share traditional Ukrainian food and tell us about what is happening in the mission field.

A Ukrainian church located in Philly came and prepared plenty of food. There was borshch (beet soup).

I can't say that was the tastiest thing I had ever eaten. There was lots of dill in it. Nate noticed that there was meat in it; apparently that's a sign of wealth. He had borshch at least twice a week when he lived in Ukraine and he never saw meat in it.

Speaking of wealth, can you believe that most Ukrainians make between $200-400 a month? Count your blessings tonight.

And then there were pickles.

I can't say those were the tastiest thing either. Wait, I didn't even eat one. I could just smell them. They smelled like dill. Yuck.

I don't like dill either. I know - what kind of Swede am I?!

Nate informed me I probably wouldn't really fit into the Ukrainian scene if I dislike their three major food groups: beets with dill, dill, and pickles that smell like dill.

I would love to go to Ukraine but I might stave to death there.

Viggo and I both like the vareniki! And I really enjoyed the golubtsi. I ate mine and Viggo's too (cabbage rolled up with cheese and rice). Please don't ask me to pronouce that. You'll have to contact your local Ukrainian and ask them how you say that.

And the desserts. We ate lots of those. Look at this printed candy! Viggo said it had a cherry inside. He sampled every dessert.

I might not starve to death in Ukraine but I would have to subsist on pastries.

It was very interesting listening to the missionary talk. Nate was reminiscing about the friendly people there - how if you stopped to chat with an aquaintance on the street and said conversationally, "well, see you tomorrow!" or, "See you soon!" that person would then show up on your doorstep the next day and you had better have your calendar cleared because they would hang out with you all day long. They took those words literally. Well, tonight we learned that children there are basically neglected and left to fend for themselves. Which would certainly explain the desperate need for relationships. Nate thought it was just a cultural friendliness, but it's much more than that. While we were driving home he said, "I guess I never noticed how kids weren't around that much, and I never saw a little kid out with their parent."

We have so much to be thankful for. If you are able to spend any time getting to know about your church missionaries and are able to support them in any way, do it!