Saturday, May 8

Saturday was a great day in Chernivtsi. The weather here now is that quintessential early spring weather, in which you still need a jacket bc the wind is blowing. No humidity here. It reminds me of certain days in March in Gville.

We became sidetracked on our way to shop for groceries. Jeff’s new hobby is Roman coin collecting, so he investigated a few places that have such things while I checked out the selection black boots at one store on Vul Ruska. He bought a gift for me, which was very thoughtful, and something I have wanted to get during my time here. If you’re curious, email me.

We eventually got the supermarket to purchase the usual suspects: cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, onions, yogurt, cereal, milk (molokom), muesli, wheat crackers, and pineapple. Today, the supermarket shopping highlight was finding and buying a Pepsi Light! They only had a few and one of them is now mine. We also purchased something new, these crackers that look like croutons. They have them at the jazz club here. I had enjoyed them there and now know they can be purchased in a package that comes with it’s own small carton of BBQ sauce. Odd.

We walked home serenaded by the ringing of church bells, which I loved. We passed a man, large beer in hand, walking down the street…very Ukrainian. As he passed the cathedral, he stopped dead in his tracks, turned, and crossed himself before continuing on his path. Also very Ukrainian.

I took a Tylenol sinus bc my throat and head are bothering me, and chilled for about 30 minutes before walking up the hill to the gym. Even with my feel ( I have self-diagnosed myself with super, super mild plantar fascitis..sounds worse than it is, no worries) I felt really good doing the 4 miles today. That has become my usual. I told Jeff that one of the things I will take away from my time here is better cardiopulmonary health. I used to DETEST running. Now I actually enjoy it.

We stopped at the market on Olga to put money on our phones at the kiosk, and picked up the groceries we couldn’t find at the other market. This house has recently had a lot of work done to it, and it looks great. With the T at the top, I think I’ll live here during my last month in Ukraine. Ha!

On the walk back, I thought, I wonder if the ladies at Soho can cut my bangs right now. It was about 7:30 on a Saturday evening. Sure enough, I walked over, popped in, puled my bangs down and made a scissor motion with my hands. The lady nodded (the people in this country are so kind to me given my language weaknesses) and pointed to the chair. I sat down, and 8 minutes later I looked like a new woman. She charged a whopping 10 hyrvnias, the equivalent of 1.20 USD. Unreal. I love my hair place in Gville, but it makes what I spend in the US on an annual basis on hair cuts seem astronomical.

Before dinner we prayed for our mothers and all the women in our lives whom we care about. We hope you all know we are thinking of you tomorrow on Mother’s Day.