My First Trip to the Market
Monday, June 12
It was time to settle in and make our nest. Off I went to buy supplies. Now this is hard work. First of all, the supermarkets are all on the outskirts – there is no supermarket in the center of the city. Most of the markets are tiny little stalls in the underground passages in the Metro system. One stall will sell toothpaste, soap and chewing gum, another will sell women’s lingerie and folding umbrellas, yet another will sell sausage or bread or tea. There are occasional bigger markets that, as far as I can tell, are located near the metro stations. There are two metro stations not far from our apartment, so it looked like I would be able to get basic supplies on a daily basis.
But now I needed more substantial things – we had left all the boxes with bedding and towels and such things in Kyiv – and after a look around the apartment it was clear that we (I should say I) wouldn’t want to use the sheets and towels that were there. I even had my doubts about the dishes, pots and pans. The electric kettle looked pretty grim when I opened it up, and I actually gagged when I opened the oven door – the oven tray was really disgusting. Otherwise the apartment was pretty clean – there were very few items left in any of the drawers, although I did find 6 condoms – I have the feeling that this is one of those “romance” apartments that come complete with massage and sex.
Fortunately I had seen a great household appliance store about 2 blocks from the apartment during my search for a place to live. So that was my first stop – within half an hour I had a brand new deLonghi toaster oven and Phillips electric kettle – total outlay: $80. I also thought I might find a surge protector there, but no luck with that. Again no one spoke any English at all, only Russian, so I wasn’t able to give or get enough information to make the needed purchase.
I carried the new things back to the apartment, said hi to Ed who was still working on his orientation program, and set off again to find sheets and towels, and maybe even some dishes and cutlery. I stopped in an upmarket clothing store on Pushkinskaya and asked if anyone spoke English and could tell me where I could buy sheets and towels (the last part in pantomime of course). There were two salesgirls and two women customers there (one with a California T shirt on), but no luck. A man came out of a dressing room and joined the two women – he spoke a little English, and understood that I wanted “clothes for the bed,” and told me that if I could wait a few minutes, while he paid for the things he had just bought, he would show me where I could get them. It is just amazing how nice people can be. I left with him and the two women, got in his car with his Uzbeki driver, and went to a store on Sumskaya – a lingerie store!!! I now saw that he had misunderstood me and that he thought that I wanted clothes to sleep in rather than sheets for the bed. I managed to explain and off we went again, to another shop. Meanwhile, we chatted about California, my Ukrainian name, why I am in the Ukraine, etc., in pidgeon English/Ukrainian/pantomime. They took me into the store, made sure I could get what I needed, and then we all said “dopabachinya” after many “dyakayous” from me. Somehow I managed to convey what I wanted to two saleswomen and I ended up with some really great French made white high thread cotton bed linens (a duvet cover, bottom sheet, and 4 pillow cases, two large European square and two small), all for about $60. I also got a nice big Turkish towel, some washcloths, and 4 Williams Sonoma dishcloths (exactly like the ones I have at home, but only 50 cents each here, on sale from $1.20!!!!)
Now for the long trek home carrying all this stuff! But I managed, and even stopped at the market on the way home to pick up a 5.5 L bottle of my favorite water “Old Mirgorod” so that I could have some tea when I got back. I also saw a woman walking a Beagle (very rare to see anyone walking a dog here), and asked her where I could get dog food (saying “soboka” and pantomiming eating). She told me that she got it at the supermarket (which is outside of the center) and did not know where to get it here. We were running low on Belle's prescription diet, and it will be interesting to see how Belle digests sausage if it comes to that!
I staggered in with my packages – made the bed, put out the towels and organized the bathroom (there is only one small shelf there – no drawers, no cabinets, nowhere to put anything) – and was ready to venture out again for some food for supper. Ed had finished his preparations, so he decided to join me. We went to the market by the “Historical Museum” metro stop where I spotted some dry Pedigree Dog Food, which we bought, as well as some sausage, cheese, milk, bananas, navel oranges, kiwi, orange juice, Honeynut Cheerios, and butter. I also bought some hot cereal, but I’ll have to find someone who can read me the directions before I can make it! We stopped at one of the tea stalls underground and bought a teapot for $6 and some loose tea for $2. It was some sort of holiday, so the banks weren’t open to change some dollars, but we did find a money changer that was open and got some Hryvna for more supplies. We stopped at the little bread stall on our street on the way home and got some of my favorite bread (Barazinsky) and some sort of chocolate covered cookies.
By now Ed was ready to get back to the apartment, so we made a deal that he would go back and I could keep shopping for another hour – I had to promise to be back by 6:15. I rushed off to see if I could possibly get some bowls and some nice mugs for tea, as well as the sugar we had forgotten to buy. I went all the way to Pushkinskaya metro station, and I did find some nice tea mugs there, but had absolutely no luck finding any other household supplies. I stopped and got another bottle of water, two bottles of beer, a nice looking tomato and cucumber, some almonds and pistachios (really expensive – probably around $4 for a small amount), sugar, and some things that looked like sausage rolls – there were three different kinds and I got one of each. I managed to do all this and get home before my curfew time!
It was time to settle in and make our nest. Off I went to buy supplies. Now this is hard work. First of all, the supermarkets are all on the outskirts – there is no supermarket in the center of the city. Most of the markets are tiny little stalls in the underground passages in the Metro system. One stall will sell toothpaste, soap and chewing gum, another will sell women’s lingerie and folding umbrellas, yet another will sell sausage or bread or tea. There are occasional bigger markets that, as far as I can tell, are located near the metro stations. There are two metro stations not far from our apartment, so it looked like I would be able to get basic supplies on a daily basis.
But now I needed more substantial things – we had left all the boxes with bedding and towels and such things in Kyiv – and after a look around the apartment it was clear that we (I should say I) wouldn’t want to use the sheets and towels that were there. I even had my doubts about the dishes, pots and pans. The electric kettle looked pretty grim when I opened it up, and I actually gagged when I opened the oven door – the oven tray was really disgusting. Otherwise the apartment was pretty clean – there were very few items left in any of the drawers, although I did find 6 condoms – I have the feeling that this is one of those “romance” apartments that come complete with massage and sex.
Fortunately I had seen a great household appliance store about 2 blocks from the apartment during my search for a place to live. So that was my first stop – within half an hour I had a brand new deLonghi toaster oven and Phillips electric kettle – total outlay: $80. I also thought I might find a surge protector there, but no luck with that. Again no one spoke any English at all, only Russian, so I wasn’t able to give or get enough information to make the needed purchase.
I carried the new things back to the apartment, said hi to Ed who was still working on his orientation program, and set off again to find sheets and towels, and maybe even some dishes and cutlery. I stopped in an upmarket clothing store on Pushkinskaya and asked if anyone spoke English and could tell me where I could buy sheets and towels (the last part in pantomime of course). There were two salesgirls and two women customers there (one with a California T shirt on), but no luck. A man came out of a dressing room and joined the two women – he spoke a little English, and understood that I wanted “clothes for the bed,” and told me that if I could wait a few minutes, while he paid for the things he had just bought, he would show me where I could get them. It is just amazing how nice people can be. I left with him and the two women, got in his car with his Uzbeki driver, and went to a store on Sumskaya – a lingerie store!!! I now saw that he had misunderstood me and that he thought that I wanted clothes to sleep in rather than sheets for the bed. I managed to explain and off we went again, to another shop. Meanwhile, we chatted about California, my Ukrainian name, why I am in the Ukraine, etc., in pidgeon English/Ukrainian/pantomime. They took me into the store, made sure I could get what I needed, and then we all said “dopabachinya” after many “dyakayous” from me. Somehow I managed to convey what I wanted to two saleswomen and I ended up with some really great French made white high thread cotton bed linens (a duvet cover, bottom sheet, and 4 pillow cases, two large European square and two small), all for about $60. I also got a nice big Turkish towel, some washcloths, and 4 Williams Sonoma dishcloths (exactly like the ones I have at home, but only 50 cents each here, on sale from $1.20!!!!)
Now for the long trek home carrying all this stuff! But I managed, and even stopped at the market on the way home to pick up a 5.5 L bottle of my favorite water “Old Mirgorod” so that I could have some tea when I got back. I also saw a woman walking a Beagle (very rare to see anyone walking a dog here), and asked her where I could get dog food (saying “soboka” and pantomiming eating). She told me that she got it at the supermarket (which is outside of the center) and did not know where to get it here. We were running low on Belle's prescription diet, and it will be interesting to see how Belle digests sausage if it comes to that!
I staggered in with my packages – made the bed, put out the towels and organized the bathroom (there is only one small shelf there – no drawers, no cabinets, nowhere to put anything) – and was ready to venture out again for some food for supper. Ed had finished his preparations, so he decided to join me. We went to the market by the “Historical Museum” metro stop where I spotted some dry Pedigree Dog Food, which we bought, as well as some sausage, cheese, milk, bananas, navel oranges, kiwi, orange juice, Honeynut Cheerios, and butter. I also bought some hot cereal, but I’ll have to find someone who can read me the directions before I can make it! We stopped at one of the tea stalls underground and bought a teapot for $6 and some loose tea for $2. It was some sort of holiday, so the banks weren’t open to change some dollars, but we did find a money changer that was open and got some Hryvna for more supplies. We stopped at the little bread stall on our street on the way home and got some of my favorite bread (Barazinsky) and some sort of chocolate covered cookies.
By now Ed was ready to get back to the apartment, so we made a deal that he would go back and I could keep shopping for another hour – I had to promise to be back by 6:15. I rushed off to see if I could possibly get some bowls and some nice mugs for tea, as well as the sugar we had forgotten to buy. I went all the way to Pushkinskaya metro station, and I did find some nice tea mugs there, but had absolutely no luck finding any other household supplies. I stopped and got another bottle of water, two bottles of beer, a nice looking tomato and cucumber, some almonds and pistachios (really expensive – probably around $4 for a small amount), sugar, and some things that looked like sausage rolls – there were three different kinds and I got one of each. I managed to do all this and get home before my curfew time!
posted by Susan Spivak at 2:31 PM
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