In Which My Language Skills (or Lack Thereof) Entertains Rzhishchiv

Aug 28

So, yesterday was Deb’s birthday (Happy Birthday Deb!) and she celebrated by going to Kiev (Bruce took her of course.) So the kids and I stayed here and did some very eccentric baking J

We went to market early, before Bruce and Deb left, and I took Tucker and Clark with me down the street to a store where I could get raisins, butter, chocolate…oh, and two lollipops. Bad idea to get lollipops for little boys when you want them to walk faster!

And then I asked for birthday candles. I had looked up “candle” in the dictionary, (vchera) and I looked up “happy birthday,” (dnyom raz dyeniya or something close). So with those two lifelines I floundered in my sea of ignorance. It was great fun! The girl was really helpful and understood what I meant, but she said they didn’t have any, and pointed me down the street the way I had come. So I paid, thanked her, and left, pleased that I had understood as much as I had. Russian is getting better every time I go out! I don’t actually know much, but when it comes down to it, communication seems pretty painless.

The next store was a similar story, and she told me where to go, but all I could gather was that it was farther down the street. So the next stop was a store I had been in before and liked…I think it’s called “Darunok.” It’s a gift store with a little bit of everything in it…tea kettles, notebooks, sunglasses, headphones, nail polish, boucy balls, hair accessories, permanent markers, and…birthday candles! Three packages of them.

I bought one happily and left in triumph for the market, where Deb was buying coats for the kids for 5 gryvny ($1) each at the PUY (Perpetual Ukrainian Yardsale). I found a coat too. It’s somewhat worn, but it’s also cozy and not bad looking, and what can I say? I now have a winter coat and it only cost a dollar.

After Deb drove home with the other kids and the groceries, Rodgy and I stayed a while longer and shopped for produce. I was hoping for pumpkins, but we didn’t see any. We did find some fresh raspberries, however…man! Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits, but I’ve very seldom had them fresh. They were much cheaper here than at home, but I’m not sure what the actual price was because I don’t know how big the container was.

I also needed some cream, and since I’d forgotten it at the blue store I went into the one Deb buys milk at in emergencies, a shop at the edge of the market. The store is small, one room and two registers, and there was a line across the whole thing of about 15 people, maybe more. We seemed to be the only ones actually shopping. Everyone else was in line.

I searched for cream in the case, but I couldn’t see anything that would be cream. I had seen the containers of cream Deb had bought, but I didn’t know the word for it. The trouble was, while I was looking, I was also cutting in line because the main section of the line went past the case of dairy products. So I went over to the counter and tried to ask the lady behind it about cream, without actually saying “cream.” Well, I did say cream quite a few times. I asked for “crem” because I know that that’s the word for lotion type stuff…and cream in Spanish is “crema” so I thought maybe there would be some connection. But she smiled and laughed and asked me if I meant kefir. No…not this time.

Then she went through all the dairy products she had, many of which I knew: moloko (milk), cmetana (sour cream), kefir (its yummy self), mas’lo (butter), yo-urt (yogurt)… but no cream. So I moved aside and pulled out my pocket dictionary. There was the word for cream. After a quick look, I went back to the counter and tried to say it, but alas, in my hurry I hadn’t really gotten it. I tried to salvage it any way and ventured “Sviky? Silky?” Should have been close enough right? The lady just looked at me and laughed and smiled some more, getting more and more animated, and talking to the other ladies behind the counter. Obviously it wasn’t working, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I looked it up again. “Svilky?” I asked, more boldly this time. Jackpot! Aha! Sviky! No, they didn’t have any sviky. So settled on sour cream, and the woman retrieved it from the case, cackling heartily the whole time and yelling at her friends, who thought it was the most hilarious thing they’d seen this week, or this year even. I made motions to show that I was going to the end of the line, but she motioned to me and went off in a long tangent that was something to the effect of: "You just come right over here and let me help you with that, sugar plum!" So she did.

And then we left, the high amusement of half of Rzhishchiv ringing in our ears! Well, at least we provided some entertainment for someone :)