THE BAZAAR

We had been hearing about the bazaar since January, and had even driven past it several times.  But we had never gone before April because it is all outdoors except for a few buildings with indoor shops, and it was usually just toooo cold to do outdoor shopping, although that didn't seem to stop a lot of people from doing it.  The sign above the old entrance says "Import Market," or something close to that.  There are several entrances.  We usually come down a long flight of stairs from the hill above and enter from the back side.  But the bazaar is spread over a large area and even crosses the street where there is another large section of it.  Along that street people set up little tables and sell everything from pirated DVDs to puppies, parakeets, and kittens. 

The little shops in the older sections are usually just wooden partitions with tables set up to display the goods.  The newer section has small metal pre-fab buildings divided into shops.  There are probably hundreds of little shops in the whole bazaar.  Each shop seems to specialize in one particular type of item.  Most of the shops are clothing shops and the majority of people in Berdyansk buy their clothes in the bazaar.  One shop may sell jeans, another ladies' shoes, another dresses and skirts, etc.  And of course there are shops for men's clothing as well.  My favorite shops (blush, blush!) are the bra shops.  I have never seen so many colorful, sexy, exotic, lacy bras in my life----all right out in public for the ladies to look at.  Some of the shops (including the bra shops) have a curtain in one corner where you can go and try the clothes on.  I watched one fairly large lady trying on bathing suits a few weeks ago.  She would change behind the curtain and then come out to get her friend's opinion.  We had been told that in the bazaar people may try on clothes right out in public, and the polite thing to do was to simply look right through it as it wasn't happening, especially if the ladies stripped to their underwear.  We have not seen that happen when we've been there, although we may have just missed it.  The selection in each shop is usually not very large, but you can go a few steps and find another shop that may have what you want. 

This young lady was selling bikinis because summer was coming and everyone wants to go to the beach.  She was very friendly and nice.  Loved having her picture taken.

I bought this filmy pink scarf from this lady.  She had a lot of scarves and other accessary items for ladies.

I've been to this lady's shop several times.  She does beautiful crochet work, she loves to see me coming because she knows I'll probably buy something.

Jeans, jeans, and more jeans.  Most of them wild and funky. 

On a warm Saturday these two men (called buskers in Europe---entertaining for cash) were playing some of my favorite old standard music.  Frank put some coins in their pot after I took the picture.

This shop is not in the bazaar, but it is just a few steps down.  It is in an indoor mall across from the meat market.  I have been in this shop often, buying yarn for knitting and crocheting.  This lady was very helpful, but I didn't linger in the shop too long.  She had been eating her lunch and the smell of garlic was overpowering.  That is only time that has ever happened to us.

I could write a lot more, but I think you get an idea of what the bazaar is like.  I have not shopped for clothes, but if I do I will probably go to the indoor malls where there are lots of clothing shops.  The quality is definitely better there.  I have bought two pairs of shoes in the bazaar---a pair of sandals and a pair of nice slip-ons for church.  Actually, I thought some of the prices in the bazaar were somewhat expensive for the quality.  But, for people-watching and having a nice day out, the bazaar is definitely a fun place.

ADVENTURES IN GROCERY SHOPPING

Perhaps one of the most daunting things a person has to adjust to in a new country is learning how to shop for groceries.  In countries where very little English is spoken, like Ukraine, it can be especially scary.  You have to depend on the pictures which might be on the packages.  But sometime you can make a mistake with that too----I picked up a packet that had a picture of what I thought was celery, dried celery leaves.  When we got home and looked up the word in the dictionary we found that it contained dried parsley leaves.  It wasn't a horrible mistake, but it illustrates how even pictures can mislead you.  It really helps to have a knowledgeable friend along to give guidance the first two or three times.  Fortunately Frank and I had started working on the Russian language before we left the U.S., although I am really poor at picking up new sounds and then pronouncing them.  Frank has really done good, so I like having him along to read the labels in Russian.  Oh-oh, another problem in Ukraine-----Ukrainians are very patriotric and are beginning to use Ukrainian more and more here in the eastern part of the country.  Everyone still speaks Russian, especially the older folks, but many of the products which are being made here in Ukraine have only Ukrainian writing on them.  It's very close to Russian, the writing is similar, but sometimes the words are different.  Okay, so there is the basis for my adventure in grocery shopping.

When I saw the nice supermarkets here in Berdyansk I was very pleased.  They are so much better than the grocery stores in India.  But India has one advantage----most products had English on them, so you knew what you were getting.  (That's due to being a colony of Great Britain for so many years.  Indians are very patriotic and want to use their own languages, but they want to know English too.)  The stores may not have looked as nice as these supermarkets, but they did have almost everything you might need, or want.  Perhaps I should mention here that Frank and I aren't afraid to try new foods (although I did draw the line at fish-head curry in India many years ago---the eye staring up at me was just too much for me to swallow, literally.)  So, what have I learned about grocery shopping in Ukraine?

• Bring along your own shopping bags.  If you need a bag, you'll probably have to pay for it.  And you will bag up your purchases yourself.  No one will help you with that.  I was sort of expecting this, so in our shipment I included a couple of sturdy bags---a black Walmart bag and a larger green one from Joann's Fabrics.  I bought those too, but they are probably stronger than what I have now.
• You can buy fruit and vegetables at the supermarket, but there is a better selection at the regular market, which is in an unheated building with various stalls outside as well.  You can also get meat and other items like spices at the market.  I bought potatoes yesterday, they are really dirty as if they'd just been dug up.  Carrots and onions are like that too.  Even in the supermarket root vegetables have not been cleaned.
• At the supermarket there are lots of items that can be purchased in bulk:  flour, oatmeal, sugar, rice, and other commodities like that.  But there are also delicious cookies and crackers of all kinds that you can buy in bulk.  In the freezer section there are different fish, shrimp (looking up at you with the eyes still in!) mixed vegetables, and various Ukrainian foods including variniky which is somewhat like ravioli except it's stuffed with different things.  I have bought cheese variniky and chicken variniky, both very good.  Yesterday in a small grocery store downtown I saw frozen chicken heads just waiting for someone's soup pot.
• When you buy a carton of eggs here, you get ten eggs, not twelve.  They probably work more on the decimal system here.  The eggs have very dark yellow-orange yolks, but they taste just the same as in the U.S.
• Ukrainians eat a lot of fish, after all we're on the Sea of Azov.  There are many, many different kinds and I don't know hardly any of them!  Slowly, one by one, we will be trying some of them.
• I haven't bought ice cream yet, but I've been told that it melts quickly so you need to get it home fast.  However, if it melts and refreezes it doesn't get ice crystals like that in the U.S.  It stays smooth and creamy.
• The supermarkets have wonderful pastry sections.  We're working our way through different breads and cookies and haven't had one yet that we don't like.
• The deli sections are really good too.  I'm trying a few things at a time.  Our latest discovery was something I bought in the deli last week.  It was a large oval-egg-shaped ball stuffed with something and then deep-fried.  I thought it might be stuffed with potato or other vegetable since I remembered something like that from 2007,  but when we heated it up in the oven and then opened it up, it was stuffed with tender chicken breast.  We each had one for lunch and it was delicious.  I asked our friends for the name, but they didn't know.
• Paprika is a favorite spice here, probably because of the close proximity to Hungary.  I have seen chickens in the meat section marinated in something dark red.  I am guessing the marinade has paprika in it and I plan to buy one in the next week or so and give it a try. 
• There are scads of different sausages in the meat section.  Some are salami, but most of them I don't know.  I hesitate to buy them because I can see big pieces of fat in the cut ends of them.  I want to try them, but we really don't need that high fat content.
• One other thing that we have tried is pickled cabbage.  It's not like saurkraut at all.  It is very tart and I have added a bit of sugar to it to cut that sourness.  It's makes a good salad.  I get it out of the bulk section of the supermarket.
• There are plenty of soft drinks including Coke and Sprite.
• I bought a container of Pringle potato chips this week.  It cost about a dollar.  We have also tried some Ukrainian potato chips.  They are good, with a little different flavor.  Not bad at all.
• We are tea drinkers.  We had the best tea in the world in India, and I was extremely happy to discover some of our favorite brands here in Ukraine.  Ukrainians love tea more than coffee, so they want the best.  There is also coffee, but we haven't tried any of that yet. 

I think this is enough about food for now.  I know more things will pop into my mind after I finish this, but I'll write more about food as we continue to try new things.