Last night we went to another American’s house to watch a tape of the superbowl and have a little belated party in honor of the game. We ended coming back to our apartment homesick – Dave for watching sports on TV and I for some fast food – the Taco Bell ads really got to me. Tacos are non-existent here. Today life goes on as usual, but though it was a balmy 40 degrees yesterday, today the wind howled and it snowed. Tomorrow is the first day of spring in Ukraine, and though the weather is less than springy, someone reassured me today that it will be spring soon and the only reason it’s cold today is because the seasons are fighting because winter doesn’t want to be done yet. Hopefully they’re right.
If winter does end up lasting another month, the one good thing will be that we’ll keep drinking tea to stay warm. Dave and I have discovered a whole new world of tea here in Ukraine. Entire aisles of stores are dedicated to it, as are quite a few stalls at the market. There’s tea from all over the world, and in so many different flavors. Our current favorite we discovered at our language lesson when Dave wasn’t feeling well and Marina, our teacher, made him a cup of tea. It’s a loose black tea made in Denmark, and it’s translated “Earl Grey,” but it’s nothing like the English Earl Grey I’ve tasted at home. It tastes like berries and is full of all kinds of interesting things – the ingredient list includes red saffron, blue cornflower and red currants. Marina directed us to a tiny tea shop located inside a pharmacy near the center of town to buy this special tea, and we’ll be returning soon. Behind the small counter are jars full of all kinds of fun flavors of tea, most of which we can only identify by the pictures on the jar labels – all the more reason to taste as many as we can!
It’s no wonder there are so many kinds of tea available – Ukrainians drink tea like it’s their job. At every meal and social gathering, as well as many times in between, there’s tea to be drunk and cookies to be eaten. Jam is also common base for “tea” – just add a couple spoonfuls to a cup of hot water, and it’s ready. But we think the teas we find here will be just as good iced as they are hot, so perhaps it would be all right if spring would hurry up and get here.
Laura
