Yes, it has been many, many months since my last blog entry; mid-January to be exact. But with time running out on my Peace Corps experience, I need to get crackin'! So here is another slice of life as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I hope you enjoy.
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| This is a tongue, people! |
I lived in New York City for over ten years and I realized that New Yorkers love farmers' markets. What's there not to love? There are filled with products grown naturally on local farms, trucked in (or, perhaps bicycled in!), and sold by the producers themselves. Often these products are sold by young women and (bearded) men who are happy to tell you about how they left their financial job to get in touch with themselves and really live life. This is a perfect scenario for conscientious New Yorkers who get to buy fresh meats, produce and organic pretzels while saving the planet and supporting local farmers. All good things, indeed. I would sometimes visit the famous Union Square Market at Fourteenth Street and Broadway or the market near McCarren Park in Brooklyn. I'd peruse the fresh products that I frequently didn't have the money to buy (I went to C-Town Market instead). All was right with the world.
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| Heads Up! |
I started with that little story to compare it with a real farmers'
market that you see everyday in Ukraine. It's not some in some cute little square in the middle of the city where everyone is fairly well-dressed, sipping on fair trade coffee and walking dogs. Many American's would not fall in love with farmers' markets here in Ukraine. Why? First, there is the weather. The markets run six days a week, rain or shine or sleet. In the wintertime, the market is covered with ice and snow. That makes it hard to stand, but the temperature is the real problem. You need to keep yourself well-bundled as you trundle around the market, looking for the right mix of foods, trying not to fall and break anything (your newly bought eggs or your bones, for example). Fortunately, when the skies clear up in April, the ice melts. Thank God! Oops, now the all those ice patches are now mud! For the next month or two you have to slog around instead of skate. Finally though comes the warm weather. Yes, the sun beats down on the market, dries everything up, and...thus begin the dust storms. For the summer you must negotiate the heat, dusty winds, and the flies that descend on the fruits, vegetables, and the meats.
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| Pig Heads, Pig Heads, Roly-Poly Pig Heads |
The next issue that would bug most Americans would be the lack of personal space. Many Americans, such as myself, love personal space. But there are numerous countries, like Ukraine, where personal space is much, much smaller. This is not a bad thing, just a fact. As an American, I've had to learn how to come to terms with people bumping into me from all directions. It is not easy but it is necessary in that I am the guest and I need to get used to the rules without losing my temper. And the market can be a very hectic place; especially on the weekends. As you walk through the aisles of stalls, people come at you from all sides. There are babusyas pushing through to get to the front of the line. There are children wandering aimlessly from their parents. And then there are the workers who push through boxes of vegetables and fruits with little regard to who is in their way. It came be a literal pinball machine at times with me as the bouncing metal ball. I think it's even more difficult when it is not crowded and people walk into me anyway. To survive a Ukrainian market you have to learn patience.
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| Salo and Hocks |
Finally, there is the last part most Americans cannot get by...the meat pavilion. As a meat eater, I was always checking out the choice cuts at the Union Square Market. The knowledgable vendors would gladly describe the delectable cuts of beef, chicken, bison, etc. with me. All their cuts where nicely arrayed and professionally wrapped. Very professional. Ukraine, totally different story. Most people do not get by the smell. It smells like slaughtered animals - truth in advertising. As you walk in the pavilion, the vendors are lined along connecting tables with their cuts lined up. Unlike the the nicely packaged meats we get in America, this is the real farm-to-table deal - every part of the animal is used and most of it is laying right in front of your eyes. It begins with the ever-popular salo (pig fat), and continues with loins, and ribs, and all the familiar cuts. Then comes the stuff we usually don't see: hearts, kidneys, tails, pig heads, pig ears, and some big old bloody tables filled with intestines and other offal. There are no special saws to make the cuts, pig and cow carcasses are chopped up using (blunt) axes and various knives. It's especially fun to see a pig carcass get hacked apart during the winter - chip, chip, chip! And if something falls to the floor, no problem, as there are any number of dogs that will come rushing over to clean up the mess. Or, they don't wait, they just hop up to the counter and pull down a bone.
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| Half a pig's better than a kick in the head! |
So back to my original thesis: American farmers' market vs. the rest of the world's (or at least Ukraine's) farmers' markets. I do believe they hold an important function in our society but unlike in America, markets in Ukraine are not just for a weekend visit and an enlightened feeling of doing something good by buying 'local' or 'farm to table'. Markets here are a daily occurrence driven by survival. Yes, American farmers need similar support, but most Ukrainian farmers don't have other outlets to see their food. It is pure and simple, growing during the appropriate season and then trying to sell your products during the week. There are no fancy signs or packaging. You get your kilo of meat or veggies or fruits in a plastic bag that you usually supply yourself. You have to wade through masses of people in all sorts of weather. But there are so many upsides as well. You do get better products at the markets than in the stores. And it's a great place to meet people and, in my case, to practice my language skills. And most importantly, you get to find the vendors who sell the best products and feel like you are part of their personal community. I have spent many a day in the market and it is something I will miss when I leave. It's like an American market minus the artifice and smugness.
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| The nose(s) knows |
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