Day #2 - dva (dvah) Market Day

Saturdays are the big market days for vendors and shoppers. The streets are lined with lots of people from the villages selling herbs, veggies, fruits, milk and lots of potatoes. In the middle of the block is an area with rows and rows of vendor huts selling everything from shoes to architectural molding to baby chicks. Craig and I were shopping for flip flops one day when I felt a tap on my shoulder. As I turned around, I was surprised to find Larisa (above-Sergei's teacher since first grade) and her husband Gena. We definitely felt like locals at that point.

Adjacent to the vendor huts is an indoor arena that is packed with all sorts of food items. There are cookies, candies, fruits, beef, pork, cheese, sausages, fish and lots of other stuff. It is an energetic place fill with people trying to sell their inventory. To the left is my favorite Ukrainian cookie vendor.

We have been buying lots of fresh fruit and taking it to camp for the kids. They do not eat fresh fruit often at the orphanage so it is a real treat. A bag of fresh cherries is more appealing than a candy bar and disappears quickly.

To the left, I was buying vinograd to take to camp. Sergei's last name was Vinogradov so we were pretty excited when we understood the Russian word vinograd for grapes. We have similar fruits at home at this point in the summer. The tomatoes are red and delicious just like Jersey tomatoes.



Of course the most interesting part of the market is at the end where the beef, pork and chicken areas are. I believe every body part was considered valuable inventory. It is very European and completely different than anything we would ever see at home. Many of you might remember when Craig was a certified food safety instructor. Well, picture his face when we got a closer look at the piles of raw meats, fats and carcasses. No refrigeration, no gloves and no covers.

Our friends the Trumps insist that pick knuckle is a delicacy. I asked Sergey (translator) what people do with the whole cow heads pictured below. He did not have an answer. Nor did he know what people do with pig's ears.