Self-sustenance

After a week of back and forth guessing about what Тамара does every three days, I think I have a better grasp. She is either a book keeper or landlady for the community which we live in, or she is some crime fighting бабушка who scares dogs off. I guess I will have to investigate further (or just wait until my Russian improves).

Today we walked to her garden which is located right behind the apartment complex where I live. Тамара's garden is HUGE! Right now it is the end of the harvesting season, minus the few patches of parsley and dill which we cut today, and a few grape vines with some very tasty grapes still hanging. There she grows tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins (self made tikvana kasha!), beets, apples, grapes, various herbs, turnips (or something that resembled) and cucumbers. I forgot to bring my camera (smart), so I asked her again if I could see it so I could share photos with you. I am hoping that come March, I will be able to visit her and learn how to garden with her.

If all the бабушкаs got together and combined their savings to go to America and start a Ukrainian farmer's market, they would make a killing. There's no organic here - it's just how people do.

Yesterday we learned about Ukrainian history and how it influences peoples' personalities today. The cultural differences became so clear when Denise flashed photos of famine and death across his computer screen. My job just became so much heavier. I'm not only teaching English - I'm teaching people how to look up. Maybe Тамара's tutorial on gardening can be translated into teaching about "יהיה טוב."