Today was Sunday. What does that mean in Ukraine? Well, for me – it means my only day of no school or language classes (but loads of grammar review before a new week of intense language classes where already difficult concepts continue to build on each other. Right now, I think that I would compare my knowledge of Russian to something like the Leaning Tower of Pisa- pretty unstable and missing a few important structural components but standing and rather useful … for a tourist) Anyway, for the average Ukrainian- Sunday, roughly translated, means BAZAAR! Although I’ve been here for a little over a month, today was the first Sunday that I had a chance to venture over to my city’s Bazaar. From my friends’ accounts, I was expecting something like the downtown Farmer’s Market at home, which I’m sure you’re also picturing when I say “BAZAAR”. But folks, this ain’t Virginia. After my Sunday experience, “Bazaar” now conjures a crossbred image between a circus and an auction. I was utterly awe-stuck. I mean, there are only a few things in Ukraine that make me consider it “exotic”. Because really- despite the hype of being on the opposite side of the world and dealing with the inconveniences of living in a third world country, I’m not trekking through the jungles of Thailand or gathering water in clay pots from a polluted river a few kilometers outside of a hut village in Sub-Saharan Africa. Depending on what I’m comparing my service to, my life teeters pretty close to normal. However, the Bazaar is one of the few things that keep my life from being entirely at par. I don’t have time to go into all the details, but my favorite visual: there are literally bath-tub vats of with freshly caught fish of all sizes still flopping around in them. These fish are bought up by anxious customers and then proceed to be beheaded and nicely bagged right before the payer’s eyes. It’s marvelous. Cages of live chickens are similarly prepared and bagged. Then, you have the goats… and still, there’s also the massive amounts of “pre-prepared” meat vendors where mounds of chicken livers, breasts, legs, and wings, lay open to the elements and in clear site of inquiring customers where they can finger the meat unwrapped meat until they find something that meets their liking. It’s a pushing and shoving, shouting and hollering match between customers and customer and vendor to get the best selection.
Next Sunday, I’m considering taking a bag of popcorn and sitting on the church steps to dine and watch the Sunday morning spectacle. Really, I’ve never encountered anything quite so entertaining in this particular way- very intriguing.
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