Bliny, chicken soup, and Rusyn food

Friday morning woke up early, about 5 am, I still hadn't adjusted to the time change. I saw people walking their cows down the main street of the town, taking them to the pasture. I saw a gypsy couple driving a horse drawn wagon down the street; I took a photo of them, and from the look they gave me I don't think they liked it much!

Went to the cemetery, and saw graves of relatives. After returning from my walk, Klara forced me to eat breakfast of fresh strawberries, and bliny with homemade apricot jelly, coffee much like espresso, and tea.

Ivan and Klara do very well without modern appliances. Ivan cuts hay (grass) with a scythe, Klara uses manual kitchen utensils. Making bliny, Klara used a hand-powered beater to mix the batter; she just spun the beater between her hands, like someone spinning a stick to start a fire. It worked just as well as an electric mixer, and she was done in a fraction of the time it would have taken her to set up the electric mixer, mix, and then clean the mixer. I think if you gave Ivan a weedwacker, or Klara an electric mixer, they'd still do things the old way!

 Then I helped Ivan kill a chicken and pluck and butcher it for tomorrow.

 After that, Katya came over for English/Ukrainian lessons. She is only 6, and she showed me her English workbook. I would be impressed by an American 6 year old being able to read this workbook, let alone a Ukrainian kid.
At noon we went to Marta's home for lunch. Since it was Friday and we couldn't eat meat, we had mushroom soup, followed by meatless holubtsi. and wine. We were joined by Klara's son Misha, Marta's son Misha, and Misha Diduk's son-in-law Pavel.

About 4pm, family friends Marina and Pavel Blanar came to pick me up in their car to take me to Etela and Josef Vasko's house. Marina is a pediatrician who works in a clinic in Uzhgorod. Pavel is the chief psychiatrist at the orphanage in Chaslivtsi. They both speak excellent English, and know everyone in the area because of Pavel's interest in geneology and Rusyn culture and heritage. Pavel told me he never studied English, he just learned through the years by meeting and talking to Americans. Their son Pavel Jr. just spent a couple years in the Ukrainian army after earning a Masters degree in Economics at the University of Uzhgorod.

Etela and Josef have one of the few two story homes I've seen. They live there with their son Misha and his wife Natalia. Misha is a Ukrainian customs agent/border guard who works the train staition in Chop. Natalia is the principal of the school in Dovhe Pole. Also living there is Misha's daughter Nikoletta, her husband Rob, and  their newborn son. Etela and Joseph have a younger son, Slava, who lives and works in Czech Republic.

We all had dinner there,starting with soup. Then fried chicken, fried cutlets, fried cauliflower, mushrooms, salad, and more meatless holubtsi. and more homemade wine.