There's always work in the garden

In my last post, I forgot to mention that one of the things I did was help Klara pick green beans from the garden. In Autumn, there is always some kind of work to do in the garden or orchard. There is always a vegetable or fruit that is ripening, and needs to be harvested. The pigs and chickens always need fed, and their houses cleaned. Doesn't matter how you're feeling yourself that day, the work still needs to be done. We picked most of the green beans yesterday; today I finished picking them, then tore the plants out and cleared the plot.

I went into town looking for the Tourinform Zakarpattia office. I'd read in Uzhgorod.in about a trip they have planned to the beech forest at Tyachiv, and wanted more information. Never did find the office. Was told it was in the hotel "Druzhba", so I walked half a mile up the Zhupanska Street hill in vain. Found a new Greek Catholic church under construction, right beside a Russian Orthodox church. The Orthodox church was originally Greek Catholic, but was given to Russian Orthodox Church when Soviets took over. The sun was in the wrong direction for me to get the photos I wanted, but below is the GC church under construction, and the RO church beside it:

Back in the city center, I stopped at the "Old Cafe" to rest and have a pot of tea. Since I was sitting right next to the showcase with all the deserts, so I couldn't pass up some apple strudel. I can't remember what the bill came to, but it was something ridiculously cheap compared to prices in America. Also, very friendly service. The waitress very happily answered all my questions about the desserts, told me that the strudel with the red filling wasn't raspberry as I thought but cherry, and that the pastry with the black filling wasn't poppyseed, but blackberry. And I learned that the Ukrainian word for strudel is "shtrudel". 

Then I walked eastward from the pedestrian bridge, on the south side of the river, on the "Orthodoxy Embankment". A view of the Old Synagogue/ Philharmonic from the other side of the river; also the towers of the GC Cathedral showing above the roofline. 

Below, the memorial to fallen police officers of Zakarpattia:

Here is the Russian Orthodox Church built by Russian emigres who fled here during the Russian Civil war:

Below, memorial to those Zakarpattian soldiers fallen in line of international duty:

Back home (Klara's), Ivan was grinding feed for the pigs - corn, wheat, and another grain:

Klara and Marta were at the church, cleaning. They called and told me that Father Pavlo's friends from America were there, so I went and met Steve Kutchman and his wife. Very nice couple from Johnstown PA.They had been following my blog, and we had been corresponding by email. They had met Father Pavlo when he was a student at the Seminary in Johnstown, and were at his wedding last year in Irshava. I forgot to bring my camera, but I'm sure I'll be seeing them again soon.

In the afternoon, I went back to the English School, for a class with a new bunch of teenagers, aged 12 to 15.  During these classes, I don't teach as much as I coach, and try to get the students talking in English. Marina, the teacher, pointed out two girls who were always quiet, and I made a special effort to try to get them talking in English. (Not much success; but Marina said they never talk, so I don't feel like a failure.) The class wanted to go for a walk around the city, so Marina agreed, if the class would point out to me all the features of the city (in English), and tell me about Uzhgorod as if I was seeing it for first time. 

First, I learned that the pedestrian bridge over the Uzh is 300 years old. I was told about the custom of lovers locking a lock onto the bridge, and throwing the key into the river. I learned that originally there was a wooden bridge where the pedestrian bridge is now, and some of the pilings can still be seen.

From the students I learned that in the past, there was once a fountain on Teatralna Square; that the Shevshenko School is one of the best schools in Uzhgorod, but is very cold in winter. During our tour, we stopped for ice cream (about 50 cents for an ice cream cone). I asked the children if any of them understood the Rusyn "po nashemu" dialects - they did, and gave me plenty of examples of words in both standard Ukrainian and Rusyn. (I can't remember any!). From Klara I had learned that in Zakapattia there are over 20 words for "potato", (kartople, bandurki, krumpli, etc,etc,) and depending upon which word you use, will instantly let anyone know what area you are from. Marina, the teacher, told me that when she was in college, she shared a room with several other girls. In her village, the word for "potato" is "reepa". One day she asked the other girls if they would like to eat some fried "reepa"; the other girls said "NO!!!!!!People don't eat "reepa"; we feed "reepa" only to pigs!!!".......In their villages, "reepa" meant a vegetable similar to turnips which is only good for pig feed.