Party Animals

Okay, so last night we were invited to join some locals in a bbq and were told that two of the women could speak English quite well. It turns out they could and we had a good time getting to know them. However, Ukrainians make vodka toasts to everything and if you don't drink or drink very little, it becomes very difficult to dine with them and not feel the pressure to "keep up". They are offended if you don't drink and if you do . . . .they fill another shot glass for you to join them in another toast. You can't win for loosing - kinda thing. We made it through as much as we could comfortably stand and then excused ourselves around 11p.m. and said we needed to go to bed - blamed it on the time change :) Anyway, the bbq was very good and they wanted to know if we had "these kind of grilled meats in America" . . .funny, huh? They are very concerned about how we like their country and their food, etc. We have many questions asked of us about this and I can't tell you how many times we've been asked if we like their food. We love it! And a plus for us is that we are both loosing weight. Not because of a lack of food, but we don't snack between meals and we are not eating bread, cookies, crackers, ice cream and other sweet treats AND we are getting more excercise. The meals always look "light", but we end up stuffed and satisfied. I am going to try and find an authentic cookbook when we return to Kiev (hopefully in English) so I can continue to cook Ukrainian meals at home. This will not only help Marina to feel more at home, but help us to eat a bit healthier. Although many of the meals they eat are very similar to the ones we eat at home - same ingredients, just prepared a bit differently. I guess the difference is everything is fresh and raw - veggies, and the only thing that is cooked are the meats and soup. They use a LOT of fresh herbs in their dishes as well. We are getting ready to eat lunch now and then we'll go see Marina. Up the hill with a full belly - I hope we don't croak!! It is quite chilly here now and if you want to check the weather just click on: http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/UPXX0016?from=36hr_topnav_business

Hopefully that will take you to the 10 day forcast for Kiev, Ukraine on www.weather.com

Well, not much else to say right now - more later after our visit today.