How to make sauerkraut, Ukrainian style

Pasha showing Kim how to make kraut

kneading the salt into the cabbage

For weeks my friend Pasha has been patiently explaining how to make several different Ukrainian national dishes. We always buy Pasha’s homemade sauerkraut. It is absolutely delicious! Have you ever tried homemade? There isn’t any comparison to the kraut sold in a can.
Just yesterday Pasha offered to show me how to make kraut (in Ukrainian it is called kvashena kapusta). She told me, “All you need is 5 kilos of cabbage and salt….” Today, she reminded me that we were going to make kraut. So, I bought 2 large heads of cabbage and shredded them. Then as she promised Pasha came up to our apartment and showed me what to do next. I was so excited that she finally came to our place! We had informally invited her several times to our place, and now…success! She began by kneading a HEAPING tablespoon of salt into the cabbage and then the 3 of us, (yes, even Jerry helped…he’s wonderful!) packed it into a 3 liter jar. She said that the juice resulting from this process is very good for digestion. I couldn’t believe that we got all 10lbs of cabbage into the 3 liter jar.
Now we’ll need to let it stand on the counter for at least 48 hours. She said that we need to bring her some on Friday so that she can taste it to see if we are ready for the next step. We will see what that next step is.
I am so excited that our friendship with Pasha has developed to the point that she could come to our place. We look forward to the day when we can meet her husband Ivan. He is still sick. It is difficult to keep asking about his health, instead we just continue to pray for him. Pasha told me that he is feeling pretty down because of his health and the restrictions that it puts on him.

~kim

A Great Time At The Sauna

A great time at the sauna? Yep, I know it's a surprise after yesterday's blog.

I took the subway to meet Yura (a contractor who is out of work) and Alexey, a dentist, and Sasha, a painter of murals in Orthodox churches, at the subway station on the edge of town. We drove from there to the 'resort zone' where the sauna was located. Before we got into the car Yura asked if I drink beer, "Uh, um, not so much" I said, not wanting to say "No".
"Well, you better get one right now", he said.
"It's ok, I have water".
"Oh, okay then" he said and he was really not offended and didn't think it was weird.
Actually Kim was helping me by praying that it wouldn't be a big deal since the sauna experience can often mean drinking. But these guys were cool.
On the 10 minute drive we talked skiing. It was nice, non-threatening.

We stripped down- you can forget bathing suits in a Russian Sauna (Ukrainians call the sauna experience a 'Russian Sauna'; in Russia it's just a sauna)- and went in to the sauna to find the temperature an unacceptable 158F. Yura quickly got them to crank up the heat and by the time of our last dip in the ice-water pool it was in the 200F range, which is still more of a temperature for women (that's what Russians and Ukrainians say, not me) but it was nice.

Well, we talked about a lot of things. I've never had such open conversations about the Bible, politics, religion in general, and of course, more skiing, than we had in the three hours there. It was a very nice time.

Ok, this is a lot. I need to go to a few meetings today and one of those will be early so it's time to scoot. This means I still owe a blog about what the sauna experience is like. I won't forget.

Yura and Sasha, (not the church painter but a guy who came a little later and owns two autoparts stores) begged me to go skiing with them this weekend in Western Ukraine. I'm begging off of this trip due to time constraints but the acutal cost is embarassingly cheap- all travel, lodging and ski passes for 3 days for $100. Lord willing, next season...? Anyway, remember these guys. I haven't had this kind of opportunity with unbelievers ever in Russia and these are some good-hearted guys who I'd like to see make life-changing decisions.

Until next time...

Sweat

So, my ski buddy Yura finally called today, Tuesday, to make sure I was going to the sauna with him and his buddies this afternoon.
Whew! A better missionary than I would find it in himself to love the sauna experience...(I guess I'll write and describe it soon- The Russian Sauna is a cultural event that is unique.) There are plenty of things I do love about life in Eastern Europe- borsch, friendships, hot mustard, the whole "the clock works for us, we don't work for the clock" way of doing business...But for me the only reason to go to the sauna is because it is something you do with real friends and you deepen friendships while doing it.
Meeting people skiing was good but this is definitely taking acquaintance to a deeper level, culturally speaking. How could I say no?

So, while the sauna would not be my choice for getting to know new people, Yura did invite me and this was AFTER he asked me for some written statement of my Christian beliefs (which I had with me and gave him there on top of the slopes) so I'll be putting my towel, slippers, water bottles, toga, and some salty snacks in a bag and catching the subway out to a far side of town where the sauna dudes will meet me with their car.

Whew! again.

While I sweat Kim will be in class by herself at the U. She likes the whole english-thing a lot but would prefer to have me along. I guess today we both get to go beyond our comfort zones.
There is probably a good illustration for the whole 'going beyond the comfort zone' in here somewhere. Maybe we'll have miraculous news to report on the outcome of all of this.

Ok, thanks for reading and remembering us.
Jerry

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

We were getting ready to go to bed at 10pm tonight, and we looked out the window...this is what we saw...How beautiful!!!

Inroads...

HI,
We're back in Kiev and back to work. We've spent some time at the U lately helping students with their English. It's such a big job learning another language that it's no wonder that those people who can afford to hire a native speaker of the target language to be a nanny for their children.
For the students we're helping it's just another subject and I don't envy them, just as they probably don't envy us as we continue to trudge through Ukrainian. We could very much use your prayers for our ability and determination to keep up the pace. (Russian is still a very easy default settting so it's difficult to force yourself to say some small thing in Ukrainian that you understand, only to be answered in Ukrainian with words you don't understand.)
Also remember the students and teachers we have contact with. We want to be useful there.

Well, I guess a while back I said I'd talk about Ski Ministry. NOW, before you say, "Yeah, right!" let me tell you that Mount Kiev (ok, it's not a 'mount' exactly, but Bunny Hill Kiev just sounds unkind) is located about 10 minutes away by public transportation. 10 runs cost a whopping $3.65 by today's exchange rate. If you read the letter I wrote about meeting Taya, it was there on the slope that we met.
This week I rode the t-bar with Yura who invited me to go to the sauna with him and his three friends. He said he'd call this Monday to set up the place near a subway station to meet them as they drove there. In the attempt to make contact this is one that I happen to enjoy the most and also seems pretty effective since, once you get on the lift with someone, their pretty much forced to talk to you for the next 3 minutes that it takes to get up the hill.

So there's that. Thanks for reading. We're encouraged to see our 'hits-counter' keeping track of our readers and are glad you're reading along.

It was a good week

We just got back from a trip to Moscow for meetings and for getting our Ukrainian Visas. As Jerry said earlier, we got our visas!!! That is great news.

It was an extra special time in Moscow because some of our team mates from our last 2 years were also in Moscow. We were able to spend time with the Mason family and the Hecock family. Although there were 10 of us in the guest flat, we had such fun with the kiddies and their parents. It has been a while since we have seen them and fellowshipped with them.

During the day Jerry was in meetings and I had fun helping cook meals for the leadership team. There is a saying…”many hands make light work”. I had a good time laughing and solving the world’s problems together with Lisa and Shelly.

Everyone got together one night to celebrate JB’s 30th birthday party. It was so good to get together with the Crouches, Merrills, Volstads, Diane, Eliel, Masons, and Hecocks and spend an evening enjoying one another’s company. Ok, we actually nearly cried several times from laughing so hard, that is good medicine for the soul, I needed that. I sat around and watched how the little ones ran around, playing with each other and it made me think of when our kids were the little ones running around with the others. It hasn’t been that many years ago and yet…it has…thank you God for our great kids and Your plan for our lives!

It was a good week, but, it is really good to be back home…sleeping in our own bed, talking with our kids on skype and seeing our new friends. Today we go to the University to begin a full week of English conversation classes. Please pray with us as we seek God’s direction in this new door opened to us. ~kim

Metropolitan

Leninsky Prospect

The platform at Leninsky Prospect

The metro arriving

So, while we were in Moscow getting our Ukrainian visas, we traveled around the city.
We got up before the crack of dawn and made our way to the Metro. I love the metro (subway).
In the winter, it is warm and in the summer it is cool. And, there is always the smell. It isn’t a foul smell, it is like the smell in your Grandpa’s garage, somehow it brings warm feelings to me.
That morning we were able to get a seat right away, we got to the metro stop just as it opened for the day.

As we were riding, I looked around and noticed a man getting ready to get off at a station. He was extremely concerned with making sure his shoes were clean. A little later on I watched another man across from me actually get out a shoe polisher and polish his shoes.
As I was riding, I noticed the woman across from me. She had her eyes ‘closed’ and she was looking around, mostly at us. I noticed this, as I have used it myself on some occasions.
During the course of our ride, we came to the stop called “Leninsky Prospect”. It is a stop that is very familiar to me. 10 years ago we lived in Moscow and every day the kids and I rode the metro to their school at this very stop. As we sat there waiting for the passengers to board, many wonderful memories of that year flooded my mind.
I love the metro.