ML and Ukrainian Women.

[Muzh]

The feijoada? With with rice, and accompanied by chopped fried couve mineira, lightly roasted farofa, and peeled and sliced orange?

Good , I had it in Rio where they said it's a Friday night specialty because it's a bit on the heavy side for digestion - it takes a full weekend to get over it .

Sandro, just the soup for me.

If I'm going to mix it with rice then I'll make the traditional Cuban dish; Congri. See: http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Congri_%28Rice_and_Beans%29_Recipe sans the red chili pepper.

[ML]

The AAA Guide Book says to skip Disney and other such; and instead go to Lake Eola Park in the center of Orlando and to Harry P. Leu Gardens just north of the center.

We did both the last two days we were in Orlando . . . and I must agree with AAA.
Very nice places.

One of my friends let us drive his classic XK to the Gardens.

[ML]

Gal took her written driver's license exam back in mid December and passed on first try, getting a learner's permit.  We never told that she had a Ukrainian license because there was some chance they might try to take it away as they do for licenses issued by other states of USA.

And just today, she passed the road test part of the exam on first try, so now has official and valid USA drivers license.  It is only good for the remaining time period of her 3 year student visa but can be renewed same as USA citizens can, if and when she gets an extension of the student visa.

She had been driving her own car since late July using her Ukrainian driver's license.  We could never get consistent answers as to how long she could use this  Ukrainian license in USA before having to have a USA state license.  Anyway, now she has what is needed.  Learning to parallel park was a real bitch, and probably will never be used again.  She never had to do it in Ukraine.

Florida pics wearing new Levi 517s officially issued with bread free (almost) diets.  I am told these pics may look wider than actual depending on use of wide screen monitors vs the older more square monitors.  Who knows.

[GQBlues]

...Florida pics wearing new Levi 517s officially issued with bread free (almost) diets.  I am told these pics may look wider than actual depending on use of wide screen monitors vs the older more square monitors.  Who knows.

LOL! Yeah, I think she's about a loaf away from optimum, LOL. But I'm glad you guys had a great time in sunny Florida!

[ML]

Gal is busy preparing a 12 course meal for us and our 4 guests.
We are supposed to eat this evening when first star appears in sky.
Can't have meat, only fish.
Best thing I have heard is that we will have varenyki with cherries inside.
There was some talk of having hay on the table, but I thought that was somewhat unsanitary.

[ML]

 Correction:  The varenyky will have potato inside.  Cherries and apples will be inside pyrizhky.

[ML]

Lake Eola Park in the center of Orlando, Florida

[Kuna]

ML,

I'm enjoying the updates but just some advice... I think you should be careful taking photos of birds if your lady is around.   

Kuna

[ML]

ML,

I'm enjoying the updates but just some advice... I think you should be careful taking photos of birds if your lady is around.   

Kuna

I think that caution only applies if the woman is British.
Does bird refer to women in Australia also?
I thought they were Shelias.

[ML]

Further update on the Christmas food which covered a period of 3 days.

Borsch with pampushki rolls covered with garlic juice.  Gal had prepared these garlic rolls before and I asked her to cut down on the strength of the garlic somewhat.

She also made some pampushki with no garlic which is great with oatmeal, etc.

Kutia with rice, ground poppy seeds, honey and walnuts.

Kolotucha which is made from cheese similar to syrniki and then milk added to form something like a thick cream.  This has an excellent taste and goes great with the cherry and apple pyrizhky I noted in an earlier post.

I couldn't find the word 'kolotucha' on an internet search, so the correct spelling must be somewhat different if anyone knows it.

Pyrizhky can come in various forms.  Aside from the ones with cherry or apple inside, Gal also made some from flattened dough, ground poppy seeds added, and  then successively rolled up.  This is also excellent with the kolotucha spread on top, and or honey.

Note:  If your Gal starts talking about needing ground poppy seeds . . . just ignore her.   Otherwise you are going to find out what a mortar and pestle are, and your arms are going to hurt a lot!!       Best to tell her that mortar and pestle are no longer available in USA.

Also note that most all of the above is made with flour so, in effect, we ate a lot of bread during the holidays.  But now we are done with that until the next holiday.

It takes a lot (and I mean a lot) of time and effort to make some of these items.
I get the impression from my Gal that a lot of women her age and younger no longer know how to make these items; particularly those gals who grew up in the city. 

My Gal lived last 20 years in Kyiv, but before that she lived at edge of small town where her parents had huge garden with orchard, and some farm animals.  They still do have the garden and orchard.  Her grandmother lived with them and taught her how to cook all the traditional Ukrainian dishes, make the bread items, etc.

[ghost of moon goddess]

I guess it was co-lo-too-ha (other names of this dessert  are za-da-van-ka, or pa-roo-ha)
as far as I know these names originate from the Polesia region and are still used by folks living there 

[ghost of moon goddess]

P.S.
Not sure that there is "correct" or "conventional" spelling  of these words, for they are rarely used even over here in Ukraine.

[OlgaH]

I guess it was co-lo-too-ha (other names of this dessert  are za-da-van-ka, or pa-roo-ha)
as far as I know these names originate from the Polesia region and are still used by folks living there 

and another name is ryazhenka.

[Gator]

It takes a lot (and I mean a lot) of time and effort to make some of these items.
 

I enjoyed a holiday feast at a private home during my recent trip to St. Piter.   Salads, fish, meat, potatoes, etc. and much toasting with cognac. 
 
Kousna (delicious),  but much work was evident.  The seasonings were not many in number but fresh (dill, poppy seeds, etc.).  I have a 400-yo mortar and pestle on display.  It is so old that RW may think it bad.   
 

I get the impression from my Gal that a lot of women her age and younger no longer know how to make these items; particularly those gals who grew up in the city. 

The older city women know, and they have not forgotten how.  It is so much work that they finesse out of doing it. 

[ML]

GMG and Olga, thanks for providing the alternative names.  I will check those out.

Gator, thanks for your comments as well.

[ML]

A few days back was the 6 month mark since my Gal arrived from Ukraine and moved in with me.

Has been quite a smooth transition and adjustment for both of us.
No major problems have surfaced.

She has never shown any signs of home sickness.  She Skypes only weekly or so with a few friends and family.  Mostly only short talks,  but it seems to do the job.

Probably helps a lot (compared to other situations we sometimes read about here), that she has her own car and goes out and about on her own.  Drives back and forth to university, grocery shopping, etc.

Strange, but the biggest problem she has is putting gas in her car.  It took her quite a few tries to get the correct sequence of: zapping the discount tag first, then the credit card insert (with quick withdrawal), nozzle down, then choose grade, etc.
I really felt bad for her just yesterday when she did everything correct, and then the frigging thing wouldn't print out the receipt.  She feels bad when I finally have to get out of the car and help out, because she wants to be able to do this without any help.

She is very energetic and is always telling about wanting to do more work around the house and property.  I have a large tract of timber and have a lot of firewood  available.  Last summer and fall she eagerly participated in the operation  of splitting this firewood and stacking it. 

Now, she has taken over the operation of the wood burning furnace that I have.  In previous years, my procedure was to load up a pickup full of the wood and bring to the house area once a week.  Now she has decided to instead, use a wheelbarrow to bring this wood to the house.  Needless to say, this takes a lot of trips.  I strongly discouraged her from doing this, but she insists and says it will help keep her slim and trim.

I have put the kabosh on another of her proposals.  She heard that people were paying $80 a pickup load for firewood.  She wanted me to teach her how to operate one of my chainsaws so that she could cut up more firewood, load it up and deliver it for this $80.  Quite a silly idea as neither she nor I needs any such extra money.  But she just sees several acres of tree tops lying around (from a timbering operation) and thinks something should be done.  We already have about 5 years worth stacked up and covered for our own use.

Most surprising thing has been her embrace of sports.  In Ukraine she had zero  interest in this.  But now  she has become a fan of American football, and particularly the University basketball games that we attend.  She really gets into the action and bemoans every missed shot of our team, loss of ball, etc.  I have started refusing to hold her hand during games as she is prone to tight squeezing with long fingernails.

Another surprising thing has been her renewed interest in mathematics.  She is in Intensive English program, and for second semester they suggest the students sit in on some other academic classes just to get more practice in hearing English being used to teach various subjects.  We looked at course schedules to see what might fit into her already tight class schedule.

There wasn't much available time wise . . . and she choose a calculus course!!     
I said, 'are you crazy?'

But she wanted to give it a try.  Said it wasn't for a grade anyway, and she had actually had quite a bit of math at university in Ukraine;  but that was 23  years ago.

Now she is really eating it up.  Sits there and fills up pages with weird symbols solving integrations and derivatives.  Just makes me ill in stomach looking at these equations which she wants to show to me and explain step by step. 

[Patagonie]

It's never too late to be involved in maths ML  , anyways you can always sleep on the timber  . Happy for you to know all is fine.

[Gator]

ML,
You are really enjoying your time with this woman even though you are just her friend while she continues her education.   Congratulations. Risky for a confirmed bachelor such as yourself.
 

There wasn't much available time wise . . . and she choose a calculus course!!     
I said, 'are you crazy?'....Sits there and fills up pages with weird symbols solving integrations and derivatives.   Just makes me ill in stomach.....

Weird?  There are no weird math symbols, mostly Greek letters.  Is she working with Dirac delta function?

I had a few dates with a UW.  She possessed a PhD  in math and had worked for the Soviet Space Center.  She said she studied calculus for four years.  I asked why she had failed the courses repeatedly as  even engineers in the US complete their calculus in three semesters.  My joke laid an egg.

As a young scientist for the Soviets she worked with the team developing mathematical models of the trajectories of ICBMs targeted at the USA.    Remarakably brilliant woman as many of these RW are (once we get past their physical attributes).  No longer doing math when I met her.
 

[SANDRO43]

she had actually had quite a bit of math at university in Ukraine; but that was 23 years ago.

I am admittedly weak in math, but if that figure is correct, she isn't a GIRL any longer, not by a long chalk . 

[ML]

I am admittedly weak in math, but if that figure is correct, she isn't a GIRL any longer, not by a long chalk .

Sandro, where did your GIRL reference come from.  I don't think I used it in connection with her.

Perhaps some times I do refer to these adult women as girls, but I only do so because that is what they say themselves when referring to their friends, etc.

[SANDRO43]

Sandro, where did your GIRL reference come from.  I don't think I used it in connection with her.

A few days back was the 6 month mark since my Gal arrived from Ukraine and moved in with me.

Or is it short for Galina?

[Faux Pas]

Or is it short for Galina?

SANDRO, Gal is a casual term for woman or female. I'm surprised you of all peeps didn't know that 

[Gator]

SANDRO, Gal is a casual term for woman or female. I'm surprised you of all peeps didn't know that 

Yes, gal is equivalent to guy are frequently paired.  If one wants to be gender neutral, it would be gul, as in seagull because it is impossible to tell a seaguy from a seagal.   Corny. 

[SANDRO43]

it is impossible to tell a seaguy from a seagal.

Don't tell him...

...he's invested so much in black hair-dye .

[Gator]

Don't tell him...

...he's invested so much in black hair-dye .

 
 
The other day my son and I were watching TV and we decided to watch this new film in which he has the leading role of fighting crime in Eastern Europe. 
It was awful and Steven Seagal was worse. 
 
His clothing and the camera angles were selected to try to hide the fact that he has gained 30-40 pounds.  His hair looked more like a black rug than hair.   His skin was covered with dark cream  to give him that dark brooding look. 
The absolute worst was the fight scenes.  He had only a couple of moves which were very basic, and the film was sped up and superimposed with a villain to make it appear as if he  had actually moved.  No, that was not the worst.  The worst is that he is younger than me.

We watched 10 minutes.  It was good for a laugh.  He was worse than Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now.  At least Marlon could act and Apoc Now was a fantastic film.