07 Apr Back to my roots

Recently, I have been experiencing nostalgia for Ukraine. It started with a very stupid reason: my struggle to find REAL organic food in San Francisco. To be honest, I am skeptical about what is considered organic in the Western countries. I was advised to search for some stamps on the packages from respectful food and health institutions claiming products organic. But even those stamps were not persuading enough. The apples simply looked too perfectly shaped and shiny to me.

During the process of careful inspection of all apples in the organic grocery shop, I realized that my definition of organic was somewhat different. When I think about organic food, I imagine mountains of differently and sometimes very funnily and naturally shaped vegetables and fruits. Just like the ones you can buy at a traditional market in Ukraine.  Or the ones my granny and granddad have in their garden. For me, organic food is not just about farming standards but also about the taste, the smell and the natural shape.

Back in Ukraine, my grandparents have a small garden where they grow vegetables and fruits. They are both retired so they keep themselves busy that way. It’s always fun to stay there for a few days. The cucumbers they grow taste very sweet and smell really nice. When I get my own house, I want to plant an apple tree in the garden or a tomato bush. I don’t really have an ambition to become a farmer but it would be cool to do it just for fun.

Some time ago, I went to one of the Russian bakeries in San Francisco. It really reminded me of my granny’s cooking and I started missing it a lot. When I come to visit my granny she cooks a lot for me (I usually gain 2-3 kg during my stay). I know that preparing lots of delicious food for me is her way of showing that she loves and cares about me.

I don’t cook Ukrainian food myself because it’s too time consuming. And I am too lazy for that. If my mom read my blog, she would probably make a joke that no man would marry such a lazy woman like me. XD

Humor is another important part of my stays in Ukraine. Sometimes my jaw starts to hurt from listening to humorous stories of my friends or relatives. The reason I like Ukrainian humor because it’s very sharp and relevant. Often it has some political, social or cultural context (for example, my mom’s joke I mentioned above). Humor is something that’s always there even during the most difficult times.

Finally, I should probably mention that during my stays in Ukraine I get to see lots of nature. There are many beautiful forests, lakes and mountains in Ukraine (Ukraine is big and diverse). My 8-year-old brother knows a lot about different sorts of mushrooms (he likes biology). He likes to gather them in a forest and explots his family to help him with it.

I don’t miss the urban life so much though. San Francisco reminds me a lot of my home city. It’s also huge, busy, overcrowded and very touristic. The best things about my home city are the sea and hot summers.

It seems from my post that two years of living abroad in 2 different countries and 3 different cities is lots of travelling and international life. Maybe I should go back to my roots once I have a chance…