Friday Photo

Freshly picked cherries outside Kyiv

I came across this picture today on my computer, and it reminded me of the wonderful fruit we had in Ukraine.

When we travelled to Ukraine, we were warned, as we had been on several other occasions prior to travelling overseas, that it was not safe to eat fresh fruits and vegetables prior to cooking them. A noted exception was fruit with a thick peel, such as oranges and bananas. We always try to heed these warnings. On at least one occasion, despite heeding them, my better half fell ill due to ingesting bacteria his body wasn't familiar with.

In Ukraine, partly because we stayed much longer than we had anticipated, these warnings were put to the test. First, our adoption facilitator, Sveta, took us out to her sister's house and offered us fresh strawberries picked from her yard. How do you politely refuse that? We didn't, and had some of the best strawberries I've ever eaten. On another occasion, while in Crimea (an autonomous republic just south of Ukraine), Sveta's husband picked some fresh berries from the hills we were on just outside and behind the orphange our sons were in, and offered us some. We tried those as well.

Since we had already "broken the rules" and these cherries Galya picked of the tree looked so fantastic, we had no hesitation when she offered them to us.

One thing I really miss from Ukraine is the cherries. They are abundant and cheap. Ukrainians use them in a variety of ways, including varenyky. My sons love cherries. They remind them of their former home. Sometimes, I oblige them by purchasing from the local Food World, but I have to cut off my arm to afford them in the States.

By the time we left Ukraine, we were positively feasting on apples, raspberries, cherries and the like. Miraculously, hubby and I managed to stay well.