I (Daniel) was sick in bed yesterday with a 24-hour flu. A few of the Stoddards had gotten it and now it was my turn. That evening, Tatiana, our hostess, came home and checked up on me. I'm pretty sure that after the kidney stone and now a stomach virus, her motherly instincts kicked in and she decided that it was time to straighten this foolish American out.
Armed with the Russian/English dictionary she told me I needed to go on a diet. Lots of tea, rice, Kasha (I'm not sure what that is yet, but it looks gross and smells like dirt), and absolutely, under no circumstances am I to drink any more cold milk. "Ochen Ploha"(Very Bad), she said, referring to the milk, as she held her fingers up in a cross to ward off the evils of such a dangerous drink. "You must drink your milk warm, and you will feel much better."
Janna and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh, which was a major challenge. I know she was trying to help us, but I'm pretty sure that cold milk was not the source of my problems. The stress of living in a foreign country, learning a new language, and city, trying to finish a ton of work tomorrow, living in someone else’s apartment, and never getting enough sleep were probably the major contributors to my weak immune system.
Or maybe it was cold milk, I suppose truthfully only God knows.
This wasn't the first time that we've run into these kinds of cultural superstitions. Last week our entire American team had dinner in Meisha's apartment. Petro, and young man Doug is mentoring, joined us. Being Americans we all opted to have ice in our drinks, including Benjamin, who was having milk. We offered some ice to Petro, and he refused politely. A few other people kept offering, and finally Petro snapped back, "I don't want to have a sore throat!" Ukrainians in general are convinced that ice water makes you have a sore throat. Even on a really hot day. Petro also said that he can’t sleep with the windows open at night because he’s afraid of getting a chill.
Ukrainians also believe that sitting on concrete in shorts will make you infertile. Last fall Janna saw a young man chased off the concrete by a Babushka (grandma) seconds after he plopped down for a rest. Janna had heard that this happened, but was amazed to see it happen herself, and so quickly.
When we first arrived in Ukraine, Alfred (a Ukrainian) picked us up from the airport. He didn't have air-conditioning, so I rolled down my window to cool off, it was pretty hot. In the 20 minute ride to where we were staying he tried to roll my window up 8 times because he was worried about Janna and Dad getting a chill in the backseat. This was in spite of their repeated insistence that they liked the cool air.
Armed with the Russian/English dictionary she told me I needed to go on a diet. Lots of tea, rice, Kasha (I'm not sure what that is yet, but it looks gross and smells like dirt), and absolutely, under no circumstances am I to drink any more cold milk. "Ochen Ploha"(Very Bad), she said, referring to the milk, as she held her fingers up in a cross to ward off the evils of such a dangerous drink. "You must drink your milk warm, and you will feel much better."
Janna and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh, which was a major challenge. I know she was trying to help us, but I'm pretty sure that cold milk was not the source of my problems. The stress of living in a foreign country, learning a new language, and city, trying to finish a ton of work tomorrow, living in someone else’s apartment, and never getting enough sleep were probably the major contributors to my weak immune system.
Or maybe it was cold milk, I suppose truthfully only God knows.
This wasn't the first time that we've run into these kinds of cultural superstitions. Last week our entire American team had dinner in Meisha's apartment. Petro, and young man Doug is mentoring, joined us. Being Americans we all opted to have ice in our drinks, including Benjamin, who was having milk. We offered some ice to Petro, and he refused politely. A few other people kept offering, and finally Petro snapped back, "I don't want to have a sore throat!" Ukrainians in general are convinced that ice water makes you have a sore throat. Even on a really hot day. Petro also said that he can’t sleep with the windows open at night because he’s afraid of getting a chill.
Ukrainians also believe that sitting on concrete in shorts will make you infertile. Last fall Janna saw a young man chased off the concrete by a Babushka (grandma) seconds after he plopped down for a rest. Janna had heard that this happened, but was amazed to see it happen herself, and so quickly.
When we first arrived in Ukraine, Alfred (a Ukrainian) picked us up from the airport. He didn't have air-conditioning, so I rolled down my window to cool off, it was pretty hot. In the 20 minute ride to where we were staying he tried to roll my window up 8 times because he was worried about Janna and Dad getting a chill in the backseat. This was in spite of their repeated insistence that they liked the cool air.
This happens on the public busses too. When it’s hotter than 85, and the bus is packed, people are allowed to open the windows. But if the temperature dips into the 70’s, those windows have to close. If you get a chill, you will die. At least I think that’s how the logic goes. Even our teacher encouraged one of our classmates to move away from the air-conditioner after she cleared her throat twice.
To say that Ukrainians dislike being cold is an understatement. They are afraid of it, and fight it with the ruthless tenacity of a mother bear protecting her cubs. Last fall we walked into the new girl’s dormitory at the orphanage in Komrivka, and I had trouble breathing. It felt like it was 80 degrees in there, and there was zero circulation. And this is when it was only about 60 outside. My first thought was, “I wonder if people have heat strokes in their homes in this country.”
It makes me wonder what they would think about how Americans do things.
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