I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that whenever I go away to Europe my chocoholism kicks-into high gear and I eat bars and bars of Milka or Kinder and jars of Nutella like it’s going out of style. I’ve had this habit since I was little, visiting my Uncle Ludwig’s garden, outside of Frankfurt, where I’d climb up his green apple tree and eat tart apples and Toblerone until I was sick. My mom found it to be an interesting way to regulate my digestion since one kind of canceled out the other.

Mr. Na has fallen into this habit too, and so our apartment here in Kramatorsk is filled with enough chocolate to get us through the month (At least, we think so; but there’s always more to be had.) And though the picture below does not include Milka or Kinder products, I thought I would share with you what other sorts of fun things we’ve been living on. If you haven’t yet been to Ukraine, you might be surprised by the products you’ll find. (By the way, you can click on each image to see a larger version!)

From left to right:
Sliced cheese – White, Orange, sharp, mild—you name it, it’s available.
Carmat Beer (a nice, refreshing pilsner)
Fanta Orange (not shown: Fanta Limon): I have two words to say to you—Beet Sugar. Maybe it sounds gross to you but it’s not Corn Syrup, so, in my opinion, the sodas here taste so much better. Coca Cola Light is also available.
Georgian Wine – this particular kind is red, dry and tasty.
Nescafe Express – Pa’s answer to Starbucks Double Shot
Nutella – There can be no alternative
Peanut Butter – honestly, not bad
Moloko – make sure you get that and not Keifer (sour yogurt).
Fitness Cereal – Think something like Special K (not shown: Honey Nut Cheerios)
Bon Aqua – bottled water. The bottles with light blue caps contain still water. Those with dark blue or green caps contain carbonated water.

I miss fresh fruit and vegetables and I’m too paranoid to buy much here unless it has a skin. The bananas here aren’t that great, but the citrus is tasty, as are the apricots. Speaking of which…there are apricot trees EVERYWHERE, which was kind of neat to see at first, until we inadvertantly started squishing through hundreds of fallen apricots as we made our trek to and from the orphanage.

We’re glad to be in a moderate-sized city where we can walk to one of two grocery stores nearby to pick up essentials. I’ve been going to the store every day to pick out something to make for dinner. So far, I’ve made chicken, pork and steak dishes that taste like they’re prepared in my own kitchen.

In addition to the supermarkets, there are also small “Magazines” located by the apartment complexes. They’re kinda like walk-up convenience stores, minus the Big Gulps. This one sells nothing but beer.

As we headed home from our visit with our dear, sweet Little Person this evening, Pa took a few pictures of our apartment complex and the surrounds. Here are a few to enjoy.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS