ПОКА SaloLand!

I have left SaloLand. I know, I know. You knew this was coming. So did I. I was mentally preparing myself for this move for ages. Though I love the land of salo and cheap vodka, in the past few months, I began to realize that it was necessary for me be at home in the states, because even though I love saloland, I hate both salo and vodka and except for the thirty-six farewell party I had in Ukraine, I have avoided these two “Ukrainian” traditions for most of the year.

During my final few days in SaloLand, I got to hang out in Kyiv. While I was there, I stayed with some awesome friends, the Chapmans. Here they are.

Alyssa and I went to NNU together. When I was traveling back to Ukraine in December 2010, I stayed with them and met the two boy Chapmans. Since then, little Zoya was added to the family. Because of the massive amount of paperwork I had to do while I was getting ready, my time with the Chapmans was limited to morning and evening times, but once again, it was awesome. I’m lucky to have such rad friends.

Here’s a random Baba statue I found on the way to the metro.

And here’s my favorite find in Kyiv this May. There is a STARDUCKS. Can you believe it? I always knew that Ukrainians are great at stealing other people’s ideas but to steal it and keep it so close to the original is just weird. Still, I’m an Oregon grad so I appreciate the duck a bit.

My flight back to the states was nice. I went through Paris, then Salt Lake and greeted my family at PDX at about 4 PM. They were a bit impatient as I fiddle-farted around the airport, buying a new t-shirt, fishing my phone out of my backpack, and putting on deodorant before I met up with them. I was alright with that though. They were happy to see me and then they went with me to Red Robin for some food which I thought was pretty awesome.

So anyway, I hate to say goodbye to you all, but that’s what this is, a dear John sort of blog post. I’ve left SaloLand, but don’t worry. I’m still blogging, but instead of blogging here, I’ll blog here or here.

Thank you all for reading. It’s been a blast. And who knows, if I ever visit SaloLand again, I’ll return with more posts.

Tata, ya’ll!

Rece

What is salo?

13.5 hours to go. I can hardly believe it. My mom is sitting next to me, reading up on her colonoscopy coming up in a few weeks. Yuck. But before she started reading her paperwork, she was reading this blog. That’s when she asked, “What is salo?”

Salo is the one food I have encountered that I have no affection for. Salo is mere pig fat. Really, it’s fat. It’s the treat Ukrainians eat with garlic and bread to go with their borsch. I’m not a fan of it. When I lived in Ukraine the first time, Mama Alya would try to get me to eat salo with chasnic (garlic) and borsch. I tried the borsch and garlic but wouldn’t go for the fat.

Yesterday, my dad made some bacon-wrapped shrimp kebabs for my brother’s birthday/my going away party. The bacon was all fat. Now my brother has been a good weight watcher and wouldn’t eat the fatty bacon. I wasn’t so good. I ate his fatty bacon since he wouldn’t. I know part of being a weight watcher person is learning to control the food urges and NOT eat when you’re stressed, but I’m sorry. I’m not that in control. Like I wrote earlier today. I don’t like to cry. I don’t like to feel sad. And so… I ate the bacon fat. Yuck. That’s the end though. No more salo or icky bacon fat for me. I’m gonna be a good girl this time. All good things come to those who take care of themselves, right?