Domestic Drinking

So after getting sufficiently wasted on vodka (bad vodka--from Indiana--big mistake: it actually tastes the way my garbage smells. No. Really.) I decided it was time to clean my bathroom and kitchen. I windexed  our glass-surface breakfast table and all the mirrors in our apartment before I moved on to cleansing the shower/bath. The minute I sprayed the stuff into our badly splotched tub I was transported to an early childhood memory. My mother is a psychologist and she tells me that smell is the sense most strongly connected with memory. I believe it. The fresh hillside smell of this bathroom cleanser reminded me of Maria.

My parents have a house cleaner. She is Polish. Her name is Maria. I have grown up knowing her (which may account for my my fondness for pickled things. Maybe not. Who really knows for certain?). She has twin sons who are my age. They are named Bartek and Robert. I used to hang out at their house playing video games and eating vanilla wafers. I don't know if you know this, but Eastern European people are crazy about vanilla wafers and really, wafer treats of any kind. When I used to live in Ukrainian Village I would go to the local Polish grocer for very cheap produce and there was literally a single aisle dedicated entirely to wafer treats. As long as we're on the subject though, I instruct you to never --and I mean never-- ever buy "Italian Style" tomato sauce at a Polish grocer. It was one of the most disgusting things I had ever tasted. Sausage however, is all system go.

I miss Ukrainian Village so hard. I used to walk around, admiring all the cool churches and buying currant juice, wafer treats, Polish beer, legit-fucking pickles, and Lithuanian rye bread. That was the life, my friends. Don't get my wrong, I like being able to buy El Cheapo Tortillas and canned refried beans for under a dollar but there is just no beating a meaty, saucy ambiguous buffet at Mitch & Janina's. Here, let me take you on a very quick photographic tour of my old neighborhood!

It's ALL about self-reliance, my friends.

St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral

Lurking fatso cat who would spy on me on my way to the grocery store every week.

St. Volodomyr & Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church

Holy Trinity Cathedral (originally founded as St. Vladimir's Russian Orthodox Church)

Entrance detail of Holy Trinity Cathedral

"& other things"

One of my favorite memories at the Polish grocery was the time I practiced my (terrible) Russian. They had just sold me some delicious hunk of meat but I was in dire need of a napkin. I went back to the butcher counter and this time, instead of just pointing to what I wanted, I asked "Do you have a napkin?" They looked at me with intelligent and educated Non-Understanding. Clearly, there was a language barrier. Timidly, I asked, "Salfietka??" knowing full well the longstanding angst between Russian and Polish culture BUT

LO AND BEHOLD

I was rewarded with both a SMILE and a napkin. Best. Day. Ever.

But to bring things full circle, I just want to say, thank god for Maria, Bartek and Robert. I'm actually learning some Polish now. To jest dość trudne! [It is quite difficult!]. I believe Bartek is  a history teacher now and Robert lives in Poland. Thanks again for the purple Skip It you bought me for my 12th birthday. And, embarrassingly enough, I'm fairly certain I owned the exact same pink dress as the girl in that picture.

cześć!!
[bye!!]
-Mackenzie