(Almost) Everything I Know About Ukraine I Learned From Masha Stratiichuk

It's true.  I only say "almost" because we lived only in Rzishchiv and that isn't exactly all of Ukraine.  But Masha is a very dear friend to me, and after spending some time with her in the past few days, it seems time to tell you about her.

Masha and Cassie at the Dnieper River, Rzishchiv, Ukraine

Four years ago over a cup of tea this girl invited a bewildered foreigner to live with her in the little blue and white house on the other side of town.  This bewildered foreigner didn't know the difference between light switches and air fresheners.  She didn't know the appropriate time to cross a frozen river.  She would forget to remove the forks from the dish tub before throwing the dishwater out into the snowy garden.

But Masha saw that she needed a place to live and extended friendship.  Some days she woke up wondering if the foreigner was going to make it and was she ever going to remember to put on a scarf properly???  Some days she was impatient but many times she just shook her head and smiled, and tucked the scarf in, and sent the foreigner on her way. She taught the foreigner how to use water efficiently, how to salt the icy path to the outhouse, and what Ukrainians should eat.  There were countless cups of tea.  And when the foreigner was homesick, she let her cry on her shoulder (for a whole minute!) but mostly she told the foreigner that she was a strong woman and she was going to be okay.  No buts about it. She put up with no whining, but she would make pancakes.  

And in the spring, when the snow thawed and the forsaken forks appeared in the yard like some alien breed of daffodil, something had happened to the foreigner.  She felt much less bewildered, and she felt like she had a home.  And although I know that Ukraine would still be a very dear place to me without Masha, I believe it is because of the firm and strong love of this friend that the foreigner today feels at home in Ukraine.  It's not that I have become Ukrainian at all, but I do feel a sense of home here.  And I am thankful for that.

Winter in the Blue and White House

That was a long rant, but it's all true.  On Tuesday night Masha built a campfire outside and we sat for hours on the hill drinking tea with lemon and eating chocolate.  Milk for her, dark for me.  We would lay back in two nests of tall grass the stood up around our heads like crazy hairdos, and there were the stars.  All over the sky in black velvet.  We saw shooting stars and talked about everything in the way that only two gals can. 

Yesterday we took a long walk up to the cliffs by the Dnieper and sat on the edge, sipping cups of K'vas from the nearby store.  K'vas is a wonderful beverage similar to beer but without much alcohol to speak of.  But it's absolutely yum and perfectly refreshing on a summer's day. 

The Perfect Summer Afternoon

 This has been the best of visits.  My life has changed so much since I was here before.   Not the circumstances so much, though they have!  But the heart.  Peace instead of bewilderment.  Joy instead of sadness.  And friendship that runs deeper over time, even after years apart.