International Women's Day

     Yesterday, I went out and bought a big pile of chocolate for International Women's Day. I mentioned it yesterday, but it's not a romantic thing. It's a socialism thing.... No, not really any more. It was started as a socialist political event but has since morphed into a general appreciation day. So most of the items in the picture will be going to some of the women I know.

My haul, of which I only get to keep two of the eggs pictured in the center.

     Interestingly enough, most Westerners who come to Ukraine surprise the natives with the knowledge that we don't have a clue what they're talking about. Ukrainians are surprised that we've never heard of it. It's like going to Iran or Saudi Arabia and being surprised if they don't celebrate Christmas. For people here in the nations of the former Soviet Union, this is a very popular holiday.
     Yesterday, while I was out shopping, the number of vendors hawking flowers tripled from a normal day. Maybe more. Going into Silpo, it smelled like spring time. All the fresh-cut flowers added a lit of good color to the area. It's been a long, cold winter and I'm ready for spring.
     In other chocolate-related news, thank you to whichever saint put these pretzel/chocolate/Reese's-Pieces treasures in my mom's hands to bring to me.

     Finally, in honor of International Women's Day. I have a gift for my mother. As you probably read, she was here over the past weekend and made a request. While we were out shopping on Friday, she saw some of the street vendors selling freshly butchered chickens. She asked if I would get a picture of them for her. I've done one better. I've gotten {radio announcer voice ON} MOVING PICTURES! {radio announcer voice OFF} I counted two fresh chickens and the remainder of a cooked bird as well. Also interesting to note are the huge variety of pickled veggies in the jars and the flower stand.

P.S. The shot of a random person's backside was entirely unintentional. They happened to be standing near what I wanted to get video of. I was also holding the phone down at my side to avoid looking like a tourist.