Welcome

[Butterthebean 8,146]

I live in Bishkek' date=' Kyrgyzstan. Land of lamb, bread and plov...veggies, not so much. We have them, just not a huge variety and they're pretty pitiful in the winter.

I LOVE these strange food stories. Here the honor custom is to serve the sheep's nugget (head) and cut it up with a big ceremony and share it around. Each piece has a special meaning. I'm thankful to "only" be a wife, because my hubs has to scarf eyeballs and brains each time but I've only had to nibble on the sheep's ear a few times (gross, for sure) because it's supposed to help you listen to the wisdom of your elders/leaders/husband.

But most of the food here I'm okay with eating. It's carb heavy and fatty at times but it's not offensive. And certain things I enjoy so much I miss them when I'm stateside, like beshbarmak and good Uzbek plov.

I'm thankful for the baby though, because these people drink vodka like nobody's business. I mean that. We work in mostly the former Soviet Union and if I go the rest of my life and never have vodka ever again I'll be perfectly happy. Being pregnant allows me to abstain, though some of the older local men give me the stink eye for it, not really understanding why you wouldn't toast while expecting!

I think far more than the food here I'm pretty creeped out by Kökbörü (goat polo) which they take pretty darn seriously here.

But no food could ever top the holodetz my grandmother used to make for us after a sickness so we could get strong and recover. She was Ukrainian. And yes, vodka was ever present at the table in my childhood, too.

~Cheri[/quote']

Back in the late 90's I spent 18 months working in Azerbaijan and offshore in the Caspian Sea. Yes, they brush their teeth with vodka. Some of the brands had little disposable tin foil caps that once removed got thrown away. I asked a guy one day how he was going to put a cap back on the vodka bottle. He said "why would you need to put a cap back on there? I'm going to drink it." Silly me.

[clk 3,519]

If you buy a bottle of Ukrainian bottle it has no lid. It's crazy.

I used to enjoy some vodka (like Belvedere, it's Polish) but drink enough nasty bathtub vodka in this region and you'll lose your taste for it in a hurry.

We're heading to the Caucasus region after a stateside stint - luckily not Baku (no offense to any hidden Azeri folks on the boards), though. Great place for single people that love the nightlife, but not so much for families. I'm sure it's changed immensely in the years since you've been there!

~Cheri

[Catracks 865]

Holodetz. I had to Google that one. As A rule, I do not like things encased in Gelatin. I'm cataloging a huge cookbook collect (great job for me right?) and the 30s-60 saw an incredible array of unspeakable Jell-O salads.

If forced to eat an eyeball, I would expire on the spot.

[Butterthebean 8,146]

If you buy a bottle of Ukrainian bottle it has no lid. It's crazy.

I used to enjoy some vodka (like Belvedere' date=' it's Polish) but drink enough nasty bathtub vodka in this region and you'll lose your taste for it in a hurry.

We're heading to the Caucasus region after a stateside stint - luckily not Baku (no offense to any hidden Azeri folks on the boards), though. Great place for single people that love the nightlife, but not so much for families. I'm sure it's changed immensely in the years since you've been there!

~Cheri[/quote']

Yeah, Baku was pretty grim when I was there...97-98. Really scary. Like a modern day city post apocalypse.

I drank screwdrivers every night because there was nothing else to do. But then we ran out of orange juice for the winter and we substituted orange tang.....not too bad really. In a place like that you take what you can get.

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

If I got stuck in a foreign country, please let it be Greece! I grew up on Greek food and I would never tired of it.

[iggychic 1,405]

BTB Why Baku? Oil?

[Butterthebean 8,146]

Natural gas.

[iggychic 1,405]

We own an oil and gas services company. Small world sometimes

Hence my concern about the hostage situation.

[Katie713 423]

Birds of a feather flock together iggy.

[iggychic 1,405]

LOL So Katie...we spend half our time in the hippiest town possible and half in alaska. We do this for DS's health. But the school he goes to is full of tree huggers and poets. So day one he meets, and deeply falls for, this gorgeous little girl. We looked at her family poster and what's on it...an oil rig LOL There are probably two families in oil in this town and it's them and us Small world indeed LOL

[Katie713 423]

How cool is that iggy? Suddenly I was picturing the son of Liam Neeson in the movie" Love Actually" when he fell in love with a classmate a cool little girl everyone loved...he learned to play an instrument just to get her attention before she moved from England to the states, awe he was so IN LOVE. His father never for one moment minimized his love for her!

I went to a wedding up in Anchorage about a decade ago during the summer. Temps in the 70's it was really wonderful. Went down to the glacier at Portage...I want to go back and take my grandson, he's almost 10 and a very cool kid.

[iggychic 1,405]

When you go be sure to ask me for a tour guide short version I love Alaska so much I tend to wax on LOL

But schedule a visit to Matanuska Glacier. It's a couple of hours drive from Anchorage, an easy day trip and more fun if you do an overnight, but it's a land locked glacier that you can actually climb. For me the awe of being able to set foot on a glacier was pretty special...I will never forget my first trip We hiked up it and chipped off ice for a martini party on the glacier I hate martini's but it was still fun LOL

[Piplula 709]

Oooooo..new forum! Thought I would hop in and say I have been in here just not posting as much I and almost 9 months out and down 130#..not a newbie, but I don't know if I would qualify as a veteran either ...but I thought I would come on in and have a seat!

[Piplula 709]

Butta..your forbidden fruit is peanut butter..mine is those cursed sesame sticks ..fried, salt, nutty goodness..can't go within 15 feet of them or I'll scarf down the whole bag!!!

[Butterthebean 8,146]

Oooooo..new forum! Thought I would hop in and say I have been in here just not posting as much I and almost 9 months out and down 130#..not a newbie' date=' but I don't know if I would qualify as a veteran either ...but I thought I would come on in and have a seat![/quote']

Quick question....fill in the blank. (xxxxx) week stall.

If you figured it out, you qualify.