Part 5: == One man's trash is another man's treasure ==
While we were in Ukraine, we stayed at our mother-in-law's apartment. Mama grew up in the FSU before Perestroika, when freedom's were few, lines were long, and capitalism was a dirty word. Marina, on the other hand, found her country opened up to the rest of the world at a very early age. This has had a profound impact on her way of thinking, along with her current lifestyle in America.
Mama is the type who refuses to throw something away. She keeps old appliances that don't work, lamps that are broken, clothes that are 20 years old and that she never wears. When she shops for clothes, Mama always looks through the second hand vendors first, to find something she wants. Mama will always buy the cheapest food, regardless of its quality. The sofa/trundle beds in her apartment have been there for over 25 years. This is a stark contrast to Marina's drive for quality in all aspects of her life.
This year, while we were over there, Marina was determined to force some change on her mother's lifestyle. We remodelled the kitchen, which forced Mama to get rid of the major appliances and shelving. One of her friends lives in a dormitory, and in a surprising (and totally out of character) gesture, donated her old stove and refrigerator to her friend's dormitory. The 25+ year old appliances were gone in no time.
We also browbeat Mama into throwing away a broken black and white TV, a broken floor lamp, a ceiling light fixture that she had replaced, and some archaic, cheesy plastic organizer shelves. We would take something out to the trash and by the time we made the next trip, whatever we took out was gone. People were actually yelling out the window "What are you throwing away? Does it work?" Marina also browbeat her mother into throwing away some of the old, trashy clothes she had been hoarding for years. When we went by the trash 15 minutes later, all of the clothes were gone.
While we found a lot of humor in the situation, you have to understand that Ukraine now is experiencing close to 40% unemployment domestically. Ukraine is now one of the largest exporters of cheap labor in Europe, mainly because people can't find jobs at home. What jobs can be found are usually for a low wage and are probably not conducive to making a good life for yourself. Good jobs in Ukraine are found only by those people who have a lot of connections. If you don't know someone, you either find a low paying job or try to sell things on the bazaar.
This economic malaise creates an environment of recycling to extremes. Yogurt containers get washed out and reused as glasses. Dumpster diving is part of almost everyone's repetoire. Anything that can be reused is, over and over again. While the new Russians are moving more and more into a disposable society, the majority of the population are very frugal and are constantly looking for something they can get for free or at a very low cost.
Just another snapshot of Ukrainian life...
