Getting to know the neighbors

It's not easy getting to know Ukrainians.  I've heard them described as "like coconuts - a hard shell but sweet & soft inside".  While we've gotten to know some incredibly warm Ukrainians, having a connection is critical (no randomly borrowing eggs from your neighbors here).

The hard shell part is certainly visible in construction styles.  Our 3 closest neighbors:

Fortress like walls & guards are common

People don't get out of their cars until they are within their walled property

This morning we had a rare sighting of our next door neighbor!

(still behind her walled property - view from our kitchen window)

However, we have found that critical connection point with the people across the street...

Feeding the strays...

The dogs live across the street on the construction site....

....and now serve as our urban compost receptacles

(who knew how much food we toss?!)  

Best yet, is we finally made friends with a neighbor...

(Valery is one of the guards who lives on the construction site.  He appears to live in one of the portables on site & now that we've joined in feeding the strays is ultra friendly....waves hello, directs me when I'm backing out of our driveway etc.)

So here's to making friends with the neighbors - whether with a batch of welcome cookies or a container of food scraps.