You've Got Mail...Maybe!

Visiting the post office in another country is always an experience. During our first week in Ivano-Frankivsk, we arrived at the post office eager to send some Christmas mail to our immediate family in the U.S. Having sent regular letters before, we came prepared with our standard and well-rehearsed Ukrainian phrases that have previously gotten us through post office transactions somewhat smoothly. We successfully purchased several larger-sized envelopes (the kind that can fit a card AND some chocolates) and were feeling pretty confident…until the post office worker asked a question, which seemed to have about 100 words and I was only confident about three of them. So, I whipped out one of our trusted go-to phrases “Повторіть будь ласка?!” – “Repeat, please!”

She patiently repeated that seemingly never-ending question but sadly for me, the number of Ukrainian words I understood did not miraculously increase. So, I looked over at Matt with big eyes, hoping he was having a super Ukrainian language day but no such luck. Neither one of us knew what was going on.

Just as we were trying to decide what to do from here (rephrase?… pantomime?… give up?), the lady next to us pulled out her cell phone and said in Ukrainian, “Just a moment, I’ll have help for you in a minute.” Sure enough, just a moment later, she was explaining to the person on the other line that a couple of poor Americans, who hardly speak any Ukrainian, were trying to send mail and needed help. Ironically enough, we actually understood just about every word she was saying on the phone!

After filling in her friend (who was probably not expecting this kind of call and likely had better things to do with her time), she handed the phone to me and the polite woman on the other end explained to me in lovely British English, that we were offered to send our envelopes “registered mail”. That little language nugget didn’t quite make it into our 11 weeks of basic Ukrainian classes. After profusely thanking the woman in the post office as well as her English-speaking friend, I completed our transaction and our family Christmas letters were on their way across the pond (so we hope).

As we were leaving the post office, Matt and I were discussing how kind and patient people here in Ukraine have been with us during the last few months. Matt also told me that, while I was intensely hanging on every word the post office worker uttered, the man who was next in line shared a story with him. It should be mentioned, that Matt clarified once more how limited our Ukrainian abilities were, but this did not deter the man from telling his story. Apparently, the man really wanted us to know that when he was visiting Germany a few years back, he found himself in a situation similar to ours. He spoke hardly any German and therefore also had to rely on the kindness of strangers in order to communicate. So, in the end, despite the language struggles and periods of helplessness, we walked out of that post office feeling pretty good!

Our friendly neighborhood post office in Ivano-Frankivsk.