Monday, November 23, 2009

shuba

So, last Friday I finally got to have shuba (шуба). It's a salad comprised of beets, potatoes, carrots, onion, herring, and mayonaise. For American Russian-language learners, when studying food, shuba is always one of the main items included in textbooks. So, in some odd way, it was gratifying to finally have what I've been forced to memorize in the classroom. My cousin made it, I think out of boredom. It is typically only served at celebrations.




my cousin, her close friend, me, little sister

Sorry this photo isn't more impressive, I felt really out of place taking this. I guess food photography isn't my calling.



Monday, November 16, 2009

Some sort of Tom Jones pun






Yes, I agree it's quite dumb to travel when there's a nationwide quarantine, but PC asks us to complete certain "tasks" that more often than not require us to go to Kyiv. Last Firday, after completing our task, our cluster went to the National Museum of the Great History of the Patriotic War, which was thankfully open. The museum is next to the Lavra, taking up a large part of the hillside along the Dnieper. The greatest thing about the museum, for me of course, is the massive Rodina Mat (national mother) that can be seen from all over the city. I swear, she looks almost as big as the Statue of Liberty from certain angles.


Team America:



In other news, I have my site placement interview tomorrow (Tuesday). It doesn't greatly affect where I'll be placed, but at least I get to voice some preference. The more I think about the interview, the more difficult it is becoming for me to describe and therefore articulate what I want out of my time here in Ukraine. I think I'll find some sort of happiness anywhere and in any community. It's really difficult to determine what elements I have control over, and what is simply circumstantial. I just need to continually ask myself, in the next few hours and over the next two years, what it is it that I want out of my service. What do I want to give? What do I want to gain?It's really difficult to determine what elements I have control over, and what is simply circumstantial.

Vishivat

If I were to name one element that has defined my life since the beginning of the quarantine, it would be vishivating (embroidering). Before coming to Ukraine, I gathered up some embroidering supplies and patterns from an Austin-based company. I was hoping it would become my cure-all. Very Pushkinesque; sitting at a candlelit kitchen table on a cold wintery night in my Ukrainian village, all alone, embroidering some saint or hedgehog.


True, I did bust out the collection once and a while my first few weeks, but the quarantine has greatly changed the dynamic. Peace Corps requires us to do a "Self-Directed Learning" project. Our group decided to learn how to cross-stitch, in part because it si so popular and that we're all in love with the draperies found everywhere. I'd never cross-stitched before, only embroidered. We bought our supplies right before the quarantine began and started to practice our flower patterns whenever we had any free time together. I had no idea how addictive it would be. I've found myself sitting in class moving my fingers in a cross pattern lately. Sadly, I think most of us are finished with our first patterns. I'm really hesitant about getting another one. Too little self-control.


Black Widow Society

PC asked us to take a picture with our family this week for them. Here's my result. I'm proud that it was rather spur of the moment. No makeup.


In the back row: myself, my sister, my cousin

In the front row: my host mom (with Vasilya), great grandma, and grandma


It's true. We're anti-men.


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

ahh.

Just tried to upload some pictures and this lovely computer at the cafe crashed. Must calm down and move on.

Work. Please.


Sunday, my fellow trainee Sam and I went to Kyiv-Pechersk National Historical and Cultural Preserve, which is an enormous compound with structures from the 14th to the 19th centuries. People visit any number of churches on the grounds in part to see and pray towards icons. THere are also a number of caves below that contain the remains of I'd say dozens, if not hundreds fo saints and important church figures from several centuries ago. Sam and I agreed that the visit provoked an awesome feeling, but will probably prove more meaningful in time as we better understand the role of faith.


Rocking the scarf outside the caves. The Patriotic War Memorial is in the background.



Memorial to the Famine



Change of Subject:



Link Visits

Our cluster (6 trainees in our town) is linked with a neighboring cluster for some of training sessions. We visit each other often and discuss the differences of our experiences. From what I can tell, us trainees in the town are quite jealous fo our link, who live in a village, because of the little absurdities that come about in a small community. I took some pictures last Saturday of some of the main attractions.





I have no idea what the purpose of this is.






Robot Garden



The Wall of Ukrainian
















Don't we look happy.



Our Halloween charades party. Yes, we live dangerously.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Chooma

Okay, I'm still trying to get over what I'd like to consider writer's block but most likely is nothing more than laziness. Or, I also like the excuse that it's hard for me to write in English now. I was hoping for the more "commentary on culture" type of tone for this, but whenever I stare at the screen my writing becomes quite serious and less entertaining.

This past week has greatly enhanced the "this is surreal" aspect of my time so far in Ukraine because of the flu. The country has declared an epidemic because of the number of cases and related deaths. On the one hand, the intensity of the flu is heightened because I've lost so much contact with what is going on in the rest of the world. Apparently, a number of places are suffering, including home. For us trainees in town, it caught us a little off-guard.

As with everything so far, this has been an extremely valuable learning experience for me in understanding individual and a culture's beliefs towards medicine, how illness spreads, and what sources of information are considered valuable. The flu has also created some interesting dialogue, where some consider it the plague (chooma) and others call it a tragedy by which politicians are gaining camera time during the election season.

The government placed a quarantine on large gatherings, meaning schools are closed, all events cancelled, and some transportation isn't working. Last Friday, it was announced that schools would be closed for three weeks. However, us trainees have been told that our school will have a meeting this Friday to discuss whether or not we'll be in session this upcoming Monday. I sincerely doubt it, in part because of the general fear expressed. Though Iunderstand the importance of the schools being closed, it does seem rather extreme. For one, there still are no cases in our town. If our town were to be hit by the flu, it would probably come later this week or early next week. Therefore not having school this week and last week (fall break) feels like a great loss. I've really enjoyed the in-class training that I've had. It's too bad such a large portion of my training won't take place now. With that, because the country is preoccupied, there are rumors that our placements are less certain or at least not as concrete as they would be (because schools are in effect not working for a month). Good thing Peace Corps is all about flexibility and opportunity.

Other areas of my life worth discussing? I'm truly happy with my host family, the food, and the general hospitality I've experienced. I'm so thankful for this opportunity. Lately my only frustrations are directly related to the feeling of a lack of control over my life during training. This feeling is to be expected, and will soon pass.

I'm totally rocking the varenyky. I recently acquired the movie "Twilight." I don't get it. Wouldn't vampires be really dehydrated if they only ate/drank blood? Why can they move at such extreme speeds and lift heavy things? It doesn't seem anatomical. With that, why would a vampire be attracted to a female? Can they procreate? I'm afraid I'm going to have to read the series, or ask Kasey and Amanda for their expertise.

Monday, November 2, 2009

I'll write this week, I swear!

Schools are out in an effort to control spreading the flu. I have a lot of more free time because of this, so I'll try to have something substantial to share soon. It's kind of hard to write in a cafe full of young teenage boys playing World of Warcraft, but thankfully I found out that wordtext does work on these computers so I can write my emails at home, thus saving time. Hmm. The only knews is that I'm truly addicted to cross-stitching. I recommend never starting it.

Some Photos

City Center, House of Culture
I live in a flat on the left-hand side behind the House of Culture.
Random field that I didn't know about for over a month.
Forest right next to my flat
Cooking Day ie what our futures hold for us as domesticated females
Vasilia

Our link cluster