Sunday, October 30, 2011

Fall Break






This past week was fall break for schools across Ukraine. After taking care of some business in Kyiv I visited a friend in Crimea for a few days. Crimea is beautiful all year, but I especially enjoyed the changing leaves this time. We hiked around Bahcisaray, a Turkish settlement surrounded by mountain caves.

Almost There


My friend Karen sent me this card for my birthday. It almost made me emotional. This evening I spoke to my parents about an outing they had this weekend in Cleveland and now I can't wait for cold December weekends of shopping and drinking milkshakes. I'm almost home, Ohio.

Happy Halloween


11th grade's jack-o-lantern for the school's dance party

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Let Me Count the Ways



It's been a busy period for foreign correspondents in Ukraine with Yulia Tymoshenko's trial. I was a little surprised that no one has mentioned to me the results in the past week. The teachers' room, birthplace of all my gossip, has been completely silent about this issue. Perhaps I missed the conversation but I'm more inclined to believe that it hasn't occurred for two reasons. First, my colleagues are refraining in order to avoid a heated debate. It's not in their nature to discuss politics. Second, it is too distant from their day-to-day lives.

Hence, I was surprised today to overhear a conversation I never expected. Most conversations in the teacher's room are about the personal lives of students, the weather, when it will be pay day, and how much everything costs. Today's conversation took the typical route. First, they stated how cold they were and asked each other about the temperature in their classrooms. Then, they asked each other if they were heating their homes (it's in the low 40s). This was followed by what the price of Russian gas is and what each of them heard on the news the night before.

The next comment I'm still trying to process, translated from Ukrainian, was, "I like the system in Belarus, people are satisfied there. It's good that the president has all the power and that the media is censored." Bam.

This wasn't said by a babushka, but a woman in her early thirties. Everyone in the room (except for myself) agreed with her. It goes against everything Peace Corps is trying to promote in Ukraine (democracy, freedom of speech). It hurt to hear after spending so much time working in this community.

Monday, October 10, 2011

The Lost Town fo Trochenbrod



I listened to this story today from APM: The Story about a Jewish town outside of Lutsk during the war. I wish I were a little bit older so that I could have interacted with this generation that immigrated to Cleveland.

Sunday, October 9, 2011


Last month I received the best birthday gift of getting to meet my brother and sister-in-law in Copenhagen. It was truly undeserved and I'm forever in debt to my family for all of their love and support. One of the most difficult to describe experiences I've had as a Peace Corps volunteer is jumping from my everyday life in rural nowhere to being my former self. Leaving Ukraine, for me, is about freeing myself of this altered reality. The point of which I go from being the Amerikanka under constant pressure to be the perfect example of my citizenship to the self I'm comfortable as is a draining exercise. It's why going to Kyiv to be anonymous is so refreshing. Mentally leaving Ukraine is going to be difficult. I realize how none of this is earth shattering.

The physical point where I will leave Ukraine for good will be Boryspil, the main airport in Kyiv. Some of my peers really like Boryspil, especially after its reconstruction, because of its modernity. I despise this airport. In the past it was ridiculed for its chaotic format, unwelcoming feel, and dirtiness. Though the word to describe my opinion of the old airport isn't "like" I appreciated it for having something becoming more infrequently occurring in a globalized world. It had an identity; a lively, greasy, corrupt spirit.

The new terminals, hundreds of millions of dollars, look no different than any other budget addition to any other regionally significant airport in the world. There is no way of knowing you're in Ukraine in this glass and steel skeleton. There are English pubs and duty free shops, void of Ukrainian goods besides some vodka and chocolate. There isn't even a welcome sign in Ukrainian. To my mind, this is the perfect analogy of where Ukraine stands today to the outside world; lacking an identity and willing to scrape any leftovers to make it look like a legitimate player. Ukraine is constantly looking to the outside for guidance, never looking internally to see what's missing.



I was thinking about this as I was enjoying a blueberry smoothie and pecan pie in a pleasantly dim lit lounge of the Riga airport on my way to Copenhagen. Much to my surprise, a discussion on this very topic of globalization and the airport has come to the forefront on design sites. Here's an interesting article.

200th Post!



I admit my last few entries have been weak and I blame the ticker for entries on my blogger account. Every 100 entries, yes, twice during my service, I celebrate with pandas, this one courtesy of Boing Boing.

Thanks everyone (Mom) for following me over the last two years!

being the toast of your next tea break


I recommend SovLit.com to freshen up on all of your twentieth century based conversation topics.

Friday, October 7, 2011

PGH


Bridges of Pittsburgh
Circa 1905. "Pittsburgh from Mount Washington -- Monongahela River with Smithfield Street Bridge and Pan Handle Bridge." Panorama made from two 8x10 inch dry plate glass negatives. Detroit Publishing Company.


PGH: 1905
1905. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Mount Washington." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company.






I love these images of Pittsburgh too much not to share them. I look forward to crossing a bridge or two in a little over a month.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

The Time Change Stresses Me Out, Man


I like the autumn time change. It usually comes at a much needed time of the year when I could use that extra hour of sleep. That first Sunday strikes me as crisp and sunny.

For some reason, Ukraine is taking Russia's lead and isn't going to change back an hour like most of the world. The best worst part of this update is the reasoning for the lack of change, as stated in forUm:

As reported earlier, the MPs believe that annual time conversion from winter to summer time "causes time stress and has a negative impact on the psychological and physical conditions of people, which results in greater loss than an insignificant energy saving."


As for me, the one word that doesn't come to mind with time change is "stress." If anything, if I were a government official I'd be more worried about other stresses that impact the psychological and physical conditions of people such as the tardiness of government paydays, the lack of medical supplies, poisoned water... What loss are they speaking of?

Facial Tic


The last full week of September I went to Copenhagen to meet up with my family for the UCI (Cycling) Worlds Championships. It was awesome.

On the way back to Kyiv I had a layover in Riga, Latvia. I noticed that several Israelis were getting on my flight. I immediately realized that it's Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Many Jews make a pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine for Rosh Hashanah because it is the burial site of Rebbe Nachman, founder of the Breslov Hassidic movement.

I was nervous about landing in Kyiv because there have been some recent changes to the visa regime and Peace Corps has warned us that we might experience trouble re-entering Ukraine with our documents. Luckily, I blew right through passport control and customs. Upon whispering a "Slava Bo-hue" (Thank God) under my breath I raised me head up high, free from the lines of inspection.

In a period of my life when I'm constantly dwelling on social cues and overhearing conspiracies, I had to wonder if I'd just gotten through because I look rather Ukrainian. Yes, my freckle count is much higher than the average, but in general I look pretty similar. Behind me over the barrier were Russian nationals waiting to get their stamps, making sour faces at the hordes of inflowing Hassidic Jews. At the customs counter every single Asian looking person was being pulled aside and asked what his or her official business was.

Boryspil (Kyiv's major airport) has a lot to learn when it comes to being less evident in its racial profiling. I left the experience a little disappointed, but relieved that there is national dialogue about racial profiling this very week. Here's an article in forUm.