COS

My amazing summer wrapped up with a Peace Corps conference for my group's COS (Close of Service). It was a wonderful time of remembering what we've accomplished and commenting on how much we've changed. Now it's on to goodbyes, paperwork, and finding employment.

For over the past year I've been dreaming of finding a "COS outfit." Luckily I scored this number at a bazaar this summer. It has all the elements of a boardwalk along the Black Sea: rhinestones, parachute pants, animal print, tropical elements, neon, and of course flammable spandex.

Zaporizhia

On the way to Molochansk and my last camp I passed through Zaporizhia, home of the Zaporozhian Cossacks and the DniproHES hydro-electric dam, once labeled one of the wonders of the world.

The Zaporozhian Cossacks have an interesting story, today there is a museum where they once lived.

Chotsky Time

Last week I attended a friend's language camp held at a sanatorium on the Black Sea. He works at a pedagogical college where young people learn to become English teachers. Part of their practicum is leading summer camps, a huge business in Ukraine. The last three weeks of this particular summer camp focused on English and his college invited some volunteers to help with activities. Once again it was nice to meet new children and see a different part of the country.

Sanatoriums like the one the camp were held at struggle to become privatized, some Peace Corps volunteers work with these organizations to make them less dependent on government contracts. This particular one appeared to have a contract with the Russian government, so there were two large groups of children from Internats. An Internat can be translated as orphanage but really it's home to many youth. In Ukraine children are sent to internats by families who can't afford to raise and feed they're children. Children with special needs are also sent there. My experience with these groups has been limited, but I'm amazed to learn about these children's lives and how different they are from those taking part in government programs in the US.

The group from Moscow seemed to be an exception to the norm. They were well dressed and opened up about events and special programs they had attended. They had many questions for me and the other Americans, like what Russian TV shows are popular in America. Knowing very little English, our time together consisted mainly of children's songs and UNO. They were adorably sad to see me go, gifting me with handicrafts they'd made. The best present though was a set of spoons, as shown below. The children have been playing spoons since elementary school and put on a concert for us. They played rhythmically to folk songs. The next day a group of them gave me an individual lesson, leaving me with slightly swollen hands and light bruises along my legs and arms. I feel as though yet another level of cultural integration has been checked off my list.

Donbass Tour

I apologize for the lack of entries lately. ABC and scattered Internet connection have been my excuse for not writing. I've been jotting down in my notebook daily amusings that I'll hopefully compose during language camp this week.

After ABC I took a quick tour of the east to Lugansk and Donetsk, which comprise the "Donbass", the industrial and coal mining heart of Ukraine. Before arriving I assumed that it would be coal-dust covered with not so warm people, using the retold stereotypes. I was quite surprised at how beautiful the area was. Much like America's rustbelt, the Donbass has had a difficult time restructuring itself beyond energy and manufacturing. Factories have closed and oligarchs fail to invest in their properties. On the one hand, this causes unemployment. On the other, the environment is much cleaner. In fact, I found it much easier to breathe at my friend's site than at my own, perhaps because there isn't trash burning in the center or animal waste everywhere. I enjoyed the remnants of soviet planning of company towns and tried to imagine them at full capacity.

Being in the Donbass, I didn't feel like I was in the Ukraine I know. Lugansk is an 18 hour train ride away from Kyiv. The area is historically Russian and I heard very little Ukrainian on the street. I found it amusing that at the train station the map of routes didn't have a line dividing Ukraine and Russia, as though Ukraine is indeed part of Russia.

Ancient fertility goddesses found in the area displayed in the courtyard of Lugansk's pedagogical university.

I love the socialist sculptures.

Gas Lines to Russia

Me posing with one of the great tourist attractions of the east, a terakon. A massive hill of coal waste. They dot the countryside, forming alien landscapes.

Ideal Body of the Soviet Female

Pun of the Week: Chai Coffee+ski (Tchaikovsky)