Two of my 5th formers: Tanya and Dasha
Not quite sure what to make of the performance.This past Thursday was our Village Day. From what I've gathered, all villages and cities in Ukraine have "village days" where people are encouraged to congregate in the center of town and celebrate their community. Like every other holiday I've witnessed here, Village Day is a conglomeration of various traditions mainstreamed with Soviet ideals that are then re-spun to acknowledge independent Ukraine. Based on hearsay, village days were originally days celebrated on the saint day of the local perish. For instance, my church's saint is Saint Michael so therefore Saint Michael's Day would also be my local village day. On that day, people would go to a service and then there would be a fellowship meal where everyone in the community would be invited to participate. In Soviet times, it strictly became the day of the village where a parade was performed and there was some entertainment... i.e. fireworks.
In the case of my village, some people still go to a service and there is a small meal afterward where people bring items. In the afternoon, there is a parade of local organizations (preschool, school, art school, technical school, library, house of culture, electricians, and hospital) performances by children and other members of the community, singing, dancing and then fireworks.
Village Day provoked a number of things I've been grappling with in my community. I'm not sure what is the best way of sifting through my thoughts, so I'll just start writing and if it becomes too nebulous or insensitive I'll start to erase.
Village Day was exactly what I expected it to be. Granted, I had a lot of insight. The week before, anytime a student would come up to me and say "hello" followed by awkward silence, I'd ask about it and what the student would be looking forward to. The top answers were as follows: shashliki, rides, fireworks, and dancing. To explain: something that I never expected to be the hot food item of Ukraine, the food of both celebration and wealth: shish kebobs. Marinated meat on a stick really gets people here. Funny, the day after Village Day in the teachers' room I got a good earful about how expensive they were this year and no one was buying them. A true sign of the economic crisis. My kids don't get any frivolous meat. As far as rides, I'd hate to tell one of my students that an American kid in the suburbs has more entertainment at his or her birthday party. Hearing and seeing what makes this event special to my kids once again shoves in my face how unmeasurable my childhood privileges and personal expectations in living a good life are from the people I interact with here. What am I to do with this knowledge of such a great social and economic gap? Am I to share what is "normal" to me? I'm constantly afraid of sounding condescending when asked for comparisons.
When I talked to older people before Village Day, they often stressed the significance of the fellowship meal and then they would say, "oh, you'll get to see the Soviet part, shame". I chose not to see the Soviet part, the label for anything that occurs after the sun sets. I got to hear enough about it the day after. People like to celebrate, anywhere (well, I guess not the anabaptists :) Because it was a holiday and there are few other outlets in my community, a lot of rather "uncultured" things happen on this day. This particularly disgusts my coworkers, who in part feel that they have raised most of the under 35 crowd. It just makes me sad that this behavior spoils other aspects of life. In my village, I don't think cause and effect are exercised enough during the formative years and thus lead to cycles of disappointment and poverty. I'll hopefully explain this more some other time.
In Sara's "I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer here to conquer your social ills" mindset, I want to make Village Day 2011 a year to remember. The medium by which all nostalgic memories will be measured. I don't want there to be any empty speeches. I don't want the kids to be singing outdated songs and doing the same dances that their parents did while the audience drifts away. I want my students to feel like they have some ownership of the event. I want there to be more outreach towards those who every other day of the year are silenced but come out for this anyway. I want this day to celebrate the possibilities of the future and not be a suffocating reminder of the past.
In the case of my village, some people still go to a service and there is a small meal afterward where people bring items. In the afternoon, there is a parade of local organizations (preschool, school, art school, technical school, library, house of culture, electricians, and hospital) performances by children and other members of the community, singing, dancing and then fireworks.
Village Day provoked a number of things I've been grappling with in my community. I'm not sure what is the best way of sifting through my thoughts, so I'll just start writing and if it becomes too nebulous or insensitive I'll start to erase.
Village Day was exactly what I expected it to be. Granted, I had a lot of insight. The week before, anytime a student would come up to me and say "hello" followed by awkward silence, I'd ask about it and what the student would be looking forward to. The top answers were as follows: shashliki, rides, fireworks, and dancing. To explain: something that I never expected to be the hot food item of Ukraine, the food of both celebration and wealth: shish kebobs. Marinated meat on a stick really gets people here. Funny, the day after Village Day in the teachers' room I got a good earful about how expensive they were this year and no one was buying them. A true sign of the economic crisis. My kids don't get any frivolous meat. As far as rides, I'd hate to tell one of my students that an American kid in the suburbs has more entertainment at his or her birthday party. Hearing and seeing what makes this event special to my kids once again shoves in my face how unmeasurable my childhood privileges and personal expectations in living a good life are from the people I interact with here. What am I to do with this knowledge of such a great social and economic gap? Am I to share what is "normal" to me? I'm constantly afraid of sounding condescending when asked for comparisons.
When I talked to older people before Village Day, they often stressed the significance of the fellowship meal and then they would say, "oh, you'll get to see the Soviet part, shame". I chose not to see the Soviet part, the label for anything that occurs after the sun sets. I got to hear enough about it the day after. People like to celebrate, anywhere (well, I guess not the anabaptists :) Because it was a holiday and there are few other outlets in my community, a lot of rather "uncultured" things happen on this day. This particularly disgusts my coworkers, who in part feel that they have raised most of the under 35 crowd. It just makes me sad that this behavior spoils other aspects of life. In my village, I don't think cause and effect are exercised enough during the formative years and thus lead to cycles of disappointment and poverty. I'll hopefully explain this more some other time.
In Sara's "I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer here to conquer your social ills" mindset, I want to make Village Day 2011 a year to remember. The medium by which all nostalgic memories will be measured. I don't want there to be any empty speeches. I don't want the kids to be singing outdated songs and doing the same dances that their parents did while the audience drifts away. I want my students to feel like they have some ownership of the event. I want there to be more outreach towards those who every other day of the year are silenced but come out for this anyway. I want this day to celebrate the possibilities of the future and not be a suffocating reminder of the past.
I wasn't expecting this as all; a dance troupe from the region performing a "shtetl" dance
Your post makes me "homesick" for Ukraine! 8-)
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Kerch (Crimea) 2005-2007