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.