In Between Times

Since I'm embarking on my next great travel adventure tomorrow, I thought it might be good to fill in with what I've been generally up to since my Bukovyna trip at the end of January.

Basically, I had a bunch of misunderstandings with my university that made life really complicated. We had disagreements over my schedule. They wanted me to teach three three-hour night classes each week, and nothing else. I said this was unacceptable to me for many reasons, not least of which that it is hard enough to have any sort of life in a foreign country, let alone try to do it while working nights and twiddling your thumbs all day while everyone else is working. It was also a problem because the class they wanted me to teach on Thursday nights was at the exact same time as Mila's English Club in the center which I try to go and help with. Apparently they had never expected that I might object to this schedule, so it became a huge fiasco complete with crying on my part and some really un-called-for insults to my character on their part.

So I had to get the Fulbright Ukraine office in Kyiv involved. The new Fulbright director was really helpful though, and (I hope) everything is straightened out now. I think the biggest problem was that norms for scheduling work and norms for the relationship between employees and employers are very different between the U.S. and Ukraine.

This was compounded by the fact that I was sick for about a week after coming back from Chernivtsi-- I think all those nights of poor sleep, sleeping on trains, sleeping in a dorm room at the hostel, and spending lots of time in enclosed spaces with lots of people just did me in. Whatever, for my first week back in Vinnytsia I was basically useless.

Was really glad I bought that Carpathian Herb tea in Kosiv! Kinda just looks like someone went outside and grabbed a handful of leaves though, doesn't it? :)

Does your herb tea have grass, sticks, berries, and flowers? Because mine does.

 In the midst of the scheduling mess, I took a weekend trip to Kyiv for the Fulbright mid-year orientation. This is for those who are only doing half-year Fulbrights, or for those who for whatever reason didn't come to Ukraine until January-- and then for those of us who are already here and would like to meet the new people. It was no big problem for me to go, since Vinnytsia is not far from Kyiv by train (about 2 1/2 hours if you take the fast train). As it turned out, most of the current Fulbrighters had decided not to come-- just about the only out-of-towners who came into Kyiv for this were me and Joel, who traveled all the way from L'viv. This worked out marvelously for our though, because it meant Fulbright could afford to pay our full accommodations which it would not have been able to do if more people had come.

Joel and I met up on Friday, stowed our bags at the hotel, and had time for a little sightseeing before we joined everyone else for the reception in the evening. Since neither of us had been to Kyiv's legendary Lavra, we decided to head there. The conditions for this trip weren't really ideal, though-- it was pouring down rain, and so foggy you could barely see across the street. So while my photos aren't actually informative, they are pretty haunting.

I couldn't believe how ridiculously foggy it was. This is the entrance to the park with a Holodomor memorial.

Fortunately we were able to follow the signs and maps, because the Lavra is a "main tourist object"

Because we were so late in the day, we only got to see one set of caves. But it was neat to wander around and take pictures of the churches, too.

 

Down the hill to the caves

I love the flying buttresses

Like the liberty bell, but newer. Hahaha

Really impressive artwork on this one. I don't know how it survives the elements.

We were soaked through after that excursion!

On Saturday night, after our orientation was over, we went back out with a few other Fulbrighters to meet one of my Ukrainian friends, Mykola, from the ESS (the one with the cute baby!).

During our seminar, I watched the rain change over to snow through the window. By the time we got to Maydan Nezalezhnosti, people had already built snowmen. Or as they're known in Ukraine, snow grandmas.

The bar was busy that evening and had to break out some old glasses...

The next morning, I got up to meet my friend Halya (another of my former students from ESS) for church.

After Mass, there was a Christmas concert! "And you'll be starting Lent this week!" Halya laughed.

(I wanted to put in a video of the concert here, but it seems that every time I try to insert a video, blogger crashes! They really should do something about that.)

If you look closely, you can see that these pillows are actually made out of tile! Pretty cool. I wanted to take more pictures of the artwork, but my camera battery died :(

Back in Vinnytsia, I tried helping Anna with her English club on Tuesday afternoons. It's not for me-- she works with much younger kids who know almost no English, and anyway I'm starting up an English club of my own that night at my university.

Other things that happened in the last month... hmmm...

I got my first lucky tram ticket...

The sum of the first three digits= the sum of the last three digits! It's good luck :)

I made some homemade borshch...

Домашний борщик з сметаной та хлів (homemade borshch with sour cream and bread)

Then, last week, I had a houseguest. Deborah, one of the other Fulbrighters who normally lives in Odessa but wants to do research in both that region and in this one, came to stay with me for a few days to start networking in Vinnytsia. Her visit was great-- I got to show her around the city, we ate at many of Vinnytsia's great (and comparatively cheap) restaurants, and she even took me to the central market and showed me how and where to buy the good stuff-- homemade cheese, smoked meat, fresh vegetables, and honey from the villages, and the cheapest and most delicious dried fruit you have ever eaten. I got honey, fresh cheese, some sausage, and a box of fresh dates. It was all phenomenal, and I am totally going back there all the time when the weather gets warmer.

Last Friday, March 8, was also International Womens' Day. This holiday is a big deal in Ukraine, with most businesses having a shortened day or a day off, and all men being expected to buy flowers and candy for every woman they know.

My Russian teacher, Inna, is a teacher of English and Russian at a school in one of the villages outside of Vinnytsia. Last Thursday, the day before Womens' Day, she invited Deborah and I to her school to see her children perform in their school show. These shows are kind of like a cross between a talent show and a recital-- students play music, dance, recite poetry, and so on. They were really impressive, and the school itself was beautiful-- relatively new, huge, and brightly painted and decorated.

The children sat in the auditorium waiting for the show to start

This little girl had an incredible voice. Also, I love her dress. So shiny!

Some of these costumes might look a little familiar...

There was a combination of folk dance and modern dance in their performances.

Inna herself sang a duet with one of her students. It was great, but again I can't post because Google apparently can't handle videos. After the concert, Deborah left for Odessa and I went out for dinner with the village school teachers. All in all, it was quite an experience.

On Womens' Day itself, Mila and Anna, two of the Peace Corps volunteers, came over and watched movies. Then on Saturday, I hosted an "American Movie Night" at my apartment and invited all my friends, both Ukrainian and American. Unfortunately there were only 3 guests this time, but I definitely will do it again because it seemed that everyone had a good time. Anna stayed with me both nights. So basically, I had a houseguest every night last week except Thursday! It was quite a long week. And now this week, it's back to lesson planning and preparing for my upcoming trip this weekend... Kharkiv! Stay tuned for updates about that adventure. :)