The Maidan is Still Here

My apartment in Kyiv was situated on Volodymyrs'ka Street, tucked away behind St. Sofia's Cathedral.

I captured this stunning view of St. Sofia's at sunset

Wandering around this part of town, I was surprised to see how little had changed. Reading all of the news reports and watching all of the live videos from Kyiv had made it seem like half the city had been destroyed. My first hint that things were different was the medical tent which was still pitched in front of St. Michael's monastery.

The tent is at the bottom-left, with the Ukrainian flag on top. The first night that the police beat protesters, they fled and were given sanctuary in this monastery. Monks gave them tea, medical care, and a warm place to rest, and prayed over them, while locking out the riot police.

It was surprising, indeed, when the woman in the produkti where I stopped for a bottle of water addressed me in Ukrainian and not in Russian. But it would not be until that evening, when I went down to the Khreshchatyk, Kyiv's main boulevard, that I was again surprised to see just how much had changed.

Shevchenko's 200th birthday poster appears many places down the street.

Shevchenko's stern countenance also stares out from the Rada building, where protesters set up camp for months during the winter. The spray-painted label of "Revolution Headquarters" has now been painted out. The white sign says that the Rada building is closed for renovation and repairs, and apologizes for any inconvenience.

Army tents are still set up in the middle of the street; men in fatigues wander between them. They hang with signs describing the group which lives inside: many are from regions like Vinnytsia, Luhansk or Crimea, while others carry the party logos of far-right groups like Pravy Sektor and Spilna Sprava.

The tent from Vinnytsia

The Maidan itself is unrecognizable from my previous visit. The burnt-out husk of the Trade Unions building towers over everything as a somber reminder of the violence which has occurred here. Its charred facade has been sprinkled with blots of pink paint, which seem to glow like sparks in the twilight.

The last time I returned to the Maidan, after these pictures were taken, one side of the Trade Unions Building had been covered by a screen showing the iconic Ukrainian landscape of golden wheat under a blue sky, with the words, "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes"

Some barricades still remain, made of tires, cobblestones, and debris.

The base of Hrushevskoho Street, where the first protesters were killed after the passage of repressive anti-protest laws in January.

This sign says, "25 May [the date of the election] your voice is crucial- time to live anew"

You can also see where Maidan activists tore up the cobblestones to build the barricades and for use as weapons against the riot police. In some of these spaces there are stacks of new bricks waiting to be lain, but as yet they are still unrepaired.

The above reads "A united country"

And rising up through the center of it all, the "yolka"--the Christmas tree which was never fully assembled, which became the beacon for the protests.

"It all started with this yolka," my friend Halya tells me, "because the government wanted to put it up, but the students would not allow them to do it." As the protests went on, the yolka became covered with flags and banners rather than evergreen boughs.

These say "Everyone together against Putin" and "We love Russians, we despise Putin"

The message of the Maidan has changed; now that Yanukovych is gone, focus has shifted to the violence in the East of the country and Russia's role in it. Anti-Russia sentiment is much more apparent than before. More Ukrainian is being spoken in Kyiv than before. Though things are quiet here now, this was the place where the first blood was spilled, where a hundred protesters were shot by government snipers just days before Yanukovych fled and Russian troops invaded Crimea.

I walked with Halya up to Instituts'ka street, where most of the deaths occurred.

It is difficult to capture this experience in words, because the wounds are still so raw. The barricades are still here, layer on layer of them. Memorials line the street on either side, covered with mounds of flowers, candles, and pictures of the dead. Some of them were quite young-- we stopped at the memorial of a man who was only 18 years old. Friends and family stand mourning before them. Pointing, Halya shows me where the snipers were standing-- on top of Hotel Ukrainia, where I stayed in 2012 before observing the Parliamentary elections. Then she shows me a metal lamppost with bullet holes in it. "The men were carrying wooden shields," she says, "it could not protect them from bullets like this. Or their helmets." They are heroes, she says. She is sure they are in heaven now.

The people who remain on the Maidan these days, however, have ambiguous significance. They claim that they needed to stay in place until the election in order to ensure that all of the demands of the Maidan were fully carried out in accordance with the wishes of the people. But, several Ukrainians told me, the people there now are not really representatives of the people. "They should go home now," my friend Halya tells me, "Go home to their families, go back to work. We got what we wanted. There is no need for them to be here any more. They are just lazy. They sit here all day and drink. And then people come to the Maidan and see them, and they say 'Oh, the people on Maidan were just a bunch of lazy drunks.' They say they are heroes, but if they were really heroes, they would be going to the east." Whether it is really laziness or Post-Traumatic Stress, it's hard to say. But it is certainly clear that these men (because they are mostly men) do plan to stay here for a while.

Klitschko, the new mayor-elect, last week called for the square to be cleared. Now he has retracted that call. It will be interesting to see what happens with this space in the future.

"European Square" at the end of Khreshchatyk. The sign reads "A United Country" in both Ukrainian and in Russian.

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. :)

ETA Training/Orientation in Kyiv

I have returned at last!

Not much was happening for a few weeks-- or well, things were, but there was not much interesting to report. The weekend after I lost my camera I traveled to Kyiv to attend the regional Fulbright ETA orientation. This was three days of meeting with other ETAs who were sent to Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Latvia, Georgia, etc.

While I had no camera, with the aid of Facebook I was able to gather some pictures that my fellow ETAs took from the trip.

St. Andrews' Church, at the top of the hill

Vanessa and I walking down St. Andrews' Descent. During the day this street is filled with vendors selling all kinds of crafts and souvenirs... but it was pretty awesome to be there at night when it was completely empty. I think this is my favorite part of Kyiv.

Words to live by. (Shashlyk, for the record, is grilled meat and/or veggie kebabs and is super tasty)

By the time I returned to Vinnytsia I was exhausted after my 2+ weeks of solid travel and very little sleep, so I didn't do much except rest for a week or so. Over the weekend, I went shopping with Karis, one of the Peace Corps volunteers, and we bought a new camera. She took me to the "Mega-Mall" on 600 Years Street.

"Vulnitsa Sheist-sot richya"

We also visited the Silpo in that mall, which we discovered to have a better selection and better prices. I've started going there when I can spare the time to take the longer tram ride.

On Thursday, I took a trip back to that mall and bought a wireless internet router for my apartment. This was really becoming necessary because my internet cable is broken and was continually falling out of my computer whenever I moved. It was a fulfilling venture, because the clerk at the store was perfectly nice to me, and he spoke Ukrainian and I spoke Russian and we understood one another perfectly, and he showed me the correct router for the internet service I have and the size of my apartment. Then I went home and set it up, which ended up being a somewhat complicated process since I have a service you have to sign into... and although all the menus and settings were in Ukrainian, I successfully set it up. I was really proud of myself after that!

Then, the Thanksgiving festivities began. I attended the local English Club's Thanksgiving meeting. It was a lot of fun, and it was nice to actually eat turkey on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving at the English Club! As you can see, there was turkey, potatoes, cranberries (made by yours truly), and lots and lots of sweets!

You can view more pictures of the English Club's Thanksgiving party here, too. My favorite is the one of Mila posing with my cranberry sauce. Hahahaha...

I had attended the English Club once before but it was like no one had noticed me until this meeting. Several of the members introduced themselves to me, and were really nice people. I will have to go back this week.

On Saturday, Anna, one of the Peace Corps volunteers, was hosting a bigger Thanksgiving party at her home in Vinnytsia Khurota-- one of the villages surrounding Vinnytsia. Unfortunately I had to be late, since I was teaching the class that I teach on Saturdays. This group of students are in the 11th grade at a local high school, and the university offers them these classes to help them prepare for their college entrance exams in the hopes that when they need to choose a college, they will choose this one.

These students are really motivated and enthusiastic and they really work hard-- and apparently they love me too. Before class Oleg was telling me that one of the other teachers had overheard some of my students on a bus in the city talking about how I was the best English teacher around. :o) This week they asked for a picture with me, so here it is:

These students are fabulous!

After the class, I caught bus 176 to Vinnytsia Khurota to attend the party at Anna's. It was interesting because I only knew three or four people there and everyone else was a complete stranger. They were all really nice to me, but as the only non-Peace Corps person in attendance, I felt like a special guest to a group which already existed. Still, I had a really great time and made some new friends in the area.

The food was fabulous. There was a huge spread of American favorites, including macaroni and cheese, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc. Notably missing, though, was the turkey. Plans for obtaining one had fallen through last-minute, so we ate pork and duck instead.

I should probably also mention that it was an "ugly sweater" party. We don't all have this questionable of a fashion sense on normal days. :P

After dinner we retired to the sauna (a surprisingly nice building with a pool and everything) to drink and play games and chat. After playing a game of Cards Against Humanity (a version of Apples to Apples that is utterly politically incorrect and offensive, and therefore often very hilarious), we settled into conversations.

Around 1:30 we (me and two girls who were planning to crash at my apartment) attempted to call a taxi back to my place... but there were a series of communication mishaps (first we didn't know the correct area code for the taxi service, then we got a number for one which didn't serve the area, except the person who made the call didn't understand that so we waited outside for 40 minutes, then tried to walk to a nearby hotel/bar to get a number and the people there either gave us a wrong number or the taxi service they referred us to didn't operate during those hours... it was a mess). Long story short, we ended up staying the night at Anna's (not that I really slept) and I didn't get back until late yesterday morning.

Now I'm very tired, but I got up to teach a class this morning (well, not really teach. It was a class I had never worked with before, so we just chatted and got to know one another). Then I took a trip out to the fancy Silpo and got ingredients for vegetable soup, which I made for dinner. Tomorrow I have a Russian lesson (only my third one since all this madness started-- I was gone, or my teacher was busy,  pretty much every day since) and I teach an evening class of high schoolers that I've never worked with before from 5-8 pm. It's going to be a long haul but I think it will be fun.

I also made plans for Christmas-- from December 22-28 I will be going to Istanbul with some of the other Fulbrighters, and when I return from that I will go to L'viv for a two-week intensive course in the Ukrainian language and to celebrate Orthodox Christmas at the home of one of my friends. :o) I'm really excited! Better things to come!