Fulbright in Ukraine Orientation

I'm feeling rather lousy today after the Fulbright Orientation in Kyiv. Partially because last night was really stressful, and partially because I seem to have caught the cold that the Fulbrighters in Kyiv said was going around their school- sore throat and runny nose. Today I haven't been up to much except laying on the couch and drinking tea, which, fortunately for you, means I have plenty of time to update my blog.

On my way to Kyiv, I had a seat on one of the new express trains with airplane-style seats. Not bad at all, and pretty fast as Ukrainian trains go. I used the ride to work on my novel, so the time went by quickly. Upon arriving in Kyiv, I followed the directions provided by the Fulbright office to find our hotel without any problems. When I checked in, I was told that I had been assigned a roommate, which was fine until I saw the room...

I've seen two queens or a single king, but how about a perfectly good full-size bed cut in two?

Uh-huh. Cozy... I guess.

After checking in, I went outside to meet Halya, one of my Ukrainian friends from the English Summer School. She took me to her parents' apartment, where she had cooked a delicious dinner of Borshch, roast chicken and potatoes, and salad, with cake for dessert. It was all so good, and I enjoyed a nice evening catching up with her, helping her practice her English.

Beautiful mosaic of St. Volodymyr, Baptiser of Rus', in the Universytet Metro Station

The hotel provided complimentary breakfasts, so after dining there with a few of my fellow Fulbrights, I met up with Halya again and she took me to her family's church for liturgy. It was the first Ukrainian Greek Catholic liturgy I've made it to since being here, and I was most happy. :)

Halya's church was modern, but still beautiful-- a balance which many American churches fail to find.

Even better, after Mass, Halya took me to the church bookstore and helped me to buy a prayer book which contains the entire liturgy and all the offices in Ukrainian. I was so excited! It will help me to not only follow along with the liturgy in a foreign language, but also to learn lots of new vocabulary :)

After church, we returned to Halya's family's house and ate a delicious lunch. Her parents didn't speak much English at all, so I had only a little conversation with them with my limited knowledge of Ukrainian and Halya's help. They were so kind and gracious-- they even gave me a bagful of apples to take home with me, and when it looked as though I would not be able to get to the orientation on time, Halya's father drove me straight to the apartment of the director of the Fulbright Program in Ukraine, where the meeting was being held.

The orientation was great-- it was nice to meet other Americans who share my love of Ukraine, and to put faces to names I've seen on contact lists. They all seemed like pretty nice people, and we got along well. While enjoying appetizers of fruit, cheese, and crackers, and drinking wine, beer, juice, and water, we saw presentations on the education system of Ukraine and the elections in Ukraine by the former Education secretary of Ukraine and by the dean of the law college at Mohyla Academy, respectively. Then we enjoyed a tasty dinner of blyny, shashlyk, varynky, and many other foods while milling around and chatting. After that day I was so tired I returned to the hotel and went to bed at 10 PM. It was probably for the best, though, because the next morning's events started early.

After breakfast at the hotel, a series of cars collected us and took us to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. Security was tight-- we had to turn in all our electronics and medications, and we were not allowed anywhere without an escort, including the bathroom. A day full of presentations began, all by the staff of the U.S. Embassy, including things like health in Ukraine, the Ukrainian economy, security in Ukraine, and so on. At the end of the day we were fortunate to have a visit from the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, John Tefft. He was a very nice guy, who chatted casually with all of us about our work in Ukraine.

Following the orientation we took cabs back to the hotel, and four of us went out for dinner in the time before we had to catch our respective trains. We enjoyed pizza and drinks at Oliva, a chain of Italian restaurants in Kyiv. Around 8 PM I caught my train (and yes, I caught it this time!) back to Vinnytsia, which put me back around 11:30.

Now, I had thought I might be able to take a tram home, but a look at the sign outside the tram stop told me that they had stopped running around 10 PM. The buses were still running, but I didn't know which number to take and I didn't want to end up God-knows-where. I would have called Tanya or Svitlana, but unfortunately when I had turned in my phone to security at the U.S. Embassy they had made me shut it off, and when I turned it back on it demanded a PIN which I did not have in my possession. Therefore, my phone was useless. I looked for a pay phone at the station (they are more prevalent in Ukraine than in the US) but could not find one. Despite the panic rising, I could not resist the urge to laugh. It was such a perfect storm of misfortunes, each so unlikely that their convergence was frankly absurd.

My next idea: take a taxi. I waited until one pulled up to drop people off, thus signaling to me that they were from a reputable company. I asked if he was free, and he said yes, but when I told him my address he could not understand me, so I got frustrated and got out.

Now I really didn't know what to do... so I sought out an employee at the Ukrainian train station, and tried to explain to her as best I could the problem I was having. Although I'd tried to explain to her in Russian, she took me to another employee who spoke English, who asked me to explain in English. I told her that I needed a taxi to get to my address, and she asked if I was staying with friends. "No, I live here!" I said. She was surprised, "You live here and you don't speak Russian!?" So I told her in Russian, "I speak Russian, but very badly!" I think the taxi driver didn't understand my request because of my accent.

She then went and got me a cab-- I am pretty sure it was the same one, actually-- negotiated the price for me, and gave me her number and asked me to call her when I got home. I offered her a little money for her trouble but she refused it. On the way back, I chatted with the taxi driver in my terrible Russian, explaining my frustration at my language situation and explaining that I *lived* here, I should know my way around! I know he had some trouble understanding my terrible Russian, but he was very nice about it. When I arrived home, I finally put the code into my phone, only to find a text from Tanya telling me which trolleybuses I could take. Lot of good that did me now, haha! I called the train station worker as she had requested. I told her I was safe at home and she responded, "You live alone!?" I assured her I had friends here and a job, that I wasn't just a helpless foreigner. She told me that I could call her any time if I needed anything, whether I just wanted to talk, or if she could help me buy train tickets. I thanked her and asked her what her name was. "Angel." As if I needed another sign that someone upstairs is looking out for me :) Thank God for kind Ukrainians!

That was the longest day ever, and after being so panicked at the railway station it took me a few hours to calm down so that I could sleep. And then I woke up with the cold, paired with a strong sense of discouragement at my language skills after all that had happened last night. Hence, my reluctance to do anything but lay on the couch today. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better!

L'viv: The City of My Heart

Ahhh......... L'viv. What can I say about L'viv?

No words can describe L'viv. There is no city like it in the world.

L'viv enchants you. It gets into your soul and doesn't leave.

Rynok Square: the most beautiful part of the most beautiful city!

No pictures can do justice to the feeling of being there. There is just something so intense, so rich and alive, about this city.

It is a city of hidden treasures. Everywhere there are intricate facades inset with statues, historical buildings, old churches. You are simultaneously surrounded by history, and by life.

On Monday, I returned to L'viv for the first time. It had taken two years, but I finally made it back. The city's attraction is irresistible.

I got up at 5 in order to catch a taxi to the train station. At 6 am, I boarded the train, which arrived in L'viv around 12:50. Father Chrysostomos met me at the station, and I was so glad to see him! It's been two years. He took me to lunch at a little Armenian restaurant that he's fond of, then we walked around the city a bit. We went to the Orthodox Monastery, then climbed the hill north of the city to the open-air folk architecture museum.

The open-air museum is a forest filled with houses from Carpathian villages that were disassembled, moved here, and reassembled.

I think my grandma has a painting of this church at home...

There is a monastery and a couple of churches in the park, so they let us in for free, assuming that Father Chrysostomos was going to the church. He had planned to leave me exploring the museum while he went to vespers elsewhere, but since his taxi didn't arrive on time, we went to vespers at the church in the park instead.

Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the inside of the church, but the interior is just as beautiful as the exterior. Wooden walls, painted icons decorated with hand-embroidered banners, fresh flowers.  It was such a treat to attend vespers in Ukrainian in this candle-lit old church. Like balm for your soul. How much I've missed the Ukrainian services!!!

I checked into the apartment which Father Chrystostomos had reserved for me at Ukrainian Catholic University, the university for which I taught on my last visit. These accommodations turned out to be in one of their apartments for international students. I had my own individual room in a suite of five, which also included two bathrooms and a shared kitchen. The other people living there included a Ukrainian college student and a Venezuelan student who was there to study Ukrainian. I had wonderful conversations with these girls. We helped the Ukrainian girl with her English, and in turn she helped the two of us with our Ukrainian. It was great fun, and really helpful! Part of me wishes I could live with such roommates full-time! I will definitely stay there next time I go to L'viv, especially because it was cheap-- only 100 hryvnia (about $12) a night!

Interestingly, I also discovered that another girl lived there-- another Fulbright student from Louisiana! I'll see her in Kyiv this weekend! It's a small world.

On Tuesday I got a call from my cousin Nick, who was arriving in L'viv. I found my way to the train station to meet him, on foot. He and I wandered around the city for a while before returning to my apartment so he could get a shower and locate a hostel. We stopped at the chocolate factory I remembered from my last trip to buy some delicious candies. Nick had also brought me half a pretzel and some sugar-roasted almonds from Oktoberfest. Like, the actual Oktoberfest. In Germany. They were *amazing*, even after being squished in his bag for 16 hours.

Nick in front of the L'viv Opera House.
We wanted to see an opera but there was nothing showing on Wednesday :( 

Then, after checking him in at a hostel on Rynok Square, we met up with Mariana, who had been the academic director at the 2010 English Summer School where I taught. She brought us to Puzhata Khata, the chain of restaurants which serve a lot of traditional Ukrainian food, so that Nick could try some. Overall, it was a very pleasant evening.

Wednesday I met Nick outside his hostel, and we enjoyed a leisurely brunch at a cafe on Rynok Square. It was unbelievably delicious. Then we went to the National Museum, which contained a plethora of icons from old churches all over the region, as well as some interesting artwork. After returning to UCU to settle my apartment bill, we went in search of Lychakivske Cemetery, which I have been told I should see.

 This kitty helped us find our way. (Not really, but he was cute.)

By the time we found Lychakivske, there was not much time to spend there, but I will certainly have to return. It is an extraordinary place.

We were only able to see the newer part of the cemetery, but I will certainly return here on my next visit and try to get to the older part, where there are supposed to be some incredible Gothic mausoleums and monuments.

The reason we had so little time at Lychakivske was that I wanted to get Nick back to the city center in time to join Father Chrysostomos for vespers. Unfortunately this venture failed, but we met up with him and Mariana later to drink some coffee and say goodbye. After Father left, Nick, Mariana, and I enjoyed a tasty Italian dinner at Cafe No. 1.

The next morning Nick and I walked together to the train station, since my train left at 8:45 and his after 9. After a seven-hour train ride, I finally got back to Vinnytsia. It had been an incredible few days, but I was exhausted.

No rest for the weary though!

Today, I taught my first full class. The students were pretty good. I let them spend the first half or so of class asking me questions about myself and where I was from, where else I had been in Ukraine, etc. etc. Then we began a lesson on leadership styles, where I helped them to read an article on the subject and answer some questions. We will read the remainder of the article next time. Overall, they were enthusiastic and fun, and I had a good time teaching the class. Afterward, I was introduced to a student who is interested in applying for a Fulbright grant to the United States next year. I chatted with her for an hour or so, then made a grocery run and took the groceries back to my apartment before returning to the university to meet Tanya.

I had been so proud of myself when, after de-boarding my train from L'viv, I had gone to the ticket counter and purchased my return ticket from Kyiv on Monday. IN RUSSIAN. ALL BY MYSELF!!! I was so proud. I didn't even have any big problems-- the ticket lady and I understood one another just fine. She could tell I was a foreigner so she was a little snippy, but I got the ticket and it was correct!

...and then I got an email from the Fulbright office that I needed to change the ticket to leave later, or else I would miss part of the Orientation.

Oh well, it was great while it lasted. :D So Tanya and I returned to the train station to change my ticket for a later time. Then we went to the Italian restaurant in my favorite park to enjoy a delicious pizza dinner outdoors. The waitress must have been new, though, because our pizza was MUCH bigger than she told us it would be.

Tanya is shocked by the enormity of our pizza. On the plus side, I now have leftovers to take on the train tomorrow :)

Afterward, we went for a walk and she showed me more places around Vinnytsia.

All in all, a great week, but I am SO tired! I won't get the chance to relax until I am back from Kyiv. But so be it-- the adventure continues!!