Getting Settled in Vinnytsia

Busy day today!

First, an appointment at the university office where my department is located. There I discussed my prospective schedule with Oleg and Svitlana. Scheduling is much more complicated here. It seems that I will be responsible for six classes every other week, and four classes on the off weeks. I have no idea which class is which, and when they meet, but it is hopefully all supposed to materialize soon :)

 Buildings 2 and 3 of the university, where my department and classrooms are located.

This main entryway is usually filled with students hanging out in between classes. I love the flowers.

 The building where my department is located. It's quite nice on the inside.

After my meeting, I went down to the university's main building to sign some more paperwork for my visa application. Then, later in the afternoon, I went back out with Tanya to buy my train tickets for next week-- to L'viv on Monday-Wednesday, then to Kyiv on Saturday. She let me attempt to buy them myself, but my Russian is just not good enough to be fully effective. Plus, people at the train stations are rather short with foreigners. I was really glad she was there to help ensure I got everything right.

After the harrowing train ticket experience, we went to a cafe in the mall for a cappuccino.

(this one was Tanya's... the leaf on mine wasn't as pretty. :P)

After our cappuccinos, we went on a little walk. We passed this beautiful collapsing building which Tanya told me had once been a hospital.

It was really quite something.

Then Tanya showed me a spot down by the river with a beautiful view.

 I think I'd like to go down there and paint sometime.

It was quite a long day for me, especially after the weeks without much activity. I am going to do my first real teaching tomorrow, so I should go work on my material and get some sleep.

River Boats and Ukrainian Food

Today, I took a ride on the river boat with Tanya and her husband, Vasiliy. The weather wasn't ideal, as it was rainy and got quite cold by the end of the trip, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Tanya and me on the boat

Despite the weather, the river vista was still beautiful. The leaves are just starting to turn.

The boat ride ended (or, well, really reached the halfway point, since we stopped there and turned around) within view of a dam and hydroelectric power plant. Tanya told me it had been there since Soviet times, but had been recently upgraded and made more efficient.

I taught Tanya a new word to describe what this place was during Soviet times: a quarry. Upon further reflection... what a weird word.

Here is a picture of the riverboats that I happened to take last week, on a sunnier day:

After the river boat ride, they drove me around by car so that I could see a bit more of the city. We stopped at the Metro store, which is surprisingly similar to Sam's Club or Costco. Tanya and Vasiliy have a membership there, so I was able to get lots of stuff I needed that wasn't available at the stores near me in town-- a good-quality towel, a tablecloth for my table (embroidered Ukrainian-style-- I will take a picture of it tomorrow in the daylight-- it's so pretty! Definitely something I will bring home with me). There was also other stuff that I was glad to be able to buy in larger quantities since they had a car-- for example, water and toilet paper. Tanya is teaching me a lot about buying food in Ukraine, and cooking with it... and believe me, there's a lot to learn. The dishes are so different, and so is what's available in the stores.

When we had finished at the store, they took me to a restaurant which serves traditional Ukrainian food... and they ordered me basically some of everything, haha.

Varenky (basically pierogies) filled with cabbage, potato pancakes (one order topped with mushrooms and one order with onions and ham), fried potatoes with garlic and dill, chicken shashlyk (shish kabob), pickled vegetables (cucumbers and tomatoes), and some type of Armenian dish that I found suspiciously similar to a quesadilla. To drink- prune compote (the flavor of which reminded me of spiced apple cider) and two shots-- horseradish vodka and berry liqueur. The berry liqueur was not bad. Of the horseradish vodka... I wasn't such a big fan, haha. I thought it smelled (and tasted) like acetone :P Everything was so good! I ate far too much, and they let me have the leftovers, too!

We topped off the meal with a cappuccino.

Only THE PRETTIEST CAPPUCCINO EVER. All right kids, it's time for your Russian lesson. Яблоко (pronounced "yabloko")= "apple"

I must say, I have yet to drink a bad cup of coffee in Ukraine. Apparently barista-ing is a "thing" here, and they have competitions and everything. Last weekend when I was at the Day of the City celebration with Tanya we bought cappuccinos at a streetside stand, and it was by far the best coffee I'd ever had.

Now with a full stomach, I enter a food coma. Time for bed!