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. :)

Bukovyna Part III: Prekarpaty, Kosiv, and a Farewell to Chernivtsi

On day three of our adventure, we got up early again to get a bus to Kosiv. Unfortunately, we went to the main bus station and not to the one our hostel owner had recommended, so it turned out there were no buses to Kosiv anytime soon. So instead, we hired a driver. Split four ways, this wasn't too expensive (about $24 each by the time all was said and done).

Kosiv is somewhere around 1-2 hours from Chernivtsi. To get there, you have to cross from Chernivts'ka Oblast into Ivano-Frankivs'ka Oblast. Kosiv is nestled in an area known as Prekarpaty-- that is, the foothills on the northern side of the Carpathian mountain range. It was great to have our own driver for this trip, because he took us along the scenic route.

He even stopped at one point to let us take pictures of the breathtakingly beautiful frosty Carpathian landscape, which was covered in snow that had just fallen the night before.

Little chapels like this one are everywhere in Western Ukraine

Fresh spring water from the mountains

This little church was up on a small hill in the middle of the valley... so beautiful.

Our driver took a group shot for us.

Then it was back in the car and off to Kosiv!

The reason we wanted to go to Kosiv so badly was to see their famous Hutsul craft market. This place is supposedly a mecca for travelers from all over the world, and gets hundreds of thousands of them yearly. The Hutsuls are a people who lived in this region of Ukraine, and a lot of their crafts became what we think of as iconic Ukrainian souvenirs. This market was enormous, and it was unfortunate we didn't have more time to spend there-- it closed at noon, and besides we were FREEZING. I definitely want to go back to this market in warmer weather someday, and wander around for a longer time. As it was, though, we had a pretty successful experience. I bought a vishyvanka-- a hand-embroidered shirt-- and some Carpathian herb tea.

Talia samples a headdress

Epic crafts market is epic.

After the crafts market, we had lunch in a little cafe, then went to the Hutsul Folk Art Museum (from which, unfortunately, I have no pictures, because we were not allowed to take them without paying an extra fee).

In the same building as the Hutsul Folk Art Museum was the museum of UPA... a Ukrainian nationalist organization which tends to be revered in Western Ukraine despite the fact that they were Nazi sympathizers... unfortunately the museum was closed when we were there.

Then we walked a little around Kosiv before heading back.

We got back to Chernivtsi in time to have dinner. Joel's train left that evening, so the next day it was just us girls. Charitie's train left midafternoon, so we did a little wandering and sightseeing before then.

When we first arrived, and got off the bus near this church, some random Ukrainian heard us speaking English and struck up a conversation. "Why did you come to Chernivtsi?" he asked. Without missing a beat, Talia answered: "Because your churches are PINK!!!"

I do believe this street is largely responsible for Chernivtsi's reputation as the "little Paris of Ukraine." You can't see it under the snow, but at the edge of the sidewalk there is a metal strip which has the name of Chernivtsi in several languages, including English, Ukrainian, Russian, and Hebrew.

It was quite cold. We stopped for hot chocolate to sip as we walked along the street.

Charitie and Talia basking in the rare winter sunlight.

Even the manhole covers in Chernivtsi were pretty. The city's logo-- the lantern-- reinforced the European feel of the city.

After Charitie caught her train, Talia and I went in search of St. Nicholas' Cathedral... otherwise known as "the Drunken Church." When we found it, we discovered why...

The Escher-like pattern of the spires' windows makes them look as though they are leaning in toward the steeple, when really they are not.

What a cool church!

The iconostasis at St. Nicholas' Cathedral.

Along the way to the drunken church, we also found a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church.

the frosty well outside the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church

And then we decided to go inside, and accidentally crashed a Ukrainian wedding.

OK, "crashed" is too strong a word. No one actually noticed we were there.

Candles in a little prayer shrine in an alcove near the entrance.

Then we walked along a little more, and found a park with a nice view of the valley.

At the park below this overlook, there was a ginormous statue of an old-timey bicycle. Talia climbed it, which may have resulted in the most steampunk picture ever.

On Yuriy Gagarin Street, however, we found a somber reminder of the city's past.

"The sign says: In this part of the city in 1941 was the Chernivetski Ghetto in which were imprisoned 50,000 Jews"

And now that you're all depressed, here's something more uplifting I saw on our way to the train station.

"Hakuna Matata: Clothes from Europe" Hahahaha....