So, the school year’s wrapping up, it’s warmer, and there are all kinds of fresh fruits and veggies to be had! Clearly, the perfect time to stay inside and finally give you an update! :)
My last class to finish up was Political Linguistics, which was an interesting challenge. I also wrapped up the English class for Journalism students at the Humanities University, and maybe I’ll be seeing them again next year.
I took part in a WELL seminar [English language and leadership] in nearby Volodymyr-Volynsky, and was one of the advisors of the Ancient Greeks! Colorful ribbons told us who was on each team, and spirits were indeed high as the members of each ancient civilization represented learned more about their culture, music, leadership, and project planning. Plus, of course, there was a competition. And pizza!
Also in May, I spent another weekend in Lviv, opening the second bank account for our grant funding [thanks, USAID!], as well as exploring, and going to a rock festival! I’d been thinking of going to this festival, but delayed past the point where the 40 UAH [$5] tickets were available. So, I just made a hostel reservation for Friday night, and not Saturday [the night of the concert]. When I got into Lviv on Friday, it was already dark, and I ended up in the wrong hostel. They’re about a half block away from each other, and neither is well-marked, we’ll say. Anyway, the guy working at the desk at the wrong hostel told me that they had an extra bed for Saturday night still available, and his buddy had a couple of 40 tickets that he couldn’t use. So, yes? Yes! However, when I checked in there the next morning, the 40 tickets were gone. Luckily, there were still 90 UAH tickets, which I decided was okay [about $11], and much better than the 250 UAH tickets that remained an hour later! So, I had an adventure. It was basically just a really long concert, and all of the bands spoke in English in their between-song chats, except for the last band- Okean Elzy. Well, they were the only ones from Ukraine, so that makes sense. It was sunny and hot, then rainy, then sunny again, then chilly at night, but some good music and a new experience.
The end of May is the end of school for students in Ukraine, and although I work at the university level, I was able to experience some of the pomp and circumstance of graduation, as well. Maria, my friend and tutee, graduated from 11th form this year [students in Ukraine don’t go to 12th grade, because it doesn’t exist here!], and I had the opportunity to attend the Last Bell ceremony, as well as the graduation/ concert/ prom/ etc. shenanza! The Last Bell is a ceremony in which the whole school gathers together to celebrate the end of school, and to honor the graduating class. In some schools, this means that the graduating guys wear suits and the girls wear the black or brown dresses, white aprons, long white socks, and big white hair-bows of Soviet times. In Maria’s school, Gymnasium # 4, younger students wear their every-day burgundy blazers, and graduates wear vyshyvankas, traditional embroidered Ukrainian shirts. This ceremony took place on the big grand steps leading down to the park, with various classes of younger students arranged on the steps, gazing down adoringly [perhaps!] at the graduates. The second event I attended was held at the city’s drama theater, and featured lots of fancy prom-type clothes. Though the basic idea was the same, it wasn’t really too much like any graduation I’ve ever been to. Each class entered the stage, each 11th-form teacher danced, various songs and dances were performed, and each individual student received a personalized set of comments from the school director as he passed out the diplomas. One of the parts that really stood out to me, though, beyond all the waltzing and general fanciness, was the fanfare music played for each student as he or she stepped up to the stage, and then as he or she returned to sit down. For the first set of diplomas, when Maria received hers, the fanfare music was “Born in the USA.” Awesome. After this event, students pose for more pictures, then head out with their own individual classes to celebrate with dinner and dancing at a local restaurant. The last part of the tradition has graduates gathering to symbolically meet the sunrise together at a bridge.
In late May, I also had the chance to take part in a picnic for kids who live in orphanages and for people with disabilities. We took two big buses out to a very nice church-owned site, about an hour away, and the weather was beautiful. There were lots of relay races and games, a group-prepared meal, and even a concert at the end. It was fun to meet some new people, and totally excellent to see them get really really excited. :)
The beginning of June means strawberries, and I’ve been enjoying them ever since they appeared. The price is now down to about $1 per kilogram [2.2 pounds], and they’re available in buckets and baskets in every market. Cherries are good, too, as are new “young” veggies, including potatoes, carrots, cucumbers… mmm.
And, after much anticipation, my dad came to visit! He was in Ukraine 32 years ago, but many of the people he met still remembered his visit. I met him at the airport in Lviv with a group of family members, and we went straight to Komarno. We spent a few days there, visiting several houses full of relatives, eating lots and lots of good food, touring the town and its churches, and trying to clear up some genealogical questions. Dad even got to do some fishing. Unfortunately, the fish didn’t speak English, so it was a little challenging to talk them into getting caught. After Komarno, we came to Lutsk, and he got to visit my university, see the castle and other sights, and meet a few friends. Here, he got to try real Ukrainian pizza, too! Then, it was back to Lviv, where we had real Ukrainian Mexican-ish food. I was delighted, and although Dad was a little surprised to find cabbage in his vegetable fajitas, the actual corn chips and refried beans were all that I could have asked for! Cousin Khrystyna and her daughter Olya joined us on Thursday in Lviv, and we toured around a bit, including some places I hadn’t been before. Dad was excited about the Arsenal Museum, and the amazing number of cool churches to stop into [it was really hot outside, and they were really beautiful, as well as pleasantly chilled inside]. I really liked a little café where we had coffee, hidden deep under the Museum of Ideas. Plus, the mayor of Lviv was just outside for a conference. I never would have known it was him if Olya hadn’t pointed him out, but now I have his picture. Maybe I should put it on a flashcard or something. Friday was Dad’s last day in Ukraine, and a surprise contingent of family members met us at the airport to say goodbye to him, and to make sure I got back to Lutsk okay. It was a busy, tiring week, but so nice to be able to spend time with Dad and to share with him a little of what it’s like over here. The family here was so thrilled to see him, too, and can’t wait for him to come back again, along with everyone else in the family!
Now, the rest of the summer has begun. There’s lots of time to read, walk around, sleep in, and eat strawberries, which is great, but I’m also figuring out how to fill some of that time. I’m going to be attending Peace Corps’ Language Refresher Camp in July, maybe working at a scout camp, planning and holding some sessions for the [grant-funded] Difference-Makers Project, probably doing some tutoring, restarting film club, volunteering at a local language school’s summer camp, and maybe doing some traveling inside and outside of Ukraine. Everyone I’ve met here has told me that summer in Ukraine is wonderful, and thus far, I’m inclined to agree. :)
-- Here are the just-added pictures, and you'll note that they're in a second album! And-- and!!-- there are actually captions with the pictures! If you know how slow my internet can be, you can imagine how long it took, but I'm working on it! :)
- Lesiya Ukrainka is the most solid member of the English club
- student seminar in Volodymyr-Volynsky, getting excited about projects
- ancient Greece, represent
- group work
- another group of teachers at the recertification institute
- Stare Misto [old city] Rock Festival in Stadium Ukraine in Lviv
- one of the highlights: almost soft-pretzels of delight, sold by the pack on strings
- Okean Elzy [not that you can tell] performing
- lettuce Ukraine in Lviv
- the last bell of Gymnasium # 4—graduating 11th-formers wear embroidered shirts, the rest of the school listens to how wonderful the graduates are J
- sashes and big hair bows for girls are a must at some schools
- there’s a lot of dancing and fancy-dressing involved in the graduation/ concert/ prom/ pre-party celebration
- Maria, in blue, right in the middle J
- relay race at a picnic for kids, including those with disabilities and those who live in orphanages
- teamwork
- intensity in motion
- success
- it’s not butter that’s getting wedged into these about-to-be-baked potatoes, it’s salo [ie, fat!]
- green onions do a picnic make
- Komarno
- looking over pictures with family in Komarno
- one of many family portraits
- fisherguys, Dad and Roman
- work of the season, in gardens and in fields, in all weather
- castle-climbing
- in front of the opera theater in Lviv
- Lviv book market, plus pins and random memorabilia
- advertisement- true, if the borsch is without meat!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
post and pictures 4 may
Just spent a lovely holiday weekend exploring in and near Lviv with family and friends. What, you didn’t have a holiday? Here it was Labor Day, and since the holiday fell on the weekend, Monday and Tuesday are both days off, too. :)
On Saturday morning, my friends Vika and Jonathan and I took a bus down to Lviv and met with my cousins Yurko and Olya. Yurko graduated last year from Lviv Polytechnical University, and Olya is in her fourth year at the Academy of the Arts in Lviv, so they both know their way around quite well. After a tasty lunch, we saw Ivano Franko National University and the Lviv Art Gallery, passed through a rich and bright cultural souvenir market [where I couldn’t help asking a woman in an Ohio State sweatshirt if she had gone there… yes, she said she had, and… I spoke English?!], climbed an unexpectedly high clock tower for a city view, and stopped for a drink at a café where a well-known jazz piano player was entertaining himself and others with any song—or part of a song—that came into this mind. Next, it was a secondhand book market, with books in Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, English, German…Yum. Then, up a hill to a park, then up some flights of stairs, then up to another path and more stairs, and we were at the High Castle. Well, it used to be a castle, and now it’s just a really high lookout on the city. We also passed by a puppet theater, stopped into the pharmacy museum, and carefully made our selections from a handmade chocolate shop… Yum, again! Then, back to Komarno for a short family visit and some sleep.
On Sunday, Yurko and Olya’s mom, Khrystyna, played the tourguide role, and we visited the church where her husband, Father Ihor, was having a service, passed a bicycle race through the center, and then headed to a huge forest/ park that serves as a museum of folk architecture. Buildings from different Ukrainian time periods and places have been transported and rebuilt here, including many churches and houses complete with wells, storage buildings, etc. Lots of tourists were taking lots of pictures here [in all of Lviv, really!], as well as couples taking wedding pictures and people dressed in traditional clothing posing in traditional scenes. This park also included a small farm of domestic animals, a pysanky exhibit, and an exhibit of modern paintings and wood carvings. Back near the center of the city, via trambaye [tram], we passed by the arsenal museum [to be saved for next time!] and went into Saint Andrew’s, a huge and ornately decorated church, which was apparently used in the filming of The Three Musketeers. Finally, a tasty lunch/ dinner at Potato House—Greek salad and baked potatoes with cheese and mushrooms on top—and then to the bus station, where I met up with friends and headed back to Lutsk in the middle of the only actual thunderstorm I’ve experienced in Ukraine. Many puddles and some really wet shoes later, a successful journey completed! The only problem—how to choose which pictures to post?!
- Also, I went to my first European football game, and our team won, so that’s a good start.
- Replanted some spider plants into re-styled plastic bottle pots, in keeping with the recent celebration of Earth Day.
- Our grant project was awarded funding, so we’ll be able to hold the summer leadership trainings and September retreat for local university-age youth. If all goes well, the application process will be done within a month, and students will begin to work on the creation of their own community projects.
- Mushroom gravy/ sauce on vareneky [pierogies] is delicious, as is apple soda.
- If you want to get a modern Ukrainian song stuck in your head, try “Я Так Хочу” (Ya Tak Hochou) by Океан Ельзи (Okean Elzy). They’re from Lviv, sing in Ukrainian [as opposed to Russian, see] and I’ve just read that the lead singer has a degree in theoretical physics.
- It’s really sunny today!
:)
picture captions:
- PCVs after presenting at the TESOL conference in Rivne, a little over an hour from Lutsk
- spring trees, with Easter white knees
- how gardens grow: greener
- out to dinner for the best vareneky contest/ celebration with friends on the opening of their new school
- said school, much Ikea’d
- English Club preps for Earth Day
- blue and green, heavy on the green
- small amusement park in the surprisingly large park downtown
- an artist lives here—could you tell?
- soccer/ football: Volyn 4, other team 0
in Lviv-
- Ivan Franko, plus Vika, Jonathan, Yurko, and Olya
- Ivan Franko’s university, plus Vika
- Taras Shevchenko does the wave near the center
- Lviv opera theater
- climbed up… all steps, no elevator, and with close-shouldered twists near the top
- part of the straight-down view from the top
- pretty cutelike
- one of many ornately lovely churches
- secondhand books, worth many second looks
- several stages upward to the High Castle…
- which turns out to no longer include a Castle… just High
- [oldest] pharmacy museum
- with relatives in Komarno- Ihor, Khrystyna, Eugenia
- part of a pysanky exhibit in the huge park that’s a museum of folk architecture
- one of many buildings in this park/ museum
- with Khrystyna, who was my family guide for the day :)
- church from the 18th century
- old schoolhouse
- inside old houses,
- with traditional such
- inside the schoolhouse: school on one side, teacher living space on the other
- somewhat-unexpected windmill
- back in the city, ceiling and organ of Saint Andrew’s, a giant and beautiful church apparently used in the filming of The Three Musketeers
- statue [really?!]
- green-in/ green-out
On Saturday morning, my friends Vika and Jonathan and I took a bus down to Lviv and met with my cousins Yurko and Olya. Yurko graduated last year from Lviv Polytechnical University, and Olya is in her fourth year at the Academy of the Arts in Lviv, so they both know their way around quite well. After a tasty lunch, we saw Ivano Franko National University and the Lviv Art Gallery, passed through a rich and bright cultural souvenir market [where I couldn’t help asking a woman in an Ohio State sweatshirt if she had gone there… yes, she said she had, and… I spoke English?!], climbed an unexpectedly high clock tower for a city view, and stopped for a drink at a café where a well-known jazz piano player was entertaining himself and others with any song—or part of a song—that came into this mind. Next, it was a secondhand book market, with books in Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, English, German…Yum. Then, up a hill to a park, then up some flights of stairs, then up to another path and more stairs, and we were at the High Castle. Well, it used to be a castle, and now it’s just a really high lookout on the city. We also passed by a puppet theater, stopped into the pharmacy museum, and carefully made our selections from a handmade chocolate shop… Yum, again! Then, back to Komarno for a short family visit and some sleep.
On Sunday, Yurko and Olya’s mom, Khrystyna, played the tourguide role, and we visited the church where her husband, Father Ihor, was having a service, passed a bicycle race through the center, and then headed to a huge forest/ park that serves as a museum of folk architecture. Buildings from different Ukrainian time periods and places have been transported and rebuilt here, including many churches and houses complete with wells, storage buildings, etc. Lots of tourists were taking lots of pictures here [in all of Lviv, really!], as well as couples taking wedding pictures and people dressed in traditional clothing posing in traditional scenes. This park also included a small farm of domestic animals, a pysanky exhibit, and an exhibit of modern paintings and wood carvings. Back near the center of the city, via trambaye [tram], we passed by the arsenal museum [to be saved for next time!] and went into Saint Andrew’s, a huge and ornately decorated church, which was apparently used in the filming of The Three Musketeers. Finally, a tasty lunch/ dinner at Potato House—Greek salad and baked potatoes with cheese and mushrooms on top—and then to the bus station, where I met up with friends and headed back to Lutsk in the middle of the only actual thunderstorm I’ve experienced in Ukraine. Many puddles and some really wet shoes later, a successful journey completed! The only problem—how to choose which pictures to post?!
- Also, I went to my first European football game, and our team won, so that’s a good start.
- Replanted some spider plants into re-styled plastic bottle pots, in keeping with the recent celebration of Earth Day.
- Our grant project was awarded funding, so we’ll be able to hold the summer leadership trainings and September retreat for local university-age youth. If all goes well, the application process will be done within a month, and students will begin to work on the creation of their own community projects.
- Mushroom gravy/ sauce on vareneky [pierogies] is delicious, as is apple soda.
- If you want to get a modern Ukrainian song stuck in your head, try “Я Так Хочу” (Ya Tak Hochou) by Океан Ельзи (Okean Elzy). They’re from Lviv, sing in Ukrainian [as opposed to Russian, see] and I’ve just read that the lead singer has a degree in theoretical physics.
- It’s really sunny today!
:)
picture captions:
- PCVs after presenting at the TESOL conference in Rivne, a little over an hour from Lutsk
- spring trees, with Easter white knees
- how gardens grow: greener
- out to dinner for the best vareneky contest/ celebration with friends on the opening of their new school
- said school, much Ikea’d
- English Club preps for Earth Day
- blue and green, heavy on the green
- small amusement park in the surprisingly large park downtown
- an artist lives here—could you tell?
- soccer/ football: Volyn 4, other team 0
in Lviv-
- Ivan Franko, plus Vika, Jonathan, Yurko, and Olya
- Ivan Franko’s university, plus Vika
- Taras Shevchenko does the wave near the center
- Lviv opera theater
- climbed up… all steps, no elevator, and with close-shouldered twists near the top
- part of the straight-down view from the top
- pretty cutelike
- one of many ornately lovely churches
- secondhand books, worth many second looks
- several stages upward to the High Castle…
- which turns out to no longer include a Castle… just High
- [oldest] pharmacy museum
- with relatives in Komarno- Ihor, Khrystyna, Eugenia
- part of a pysanky exhibit in the huge park that’s a museum of folk architecture
- one of many buildings in this park/ museum
- with Khrystyna, who was my family guide for the day :)
- church from the 18th century
- old schoolhouse
- inside old houses,
- with traditional such
- inside the schoolhouse: school on one side, teacher living space on the other
- somewhat-unexpected windmill
- back in the city, ceiling and organ of Saint Andrew’s, a giant and beautiful church apparently used in the filming of The Three Musketeers
- statue [really?!]
- green-in/ green-out
Monday, April 19, 2010
post 19 april
I have to admit it’s getting greener
OR
Spring is a completely different country
Choose your title! Either way, you get the idea… Things are warming up—maybe not constantly, but vaguely consistently headed in that direction—and this means new leaves and flowers and veggies, new holidays, high spirits, and more people out and about wearing fewer layers. Out from underneath those down-stuffed coats and fur-fringed hoods, more optimistic beings are appearing, delivering handfuls of daffodils and buying fresh radishes at the market.
Today, I bought radishes at the mini-market in front of the closest post office. You know, it’s the one that’s the sidewalk lined by mostly older weather-impervious ladies with displays of apples and beets and water bottles full of milk. I cannot remember ever buying radishes at home, but here, today, it seemed like the right thing to do.
This past weekend, I earned two certificates. One was for presenting at a TESOL [Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages] conference, as part of a panel on critical thinking and active citizenship. Beyond the fact that two of the other members of my panel were from my training group in Chernihiv—Laura Ruth and Sharon—one of the perks for me was seeing Zoya [a really impressive master teacher who I saw present at the Teacher Recertification Institute in Chernihv] taking notes while I was talking and looking intently at my PowerPOint. Hooray! The second certificate was for being part of a winning team in a vareneky [pierogie]-eating contest. It’s clear what the perk was in that situation. Although, it’s hard to say which certificate I’m more pleased with. :)
Easter has come and gone, preceded by a frenzy of inside-out cleaning, accompanied by lots of baking, and followed by full bellies. I spent the holiday weekend with relatives in Komarno, which is an hour south of Lviv. I had a really nice time there and was very warmly greeted by each of the six or seven families I visited. Of course, this made for a lot of eating—pascha [Easter bread], eggs, shredded beets and horseradish, diced eggs and horseradish, veggie salads, probably about seven kinds of cake… plus cherry compote and even strawberry compote—yum! I attended the basket-blessing service—so many people lining the walks around the beautiful blue church! In a town of about 5,000 people, I was amazed by the number of people gathered together. I also visited two other churches and saw a concert/ pageant/ song-and-dance-and-play presentation/ celebration performed by local children. Two of my cousins [everyone’s either a cousin, an aunt, or an uncle, in my shorthand explanations!] took part—one as an egg, and one as a rabbit carrying horseradish in place of the typical [to me!] carrot. It was a bit challenging to spend three days speaking almost exclusively Ukrainian, but it was good practice, of course! Everyone was very generous with their understanding, their send-home goodies, and their offers: Come and we’ll show you how to make good varekeny! Come and we’ll give you a tour of Lviv! Come! You’re welcome!
Of course, school’s still going on. I’m finished with one Applied Linguistics class [more or less Creative Writing], and two English Philology masters’ classes, and this week marks the end of my Applied Linguistics masters’ classes. Still, Political Linguistics starts tomorrow [oh my!], and I’ve picked up a class at the Humanities University down the road, so I’ll stay busy.
In connection to school, I’ll add a bit of explanation about the last few pictures I posted last time. The week after Easter was a pretty entertaining one, as it was the week of the College of Romance-Germanic Philology, i.e., my little part of Volyn National University. This meant that, after the Monday holiday, we returned to Ukrainian Day and an opening concert [Tuesday], German Day and a Miss of the College contest [Wednesday], American Day and Mr. of the College contest [Thursday], and French/ Spanish Day and a closing concert [Friday]. Yes, there are lots of talented students, hence all the contests and concerts, as well as all of the languages spoken and sung within. Thursday was perhaps the most exciting for me, as American Day ended up with the Applied Linguistics Department dressing up as cowboys and performing a variety of country and country-esque songs. The winner was Vika’s class, with “Have you ever seen the rain” by CCR—nice! Plus, I was asked to be a judge for the Mr. contest, which was sort of entertaining, as my Ukrainian skills didn’t cover all of the material included, we’ll say. Still, watching a set of five guys try to give five girls hair-dos for randomly drawn occasions [first day of work, meeting boyfriend’s parents, etc.] didn’t really require too much vocabulary.
Wednesday night of the same week brought an Easter concert spectacular. There’s really no other way to describe it, but it was traditional, Ukrainian, and quite grand. Adding that to Maria’s showcase concert and the jazz concert, my concert total is rising rapidly!
More random bits…
I saw a delegation headed by a Massachusetts state senator speak at the Humanities University—more or less about active citizenship. Cool!
The grant proposal has gotten lots of very positive feedback, and will hopefully be funded soon!
I’ve successfully been to yoga several times now, and hope to keep it up! It’s three times a week, at 7 a.m., and it’s a bit tough to catch the right trolley and get there at 6:45, but the teacher is good, it’s challenging, and I’m enjoying trying to follow along.
Yesterday I received a package of Melissa tea as a gift. It’s tasty!
Film club continues to watch a wide variety of films… most recently Tom Hanks’ Big and the Coen brothers’ Millers’ Crossing… One of those was definitely easier for everyone to understand, including the two of us who are native speakers! We were a little concerned about Air Force One because of the way the Russian terrorists were portrayed, but it was mostly a success, although not as highly rated as Matilda. :)
Hope everything is nicely green wherever you bloomin’ are. :)
OR
Spring is a completely different country
Choose your title! Either way, you get the idea… Things are warming up—maybe not constantly, but vaguely consistently headed in that direction—and this means new leaves and flowers and veggies, new holidays, high spirits, and more people out and about wearing fewer layers. Out from underneath those down-stuffed coats and fur-fringed hoods, more optimistic beings are appearing, delivering handfuls of daffodils and buying fresh radishes at the market.
Today, I bought radishes at the mini-market in front of the closest post office. You know, it’s the one that’s the sidewalk lined by mostly older weather-impervious ladies with displays of apples and beets and water bottles full of milk. I cannot remember ever buying radishes at home, but here, today, it seemed like the right thing to do.
This past weekend, I earned two certificates. One was for presenting at a TESOL [Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages] conference, as part of a panel on critical thinking and active citizenship. Beyond the fact that two of the other members of my panel were from my training group in Chernihiv—Laura Ruth and Sharon—one of the perks for me was seeing Zoya [a really impressive master teacher who I saw present at the Teacher Recertification Institute in Chernihv] taking notes while I was talking and looking intently at my PowerPOint. Hooray! The second certificate was for being part of a winning team in a vareneky [pierogie]-eating contest. It’s clear what the perk was in that situation. Although, it’s hard to say which certificate I’m more pleased with. :)
Easter has come and gone, preceded by a frenzy of inside-out cleaning, accompanied by lots of baking, and followed by full bellies. I spent the holiday weekend with relatives in Komarno, which is an hour south of Lviv. I had a really nice time there and was very warmly greeted by each of the six or seven families I visited. Of course, this made for a lot of eating—pascha [Easter bread], eggs, shredded beets and horseradish, diced eggs and horseradish, veggie salads, probably about seven kinds of cake… plus cherry compote and even strawberry compote—yum! I attended the basket-blessing service—so many people lining the walks around the beautiful blue church! In a town of about 5,000 people, I was amazed by the number of people gathered together. I also visited two other churches and saw a concert/ pageant/ song-and-dance-and-play presentation/ celebration performed by local children. Two of my cousins [everyone’s either a cousin, an aunt, or an uncle, in my shorthand explanations!] took part—one as an egg, and one as a rabbit carrying horseradish in place of the typical [to me!] carrot. It was a bit challenging to spend three days speaking almost exclusively Ukrainian, but it was good practice, of course! Everyone was very generous with their understanding, their send-home goodies, and their offers: Come and we’ll show you how to make good varekeny! Come and we’ll give you a tour of Lviv! Come! You’re welcome!
Of course, school’s still going on. I’m finished with one Applied Linguistics class [more or less Creative Writing], and two English Philology masters’ classes, and this week marks the end of my Applied Linguistics masters’ classes. Still, Political Linguistics starts tomorrow [oh my!], and I’ve picked up a class at the Humanities University down the road, so I’ll stay busy.
In connection to school, I’ll add a bit of explanation about the last few pictures I posted last time. The week after Easter was a pretty entertaining one, as it was the week of the College of Romance-Germanic Philology, i.e., my little part of Volyn National University. This meant that, after the Monday holiday, we returned to Ukrainian Day and an opening concert [Tuesday], German Day and a Miss of the College contest [Wednesday], American Day and Mr. of the College contest [Thursday], and French/ Spanish Day and a closing concert [Friday]. Yes, there are lots of talented students, hence all the contests and concerts, as well as all of the languages spoken and sung within. Thursday was perhaps the most exciting for me, as American Day ended up with the Applied Linguistics Department dressing up as cowboys and performing a variety of country and country-esque songs. The winner was Vika’s class, with “Have you ever seen the rain” by CCR—nice! Plus, I was asked to be a judge for the Mr. contest, which was sort of entertaining, as my Ukrainian skills didn’t cover all of the material included, we’ll say. Still, watching a set of five guys try to give five girls hair-dos for randomly drawn occasions [first day of work, meeting boyfriend’s parents, etc.] didn’t really require too much vocabulary.
Wednesday night of the same week brought an Easter concert spectacular. There’s really no other way to describe it, but it was traditional, Ukrainian, and quite grand. Adding that to Maria’s showcase concert and the jazz concert, my concert total is rising rapidly!
More random bits…
I saw a delegation headed by a Massachusetts state senator speak at the Humanities University—more or less about active citizenship. Cool!
The grant proposal has gotten lots of very positive feedback, and will hopefully be funded soon!
I’ve successfully been to yoga several times now, and hope to keep it up! It’s three times a week, at 7 a.m., and it’s a bit tough to catch the right trolley and get there at 6:45, but the teacher is good, it’s challenging, and I’m enjoying trying to follow along.
Yesterday I received a package of Melissa tea as a gift. It’s tasty!
Film club continues to watch a wide variety of films… most recently Tom Hanks’ Big and the Coen brothers’ Millers’ Crossing… One of those was definitely easier for everyone to understand, including the two of us who are native speakers! We were a little concerned about Air Force One because of the way the Russian terrorists were portrayed, but it was mostly a success, although not as highly rated as Matilda. :)
Hope everything is nicely green wherever you bloomin’ are. :)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
picture post- 10 april
album update!
- carrying candles home in the rain on Thursday [Holy Thursday, Clean Thursday… the one before Good Friday]
- Because it’s spring, buy real plants and plant them! Because it’s Easter, buy fake flowers to decorate the graves of relatives.
- festive pysanky and pascha [Easter bread] decorations on Tam-Tam
- one of many mosaically decorated bus stops on the way to Lviv
- one of many lovely churches on the way to Lviv
- one of many Easter eggs, prepared here by Ivanna and daughter Iryna
- If the paschas are small enough, you can eat three by yourself!
- Mom/ Grandma Yaroslava helps to prepare baskets
- basket-blessing, and the church is surrounded by people and baskets
- iconostas inside, with “Christ is risen” letters in gold… in Ukrainian, clearly
- baskets
- blessing
- lots more baskets
- front of church
- inside another church
- same church, with me
- iconostas of this church
- mosaic icon
- flower-pysanky hanging in gate in front of old Polish castle, or church
- oldest church
- girls offering bread and welcome to traditional children’s Easter show
- forest animals help this poor little lost girl by bringing her a basket, as well as stuff for it… sort of the opposite of Little Red Riding Hood? J
- each item in the basket talks about why it’s most important—this one, the horseradish [krin], is related to me, so he wins J
- me there
- round and round and round in the circle dance
- inside this old church
- same
- family- Veronika, her mom Mariana, me, Mariana’s sister Anya, and their mom Nadia
- not the only stork nesting on an electric pole in the area
- Bohdan, Roman, and Hanna wave goodbye after packing me onto the marshrutka back to Lutsk
- just about every tree in a yard or on the street is painted solid white about three feet from the ground, but here along the road between towns, one stripe does the trick [both a spring Easter-cleaning and keeping-bugs-away tradition]
- Easter concert spectacular
- maypole and jump-roping as part of the same show
- drum corps in university concert… inside!
- carrying candles home in the rain on Thursday [Holy Thursday, Clean Thursday… the one before Good Friday]
- Because it’s spring, buy real plants and plant them! Because it’s Easter, buy fake flowers to decorate the graves of relatives.
- festive pysanky and pascha [Easter bread] decorations on Tam-Tam
- one of many mosaically decorated bus stops on the way to Lviv
- one of many lovely churches on the way to Lviv
- one of many Easter eggs, prepared here by Ivanna and daughter Iryna
- If the paschas are small enough, you can eat three by yourself!
- Mom/ Grandma Yaroslava helps to prepare baskets
- basket-blessing, and the church is surrounded by people and baskets
- iconostas inside, with “Christ is risen” letters in gold… in Ukrainian, clearly
- baskets
- blessing
- lots more baskets
- front of church
- inside another church
- same church, with me
- iconostas of this church
- mosaic icon
- flower-pysanky hanging in gate in front of old Polish castle, or church
- oldest church
- girls offering bread and welcome to traditional children’s Easter show
- forest animals help this poor little lost girl by bringing her a basket, as well as stuff for it… sort of the opposite of Little Red Riding Hood? J
- each item in the basket talks about why it’s most important—this one, the horseradish [krin], is related to me, so he wins J
- me there
- round and round and round in the circle dance
- inside this old church
- same
- family- Veronika, her mom Mariana, me, Mariana’s sister Anya, and their mom Nadia
- not the only stork nesting on an electric pole in the area
- Bohdan, Roman, and Hanna wave goodbye after packing me onto the marshrutka back to Lutsk
- just about every tree in a yard or on the street is painted solid white about three feet from the ground, but here along the road between towns, one stripe does the trick [both a spring Easter-cleaning and keeping-bugs-away tradition]
- Easter concert spectacular
- maypole and jump-roping as part of the same show
- drum corps in university concert… inside!
Friday, April 2, 2010
post 2 april
While walking home from school a few days ago, I decided to time the trip. It turns out that traveling from my office door to my apartment door takes one hour. In that hour, I pass by all kinds of surprises. Sometimes it’s a free hugs campaign in front of the central department store. Sometimes it’s a set of five Pekingese trundling along in a magically untangled web of leashes.
It wasn’t too long ago that I considered the drive from home to Baltimore to take a long time— one hour. Mostly freeways made up the route, and chances are that I saw a lot more in that distance than I do in the same amount of time here. Still, despite occasional traffic jams and construction—the majority of which were admittedly fairly predictable, too— I usually knew just about exactly what to expect. I don’t mean that I didn’t appreciate the scenery, NPR, or my own car. I do miss those things.
Here, though, I’m definitely surprised much more often. On the way home, it’s nothing to pass by an Orthodox church streaming live music into the neighborhood, then to be followed by this music until turning a corner, where it’s suddenly replaced by someone practicing the trumpet, probably very close to an open fifth-floor window. Another turn, and now it’s techno on the third floor of a different building and a chorus of unexpected ring tones from all angles. One more turn, and the church music returns, mixed with the flurry of soccer— uh, football-playing children.
It’s this sort of collage that I like best— not just one really amazing moment, but a variety of layers of different bits all stuck together in an unexpected way. I mean, when my five-year-old host nephew started singing “I like to move it move it” at the dinner table. When I found a yoga class with an instructor named Taras. When I found that even sweet little old ladies in seemingly remote places have cell phones. When the Applied Linguistics Department’s phonetics contest on December 25th included both a rousing rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and a recitation of “Annabelle Lee.”
Now it’s spring— mostly— and I’m excited to see more and more people out concocting new surprises. Of course, they just see it as life, but I’m so interested in each development: the actual sea of flowers that appears for Women’s Day, the profusion of willow branches on Palm Sunday, the lines at both the “cheap bread” and “fresh bread” stands, the way men will cross the street to shake each others’ hands, the sudden appearance of an unexpectedly English song on the marshrutka radio… Last week I wanted to laugh really loudly when marshrutka number nine was suddenly Rick-rolled… but I decided I’d keep that news to myself.
Of course, I sometimes miss getting places faster, but I don’t miss missing what’s in between the two points. The shortest difference definitely does not pass through Ukraine, but I’m glad I do.
It wasn’t too long ago that I considered the drive from home to Baltimore to take a long time— one hour. Mostly freeways made up the route, and chances are that I saw a lot more in that distance than I do in the same amount of time here. Still, despite occasional traffic jams and construction—the majority of which were admittedly fairly predictable, too— I usually knew just about exactly what to expect. I don’t mean that I didn’t appreciate the scenery, NPR, or my own car. I do miss those things.
Here, though, I’m definitely surprised much more often. On the way home, it’s nothing to pass by an Orthodox church streaming live music into the neighborhood, then to be followed by this music until turning a corner, where it’s suddenly replaced by someone practicing the trumpet, probably very close to an open fifth-floor window. Another turn, and now it’s techno on the third floor of a different building and a chorus of unexpected ring tones from all angles. One more turn, and the church music returns, mixed with the flurry of soccer— uh, football-playing children.
It’s this sort of collage that I like best— not just one really amazing moment, but a variety of layers of different bits all stuck together in an unexpected way. I mean, when my five-year-old host nephew started singing “I like to move it move it” at the dinner table. When I found a yoga class with an instructor named Taras. When I found that even sweet little old ladies in seemingly remote places have cell phones. When the Applied Linguistics Department’s phonetics contest on December 25th included both a rousing rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and a recitation of “Annabelle Lee.”
Now it’s spring— mostly— and I’m excited to see more and more people out concocting new surprises. Of course, they just see it as life, but I’m so interested in each development: the actual sea of flowers that appears for Women’s Day, the profusion of willow branches on Palm Sunday, the lines at both the “cheap bread” and “fresh bread” stands, the way men will cross the street to shake each others’ hands, the sudden appearance of an unexpectedly English song on the marshrutka radio… Last week I wanted to laugh really loudly when marshrutka number nine was suddenly Rick-rolled… but I decided I’d keep that news to myself.
Of course, I sometimes miss getting places faster, but I don’t miss missing what’s in between the two points. The shortest difference definitely does not pass through Ukraine, but I’m glad I do.
Monday, March 22, 2010
picture post- 22 march
Heya! Here are some more happenings, freeze-framed for your convenience. :)
- group of teachers I was teaching at the recertification institute
- selling flowers for women’s day outside of the central department store downtown
- St. Nicholas’ Ukrainian Orthodox church
- Taras Shevshenko deciding whether to give a speech on his birthday or not
- grafitti in Lutsk of Lutsk, more or less
- my desk, decked out
- pussy willows, with hopefully the last snow of the season as a backdrop
- Maria, my tutee, at her showcase concert
- Maria, with accompaniment
- St. Patrick’s Day, so slightly more green than usual…
- an adorably logoed language school where a few of us helped out
- WWII memorial
- WWII memorial, II
- some kind of museum
- group of teachers I was teaching at the recertification institute
- selling flowers for women’s day outside of the central department store downtown
- St. Nicholas’ Ukrainian Orthodox church
- Taras Shevshenko deciding whether to give a speech on his birthday or not
- grafitti in Lutsk of Lutsk, more or less
- my desk, decked out
- pussy willows, with hopefully the last snow of the season as a backdrop
- Maria, my tutee, at her showcase concert
- Maria, with accompaniment
- St. Patrick’s Day, so slightly more green than usual…
- an adorably logoed language school where a few of us helped out
- WWII memorial
- WWII memorial, II
- some kind of museum
Sunday, February 21, 2010
picture post 21 february
new pictures into the album-- sorry they're not as captions, but someday they'll all be magically aligned... :)
- the same night as my presentation on active citizenship, there was a ball- of course!
- you should be so lucky to have your parents send you such an exciting package
- yes it’s here, at the new Adrenaline City entertainment center!
- the result of something magical
- like overnight freezing fog
- haircut with Oksana
- visitors
- inscription on the back of a gift painting, and two of three homemade cakes
- nightlights
- recertification institute meets the sky
- out for breakfast with Anna, including boiled eggs on pillows of spinach and fresh juice and buckwheat bread
- and cocoa and caramel apple croissants!
- more visitors
- more homemade goodies- doughnuts, apple cake, and cookies
- again with the snow
- the same night as my presentation on active citizenship, there was a ball- of course!
- you should be so lucky to have your parents send you such an exciting package
- yes it’s here, at the new Adrenaline City entertainment center!
- the result of something magical
- like overnight freezing fog
- haircut with Oksana
- visitors
- inscription on the back of a gift painting, and two of three homemade cakes
- nightlights
- recertification institute meets the sky
- out for breakfast with Anna, including boiled eggs on pillows of spinach and fresh juice and buckwheat bread
- and cocoa and caramel apple croissants!
- more visitors
- more homemade goodies- doughnuts, apple cake, and cookies
- again with the snow
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)