Happy 101st Post

Happy one year anniversary to my village and me! This has felt like the longest and shortest year of my life.

I've been thinking about my PC service in the same way I thought of the half-marathon I ran: just make it to the halfway point, and once you hit that, you'll be on the down swing of things. The problem with that logic is that when you get to the midway point, your brain goes, "Yay!" and then it realizes, "Oh hey, I have to do all that I just did, again." And at this point, you're getting a little tired.

Overall, it's a good feeling though. I've already started comparing how things are now versus last winter when I first came to Mezhyrich. I remember driving down the main street, trying to remember where the shops and school were as we passed and there was already a few inches of snow and ice on the ground. Now I know where to go to buy what things and how late the shops are open, and there's only been one day where we had flurries but no actual snow yet. It's bound to be an interesting year, for sure.

And to celebrate my 101st post, enjoy these pictures of Levitzka!

Looking adorable

Rolling around/sleeping in a pile of origami cranes

When Words Fail

Usually when I'm stressed, I spill my guts into my journal and then my brain and heart feel much better. Unfortunately, I had so many complaints flying around in my head about the impending seminar at my school that every time I tried to sit down and write, I ended up too agitated to get it out.

So instead I drew this lovely bubble brainstorm-y thing. And I have to say, I felt a lot better after and actually got work done. 

And it's pretty and colorful!

Nerding Out

I have no concept of how much this is being covered in the US, but there's been a lot of voting drama next door in Russia. I've been spending the day reading some articles from The Economist.

This is my favorite: The Long Life of Homo Sovieticus
There's a nice chart and this quote, "The statistics are staggering: one in six businessmen in Russia has been prosecuted for an alleged economic crime over the past decade. Most of the cases have no plaintiff and the number of acquittals is close to zero, according to studies by Russia's Centre of Legal and Economic Research. This means that the vast number of Russian businessmen in jail are victims of corrupt prosecutors, police and courts, which can expropriate a business with impunity."

This is a good one: Russia's Election: Losing Their Grip

And this too: The Cracks Appear

About the North Caucasus region: The Land that Russia Would Like to Forget

2 Weeks and Change

I just want the next two and a half weeks to be done. At that point, my dreaded school seminar will be over, first semester will have finished, I'll have a full year of teaching under my belt, this school year will be half over, I'll be in America, I'll have hit the one year mark of living in my village (which feels more significant than the one year mark of being in-country), and I'll be over halfway done with my service.

This has nothing to do with anything. In case you're curious about what Levitzka the kitten (little lioness in Ukrainian) looks like these days, she basically looks like this but smaller and fluffier.

HIV/AIDS

This is a good article from The Economist about the current HIV/AIDS struggle in Ukraine.

"There's a line in the national AIDS programme budget for prevention," says Andriy Klepikov, head of AIDS Alliance Ukraine, "but its value is set at zero."

Spider Webs and Sketching

I'm really tempted to start writing down people's names and filling in the lines with how they're related or connected to others in my community. I've been here long enough now that sometimes when I figure it out, I go, "Ohhhhh, that makes so much sense now."

I'm also really tempted to start doing a rough sketch of the lay out of my village. It will probably be difficult because my village is so spread out but that will also be part of the fun.

Logic

Does anyone remember if during their time in high school, it was common for students to have extra lessons or one-on-one tutoring with special math, science, language, etc. teachers after their normal school days? Extra paid lessons, that is. I can't really remember that being a popular or common thing.

It seems like a good number of students in my school have these types of lessons on top of regular lessons. I can't help but think that 1) if class time was used more efficiently and effectively, there wouldn't be the need for those lessons and everyone would have more time, and 2) that widens the divide between the kids/families who can afford to do that and those who can't, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

December 1

I remember feeling like December was so far away about two months ago, and now I can't believe it's here.

My village has had a couple very weak, almost invisible snow flurries but nothing significant. Then during my lesson with the 6th formers, it started snowing pretty heavily which sent them into giggles and screams of "New Years is coming!" (usually their favorite holiday). Another student was convinced that because we had been talking about holidays during our lesson, that we caused it to snow. It's hard to be miserable about winter with all that cuteness flying around.

World AIDS Day! Molodets to my school for having information sessions with the older forms about this issue, especially since it tends not to be talked about here.

It was my landlady's birthday and she had a feast for her friends. She spent literally the entire day cooking because there was so much food, it was incredible. I always wonder how Ukrainians afford to do this, both with time and money, but it's tradition. It was nice to spend the evening with her and her friends and eat too much food and drink in her honor, and she looked so happy.

On an unrelated note, teaching is the same ups and downs and starts and stalls as always. The main difference is I'm better at brushing things off when they go wrong, and I (usually) don't let it ruin my entire day. I just try and focus on the times when I feel like I'm making a very small change in someone's mindset. For example, I have a student in my 11th form who was a bit of a pain last year and doesn't really know English at all. He's one of the students who has been told since he was in 2nd form that he's stupid and lazy, so why would he bother to try? While he still doesn't really know English, he has a much more positive attitude towards me. Today, my 11th formers played Hangman in pairs, and he didn't have a partner so I went to where he sits in the back and played with him. I think it helped that I started with a word he knows (stupid, because he thinks it's funny sometimes to call other people or himself stupid, to which I always say, "No, Dima, you're not stupid.") Once he figured it out, he thought it was hilarious and was so excited to play. It's probably the most animated I've seen him. Anyway, I try to make little things like that happen everyday.

Sweet Things

This is a cute article about l-o-v-e in Peace Corps.

Today, all my 11th form students got their class yearbooks right before we had English. Which essentially meant that they were going to be distracted the entire time looking at them so I scrapped my lesson and let them have the time to sign yearbooks. I mean, it's their last year of school! It was sweet how many of them wanted me to write messages to them (and I wrote in English). Even though they sometimes drive me crazy with their laziness, I'm so excited to do the traditional dance/party celebration and then head to the river to watch the sun rise with them for graduation at the end of the year!

You Know You're an Experienced PCV When

You know you're an experienced PCV when you stop lying to yourself that tomorrow will be better.

It will just be another day.

Turkey!

Enjoy some pretty pictures from my trip to Turkey!

 

 

 

 

 

Articles

Here's some of what I have been reading recently.

A famous Ukrainian writer wrote this piece for the NYT, and I think he conveys an accurate description and feeling of Ukraine. This paragraph nails Ukraine and Ukrainians:

"But I am in no position to predict the future. All I know is that the Ukrainians will continue amazing the world by the very fact of their existence, by their flexibility, shrewdness and their ability to adapt to any circumstance. Given the current situation, I find the latter quality encouraging, because as soon as real democracy comes to Ukraine, Ukrainians will quickly grow accustomed to it, life will become civilized, and Ukrainians will turn into law-abiding citizens. Obviously, that is not something that comes naturally to them, but should life require respect for law, they will do it, even if that should run counter to their interests. The authorities must simply create the appropriate conditions."

This is a good article from Persephone Magazine about how Tymoshenko and FEMEN, Ukraine's two most well-known and visible female figures, are portrayed in the media.

The Kyiv Post's Getting Yulia demonstrates just how much of a hot mess Ukraine is. In fact, you can just check out the Kyiv Post web site for a good variety of articles about Ukraine.

Calvin and Hobbes

 

One of my favorite things about my village: I can always clearly see the stars. This also reminds me of sleeping on the roof at camp this summer, looking for shooting stars and watching the satellites.

Brovchenko and Cherevyk

I live on Brovchenko & Cherevyk Street. Every time I tell someone in Ukraine this, they say, "Huh?" because most streets in Ukraine are Lenina, Shevchenko, Kirova and other easily recognizable names.

Eventually at some point, I was told that my street is named after two local boys, Grigory Brovchenko and Opanas Cherevyk, from the World War II era who are considered heroes within my village. I finally got the story about what happened from a student, albeit in very general terms.

Here are buried young avengers

Brovchenko Grigory

Cherevyk Opanas

Tortured by Fascists in the year 1942

From grateful villagers

During the war, troops (I assume German) occupied my village and used cables to communicate. These two boys, aged 13 or 14, cut the cables one day, preventing the Germans from communicating. The troops were furious and threatened to kill everyone in the village. The two boys confessed to the crime and were hanged from a tree. I believe this happened in 1942.

Soostri

 

I'm happy he lives in my backyard. He's always unfailingly happy when he sees me, which always puts me in a good mood. How could you not love that face?

Holidays

Ukraine has a lot of them.

Over the past few weeks, my village and/or all of Ukraine has celebrated the following.

The day my village was freed from fascists. During the 20 minute break between classes, my students were lined up and marched out to the memorials in the center of the village. There was a quick speech by someone I didn't recognize and then all the younger children placed flowers at the foot of the memorial. The main memorial is of a large woman with a man strewn across her lap (Ukraine is referred to as the Motherland) and an eternal flame is at the base of the statue, though it's not lit anymore. [Though, "In Soviet times, it was always lit."] The only surviving World War II veteran also laid flowers down with the children, dressed in his old uniform.

 Those white puffs? Those are hair bows sported by Ukrainian children on holidays.

 Laying flowers

 One of my favorite students. This boy is a delight to teach.

 Veteran

Last Friday was Teacher's Day. Technically, Teacher's Day always falls on a Sunday but it's celebrated the preceding Friday. Interesting arrangement, eh? Anyway, my school had the first two lessons though I don't think anything was accomplished because everyone was too excited about the holiday. Then after that, the 11th form put on a performance/ceremony for all the teachers and made little skits where they pretended to have cellphone conversations in a specific teacher's lesson. My skit involved a student taking a phone call from Barack Obama and telling him I'm the best volunteer. It was cute, and then they gave every teacher a card and a small gift. Mine was a Little Mermaid coloring book.

 The boys cross-dressed and did a little dance

 Singing

This past Monday was the Day of Autumn. Every form had to make a display of food on a desk, and then they were judged on presentation. Some of the displays were not all that great but some of them were fairly intricate and well planned. I think the main point of the holiday is to celebrate the abundance of food from the previous seasons before heading into winter. I was given a couple bunches of grapes at the end of the day.

 9th Form

 10th Form

 8th-a Form

 11th Form

 6th Form