The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saturday, December 17, 2011

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

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

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!

Friday, December 9, 2011

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

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

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.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

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.

Friday, December 2, 2011

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.