Friday, June 5, 2009
At Home
Greetings from stateside! Our last day in Ukraine was May 1, and was preceded by several weeks of farewell gatherings and events. We taught our last classes, gave our final final exams, and said goodbye to fellow Peace Corps volunteers, to students and co-teachers, to dear host families, to special friends, and officially to the Peace Corps. We were feted at a memorable afternoon gathering at Peter's university at which more than 80 students came to say goodbye and present gifts. This was followed by a lunch with the 15 teachers and administrators we'd worked with, and included the tradition of going around the table to offer eloquent, sometimes tearful, toasts. We were honored and touched. Our last visits with our two host families were bittersweet and wonderful. When we got to the 8:30 pm train that would take us away from our city for the last time, a dozen locals came to see us off, including regulars from our English club, members of our extended host family, and co-teachers and their families who've become special friends. We left with feelings of sadness and satisfaction, and many connections that we intend to maintain across the miles. Our wonderful and talented 19-year-old Russian tutor, who has never been on an airplane before, will be coming here to spend the summer with us. Especially since she was so helpful to us, we are excited to show her our neck of the woods here, and help her experience much of what the US has to offer. In a way, our Peace Corps service continues.
Friday, February 13, 2009
It's Official
Our last day in Ukraine will be May 1. It’s hard to believe that our two-plus years is almost over. Here are some Ukrainian "cultural moments" we've grown to appreciate.
Fireworks - Most weekends, and sometimes during the week, we can hear and view fireworks from our ninth-floor apartment window. It’s a tradition to set them off to celebrate weddings, which typically occur on Fridays and Saturdays, and for birthdays, which can be any night. They’re now a part of everyday life that we enjoy and will miss.
Beets - We have a newfound appreciation for beets. Their stunning color, healthful contents, and ubiquity here have made us fond of them. Ukrainians like to make a beet salad dressed with lots of mayonnaise. We like them grated fresh with a simple vinaigrette, or in our version of Ukrainian borsch, which most Ukrainians think doesn’t measure up, but we like it.
Root Vegetables in Soil - Whether purchased at modern grocery stores, at the central market, or from a cute little babushka on a street corner, vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and beets are sold with lots of the soil they grew in still attached. It's also not unusual to have little feathers or other nest remnants attached to eggs.
Escorting Your Guests - At the end of an evening, Ukrainian hosts have a lovely tradition of walking their dinner guests, not just to the door, but to the street, at least, if not to the bus stop, which can be several blocks away. Since most Ukrainians that we’ve gotten to know live in high-rise apartment buildings, as hosts at the end of an evening they always walk with us down to the front door of the building. We have been walked several blocks to our bus stop home. Once we were escorted all the way home in the dark by one nice family (parents and 12-year-old son), a distance of a dozen long blocks or more that took probably 30 minutes. It took us a while to catch on. Our first dinner guests (probably offended) were bid farewell at our front door. Eventually we’ve figured it out, and enjoy the leisurely stroll at the end of a visit.
Fireworks - Most weekends, and sometimes during the week, we can hear and view fireworks from our ninth-floor apartment window. It’s a tradition to set them off to celebrate weddings, which typically occur on Fridays and Saturdays, and for birthdays, which can be any night. They’re now a part of everyday life that we enjoy and will miss.
Beets - We have a newfound appreciation for beets. Their stunning color, healthful contents, and ubiquity here have made us fond of them. Ukrainians like to make a beet salad dressed with lots of mayonnaise. We like them grated fresh with a simple vinaigrette, or in our version of Ukrainian borsch, which most Ukrainians think doesn’t measure up, but we like it.
Root Vegetables in Soil - Whether purchased at modern grocery stores, at the central market, or from a cute little babushka on a street corner, vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and beets are sold with lots of the soil they grew in still attached. It's also not unusual to have little feathers or other nest remnants attached to eggs.
Escorting Your Guests - At the end of an evening, Ukrainian hosts have a lovely tradition of walking their dinner guests, not just to the door, but to the street, at least, if not to the bus stop, which can be several blocks away. Since most Ukrainians that we’ve gotten to know live in high-rise apartment buildings, as hosts at the end of an evening they always walk with us down to the front door of the building. We have been walked several blocks to our bus stop home. Once we were escorted all the way home in the dark by one nice family (parents and 12-year-old son), a distance of a dozen long blocks or more that took probably 30 minutes. It took us a while to catch on. Our first dinner guests (probably offended) were bid farewell at our front door. Eventually we’ve figured it out, and enjoy the leisurely stroll at the end of a visit.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Happy 2009!
We’re back in Ukraine after a too short two-week holiday visit home to Seattle. The unusually cold and snowy weather there truncated and slowed the pace of our visiting, but it was good to be home nonetheless.
Our time here is quickly winding down. When university classes begin again the first week of February, we’ll have three months remaining. Most of the courses we’ll be teaching are again repeats of last year’s, so only minimal tweaking will be necessary for preparation. We’re currently battling nasty colds and an intermittent or excruciatingly slow Internet connection, but want to take this opportunity to wish all a very Happy New Year!
Our time here is quickly winding down. When university classes begin again the first week of February, we’ll have three months remaining. Most of the courses we’ll be teaching are again repeats of last year’s, so only minimal tweaking will be necessary for preparation. We’re currently battling nasty colds and an intermittent or excruciatingly slow Internet connection, but want to take this opportunity to wish all a very Happy New Year!
Friday, November 21, 2008
If I were Ukrainian...
…I’d now be eligible for pension payments from the government.
Ukrainian women may become pensioners at the age of 55, men at 60. The minimum amount paid monthly is about 600 UAH, today worth about $100. As one local friend put it, “It’s enough not to die.” Military, police, and other public servants’ pension payments are higher, and may begin earlier. When we’ve told our Ukrainian friends that the retirement age in the US for both men and women is 65, often their response includes some joke about how the typical Ukrainian would never receive such a pension because they wouldn’t make it to 65. Indeed, current life expectancy at birth for Ukrainians is 62 years for men and 74 years for women (CIA Factbook). For Americans those numbers are 75 years for men and 80 years for women.
We had a low-key and perfect celebration for my birthday, eschewing the local tradition of hosting a big dinner for all your family and friends. We opted instead for a quiet, delicious two-person late lunch out followed by a walk in the crisp clear weather.
Monday, November 17, was International Students Day, which was celebrated here in different ways by different universities. One gave students the Friday before off; another offered an afternoon performance and recognition ceremony on the day of. The university at which both of us now teach arranged a party at a local discothèque in honor of the students last night, which both students and faculty attended, and gave all the day off today, Friday. We went to the disco, stayed dancing until midnight, and are happy to have this morning off to recover! As we left the apartment last night at 7:30, we told the delightful 65-ish woman who would need to let us back into the building later that we were going off to dance with the students at a disco. She lit up and said “Maladets!” which means something like “Good for you!” and then did a smiley little jig before sending us on our way.
Thanksgiving Day for us here will be a normal work day. We enjoyed a weekend visit earlier this month from six Peace Corps friends, who came together because half of us have November birthdays and another was headed home a week later. We celebrated by putting together a local approximation of Thanksgiving dinner. We party-hat-wearing celebrants enjoyed Peter's signature grapefruit martinis with cheese and crackers, followed by chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, salads, pumpkin pie and Boston cream pie. All was homemade and delicious, and we were thankful to be together.
Ukrainian women may become pensioners at the age of 55, men at 60. The minimum amount paid monthly is about 600 UAH, today worth about $100. As one local friend put it, “It’s enough not to die.” Military, police, and other public servants’ pension payments are higher, and may begin earlier. When we’ve told our Ukrainian friends that the retirement age in the US for both men and women is 65, often their response includes some joke about how the typical Ukrainian would never receive such a pension because they wouldn’t make it to 65. Indeed, current life expectancy at birth for Ukrainians is 62 years for men and 74 years for women (CIA Factbook). For Americans those numbers are 75 years for men and 80 years for women.
We had a low-key and perfect celebration for my birthday, eschewing the local tradition of hosting a big dinner for all your family and friends. We opted instead for a quiet, delicious two-person late lunch out followed by a walk in the crisp clear weather.
Monday, November 17, was International Students Day, which was celebrated here in different ways by different universities. One gave students the Friday before off; another offered an afternoon performance and recognition ceremony on the day of. The university at which both of us now teach arranged a party at a local discothèque in honor of the students last night, which both students and faculty attended, and gave all the day off today, Friday. We went to the disco, stayed dancing until midnight, and are happy to have this morning off to recover! As we left the apartment last night at 7:30, we told the delightful 65-ish woman who would need to let us back into the building later that we were going off to dance with the students at a disco. She lit up and said “Maladets!” which means something like “Good for you!” and then did a smiley little jig before sending us on our way.
Thanksgiving Day for us here will be a normal work day. We enjoyed a weekend visit earlier this month from six Peace Corps friends, who came together because half of us have November birthdays and another was headed home a week later. We celebrated by putting together a local approximation of Thanksgiving dinner. We party-hat-wearing celebrants enjoyed Peter's signature grapefruit martinis with cheese and crackers, followed by chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, salads, pumpkin pie and Boston cream pie. All was homemade and delicious, and we were thankful to be together.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Fall Update
Congratulations and our thanks to you if you are reading this! You’d be within your rights to have given up on us, as we’ve been seriously negligent about keeping current. Once school got underway, time really started flying. We’ve settled into full routines here that keep us healthy and sane. Additionally, your primary correspondent has been spending way too much time following (obsessing over?) the upcoming Presidential election by reading various Internet news and blog sites.
Our school year began on September 1. We’re both teaching the same classes we did last fall, so can rely on that experience now, which of course is much easier. Peter is teaching even more sessions each week of his American Studies and Entrepreneurship courses than last year, and enjoying it that much more. I am teaching International Marketing and Ethics & Culture classes, as well as a new course – for which I am especially qualified – in Ukraine’s Foreign Relations(!). I’ve also been invited to help teach at Peter’s university a couple of classes each week, which has been a nice addition to the schedule. We try to get to a local gym that we like a couple of times each week for a weight workout, and also still have our weekly English Club at the local library, which is attended by a dedicated group of enjoyable individuals with a strong interest in improving their English.
We received our absentee ballots a few days ago, and have enjoyed sharing them with our English Club and classes. They’re impressed with the overall process, as well as the quality of the information, and even the computer-readable ballot itself. (Elections here rely on hand-counted paper ballots, a labor-intensive process that is now likely to be used for the third time in three years here for a controversial Parliamentary election next month.) We even printed copies of the League of Women Voters one-page statements from each Presidential candidate to share, and then held mock elections in each setting. It’s generally been running about 75%-25% Obama-McCain.
The economic issues are definitely being felt here. Inflation has been high all year, and the local exchange rate has been on a roller coaster ride lately. For the duration of our first year here, the exchange rate stayed consistent at about 5 UAH (the local currency called the Ukrainian grivna) to the US dollar.. It started dropping in the spring, and reached its nadir in June at a rate of about 4.60 UAH to the dollar. Then the rate started rising, and yesterday it was just shy of 6 UAH to the US$. This means that $100 exchanged in June yielded 460 UAH, and today it gets 600 UAH – a huge swing.
We’re starting to be aware of how limited our remaining time here is: we expect to be home for good in time for our sons’ college graduations in May. After more than eighteen months in Ukraine, numerous local sights and experiences that initially seemed strange now go virtually unnoticed. We’re feeling more and more connected with a growing circle of local friends, who’ve extended gracious invitations to dinner, to music performances, and to outings. Peace Corps has said that most volunteers make their most significant contributions in their second year of service. Don’t know about our significance, but there’s definitely a level of comfort now in our second year that we’re happy to discover.
Thanks for your patience and persistence!
P.S. A special hello to George C. Thanks for the comment this summer. We enjoyed hearing from you, and look forward to hearing more. Take care!
Our school year began on September 1. We’re both teaching the same classes we did last fall, so can rely on that experience now, which of course is much easier. Peter is teaching even more sessions each week of his American Studies and Entrepreneurship courses than last year, and enjoying it that much more. I am teaching International Marketing and Ethics & Culture classes, as well as a new course – for which I am especially qualified – in Ukraine’s Foreign Relations(!). I’ve also been invited to help teach at Peter’s university a couple of classes each week, which has been a nice addition to the schedule. We try to get to a local gym that we like a couple of times each week for a weight workout, and also still have our weekly English Club at the local library, which is attended by a dedicated group of enjoyable individuals with a strong interest in improving their English.
We received our absentee ballots a few days ago, and have enjoyed sharing them with our English Club and classes. They’re impressed with the overall process, as well as the quality of the information, and even the computer-readable ballot itself. (Elections here rely on hand-counted paper ballots, a labor-intensive process that is now likely to be used for the third time in three years here for a controversial Parliamentary election next month.) We even printed copies of the League of Women Voters one-page statements from each Presidential candidate to share, and then held mock elections in each setting. It’s generally been running about 75%-25% Obama-McCain.
The economic issues are definitely being felt here. Inflation has been high all year, and the local exchange rate has been on a roller coaster ride lately. For the duration of our first year here, the exchange rate stayed consistent at about 5 UAH (the local currency called the Ukrainian grivna) to the US dollar.. It started dropping in the spring, and reached its nadir in June at a rate of about 4.60 UAH to the dollar. Then the rate started rising, and yesterday it was just shy of 6 UAH to the US$. This means that $100 exchanged in June yielded 460 UAH, and today it gets 600 UAH – a huge swing.
We’re starting to be aware of how limited our remaining time here is: we expect to be home for good in time for our sons’ college graduations in May. After more than eighteen months in Ukraine, numerous local sights and experiences that initially seemed strange now go virtually unnoticed. We’re feeling more and more connected with a growing circle of local friends, who’ve extended gracious invitations to dinner, to music performances, and to outings. Peace Corps has said that most volunteers make their most significant contributions in their second year of service. Don’t know about our significance, but there’s definitely a level of comfort now in our second year that we’re happy to discover.
Thanks for your patience and persistence!
P.S. A special hello to George C. Thanks for the comment this summer. We enjoyed hearing from you, and look forward to hearing more. Take care!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Good People Everywhere
We are back in our Ukrainian city after a month and a half away. During our travels we attended a 5-day Peace Corps Russian language camp, visited with our first host family, went to several “mid-service medical” appointments in Kiev, spent four glorious weeks at home, and most recently enjoyed a Ukrainian vacation at the seaside. Only now do we have the pleasure of reflecting on the richness of our travels and the blessings of so many wonderful people in our lives.
For starters, the day before we were to leave, way back on the last day in June, our local host “mom” (who’s the same age as Peter) made a special trip to our apartment to deliver a package, even though we had spent the previous day together at her dacha. She was annoyed at herself for forgetting to give us this package then. We were touched that her package contained three small gifts, one for each of our children, whom she knew we would be seeing when we got to Seattle.
Our Russian language camp allowed us to reconnect with other Peace Corps volunteers, many of whom we’d not seen since swearing-in, as well as with our lovely language instructor, whose gentle grace and fine instruction were the centerpiece of our initial 12 weeks of intensive language training. We then had a fine overnight visit with our first host family, at which they also gave us gifts to take to our children, as well as a gift to bring to my mother, whom they had never met. We found this again to be very thoughtful. (Is this a Ukrainian custom that we should be aware of?)
Then it was off to Seattle, plus a brief trip to California, for nonstop and wonderful visits with our children, families, and friends. We couldn’t have asked for more. We were relieved and happy to discover that not only had home not changed significantly in sixteen months, but neither had we. We were able to slip right back in to our former life, and are grateful to many friends and family whose help while we’re gone makes that possible.
Our travel back to Ukraine included some excitement at Charles de Gaulle airport – two unattended bags near the gate for our connecting flight necessitated cordoning off the area and exploding the bags. The two explosions were clearly audible by the hundreds of us who were being held back by armed security guards. This delayed our flight and ultimately separated us from two of our bags, which eventually were delivered to the Peace Corps office in Kiev on our third and final day there before we got on the overnight train back to our city.
Less than 24-hours after arriving home, we joined two of Peter’s co-teachers for 6 days at a Black Sea beach town two hours away. We thoroughly enjoyed their delightful company and experienced a real Ukrainian vacation. We enjoyed daily dips in the sea. Peter (as most of you know, not a sun worshipper) did more sun bathing in that week than he’s done in the last ten years. In addition to lots of relaxing visiting – in English – we made a significant dent in our NYT crossword puzzle book.
We’re now catching up at home, surviving the 98-degree weather, and getting ready for the new school year which begins September 1. With one year already under our belts, and most upcoming classes being repeats from last year, we know what to expect and look forward to it.
For starters, the day before we were to leave, way back on the last day in June, our local host “mom” (who’s the same age as Peter) made a special trip to our apartment to deliver a package, even though we had spent the previous day together at her dacha. She was annoyed at herself for forgetting to give us this package then. We were touched that her package contained three small gifts, one for each of our children, whom she knew we would be seeing when we got to Seattle.
Our Russian language camp allowed us to reconnect with other Peace Corps volunteers, many of whom we’d not seen since swearing-in, as well as with our lovely language instructor, whose gentle grace and fine instruction were the centerpiece of our initial 12 weeks of intensive language training. We then had a fine overnight visit with our first host family, at which they also gave us gifts to take to our children, as well as a gift to bring to my mother, whom they had never met. We found this again to be very thoughtful. (Is this a Ukrainian custom that we should be aware of?)
Then it was off to Seattle, plus a brief trip to California, for nonstop and wonderful visits with our children, families, and friends. We couldn’t have asked for more. We were relieved and happy to discover that not only had home not changed significantly in sixteen months, but neither had we. We were able to slip right back in to our former life, and are grateful to many friends and family whose help while we’re gone makes that possible.
Our travel back to Ukraine included some excitement at Charles de Gaulle airport – two unattended bags near the gate for our connecting flight necessitated cordoning off the area and exploding the bags. The two explosions were clearly audible by the hundreds of us who were being held back by armed security guards. This delayed our flight and ultimately separated us from two of our bags, which eventually were delivered to the Peace Corps office in Kiev on our third and final day there before we got on the overnight train back to our city.
Less than 24-hours after arriving home, we joined two of Peter’s co-teachers for 6 days at a Black Sea beach town two hours away. We thoroughly enjoyed their delightful company and experienced a real Ukrainian vacation. We enjoyed daily dips in the sea. Peter (as most of you know, not a sun worshipper) did more sun bathing in that week than he’s done in the last ten years. In addition to lots of relaxing visiting – in English – we made a significant dent in our NYT crossword puzzle book.
We’re now catching up at home, surviving the 98-degree weather, and getting ready for the new school year which begins September 1. With one year already under our belts, and most upcoming classes being repeats from last year, we know what to expect and look forward to it.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Changes
Schedule change: The school year is over. Regular classes ended a couple of weeks ago, and our last final exam was given this week. Our schedule has shifted into summer mode, which includes occasional English club meetings, preparation for next year’s classes, and a bit of traveling to explore new parts of this country. Most exciting to us are plans to fly home for a few weeks to visit with family and friends.
Water change: We’ve mentioned that the water in our apartment has usually been turned off at night. From about 10 or 11 pm until roughly 5:45, we’d have no water, which was not really much of an inconvenience. This schedule changed recently, so that now the water goes on and off throughout the day according to a strict schedule: ON from 6:00-9:00am, OFF from 9:00-11:30am, ON from 11:30am to 1:30pm, OFF from 1:30-5:00pm, ON from 5:00-9:00pm, OFF from 9:00pm to 6:00am. It took us a couple of days to figure out that there was in fact a schedule in operation. Other neighborhoods in our city have operated according to this same water schedule, but it is new to ours. We find ourselves rushing to complete activities “before the water goes off” and our life is somewhat more regimented as a result, but it is certainly tolerable.
Water change: We’ve mentioned that the water in our apartment has usually been turned off at night. From about 10 or 11 pm until roughly 5:45, we’d have no water, which was not really much of an inconvenience. This schedule changed recently, so that now the water goes on and off throughout the day according to a strict schedule: ON from 6:00-9:00am, OFF from 9:00-11:30am, ON from 11:30am to 1:30pm, OFF from 1:30-5:00pm, ON from 5:00-9:00pm, OFF from 9:00pm to 6:00am. It took us a couple of days to figure out that there was in fact a schedule in operation. Other neighborhoods in our city have operated according to this same water schedule, but it is new to ours. We find ourselves rushing to complete activities “before the water goes off” and our life is somewhat more regimented as a result, but it is certainly tolerable.
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