Stardate: 5/14/2008 Winding Down

I should be asleep right now, but my mind is racing. I have a teacher workshop at a local Lyceum at 13:30 tomorrow. But my mind is consumed with all the things I have to work out in the little less than a fortnight remaining in Ukraine. I have to organize and disseminate a year's worth of collected items to folks willing to take them and pack up our belongings into 6 suitcases to return to the US, or as Maddy has recently been calling it, "Mooseconsin." The printer will go to the University, the books for donation were taken there on Monday, but the kitchen wares and out grown children's clothes, I don't know where to take them...hmm.

I have been also collecting images, both the digital and mental kinds. The spring has been luscious here with the trees fully in bloom with broad, green leaves and little white flowers on the chestnuts. There is some grass, weak and thin, sprouting in some boulevard and park corners. The lilacs are as pervasive here as they are in Eau Claire and you can pick up the scent on the breeze if you pay attention. Unfortunately though people here rip branches of lilacs off public park bushes and take them home in large bouquets. I understand why they would want them; they are so fresh and sweet. But the bushes appear raped with raw, twisted stumps from ground until people can't reach the buds. At least the ones on the tops survive to treat the public.

It has been about 10 days of rain. I like the rain. I like taking long walks in the mist at night. I like being alone under my red umbrella and hearing the thwap, thwap of rain pellets hitting the thin plastic. I like walking with Maddy in her little pink raincoat and matching hat in the drizzle. I don't even mind the plethora of puddles that pock the sidewalks and streets. The rain is like a blessing to the plants and I like that. Maybe, too, it suits my present mood.

I have been taking these walks to gather the aforementioned images. Always on the look out for the one image I've been meaning to photograph for months, like the dancing fountain in Shevchenko Park. Or trying to grasp the image, or the sensation?, of the typical walk to work or the park or the French bakery. Trying, albeit in vain, to hold onto the daily memories of a place.

Also, I have been further indulging my recent addiction for photographing graffiti. Venturing into rough, seedy, and unsavory places alone or with the fam. to find that one really provocative, funny, or artistic piece of graffiti art. (This was one of the motivations for getting my nose pierced). We've been ranging far and wide to gather the graffiti photos. I even what to visit a trench that you can see from the Kharkiv-Kyiv train line when getting into Kyiv. I don't have any clue how to find it, but I'd really like to go there, the art is pretty stunning from the train. I've been thinking of asking my Kyivan friends to take me there, but I'm pretty sure that will solidify my current "oh-my-God-she-is-crazy" status (just joking). It's really that I have accumulated a very interesting collection of current Ukrainian graffiti and want to do a photography show of the images. They speak volumes about Ukraine today.

Pat has been gathering images of doorways, like I have been seeking graffiti. So, you can imagine us wandering around Kharkiv (or whatever city we're in at the moment) and looking for the typical or unusual to add to our digital collections. At least, it's good exercise.

Patrick turned 44 on May 7th. He went out with the boys for a night of carousing and carefree frivolity. Friends gave him wine, lilacs, cakes, and songs for his birthday. It was nice. Mine comes up my final day here in Kharkiv; I'm 40. I wonder if it will be the party I hope it will be? Typically, here, folks lay out a spread of foods (sausages, cheeses, chocolates, etc) and alcohol (cognac, vodka, non-alcoholic drinks) for their co-workers and friends. I think it is great to do your own party; that way, you don't have to stress as to whether folks will remember (and then be disappointed when your closest friends happen to forget-yipes!). ;-) I think this is a tradition I will bring back with me to the US.

Along with the spring has been the most interesting of holiday periods. May holidays here started with Eastern Orthodox Easter on April 27th and lasted until May 12th. Easter is a BIG deal here. This is the origin of painted Easter eggs, and they do some stellar art work on them. The colors apparently represent aspects of rural life here: yellow is the wheat or sun?, blue is the sky or water, green is the new growth, etc. I don't remember all of them and I'm sure I got them wrong. Sorry for the potential inaccuracies. The folks here go to church any time from 6pm on the Saturday night prior to 6am on that Sunday morning or anytime Sunday. They bring with them baskets of foods (e.g., sausages, eggs, cheese, paskah (cylindrically-shaped sweet bread with raisens, icing and sprinkles), bread, cognac, vodka, water, etc) for blessing and then they have a picnic at or around the church afterward. All my students returned to their homes whether they were in Kharkiv or distant cities or rural communities. They then spent Easter weekend and the following week with their families. People make rounds visiting friends and relatives and giving receiving paskah. We were given it by A and her family as well as the nice "bread" lady. We gave some to the sour doorman at our apartment building; he actually smiled at us for 1-2 days afterward. Even though classes are scheduled and the University is supposed to be open for business, no one comes. At least 4 people told me, "It's an unofficial holiday that should be official." So, this unofficial holiday lasted through to the next holiday-V-Day, which was Friday, May 9th.

V-day is a BIG deal here, too. Unlike in the US, most folks here seem to really revere the day. Some people told me that 1 in 6 Ukrainians died in WWII; I don't know if that is true, but another comment seemed pretty similar and poignant, "Everyone here has lost someone in their families during the war. And we're told about it. We're reminded by our families about it so we know." There were parades with veterans in their decorated and medaled uniforms as well as other military-type items. We made a pass on the parade.

All in all, it's been a weird 2 weeks, because of the unofficial holiday. I did have class last week, because I had nothing else to do and a couple of my in-town students where bored and wanted a class. Odd, huh?

Speaking of my classes, I have the second-year translation/interpretation students of A and B groups right now. I have really developed a soft spot for them as I did with the freshman group I had in the Fall. I told them in class today that I would only have one more class with them, the one on Tuesday, May 20th. I think I'm really going to be sad to leave them. Many of them have really good hearts and they are so open, energetic and willing. I think I have influenced them in some ways as well as teaching them some English. They were the "really neat" kids I hoped to encounter here; They are like the Ukrainian students I had at Eau Claire who were so accessible, respectful and smart. Many people in the West want to criticize the quality of the Ukrainian education system, and there are major flaws, but the one thing going for Ukraine is some of these kids. If they are given the quality educations they deserve, man, this country would really be a moving up. Some of the names I hope never to forget: Sergey the Clown, Igor, Danil, Olia Pixie, Olia the Beauty Queen, Oleg the Pianist, Ruslan, Natasha with Curls, Anya the Serious, Illya, Tanya, strong and fiery Tasha, gorgeous and tentative Lesya, Katya the babysitter, Timid Anne, the two opposite Oksanas, beautiful and angry Svetlana, friendly Dasha, Gregory, Nastja, skippin'-class Jack, shy Karina... They are all interesting and have some much potential. Many of them are going to a leadership conference in Kyiv at the end of May that a Fulbright colleague is hosting. I wish I had American scholarships for them all.

I have a lot on my mind. What will I do at the end? Will friends be there to see us off? Will I cry? Will I have enough images to refer to when I miss it here? Will I have the "right" images that I will seek later? Will I be able to pack up this apartment into 6 suitcases? How do I fairly go about giving valuables, like a barely-used vacuum cleaner, away? How can I be sure to give gifts to all of those who have been so kind to me? What gifts do I need to bring home? What do I have to go home to?