March 10 - April 22

I spent the next two weeks looking forward to going to L'viv for Spring Break. I had an airbnb reservation and train tickets for a few days in L'viv, followed by the National Olympiad in Rivne, as my school’s spring holidays were the week before the National Olympiad.

I got to teach my eighth formers all about First in Flight - they were learning about famous female pilots, as well as aviation in general. As North Carolina is rather famous for aviation, it works out rather well. I also got to give a presentation on St. Patrick's Day (and a smidgen of Ireland) to my ninth, tenth, and eleventh formers. My counterpart didn't want to translate, so I'm not sure how much the ninth form students understood. I decided to mention Northern Ireland and the Troubles, as that is an important part of Irish history. They were confused, so I told the stories about (London)Derry and Belfast from 2011, and my counterpart was explaining and translating for me. I'm not entirely sure what she was saying, because, while my Ukrainian is better than I let the students know, I can't keep up that well. Then she says a word I know - Donbas. Yep, my counterpart compared the Irish Troubles to the fighting in the Donbas. There are a lot of striking similarities between Ireland and Ukraine.

Unfortunately, my school changed the days of Spring Break, and instead of my Spring Break being the week before the Olympiad, it was the week of the Olympiad. I learned on Thursday, and I was supposed to leave Tuesday night. I only learned about the change because I made a comment about paying for lunch. Had I not made that comment, not only would I not have known that the following week was no longer Spring Break, but I wouldn't have had lunch that week! My counterpart told me that she thought I knew about the change. 

One day, most of the tenth formers were doing something else, so I taught the entire lesson. It was a speaking lesson, as I kept asking them questions. I learned a lot about my students, especially about who's family had what farm animals. About half of them live on farms in the villages around Olex. One of my students has THIRTY pigs. Another has five cows. It was really cool, and I liked being able to teach the lesson. Some of the students were more interested in the non-traditional lesson than others, but I would count it as a success. 

I got to teach my sixth formers about baseball. It is really difficult, as they have any reference points for it. They don't know what the ball looks like. They don't know how many players to a team, or what the field looks like. They don't understand the rules, and they aren't sure there are rules! They asked me about softball, which only confused them more. It felt a bit like my counterpart only let me attempt to explain baseball because I asked. She didn't seem very interested, and kept asking tangential questions, including questions about softball. Made it rather hard to try to explain baseball. I still wish I had chosen the infield fly rule… Would have been more entertaining…

I got to talk to my eighth formers about airports, as I've flown recently. My students wanted to know if they could carry on knives, guns, and explosives. "But what if it only looks like...?" "But what if it's a souvenir..." "But what about..." Clearly, "no weapons of any sort" was too hard for them to understand. Either that or Americans are simply numb to the rules. 

One day, in my eleventh form class, we had a mammal sighting. I was trying to teach them some standardized testing test taking strategies for their independent and end-of-year testing, when one of my students looked out the window and yelled, "білка" ("bilka!" squirrel!) At first I thought he was being funny, but he insisted that there was a squirrel. I looked out the window, and, sure enough, there was a cute little red squirrel sitting on a branch in the tree. We all watched it leap around and it left after a few minutes, off to find a better tree. I told my friends this at the Olympiad, and SM said, "he doesn't get out much, does he?" (the student who yelled "Squirrel!" while I was teaching), to which I replied, "well, it is a boarding school…"

Friday evening, March 25, I left for Rivne. Rivne is located in the northwest of the country. It sits next to Volyn Oblast and on top of Ternopil Oblast. It isn't a particularly large city, and it is rather difficult to get to. Holding the Olympiad in Rivne is much like holding a large national conference, convention, or the Super Bowl in a town like Missoula, Montana. Sure, some people will have an easy time getting there, but others are going to have to route through some other town(s).The only train which connects Olex and Rivne runs once a day, and wasn't running on either day I needed it to… Which meant that I had to connect through another city. I took the train to Ternopil, where I spent the night with a fellow PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer). She was very nice, and it was wonderful to meet her.

Tea at Chiliantano's. 

Step one in my trip was having dinner at the local pizza restaurant, a place called Chiliantano’s, as I have a tradition of going there with my counterpart before I take an overnight train. She wasn't able to make it, but I did meet my sitemates. I got there a lot earlier than they did, as I wanted to make sure I had enough time to eat my dinner. And, I was hoping that my counterpart would come. After my friends arrived, they had to rush while eating, AH had to be on the last bus back to her village, and it was a very early last bus. This means that she can’t stay late in town, as the bus leaves early. We talked for a bit, but they had to run.

After dinner, I headed to get a taxi – it's probably not safe to walk to the train station at night. I had some trouble trying to talk to the driver, as I realized I'd forgotten some important words. The driver spoke almost perfect English, so it worked out. I do wonder why he's driving a cab in a town of less than 80,000. He was really nice, and even offered to carry my suitcase for me, as it isn’t culturally appropriate for women to carry heavy things here. Chairs are included in this – I was fussed at by my colleague for attempting to carry a chair back to where it lived, and told that it wasn’t appropriate for me to carry the chair. Side note: I had an issue with my shower (the hose was broken), and I had to explain it to my landlord. After apologizing for not knowing what the problem was, my colleague told me, “it’s okay, you’re a woman, you don’t need to know.” This same colleague recently told me that changing lightbulbs "isn't women's work."

At the station, I got my ticket printed, but the women at the ticket counter seemed annoyed with me, and point-blank refused to print my second ticket. Usually, I get both tickets printed in Olex, as there is always less of a line. This means that I don’t have to budget time to wait at the train station in a major city. In L’viv, for example, I once spent thirty minutes waiting for my ticket to be printed, and it only took about 30 seconds for her to print my ticket.

Once on the platform, I was briefly worried that I had the wrong train, as someone told me that it wasn’t the 9.20pm train to L’viv (it was the 9.20pm train to L’viv…). I had some trouble finding my compartment, as the train pulled up to the platform at a slightly different spot than usual, making it hard to judge the wagon numbers. I was lucky that the wagons were numbered like normal, I learned later.

The train ride was long, boring, and uneventful. Once in my compartment, I learned that there were three guys in the compartment with me. One of them seemed almost annoyed at us for disturbing his sleep. One of the men on the top bunks helped me get my bag into the under-bunk storage compartment, and made sure I had my packet of bedding. They also left the compartment so I could change into train clothes, had I wished to. Despite the apprehension I had, the trip was fine, if long and uneventfully boring, as I’m not able to sleep on trains. One of the guys snored like someone trying to put a running chainsaw down a garbage disposal. I texted a few other PCVs, and listened to music for the entire trip. One of the other PCVs at the Olympiad told me that she had had the same experience in her compartment – three guys. One of the guys on the top bunk leapt off the bunk to help her with her stuff – his mother or grandmother would read him the riot act if she got even an inkling that he hadn’t done that.

The passengers in Kupé (second class – an entire compartment) buy Kupé-class tickets because they want to sleep. Most of them get on the train, get their beds set-up, and go to sleep. I also learned that the conductor sells cold beer (one of the PCVs mentioned this, as I wondered how they had had a cold beer), and that there is a coal or wood-fired stove or something near where the conductor’s room is.

My new PCV friend, CW2, met me at the train station in Ternopil, and we went back to her apartment, which was rather far from city centre but was really nice. It's a one-room, but she has a walk-closet and a nice kitchen. And a pullout couch. Win-win. We went back to the centre, and had lunch. We first tried the new burrito place, but it was closed. As was the new pita place. So, we ended up at a Ukrainian place which had amazing borshch. While looking at the menu, we both wondered what the other would think if we ordered a drink with lunch So, my "would you think less of me if I ordered a Cosmo?" was met with "oh, thank god, I want a beer." 

After lunch, we went to the bus station, so I could buy my bus ticket. I was glad, as you can never be sure that you will be able to buy a bus ticket the day you need it. And I had to be in Rivne by a set time the next day. The woman at the ticket counter said I should take the Ternopil-Rivne, not the Ivanna-Frankivska-Rivne, as it was a better route. It turned out that, though the route was longer and took more time, the roads were much nicer. Trust you local knowledge.

I also got to meet some other PCVs in Ternopil, and that was wonderful. I wish I was able to see everyone more often. We wandered around the bazaar, as KD was looking for adaptors, and KR was looking for one of those personalized license plates. We also saw the area where people sell pets. There were kittens and puppies, and birds. CW2 was really sad, as she wants to save them all. KD carries dog food in her purse, and feeds the strays in Ternopil (we got to see that as we walked). The stray dogs in Ternopil are a lot friendlier than the ones in my Oblast. A PCV was bitten in Kirovograd in January, the same week I was threatened by a stray dog. The ones in Ternopil were very friendly, tails wagging and non-threatening.

We had coffee at a nice little café, and then wandered the city centre for a bit. We went into the local Catholic Church, and I got to see some really awesome Icons. The church was amazing, with beautiful murals and real Icons. We got to see part of a christening while we were there. I put a few Griven (UAH) into the donation box, in thanks for letting me take pictures. We went to a bookstore, where I found some adult coloring books, and KD was thrilled that I found a Ukrainian-English phrasebook, as Peace Corps Response Volunteers are not given any real language training.

The Catholic Church in Ternopil.

After that, was had some time to kill before our reservation at the restaurant, so we went to see Lake Ternopil. It was beautiful at dusk. We wandered around, taking pictures, before heading back to the centre square. There is a beautiful opera house there, as well as a stature of Taras Shevchenko. We met an older woman there, with her grandchildren. CW2 went up and talked to the older woman, as she had some dirt or something on her coat. In Ukraine, not having spotless clothing is a cause for extreme embarrassment, something comparable to having your zipper down while wandering around. It’s the sort of thing when you are embarrassed for someone, and want to help them fix it.

Lake Ternopil at dusk.  

At dinner, I met a lot of new people – both PCV and not – and had a lot of fun. The restaurant is an odd one, as it has mostly Ukrainian food (borshch, varenyky, shashlik, etc) and sushi. Ukrainians do love their sushi. Everyone ordered off the Ukrainian menu, and we had a lot of fun.

The next day, on the way to the bus stop near CW2’s apartment, I tripped and fell – full layout – while trying to catch a bus. That was embarrassing. I had to bandage myself up at the café, where we stopped for coffee for both of us and crêpes (blyntsy/milyntsy) for me for breakfast.

While we were waiting for my bus, several beggars came up and tried to convince us to give them money. One spent a considerable amount of time standing next to us and waving her collecting tin at us, and we think she attempted to curse us as she walked away. This is really common in Ukraine, that those begging for money will walk up to you and wave their tin at you. For several minutes. I got on my bus, and headed up to Rivne.

Once in Rivne, we all learned that we were supposed to have arrived earlier, as the time on our schedules was the start of the event, not when we were supposed to get there. They also wanted to feed us lunch and get us registered before the event started. However, none of us knew that, so most of us got there late. It doesn’t help that there is no easy way to get to Rivne, as there are basically no direct trains and driving time for buses from near-by Oblast Centres can be measured in hours. So, we were all really annoyed and very frustrated when we got there.

We were given a few minutes to change into our formal clothes, and then we had to run for the bus that was to take us the to the Lyceum where the Olympiad was being held. After lunch, we got registered, and we had to pay for our meals at the Lyceum. There was a bit of a communications issue with how much we had to pay, and we ended up having to switch to French. One of the things that bothers us is when the native-speaker speaks really fast in Ukrainian or Russian, and doesn’t repeat it slower, meaning that we can have some trouble understanding or responding to it.

After registration, we watched the amazing opening ceremony, and listened to people give speeches. It was a bit boring, but it was really cool. We then had a large welcoming dinner. There were all sorts of traditional foods. It was really wonderful, and we all enjoyed it. A standard Ukrainian party has lots of food and even more alcohol. There are always many toasts, and they go in pattern. First, to the event. Second, to men. Third, to women (or love). I don’t remember the correct order for the fourth and later toasts. Toasts in Ukraine (and Russia) aren’t the standard “sláinte” or “proast” or “cheers” that you have in the US. They tend to be long stories or anecdotes. At one point, one of the PCVs gave a toast in English, about how much we loved the chance to be in Rivne, and to be at the National Olympiad. As the Spanish Olympiad was at the same time, and some of the judges spoke Spanish, another PCV had to give the same toast in Spanish. Then, I had to give the toast in Russian, just to make sure everyone understood. There is nothing more embarrassing than standing up and attempting to give a toast and realizing that you can’t remember the words for “hospitality” or “friendship.” As my PCV friend said, “just shake it off.” I was told later that the judges really enjoyed that I attempted to speak in the local language. We went out for milkshakes after dinner, and found a restaurant dedicated to Elvis memorabilia, called The Pan Am. 

SM, JG, and AM at the welcoming dinner. The food was traditional Ukrainian food, and it was very good. 

CW3, SM, and KK. SM had the Elvis, and KK and I had strawberry syrup. 

There were only the eleventh form students at the Olympiad, though usually the ninth and tenth formers are there as well. This is their future, as the winner is offered scholarships. The winner is usually a FLEX-alum (FLEX is an exchange program where someone spends 6-12 months in an English-speaking country (usually the US), living with a host family. You can tell who is or isn’t FLEX based on their accent and phrasing), but not always.

The PCV group was broken into smaller groups, and we were assigned to a section of the students. We proctored the reading and writing portions of the Olympiad. JAM read the listening text in our group. She and I were the primary judges in the speaking, as we got to ask all sorts of questions and talk to the students. After each session, we had to mark and score the papers. The listening and reading were easy, and there was a rubric for the writing, but the speaking is very hard to judge. The students are allowed to challenge their writing and speaking scores, so we have to be able to back up what we mark. 

When you’re finished giving a speech (or a toast) in Ukraine, you are supposed to end with, дуже дякую слава україна (“dyu.zhe dya.ko.you. Slah.vah OOO.cry.ee.na”. “Thank you so much. Long live/Glory to Ukraine”). “Slava Ukraina” has the emotional meaning closer to that of “Vive le Québec libré,” (long live Free Quebec) than that of “vive la France.” It has even more meaning now that there is the situation in the Donbas and Krimea. One of the most emotional moments for us was when we learned that both Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts sent students to the National Olympiad.

I have never really felt like a member of this group, from the very beginning. This is really because I am the only member of the Working Group who doesn’t have an overnight train, and therefore is forced to arrive on Thursdays, while out meetings were on Fridays. That means I always had a train to catch on Friday, while the group went out and bonded. This happened on two separate occasions. I tried to get a second night, but they would only give us one night in Kyiv. This showed a lot in Rivne, as I felt like I wasn’t really welcome in the group. A few people went bar-hopping one night, but I didn’t know they were going bar-hopping until we got to (what turned out to be) the first bar, as they hadn’t told me. As I don’t go bar-hopping… Another night, the group went out, but didn’t tell me until much later. They didn’t even text me to ask if I wanted to join them. It’s the little things that add up and make you feel like you aren’t part of the group.

One night, we skipped dinner (the food at the Lyceum was… um… horrible) and walked back to the hotel. We then went out to a couple of places. JG, KK, and I played “the whisper game,” which is basically a lip-reading game, at one place, before the Rivne PCV joined us. There is a PCV in Rivne, at an NGO. It is an extremely small world, as he is from Greensboro, and his high school played Tabor in everything. How many times do you think “Mount Tabor” has meant anything when speaking in Ukraine?

Thursday morning was when the students could challenge their writing and speaking scores (we recored the speaking sections for just this reason), and we had a walking tour of Rivne that afternoon. It was led by two English teachers. We got to see the outside of the war museum, which had aircraft from the World Wars, as well as the remains of a jeep from the Donbas conflict. We also walked around the park in the center of the city, around the pond. There is a small lake at the center of Rivne, and there are lots of ducks swimming around. We got to see the Afghan War memorial, as well as various iron sculptures. We got to see the Golden Church. It is bright yellow on the outside, and was beautiful on the inside. After the church, we walked down to the bazaar. We saw the music hall (former church), and the mural to the Heavenly Hundred. We walked through the bazaar, and high-tailed it to a café, as we had to be at the Amber Museum for our tour. We had enough time to drink our coffees, before we had to leave and head to the Amber Museum.

The pond in the middle of Rivne.

The Afghan War Memorial (there was a very cute small child in a bright pink coat playing near it, so I don't have a somber enough picture of the memorial from the front). 

One of the many sculptures in Rivne. 

The Golden Church. Really that color.  

The memorial of the Heavenly Hundred and EuroMaidan. 

One of the largest exports for Rivne is amber. It is mined around the city. The museum is really small and was very close to our hotel. There were murals and paintings with amber glued on to them, as well as clothing with amber stitched into it, and hand sewn replicas of the Kobzar. The crown of Ms Ukraine lives at the museum, as it is mostly amber. For 5 UAH, you can get your picture taken wearing it. It was extremely heavy, even though the amber was really light. I think it might have been steel, it was so heavy. There was also a gift shop attached to the museum.

One of the picture on display at the museum. Mostly made of amber. 

Me, wearing the crown of Ms Ukraine. 

After that, we decided against going back to the Lyceum for dinner, and ended up going to a Georgian restaurant, were we got Khinkali (dumplings) and Khachapuri (fried cheese and bread). We stopped and got hot chocolate (with marshmallows) from one of the many coffee trucks in the centre square of Rivne. Most cities have a memorial or a statue in their centre. Rivne has a movie theatre.

Friday morning, we all checked out of our hotel rooms, put our stuff in storage, and went to the Lyceum for the closing ceremony. There were lots of speeches, as well as performances. A choral group performed, as did a young boy with a traditional Ukrainian instrument. A student sang a Katy Perry song, and did an amazing job. All of the students were awarded certificates. The certificates are given in tier, so those who “placed” were given theirs first, while those who were second tier and first tier followed. JG gave a speech in English, Ukrainian, and Spanish. He did a great job.

JG giving his speech. 

We left the Lyceum and went back to the hotel to collect our stuff, before heading off to our respective places. Apparently, the rest of the group went to Lviv for a few days. Didn’t invite me. Using Google Maps and asking the hotel staff to make sure, I made my way to the bus station. There is more than one in Rivne, and I wanted to make sure that I went to the correct one. 

I went back to Ternopil. I took the bus there, and it went from almost 70°F in Rivne to 45°F and raining in Ternopil, so I was cold getting off the bus. I spent some time hanging out with my new PCV friends. We had dinner at a wood-fired pizza place, which was excellent. We all really enjoyed dinner and talking about our lives. We spent a long time at the restaurant, sitting and chatting. We talked about our last week, as I had been in Rivne, KD had been at a Peace Corps training, and CW2 had been working on her grant. We gossiped about other PCVs and our lives as PCVs, which is what happens when a group of PCVs gets together – gossip.

I had a mid-afternoon train the next day, and I really enjoyed being able to hang-out with and talk to my new friends in Ternopil. My train back could have been really boring, but I discovered that I can read ebooks on my tablet. I thought that I would have gotten motion sick, so I hadn’t tried, but I was just so bored. I was able to read through several easy, yet entertaining, novels before it was late enough that I needed to put the device away and attempt to sleep.

I have really bad luck with train compartments, as I have always had a snorer in them. On the way to Ternopil, one sounded like someone trying to stick a running chainsaw down a garbage disposal, and on the way back to Olex, one sounded like someone trying to start a lawnmower. For more than eight hours.

Once back in Olex, I went back to teaching. I haven’t done much in the last few weeks, as the dance and choreography teacher had a concert recently, and kept taking those forms for extra lessons, and the eleventh formers are now going over their independent and end of year tests. However, now that the dance concerts are over, I have noticed that my teachers have asked me to do more recently, and for the upcoming week.

I finished my assignments for my UNCG class, and spent hours arguing with Microsoft Word and Excel for that. I have emailed various PC admin staff, as I have to do a lot of stuff before I can COS. I have to have two separate medical exams, and one will take three days, as I have to have a TB test. I have to meet with a lot of people. I have to fill out various forms and documents. I have to figure out how I’m getting home – which means emails with the travel admin (who is a wonderful woman).

Spring is well on it's way here, with lots of flowers. It turns out that most of the trees in Olex are really lilacs. They have started blooming this week, and they smell divine. For more Spring Photos, see the Facebook Album or the Google Album (they may be updated more frequently than this blog). 

The lilacs. They have since started to bloom. They smell amazing, and they are all over the town. 

On Wednesday, while we were going over the independent and end of year tests, I saw a mouse in the classroom, and pointed it out. With a cry of “миша” (mouse), my counterpart left the room in hurry, looking for the school handyman. Who, apparently, replied “I don’t have a cat,” when told that there was a mouse in the classroom. The mouse hid under a bookcase, but eventually poked its nose out. Several of the students went after it. The boys, anyway – the girls joined my counterpart in the hallway. I went to see if one of my colleagues had a meter stick, and he tried to give me his pocket knife. I had to tell him that we were not going to kill it, just catch it and release it. Luckily, one of the students trapped the mouse and released it out the window. His last name is “little cat,” so the “little cat” got the mouse.

I have to prepare more material for Monday than I’ve had to prepare for the last two weeks, so I’m hoping I will be able to do more things and be more productive in my last two months here in Olex.