Christmas though International Women's Day

In late December, my parents came to Ukraine for a visit. I met then in Kyiv, which was really wonderful. I took the 9.12 AM InterCiti+ train up to Kyiv, and waited in the Peace Corps lounge until their flight and the airport shuttle arrived. I spent some time wandering around the office and chatting with people. I met them at McDonalds, which is one of the best landmarks near the train station. It's two stories, so you really can't miss it. We all went back to the office to wait for our train. The parents of PCVs are allowed into headquarters along with their PCVs. We took the 17.30 PM train back to Olex. I managed to get us a taxi, which was good, as it was cold and dark when we got back. I'd bought a bottle of cognac for them, as Ukrainian cognac is quite good. We had some of that and herbal tea with some chocolate. 

We stayed in Olex for a few days, at my apartment. My parents got to meet my counterpart, which was really good. Originally, my school had a New Year's party the day after we arrived, but the big director in K'grad gave them a few extra days off, so they had their party on the day we were taking the train to Olex, so my parents were unable to meet everyone. We saw the town, the New Year’s Tree, and went to the restaurant which has crêpes. We got to tour my school. Mom and Dad took advantage of my washing machine and did a load of laundry. It started snowing the day they arrived, and the snow didn't really stop until mid-February. 

On New Year's Eve, we took the train to L'viv. Because it was NYE, we had an early dinner at the crêpe place, and finished packing after. We then walked about halfway to the train station, before getting a taxi the rest of the way. Which is standard for me in the dark. I got our tickets printed as souvenirs (Dad had them printed on regular paper), and we waited for our train. A man dressed as St. Nick came in and hopped one of the trains. It's traditional here - St. Nick comes on NYE, not Christmas Eve. Once our train had been called, we went out to the platform - there's only the one here - and waited. It was cold and snowing, but we didn't want to miss the train. 

We met a soldier on the platform and had a very interesting conversation in a mixture of Russian and English. Mom wanted to chat with him some more, but we didn't see him again. We had to run for our train. And by run, I mean actually run. Once safely in our compartment, we set up our beds. I'd bought all four bunks, so we had the compartment to ourselves.

Just before midnight, the train stopped in a small town, and the conductors had a small party. At first I thought the town was ringing a bell for the New Year, but it turned out that the people in the next compartment were listening to AC/DC. It was "Hell's Bells." It was quite something, seeing a St. Nick offering vodka to people on the platform, seeing the slight colored echo of the fireworks, and hearing "Hell's Bells." 

Once Dad went to sleep, he understood why I didn't want him up on the top bunk - it's smaller, and there's no easy way to get up to it. Train bunks are really small and short, so they can get 4 in each compartment. The top bunks are slightly smaller and shorter, as they have less room. The only way up... Well, one of two ways up is to just push yourself up all the way up or drop down (which really stresses the shoulder), or to use the collapsible ladder. It's a crapshoot either way, as someone my height doesn't get a grip at the top to haul themselves on to the bunk. 

The next morning, we had a packed breakfast (mandarin oranges, cookies, cheese) and ordered coffee from the conductor. We got to L'viv.

Dad takes a picture of the statue of Mary in L'viv. 

The historic Rynok (Market) Square in L'viv, with the craft fair. 

The historic Rynok (Market) Square in L'viv, with the craft fair.

The historic Rynok (Market) Square in L'viv, with the craft fair.

The Ukrainian flag, flying from the top of the clock tower in Rynok Square, L'viv.

The Italian Courtyard, as seen from the top of the Clock Tower in L'viv.

King Daniel

Once at the train station, we took a taxi to the hotel. It is very common for taxi drivers to stand just inside the train station and ask if anyone wants a taxi. They always ask people carrying luggage. Dad decided that it was a good idea, and we got to the hotel. There, we put our bags in the locked room, and went for lunch.

We had lunch at a tiny strudel place. Tiny. I'd been there before, so I knew the strudels were good. We got pictures and wandered around the square for a bit. 

Over the course of our days in L'viv, we went to countless churches, and had lots of coffee. We went to a place called Puzha Hata, which is a cafeteria-style cafe. There, we got borsch and vareniki. Mom thought the vareniki were correct, which was good. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find a table, as everyone put their stuff down first, meaning there were no free tables. We did eventually find a free table. 

We had dinner at the Uzbek place one night. There, we shared dumplings, a fried cheese roll, a pilaf, and mutton shashlik. We also ordered a bottle of wine, the one the waitress suggested. It was a white, but it hadn't been refrigerated. Dad ordered it all, so our waitress tried to explain that there were big portions. They eventually figured out what we were doing - that we were sharing everything. Our waitress was very attentive and professional. We all loved the mutton shashlik and the fried cheese roll. 

We also had dinner at Kumpel, a German restaurant famous for its three meter sausage. This famous sausage is three meter-long sausages all together. We ordered beer - Kumpel is also a microbrewery - and studied the menu. We decided on the sausage, and asked our waiter for his suggestion. He suggested we get the plate of "extra" which was the sauerkraut and other stuff which goes with the sausage. We got a salad starter - something with feta and olives. Everything was really good, my favorite sausage was the white one, the Viennese one. The only problem was the family at the closest table was letting their kids run wild through the restaurant. Our beers were their Dubble and their Christmas (a spiced Irish dry). Our waiter was excellent, working very hard and running around making sure everyone had enough beer and no one was worried about needing a new one. 

We had lunch at Pravda one day. Pravda is a new microbrewery in L'viv, and their head brewer is an American, so they brew American-style microbrews instead of Euro. We got their cheese and meat platters to share. The beers were an IPA and a stout. Usually, I like the stouts more, but this was a hoppy stout. I liked the IPA, as it was the malty IPA I like. Dad really liked the stout, so we switched. 

We had lunch at Cafe Centaur. We'd gone there the day before for coffee. I'd ordered us all Viennese coffees (coffee with cream and sprinkled with cinnamon), but we got something else. I'm not complaining, as what we had was better. We got French-Press coffee, with brown spices.  We were charged for coffee L'viv-style, so that's what we ordered when we went for lunch. But, coffee L'viv-style had lemon bitters in it, so that's not what we got... We all ordered lunch. I got smoked vareniki, Mom got galupsi (stuffed cabbages), and Dad got something with a cream sauce and bacon. It was all excellent.

It turns out that L'viv has two strudel restaurants, so we went to the other one, as well. This one was better and nicer, but even smaller. The strudels were beautiful and came with a specific sauce. They were delicious! 

We went to countless churches, and wandered the craft fair. Over the New Year's holiday, there was a craft fair in the city. There were booths everywhere, and people were selling lots and lots of crafts. We bought gifts for family and friends at one of the booths. We also toured lots of churches. We went to the Armenian Cathedral, the Latin Cathedral, the Jesuit Church (now the main chapel of the Ukrainian Military), and a few others. The Armenian Cathedral was amazing.  We went to the L'viv Handmade Chocolate factory and bought lots of gifts. We went to Her Majesty's for chocolate. I bought pysanky as gifts. 

We climbed the Clock Tower, and got lots of pictures at the top. Dad enjoyed it, but Mom and I found it cold. There were really cool views from the top, though. We went to the Arsenal Museum one day, as Dad wanted to see it. It was really cool. There were tags in both English and Ukrainian, do we knew what everything was. It would have been cool to know more about the collection. Dad knows a fair amount about military history, so he was able to tell us about some of the collection. We also went to the L'viv History Museum, where we saw the Italian Courtyard and the former rooms of the then-King – King of Rzecz Pospolita Jan III Sobieski. It is fascinating to think that L'viv was under Polish rule when the House of Bourbon ruled France. 

We left L'viv on the evening InterCiti+ train to Kyiv. Before leaving, we checked out of the hotel and spent an hour or so in a nearby cafe. The power went out while we were there, and nothing happened. It happens sometimes in Ukraine, and no one panics. We went to the L'viv Croissant place, and got sandwiches for dinner. We collected our bags from the locked room, and got a taxi to the train station. The concierge had called us the taxi, as he knew who to call and when we needed to be at the train station. 

Kyiv… We were staying at the same hotel I'd stayed in for the American House Camp. It has a great location in the heart of Kyiv. First, we were sent the wrong driver's telephone number, so we couldn't reach the right guy. Therefore, we thought he was in Borispol, not the train station. We eventually met up with our driver. Then, we get going, and he runs out of gas! Dad had to help push the car! Once he got gas, Dad tried to tell him he's going in the wrong direction. Turns out he thought we were going to a different hotel! I started yelling at him in Russian - the square - and he started going in the right direction. We finally get to the hotel.

There, we learn that my window has been left open, letting in the very cold air. The window was open because the previous guest was a smoker and had been smoking in the room. Then we learn that the higher level rooms (we'd stayed in the lowest level rooms for the camp) had awful beds. Truly awful beds. Like sleeping on an AT shelter floor on a ridge rest. I'm very glad I didn't flop backwards on to the bed. That would have hurt. A lot. The next day, we ended up having to get my room changed, as the cigarette smell was too strong. 

St. Michael's Cathedral in Kyiv

While we were in Kyiv, we visited St. Michael's. It's a beautiful, old Orthodox Church. It was snowing the entire time, coming down in perfect individual snowflakes. We walked out along the cliff wall. There is a very nice view off the Dnieper when it's nice out. We met a flock of Great Tits (don't laugh), which are chickadee looking birds. They are very curious and not afraid of people. They were also sure we were going to feed them. One flew over, chirped at us, and attracted the whole flock.

We then walked over to get pictures of St. Sophie's. By that point, my toes were cold enough to hurt. After Mom got her pictures, we headed down to O'Brien’s, an Irish pub. We all ordered tea, and our waitress told us to order fast if we wanted breakfast. I ordered lunch, Mom and Dad ordered breakfast. It was quite good. We walked around Khreshchatyk Street, going into stores. We didn't go to the flagship Roshen store, as we'd been to the one in L'viv. The one in L’viv had a very weird but very interested sculpture out front, with cat and a yarn ball. The one in Kyiv has the creepy puppets.

For dinner, we went to an Italian restaurant close to the hotel. It was quite good. We shared the house red, and all got different pastas. Dad got lamb, I think, while I got Alfredo and Mom got red sauce. 

The next day, we got up, and didn't go back to the hotel breakfast. We walked up, trying to find a cafe Mom had seen the day before. Not finding it (it was actually there, we just didn't see it), we went to the little croissant place near the hotel. Dad saw and wanted chocolate filled croissants. Turns out they were chocolate-banana croissants... We had been thinking about going to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (WWII), but we had to be somewhere else early. I suggested we walk out to St. Andrew's and the Descent. In the warmer months, there is a craft market that runs the length of the descent. Given the snow and ice, it's not surprising that there wasn't the craft market. We walked out, past St. Michael's, and out to St. Andrew's. St. Andrew's stands at the very edge of the Dnieper cliffs, send overlooks Kyiv. We walked a bit down the Descent, but it was steep and slippery, so we turned around pretty quickly. 

We walked down to St. Sophie's and took pictures. We then wandered down to the Zoloti Vorota (the Golden Gates), the original gates to the city. We took lots of pictures, before wandering down to Khreshchatyk. We went to a grocery store, looking for a host gift, before deciding on lunch. We went back to O'Brien’s, where I got a bacon cheeseburger (the first since May). We spent the rest of the afternoon packing, as we were going to be out late and all had to leave early the next morning. 

We went out to Obukhov and had dinner with my host family. My parents brought my host-mother a lot of gifts from the U.S. We had an amazing dinner, and everyone was able to come, so my parents met my host-uncle and his family. It was amazing. There was a lot of culture and traditions that night. Dad learned about the tradition to clink glasses last with a man, and we all got to try very nice vodka. We all got to eat a traditional Christmas Eve food - oats with Uzvar. It was a very special night. 

Once we went back to Kyiv, that was that. My parents had a very early wake up call for their transfer to Borispol, and I had a 7.15 train back to Olex. 

My school restarted the following Monday. I learned that the 6th Formers are using Karpuke book for second semester. 

Most schools in the Oblast closed for the flu. The Swine flu was going through Ukraine, and most schools in the country were closed. Except for mine, of course. The big director in K'grad didn't want to close schools. We only had about half of our students, as the town students didn't always come in, but the boarding students did. 

The first week back, the 8th formers were learning about music, and one of the example bands was U2. I was able to give a 10ish minute PowerPoint on them , and play some snippets of famous songs. The students seemed to enjoy it. 

There was one week where the temperature dropped below zero Fahrenheit. School was not closed. That was the week I had to go to Kyiv for the National Olympiad Committee Meeting. I didn't have to go to school on Monday or Wednesday, but I did have to go to school on Tuesday. It had started snowing on Saturday and still hadn't stopped by Tuesday. The snow was higher than my boots and the drifts were mid-thigh. That week, PCV PB was bitten by a stray dog and I was threatened by a stray dog. Not a good week for PCVs… 

I took the morning train up to Kyiv and spent the afternoon at HQ, where I meet some new Group 48ers. I also helped PB with the documents he was editing for our Training Manager. I went with TG to O'Brien’s, as we both wanted burgers. 

The next day was the first Working Group meeting. We learned what we would be doing and broke into groups. I was the only one who had a train back that night, so I felt incredibly left out. The group went to go have fun (and maybe see Star Wars) but I was stuck in the PC lounge waiting for my train. 

The next day, I met VS and AH and went shopping with them. They are really nice and it is nice to have more PCVs in Olex. I’ve gone shopping with them several times.

The 8th Formers had a Culture Choice Day, which is where IA teaches them about a cultural thing. It was Christmas one time and Dickens another. This time it was the "Fields of Athenry." The book assumed certain knowledge, such as the Irish/English... Troubles. It also assumed that the reader would know about Botany Bay, transport, and penal colonies. So, I had to quickly explain that before I could talk about the song. The Culture Choice was all about Irish music, both traditional and punk. 

One day, the 11th Formers were learning about the conditionals. I created a PowerPoint with the phrases, and they had to make the conditional expression. The example was "go to Florida/get bitten by an alligator." One of my students was wonderful, as she said, "if I hadn't gone to Florida last summer, I wouldn't have been bitten by an alligator." She got it!! 

My English Club is doing a bit better. They are more likely to listen to me now, but they are still wild and out of control. It is not good when the instructor dreads the English Club because of the students. 

I'm taking a graduate school class this semester, and the professor wants us to do observations of how people look for and ask for information. I went to K'grad, as she wanted our first observation to be somewhere we didn't know that well. I too the bus out Saturday, and met CW. We were going to a new cafe. I got there first, and had to call her to make sure I was at the right place. I'd never been there, and she hadn't given me the name. The cafe was called Kex, and it was near the centre square. It has good food, and amazing lattes. We got quiche for a small snack and to have with our lattes. After awhile, we went to an odd restaurant, one that had Italian food. And sushi. I was able to get one of my overall favorite teas - a fruit tea (not an herbal tea, but with forest fruits), which I had had for the first time at Camp OHALOW. We wandered around centre K'grad until I had to go back to Olex. 

I meet PCV AH for lunch on Sunday, and we talked about the various mini-camps. 

The week of February 18th was the Week of English at my school. I gave a short presentation on US landmarks to the entire school during their morning parade on Tuesday. We also had other events, such as Karaoke (only two songs, "It's My Life" and "We Are the Champions"), and English Marathon races (where the students had to play games in English for points).  

That Friday was the next National Olympiad Working Group meeting in Kyiv. I was again the only one with a train back on Friday afternoon, so I felt very stressed with what we were doing. Everyone else could take their time with the materials, but I had to rush. Our Ministry contact chose the materials. We then had to decide which readings were the final readings, as well as the writing and speaking prompts. Those needed work. Over the next few weeks, we would be creating questions for the reading and listening materials.

We all trouped over to a Mexican place, where we got burritos and chimichangas. JG ordered a Bloody Mary with his, and I ordered a Cosmo. JG tried my Cosmo - he's always wanted to try one, but never has - and added it to his list if drinks he likes. It is always fun to hang out with other PCVs, as we all have stories to tell.

I took the train back Friday night, and got up extremely early the next day in order to judge the K'grad Oblast Olympiad. I had an alarm for 4.45 AM, as I had to take the 6.10 AM bus to K'grad, and the Olex buses don't run that early. There were 5 students, my colleague T, and me. Several of the students were not competing in the Olympiad, but another event. The bus was freezing, but we got to K'grad in time. I ended up tripping and falling over shortly after getting off the bus. There was a piece of concrete and rebar right near to where the bus had stopped, and I took a step back, caught my feet, and went down. T immediately pulled me to my feet. I realized afterwards that I had instinctively thrown my left arm out, palm down. Had I not been wearing a puffy coat, I would have done a correct back break fall (meaning I would have broken a backwards fall). I was completely fine, but I did freak out T and the students.

We took a bus down to the centre, and walked to where the Olympiad was being held. T dropped me off at one place and went with the students to check in. I was led to the judges' room, and told where and who I would be judging. I met up with PR, another PCV. He's somewhat of an institution in K'grad, as he's been there for years and years. 

First, I proctored the writing portion, which means I watched the students write a test, and answered a few question. After they had finished, I went to a different group, and ran the listening and reading portions. The listening section was an extract from 1984 and the students had to answer questions about it just from listening to it twice. After the listening, the students had the reading section, where they read and answered questions. There was an issue with the answer sheets, as two sections were mis-numbered. The students understandably freaked and we had to get a testing administrator down to solve the problem. It worked out in the end. After that, it was time for lunch.

Lunch was supplied for the judges, and was a fairly standard Ukrainian lunch of soup, mashed potatoes, and fish. The mashed potatoes were wonderful. There were pickles, too. Ukrainians love their wonderful pickles.  

After lunch was the "jewel" of the Olympiad - the speaking section. During this section, each student chose a prompt (from my hat), and had two minutes to think before speaking. Some were very good. One poor student burst into tears. The teachers I was with were very willing to give them a few extra minutes. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I completely understand the feeling. Oddly enough, she didn't get the lowest score - one student refused to speak on their topic. 

A dragonfly sculpture in K'grad. 

A dragonfly sculpture in K'grad,

After the Olympiad, I went to Kex for a latte (and to use their wifi to check my email) while I waited for the next bus. I got the bus back to Olex. 

My 11th formers started a unit on landmarks and they learned about relative clauses. They had a lesson on volcanoes, so I got a chance to teach them about famous ones. Something I particularly like crossed paths with their books. 

The last Thursday in February was an Opposite Day of sorts, as the students were in charge. All of the administrative positions were held by students. Students taught the classes, and even had a demo lesson one class period for the teachers. The students acted like the person they were playing, to sometimes hilarious results. I was "tricked" into teaching a grammar lesson, as the students wanted me to teach the lesson. I didn't know it was a grammar lesson, so I was making it up as I went along. I know what relative clauses are and I know how to use them, but I have no idea how to teach them. Especially defining and non-defining relative clauses...

International Women's Day is celebrated 08 March. It was a Tuesday this year, so we got Monday and Tuesday off. On Friday, there was a party at school. There were lots of toasts, and lots of food. There was dancing, there were party games, and several of my male colleagues dressed in drag for one of the games. However, when the dance instructor is one of your competitors... 

The Maidan Memorial in Centre Square, K'grad. A statue of Sergey Kirov used to be there. 

Centre Square, K'grad. 

I went into K'grad on Monday, and I got to meet all of the K'grad PCVs. We have a new one - NA was recently evacuated from somewhere in South/Central America. I also met MK, an ex-pat who was PCV. She's retired, and she and PB had a lot of fun making fun of me for being young. I did recognize that the menu was printed on a record, I just thought the grooves would have been deeper... We talked about the technology and tech support issues that the Peace Corps has. 

After lunch, we all went to MK's Russian tutor, as she was having a International Women’s Day celebration. It was really cool. After that, I went back to Kex and met CW. There, we met PR and NA, who were there with colleagues. NA is still in the wide-eyed integration stage, as he got here only a few weeks ago. 

On Tuesday, I did some grocery shopping and got ready for the week. 

The Taras Shevchenko memorial. There are several copies of the Kobzar, his most famous work. 

My school has up a small memorial to Taras Shevchenko. His birthday was 09 March and his death date 10 March. It is the week of Ukrainian Literature at my school.  

Geeky Patronymics

I've been planning to post this for a while, but I wanted to make sure I had everything correct.

In Ukraine, teachers and other people in authority are referred to by First Name + Patronymic. The patronymic is your father's name plus ending for "-son" or "-daughter." Think "Johansson." Except me, but that's because my patronymic does not work with my Irish first name. So, unlike my colleagues, I go by "Ms Bennett." This is pretty common for Peace Corps Volunteers, as, because we don't use the patronymic in English, we don't have one (or it clashes with our first name). Some people go by "Mr/Ms Last Name." Others go my "Mr/Ms First Name." 

Nicknames are also really common. Almost every name has a nickname that comes with it, sort of like how basically every "Alexander" probably goes by "Alex" and every "Anthony" probably goes by "Tony." 

In Russian, the way that the nickname works (usually), is that you take the first consonant/consonant sound and add "-asha" to it. "Maria = Masha." "Natalia = Natasha." Others get slightly more complicated, like Oleksandr/Oleksandra both being "Sasha." In this case, it's the stressed "sandr/sandra" which gets shorted to "Sasha." And "Anastasia" goes to "Nastia." And then there's always "Aleksey", which shortens to "Losha." 

Some names don't get the "-asha" treatment at all. "Olga" goes to "Olya." "Roman" goes to "Roma." "Yevgenia" (that's a hard "g" sound, not a soft "j" sound) goes to "Zhenya." "Dmitrii" goes to "Dima." "Ekaterina" goes to "Katiya." "Mikhail" goes to "Misha" (also, "misha" means "mouse" in Ukrainian. It's the "ы/и" (oui) sound, not the "и/і" (ee) sound, which separates them.) My students were impressed that I knew how to pronounce mouse-misha the other day, as the sound is not found in English).

Regardless of what the name is, basically everyone goes by their nickname. They introduce themselves by their nickname. Whenever I mention one of my colleagues to my students, I have to remember what their "first name + patronymic" is, or they give me a confused look. 

Two very geeky examples (one male, one female) of the first name + patronymic + last name.

First, Pavel Chekov. 

Павел Андрейвич Чеков (Pavel Andreyivich Chekov)

His name is Pavel, and he is Andrei Chekov's son. His friends would call him Pasha (Паша), which is the nickname that comes with Pavel. His teachers would, as well. In fact, 90-some percent of people would address him as Pasha, even upon first meeting. It's just what you call a "Pavel." Unless he commanded respect, or was an elder. Although, most elders introduce themselves with their nickname. 

If young Pasha became a teacher in Ukraine or Russia, he would not be addressed as Mr Chekov, but as Pavel Andreyivich. This is why, in the 2009 movie, he said his name as "Chekov, Sir. Pavel Andreyivich." Not because he was giving he full legal name, but because he was introducing himself: "I am Pavel, son on Andrei, Chekov."  

Now, on to Natasha Romanov.

Наталия Альяновна Романов (Natalia Alianovna Romanov)

Known to her friends as Natasha (Наташа), Ms Romanov's name identifies her as Alian's daughter. Alian is not a common Russian name, by any means. Anyway... Natalia is a very common name, so she might even go by Nat or Tasha. Or even Talia. As a teacher, she would not be Ms Romanov, but Natalia Alianovna. 

It is also quite likely that she would add an 'a' to the end of her last name (making it Наталия Альяновна Романова (Natalia Alianovna Romanova), gendering it female. This is rather common in Ukraine. I know a someone whose last name ends in "-nova" while her brother's last name ends in "-nov." 

November and December

My life after L'viv was back to normal. I had class at 8am on Monday, and the classes continued on with their lessons. I created a lot of vocabulary and grammar PowerPoints for my classes. I use the examples in their books, and make them put the verb in the correct tense. The verb is given, as otherwise it would be almost impossible. 

The students learned about different verb tenses, the difference between formal and informal invitations, passive voice, and different famous works of literature. I got to teach my first lesson by myself. That week, most of the English teachers were out sick, and Ukraine doesn't do substitutes like WS/FCS does. The only non-sick, full-time English teacher needed to be somewhere else, and needed her classes covered. The first class was pretty easy, as all I needed to do was give them a test. The second class was a bit out of control, but as they were playing a game, it made a lot of sense. I created a game like Catchphrase, where they were broken into teams, and had to get their teammates to guess the word or phrase. They could say anything (except for a word on the card) and they could charade it, as well. I created a board for the game, and they rolled a die to proceed. Each square had a symbol, and that symbol corresponded to a Catchphrase card. The first team to finish wins. 

One of the groups learned all about advertising, so I got to show some of my favorite TV adds. It was hard to remember what adds I'd liked, as some of them I hadn't seen in years. Plus, I haven't watched regular old TV with commercials in years, thanks to Netflix and being able to watch the shows a day or so later on the network webpage. One of the groups learned all about rules - dos and don'ts - so I went to Jackson Library's webpage and found their rules. The rules for academic libraries are different than the rules here. For instance, Jackson Library allows patrons to eat and drink in the library, as long as it's not in the archives, special collections, or SuperLab. And as long as you are respectful and clean up after yourself. 

My RM was here, and she talked with me and A about what was going on, checking my schedule and stuff like that. We had lunch together, and we talked about my Winter Holiday plans. As we are now allowed more freedom in our travels around the country, I would be able to visit Kyiv. 

The new Safety and Security Manager came to the Oblast to check out the Safety and Security situation of the Volunteers. A PC doctor came with him, so we could get out flu shots. Otherwise we would be required to go to Kyiv, just for that. 

I was "Matched" twice via World Wise Schools Correspondence Match, and I am still in the process of communicating with my Matches and figuring out how to get the pen-pal exchange working. 

The last few weeks in November were dedicated to Demo lessons. I was asked to teach several classes solo so my colleague could watch these lessons. I learned the value of my tablet, as I was able to look up words to find their translation into Ukrainian, when we found a new word. Which was pretty often. I sort of wanted to go to the Demo lessons, but they were held in Ukrainian, so I wouldn't have gotten much out of them. My colleague held a Demo lesson, as well. 

N teaches two subjects - English and Handicrafts. Her Demo was for Handicrafts. She had us create a piece of jewelry out of a leaf and modeling clay. It was a lot of fun, if a bit messy, as we had to mix paint into the modeling clay with our fingers. Once you we had the paint worked into the modeling clay, we pressed the leaf into the clay, taking an imprint. Then we had to work a small hole into the modeling-clay leaf, so we could attach the imprint to a cord and wear it. It looked really cool. While our leaves were drying, N talked to the Demo class about the history and use of jewelry made from modeling clay. It can be really expensive, and has been worn by royals. Impressive stuff. N wears a lot of jewelry that she's made. Or she displays what she's made in her classroom. It always looks awesome. I keep thinking “Etsy” but I'm not sure Ukraine does that.

N's Demo lesson.
From left to right: Yevgenia Victorvich (dance and choreography), me, Anya Sergeiïvna (computers, math, and typing). 

My English Club is working, a bit. I have only one form, the ninth formers. The students are required to attend the Club, but most of them don't want to be there. They spend most of the Club arguing with themselves or with me about the rules or the scores. There are a lot of sore losers in my English Club. They barely behave, and are only at my club because it keeps them from doing something else. I guess I'm the lesser of two evils. Some do behave. Some are clearly happy to be there. But the combination of those who don't want to be there and those who misbehave, keeps the students who want to be there from learning as much as they could. I noticed the other week that, as long as my colleague was in the room, they sort of behaved. As so as she left, they pretended they didn't know anything and stopped listening to me at all. Wonderful English Club, no? 

Over the week before St. Nicholas Day, my school got a New Year Tree in. After hammering it into the tree stand, the 11th formers trimmed it. Now, my school is a uniform school, and the male students wear suits. Now, imagine an 11th former up on a ladder, hanging lights on a tree, in a suit! On Friday, 18 December, my school had a St. Nicholas Day celebration. I have no idea what happened, but it was beautiful. The students and N put a lot of effort into the costumes for the celebration. They all sang and danced, with the various forms doing remarkable dances. They only had a few weeks to prepare, which made it even more impressive. 

The 11th Formers decorate the school's New Year Tree.

It's been strangely warm here, the last few days. There has been no snow to speak of. And while there was a period where the temperature never broke freezing, it had been warming up the last few days. I am wearing my warm winter coat, but it has been too warm occasionally. It is nice to have, though, especially during the two to three weeks when the temperature didn't break freezing. My boots have also been helpful. I learned that after I didn't wear them and fell. Don't worry, I'm fine! Just a little fall. 

Now, I mentioned my holiday trip. Well, my parents are coming to Ukraine, so I needed to get permission to go to Kyiv. I also needed to buy a lot of train tickets, as that is how you travel across Ukraine. I can order them online, but I had trouble buying the last few tickets. I had to go to the Vokzal to buy them. T went with me, to translate. It took longer to make sure he knew which trains I needed than it took to order the tickets. I left with the tickets bought and paid for, plus printed. Convenient. 

A wants me to create a powerpoint about Christmas, to tell the students how Christmas is different in the U.S. than here. Including the date. Works for me. 

English Club, Camp OHALOW, America House Tech Camp, Host Family, First Bell, Teaching, Harvest Festival, Teachers' Day, Defenders' Day, and L'viv

June/July/August

After mid-June, I managed to start an English Club for students, which met 3x a week, for about 2 hours. There were a few students from the school, but most went to a village school. With anywhere from 1-8 students, it was very difficult to lesson plan. Therefore, some of my lessons went over a lot better than others.

It was summer, so not much was happening in Olex. I went to K’grad a few times to see my friends (as well as get registered).

My CP and I came up with a great idea for a community project. She was watching some American TV show, and one of the characters was on an Academic Competition of sorts. As I was on the WSFCS Academic Competition Team, it works out perfectly. (side note: after I got back from OHALOW, I really haven’t heard anything about that from her, only that she has teachers involved, but…)

In July, I got registered, which was an exercise in oddness. First, I had to get my documents signed by the big director in K’grad, then find the right person to give my docs to at the Immigration Office for the Oblast, go the bank to pay for the registration documents, return to the Immigration office with the proof-of-payment, and then wait two weeks and go back to K’grad to collect the documents, after which, I would have 12 days to get registered in Olex.

It took all day to get registered in Olex, and most of it was spent either waiting or arguing about what went on my registration papers. It worked eventually, and I got stamped into legal residency in Ukraine.

Camp OHALOW

The last week in July/first week in August was spent at a Sanatorium (health spa) in Volyn Oblast, where Camp OHALOW was being held. OHALOW is a camp for teenagers with HIV-positive diagnoses. Most, if not all, of these campers were born with HIV, and this camp is designed to help reduce the stigma. There were some issues with how the camp was run, but with a few minor changes it would be brilliant. There were several children who had the most improvement, and that was worth the problems. For example, a camper SPAT at a camp councilor on day one, but ran up to the PCVs to make sure he was able to give us a hug before he got on his bus to the train station.

We had some lessons on important topics, as well as let the kids run around playing football (soccer). It was an odd hybrid of a classic summer camp mixed with lessons. The kids were able to go swimming most days, when it was warm.

The Tunnel of Love, in Rivne Oblast, Ukraine. This is a working set of train tracks. 

The view at sunset across the lake

The beach, at sunset.

There's a first time for everything!

CW (another PCV) and I got back to Olex at about 1.30am on Sunday, 09 August, and we were able to get some sleep before she had to head back to K’grad in order to get ready for her work week on Monday. I had 36 hours to do laundry and get ready to leave for Kyiv.

America House Tech Camp

Monday evening, I got on the TGV to Kyiv and arrived in Kyiv around 11pm. Recently, Kyiv built a new, modern, very Western-European entrance to the downtown train station. I’ve been there, once… I followed the crowd off the Zap-Kyiv and ended up at this new entrance. I spent a good 15min trying to figure out if I was in Kyiv, if I was at the right train station, and how I could get to the older entrance I knew, where I could get the Metro to the station I needed to get to. I walked across the station long-ways, and: old entrance found, McDonald’s landmark found, Metro station found.

I took the Metro to the correct stop, walked 85% of the way to the hotel, turned around, and walked back, past the metro station and kept going. Eventually, realizing I was lost, I called CW and asked her to Google Map me into the correct direction. She did, and I wandered back to the hotel. There, I got checked in, and went up to the room. Oddly, I wasn’t given a key…

It’s around midnight and PCV KR is already in the room, and she doesn’t know I’m coming tonight. After a shocked “Are you, like, American?” and “please tell me you’re KR or something?” we laughed and I was able to put my stuff down. We spent some time decompressing (her town also has TGV service, so she’d only gotten in an hour or two before me), we showered and went to bed, as we had to be at the PC office by 8am.

KR had her meeting first, so I got coffee at the café across from HQ. At HQ, we met the most recent batch of PCV Reinstatées and had our meetings with the CD (Country Director).

The CD asked me questions about OHALOW, and wished me a good time in Kyiv. After meeting with the CD, KR and I went back to the hotel for breakfast. Breakfast was a classic continental breakfast, with some Ukrainian twists.

After a very good breakfast, we took the bus to America House, where we got the tour and lunch.

After lunch, the camp started. the PCVs gave powerpoints about their home states, and the students had to create their own 51st state. While the camp was very interesting, there were some things which could be changed. Such as the 2+ hour session on a computer program the students then didn’t get to use. The language level was low, so my group wasn’t very interested, as they didn’t really understand what we were doing. It is kinda difficult to want to create a national anthem in a language you don’t speak…

On Wednesday and Thursday, KR and KF and I got breakfast at the hotel before heading to HQ to talk to the PC HQ staff. I got to talk to a lot of people. I was often asked if I was lost, as there are so few PCVs wandering around. Everyday, we had lunch at American House before the camp started.

On Tuesday, we all met a non-reinstatée for milkshakes (delicious) before grabbing a burger at McDs. A large chocolate milkshake or two (not me) requires real food for a late dinner.

On Wednesday, we went to the Roshen Store, and decided that we were too tired to go anywhere else, and went to back to the hotel to watch a movie. We split up, acquired pizza and drinks, and decided on a movie.

On Thursday, I met my host-sister, and spent the weekend with my host-family. I got to visit their garden and went to the neighbor’s 6-year olds b-day party. There was a shot glass on my plate. There was a lot of vodka (or wine), and a lot of fun. I got to relax and hang out with my host-family. I returned to Olex on Monday, 17 August.

Vokzal Oleksandriya at sunset

I had a few more English Clubs before the Teacher Workdays started up. Most notably the day that two students showed up and I’d prepared a board game (4+) and so… We watched a movie and I would pause it occasionally to ask them questions about the plot.

My colleges planned their classes and went over the new books. The Ministry of Education decreed that all 11th formers must take Independent Testing in English, so there was a rush to figure out how to get them extra hours in English.

01 September 2015

First Bell

The first say of school. At 8am, the First Bell Ceremony began. There was a lot of singing, and the 5th Formers were ceremonially brought into the school. The were given certificates. An 11th Former ceremoniously rang the First Bell of the new school year.

I got to wear my Vyshyvanka, which is the national blouse of Ukraine. I kept getting compliments.

Me in the Vyshyvanka

Me with my colleagues on First Bell.
From left to right: Anatoliyi Mikhailovich Paschenko (English), Iryna Anatolyiïvna (English and History), Tatyana Leonidivna (mathematics), me, Anastasia Juriyiïvna (English and Handicrafts), Angelika Mikhailivina Grusha, (English) and Dmitri Ivanovich (physical education). Image taken by Oleksandr Ivanovich (physics and technology)

We made up my schedule that week, with who I was working with when. We ordered new textbooks (Pearson’s English Choices), and collected money. The books come with audio supplements and grammar practice.

 I set up a PC Correspondence with a teacher back in WSNC, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. (edit - on 04 November, I got an email that I been "matched" with not one, but two, teachers back in the US. One with the expected teacher, and another in AZ - whom I happen to know, so I don't know how coincidental that is...) 

I have been able to help, a bit, with vocabulary. I create powerpoints (ppt) with the definition or synonym of a word and a picture, and my students have to guess the vocabulary word. I have also been able to help a bit with grammar, by creating ppts with the important grammar point missing – usually the verb.

I was able to create a game for the 6th Formers one day, but I don’t get enough time to really run games in class, so, ppts it is for now. The teachers want me to give presentations on the vocabulary and topics, and I’m working on making it more interactive.

I’ve had only a few English Clubs, the entirety of September and October, with only the 9th Formers. I’m hoping to do mainly games, but it is very hard, with a completely variable number of students, as well as their English level. They have a pretty low level, which makes communicating with them difficult. And they have a tendency to talk over me, which gets very annoying when I’m trying to run a game of some sorts.

28 September

The Harvest Festival was Monday. I was awesome. Had I remembered my warmer jacket, it would have been a lot better. The various Forms were given a vegetable and they had to introduce that veggie. They had to sing, dance, perform a skit, tell stories, and histories about the veggie. They were in costumes. Someone needs to tell them about the Rose Parade, as most of their costumes were made or embellished with their vegetable. I was cold because I had forgotten my warmer jacket, and was standing outside for a while.

01 October

Teachers’ Day was Sunday, 04 October, so the school had a party on Thursday, 01 October. We went to a local restaurant, where there as a lot of food, a lot of toasts, and a lot of whatever alcohol various people brought. There was a lot of dancing, and some games played involving those dancing. Dancing games are not really fair when one of the dancers playing is the school choreography/dance instructor.

14 October

Defenders' Day. 

Defenders’ Day was Wednesday, so there was no school. I went with my CP to the football stadium, where the various schools had put on some sort of representation of Tartar Village life. The had created a skit of sorts, as well as cooked some sort of grits-like dish. There was a processional, lots of singing, lots of dancing, a blessing, and then the mayor went around and judged the schools. There was also some sort of military competition, where the boys from various schools (including ours) stripped and rebuilt rifles, push-up competitions, strength competitions, and a shooting competition. After A’s sister’s school had been judged we all went to the café with crepes and had a late lunch.

Not much happened in October, until Fall Break.

Fall Break: L’viv (pictures in Google Plus album and a Facebook album)

I took an overnight train there Sunday night, arriving around noon on Monday, where I met KR and SM at the train station. We went to our airbnb, got the keys, dropped off our stuff, and went to lunch. Lunch was the sushi place next to airbnb - shared party platter, salmon with cream cheese, salmon with avocado and cucumber, fried tofu roll. I also had noodles with muscles.

After lunch, we wandered Rynok Square, and went to the L'viv Coffee Company. There was an underground tour – complete with miner’s helmets. I ordered coffee L'viv-Style, which was Turkish-style coffee (hot water poured over coffee grounds) and came with a house-made orangey liquor and a lemon slice. We went through the “Chocolate Museum” which was a bit misnamed – it’s really just a large store attached to the L’viv Homemade Chocolate Company. We also visited countless souvenir and vyshyvanka stores, as well as many bookstores, and a souvenir store, which sold homemade vyshyvanka and embroidered coats. Dinner was at an Uzbek restaurant. SM and I shared a fried cheese roll thingy (Khachtapouri), and I had mutton soup with potatoes and carrots. We stopped at a very nice grocery store, where you could get things less common in Ukraine (I got a bag of Turkish Delight) and then a local prodyukti and got eggs and brioche (they were sickle shaped and we fried them the next morning with the eggs) to have for breakfast.

After breakfast, we went to Craft Bazaar, where there were mostly homemade arts and crafts, some printed souvenir t-shirts and sweatshirts. After that, we decided that, since it was such a nice day, we would walk up to the High Castle. It’s simply the ruins of what used to be a castle, but if you keep going up, up, up, you can get a 360° panoramic view of Lviv. By “up, up, up,” I mean 237 stairs from the bottom. After that, we walked back to Rynok Square, where we went to Blackwood Coffee and Burgers. There I had a beef burger and shared fried cheese. We thought it was going to be cheese fries, but it was verb-noun, not adjective-noun. It was good anyway. After that, we went to Her Majesty's, where we had the best hot chocolate in the world. It tasted like liquid brownies, with bits of caramelized sugar in chocolate, eaten with a spoon. It’s basically melted chocolate with added sugar and butter, and delicious. I would get an espresso Americano or something next time to cut the sweetness a bit. After that, we went back to the souvenir store with the homemade vyshyvankas and embroidered coats, as SM wanted to buy a coat. It was a perfect fit and looked wonderful on her. We went back to the airbnb so KR could change (meeting with a religious leader), and SM could pack to catch her train. While KR was meeting with her religious leader, I went back to Blackwood Coffee and Burgers for coffee, as I knew it had wifi. I had coffee and a chocolate cookie The coffee was meh, but it was maybe the best chocolate cookie ever. After her meeting, KR and I wandered around the Square, spoking the wheel looking for dinner. We ended up at a Strudel place. I had a chicken, mushroom, and cheese strudel, with tomato tapenade and a garlic and onion dip (the dip was much better with the strudel than the tapenade), and we shared a pot of fruit tea. The place was packed, so we had dinner with teacher from Kharkiv, who invited us to share her table and chatted with us. She gave us directions and the password to the local speakeasy! She also gave us directions to a café called House of Legends. More on them later. After thanking her, we went back to the airbnb, stopping on the way at L'viv Croissants, where we bought Chocolate Croissants for breakfast.

After breakfast, we went back to the crafts bazaar, as I wanted to buy a hoodie. Hoodie acquired, we went to a local electronic store, as KR was working on a SPA grant, and wanted to check the pricing in-store. We struck out, and had a further complication of the employees not understanding her. After that, we wandered back towards the square, where we walked past another fancy grocery store. We went in, and KR found some of the things she had been looking for. We then wandered the Square looking for lunch. We went to House of Legends first, but they had a very unhelpful staff, and very dangerous stairs – Blarney Castle and les Tours de Notre Dame had safer stairs then this restaurant/café. Instead, we ended up at the Opera House Restaurant and Museum. We had trouble finding it, as the signage outside the Opera House said “museum” not “restaurant." It turns out the restaurant is in the museum. Our waiter was dressed like a character in Moulin Rouge, there were museum artifacts on the walls, and… an AC/DC concert on the TVs. Which one doesn’t belong? I went for two apps (potato chips with garlic and onion dipping sauce and fried chicken and cheese) and had hot chocolate.

KR and I met FC, who had taken the train in that morning. The three of us went on a tour of the Pharmacy Museum. It was very interesting to see the history of the apothecaries and pharmacies. Occasionally, one of us would point something out and say, “that’s poisonous” or “that acid really shouldn’t have been in a clear glass container.”

After the Pharamacy Museum, we went to L'viv Coffee Company for coffee, where I ordered After-Meals Coffee, which came with a brandy on the side. It was an espresso Americano and a very good brandy. KR and I then took the stairs up to the top of the Clock Tower, where we were able to see most of L’viv from the center of the Square. it was 103 stairs to the entrance to the tower, and 294 more from there. We took lots of pictures and descended the dangerously narrow stairs back to ground level. After that, we went to L'viv Homemade Chocolate, where we got hot chocolate. The company offered a cup of melted chocolate and you could add various things to it, but we weren’t so sure, as if we wanted that, we would just go to Her Majesty’s where there would be more and better for less. We were feeling too tired for much more, so we stopped at McDs on our way back for double cheeseburgers with fries, then L'viv Croissants for breakfast. We watched a movie.

We had our croissants for breakfast, and then went back to wander the square one more time. We went through the bazaar on our way there. We saw someone selling pretzels, so we got one for later. We had to hand over the keys, so we went back to the airbnb, finished packing, and handed over the keys, before KR walked to her bus stop. I met FC for lunch. We went to the Centaur Café, as it had been intriguing us for a while. I had smoked varenyky with fried bacon bits, creme brûlée, and a Viennese Coffee. After lunch, we had a few minutes, where I showed FC the shop where SM bought her coat, and then I had to go get my bus. I stopped at L'viv Croissants, where I bought a sandwich for the train.

I took a very crowded trolley to the vokzal, where I waited in line for 30 minutes. It took me 30 seconds for my ticket to be printed. I found the platform and got on the train, as it was originating in L’viv, it was already on the platform. I waited for my compartment-mates, talked to KR about something at her site, and then prepared to spend the 14.5 hours listening to music. I ate my sandwich for dinner.

The only eventful part of my train ride was that I changed seats so two people traveling together (I think mother and daughter) could be in the same compartment. It was really a no-brainer, although my compartment-mate though I only spoke English and had trouble explaining the situation. I ended up with a right-side top bunk. Never getting one of them intentionally - I felt like I was going to roll off constantly. I also had weird not-quite-dreams about ending up in Zaporizhzhia - which is part of the buffer zone and having to explain to my RM how I ended up being in Zaporizhzhia...

I wasn’t able to sleep on the train, so I was very tired by the time I got to Olex at 630am. There were no taxis to be had, so I had to walk the 30ish minutes back to my flat. I was very cold, as there had been a hard frost that night. I made it back to my flat, emailed home, changed in to PJs, and set an alarm. I managed to get some sleep.

Hotel California and Bazaars and Tchaikovsky

11 June 2015

Music

I’d forgotten just how much my students love to sing (and dance, when not required). I’m sitting and watching the final dress of the Summer Camp final presentation, and I’m kicking myself for not bringing along the Tom Chapin or Raffi CDs. Or at least ripping them. Any chance you can DropBox them to me? [kidding!] :)

Hotel California

Each act gets musical clips (“Timber,” the Captain America Theme, etc). The fifth formers are singing along to Hotel California – as they are talking about how they want to go to California. Side note, the 8th formers were kinda-sorta line dancing (they were from the Cowboy day) to “Timber.” Wow. Just. Wow. Easy to dance to, yes...

After-party

The English department had a lot of help putting on the summer camp, from a lot of teachers, most of whom don’t speak English. They did an amazing job, as the camp went beautifully. The teachers who helped were given certificates as thanks.

After the program, the teachers gathered in A’s classroom for a party. Champagne was passed around, and we toasted to the team. After a few minutes and several toasts, the teachers had to go back to their classrooms. In Ukraine, you can’t leave poured alcohol. An extra glass of champagne had been poured, so one of the English teachers had to drink it. He joked that he was going to “end up dead drunk” because of the extra champagne (granted, it was 11am).

Birthday Party

After lunch, one of the teachers passed around ice cream and coffee because the day before (Thursday) had been her birthday. The coffee was the standard 3b1 that is ubiquitous around Ukraine (3b1 means that the package has instant coffee, powdered milk, and sugar; it comes in basically every single combination of how much of what, and how much caffeine). The ice cream was… tasty. No, really. The ice cream was strawberry and vanilla. It was in a heart-shaped pie-tin, and the top was decorated in roses. Strawberry ice cream roses. There was a thick layer of strawberry over a thin layer of vanilla. You slice it like a cake. I haven’t had ice cream in Ukraine. No, that’s not quite true. At the end of the Transition to Service Conference, the PC gave us ice cream (in mid-December) and coffee. Our CPs put their ice cream in their coffee (as long as the ice cream is vanilla and the coffee espresso). It’s very good.

Secondary Project

I got a few minutes to talk to A about next school year, and she said that there was some interest in the students for reading English language materials, but no materials for them to read. She also said that the teachers are hoping that I will restart my English club for teachers, as they are eager to learn. They are also interested in reading in English.

15 June 2015

Instant Oatmeal

I was at one of the stores near my flat, and I made a discovery – packets of instant oatmeal. I had always assumed that instant oatmeal was a very American thing. It tastes pretty good, and has dried fruit in it. It comes in the standard flavors of strawberry, mixed berries, raspberry, and apple, as well as pineapple and… mushroom! There’s a fungus among us. But, hey, all I’ll need is a packet of this, a bowl (and spoon) and some hot water for the next few weeks – they are doing repairs to the school kitchen and they aren’t going to be feeding the teachers. Or I can bring a few packets along when I travel to camps.

Bazaar

On Sunday, I went to the bazaar with A, where I was looking primarily for shorts. I wasn’t successful, as the only options were distressed, or over-the-knee, or Daisy Dukes. Or some combination thereof. I should have packed mine, but I didn’t see anyone wearing shorts in Paris in summer, so I assumed that shorts were a no-go in Europe, like other parts of the world. Big mistake.

While I struck out on the shorts, I was able to find cherries and strawberries. The bazaar has two main sections, the market and the village. Most of the market section are pretty well established, and sell everything not food, from wallpaper to lightbulbs to watch battries, to French presses (but no Le Monde) to mobile phones to…. you get the idea. After wandering through that section, one ends up at the bus station, where the villagers sell their products.

The villagers, the home gardeners, the farmers have set up shop here. You can find various types of fresh meat, raw milk, in season fruits and vegetables, cheese, beans, etc… If it is in season, or can be cold-stored, you can buy it from a villager at the bazaar. Last year, I helped A buy a rooster. A dead and plucked rooster. A was saying that her mother wanted her to buy the rooster, but that she was horrible at choosing them, so I got to choose. I chose well, as she told me that her mother thought I’d found a great rooster. Not bad for a city girl. There were babushkas selling milk in water bottles, so I think it was very fresh, non-homogenized, raw milk.

We wandered around, A asking prices. We saw someone selling cherries, and I was able to get about 200 grams. The cherries looked like someone crossed a sour cherry and a Bing cherry, and taste like neither. Small, and perfect color mixture of sour and Bing, they really don’t look like much. They are really good, though. They are ubiquitous around Ukraine at this time of year, as the babushkas sell them near the stores, which don’t sell them. Yeah, the grocery stores don't seem to sell strawberries or cherries... They are sweet, but not super-sweet.

The strawberries are much the same. They look like the Quebecois torpedoes: small, light red, and not “American” sweet. They are sweet, but not in the too much so way that the huge dark red ones can be. They also aren’t watery. I got 200 grams of them and ate the whole bag in one sitting, as soon as I got back from the bazaar. Tasty.

The babushkas sell them near ATB. I’ll have to remember that the next time I walk up there.

Transliteration

How many possible variants of Tchaïkovsky are there? I’ll give you a hint: that’s the French one (the English one takes the umlaut off the ‘i’). Because the Cyrillic letters have different sounds than the English ones (the French variant is closer phonetically), a name can and will be transliterated in to many possible versions, all being right. The same issue arrives when going in the other direction.

I have two type D visitors visas for Ukraine. They were issued to the same person. They were issued by the same government. My middle name was transliterated differently on them. On the first one, they simply translated it, and gave me the Ukrainian equivalent. The new visa transliterated it. Now I know how Tchaïkovsky feels every time someone writes his name…