Borderland Edition

Living in Ukraine forced us to go through many cultural adaptations and modifications of our expectations of reality. One of these adaptations was the idea of personal space. In America we have a pretty definite idea of personal space and it is a shock to our living experience when that space is violated intentionally or not. In Ukraine, there is a different expectation of personal space, namely, there is little to none. The obvious example is when you are waiting in line for something, which happens quite often. There seems to be a rule, that when standing in line, there must be no more than 3-4 inches between yourself and the person in front of you. Perhaps this a solution to the line-cutting problem. There were many times when I felt frustrated and violated when standing in line and the person behind me was almost literally climbing on my back. After a while I was able to convince myself that this was just a cultural different and getting upset about it wouldn’t help the situation one bit.

Last week, while standing in the customs line for U.S. citizens at the airport in Minneapolis, I noticed the HUGE gap of space between everyone in line. There must have been 3-4 feet between each person. Then I noticed that there was one person in line breaking the 3-4 foot rule with reckless abandon. That person was ME. I realized that I was almost in the back pocket of the guy in front of me. And, by the way he kept looking back at me, I could tell it was making him quite nervous.

So, I guess I had adapted to the culture more than I thought.

It’s been a long time in Ukraine. The time living in DP has definitely seemed like the longest months of my life. I’ve been able to learn a bit of Russian and travel to some interesting places in a part of the world that few people currently explore, from the slag heaps of Donetsk to the blue waters of a village near Odessa to the rolling hills near Chernitsi in western Ukraine. When I first arrived in Kiev and spent three hours waiting to fill out forms for my lost luggage in the customs area at the airport I wasn’t sure exactly what I was expecting from Ukraine. Close to a year later I can say that I wasn’t expecting to be placed in a city of 1.2 million in eastern Ukraine in an organization that slowly died while I sat and had nothing to do for months and nobody really care if I was there or not.

Perhaps there was more that I should’ve done but, to be honest, I think I had some bad luck in the site placement process. In the end I had a choice between staying and bumming around Ukraine for another year or going back to the U.S. and returning to life as a normal citizen. I did spend the last six weeks or so traveling around the area and I had a great time. But, after awhile, I find that traveling gets tiring if you don’t have any sort of base or work to take a break from.

So, with that, I’m saying goodbye to Lenin and returning to Colorado around the 25th of January. There are two things that I’ll definitely miss. One is the opportunity to learn Russian, even if it did kick my ass most of the time here. The second is the friendships and times hanging out with the other PCVs with whom I experienced Ukrainian life. As for the rest, I’m sure I’ll be okay without crowded trams though.

Last week was our group’s first Russian language refresher conference in Kiev. Four days of Russian classes, games, and the usual shenanigans as when PCVs join together in groups of two or more. One of the things that most impresses me about Peace Corps is the high quality of language training we receive. Three months of intensive training during PST by quality native-speaking teachers as well as continued support and resources provided throughout service.

I spent the week before language refresher visiting my friend Megan in her town about about 120,000 about three hours northeast of DP (but as luck would have there is no direct train or bus so the actual trip takes about six hours via Donetsk). After returning from my great vacation out west I spent exactly 24 hours in DP before taking off again. I really like Megan’s town. It’s the ideal size for Peace Corps in my opinion. Her organization is also working out well for her and I have a lot of respect for that fact that she spends some of her time hanging out with and watching over a center for mentally-challenged teenagers. I don’t think I could do that with the positive attitude that she does. So, while Megan worked, I spent a couple of days relaxing at her apartment and working on a website for another organization in Donetsk, called Alliance. I’m also redesigning their logo which is fun work for me.

While visiting Megan I did go to her weekly theatre group with her. This group meets once or twice a week and is designed to keep the local kids doing something positive and encouraging instead of the alternative. The entire thing was in Russian so it was definitely a challenge to keep up.

On my birthday (gosh, I’m getting old now), we visited her host mom, who was awesome and quite energetic and had a couple of beers with the local expat who had a host of crazy stories to share about life in Ukraine and Russia. Apparently he’s been kicked out of Russia a time or two as well as caught sneaking into the country. I didn’t know people actually did that. Later in the evening Megan made me lasagna to celebrate my birthday.

Instead of returning to DP before heading to the language refresher I decided to take the train straight from Megan’s town to Kiev. We ended up in platzkart (peasant class) and, remembering my last frigid experience in platzkart, I dressed warmly. Being Ukraine, this train had the opposite problem. The heat was cranked up and we sweated through the 12 hours to Kiev.

In Kiev we met up with our friends from various parts of the country and made the trip to Dubek, another Soviet-style “resort” which replaced Prolisok (”Snowflake”) after half of group 29 got food poisoning a couple months back. One of the highlights of the conference was when we staged a debate (entirely in Russian) over which of the conference centers was better. Due to my dislike of public speaking and my sub par Russian, I tried to get out of participating but in the end had to do my part. I can proudly say that I now have participated in a debate speaking Russian, which is actually pretty cool.

Like all good things the conference had to end and everyone departed for their respective sites, or at least that’s what they told Peace Corps. It’s always sad to say goodbye after spending time at these conferences. It’s weird to have to travel so far just to see friends and to only see your friends every 2-3 months. But, I guess that’s part of the Peace Corps deal.

Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and Ukraine… oh my! (And a video clip of east vs west in Ukraine)

Budapest, Hungary

Upon arriving in Budapest I immediately felt the huge relief of getting out of eastern Ukraine. It seemed as it a big boot had been removed from my neck, allowing me to breathe once again. After a couple hours of wandering around searching for the hostel, I finally met up with Joslyn and Allison. We explored the town, took many pictures (to be displayed later), and had lunch with Mushfig, my teacher from Azerbaijan. When Joslyn’s lost luggage finally arrived, we bought train tickets to Bratislava, Slovakia and were quickly on our way out of Budapest. We were surprised that there was no border crossing due to the new Schengen Agreement between EU member states.

Bratislava, Slovakia

Arrival on a late train to Bratislava, my usually amazing sense of direction failed us and we wandered around the town until about midnight looking for our hostel. Luckily it wasn’t that cold and the walk wasn’t too bad. The next morning we explored the old town and the castle area. I was stunned at how clean Slovakia is and how friendly the people are. We spent the afternoon in the main square drinking hot wine (very tasty!) and chicken sandwiches while listening to Christmas music and people watching.

High Tatras, Slovakia

After missing the 10:10 train out of Bratislava, we finally got on a train two hours later heading towards the Slovakian town of Poprad, about four hours from the capital. I was beeming with the anticipation of seeing the beautiful High Tatra mountains of Slovakia, part of the Carpatian mountain range. Upon arrival in Poprad we bought tickets on the mountain train (elektrichka) to the mountain town of Starry Smolkosk. From there we were planning on catching a 20 minute bus to the village of Zdiar, located just short of the Poland border. But, for some reason, the bus never came and we spent about two hours in the freezing cold waiting and waiting. But, I was quite content just to be in the mountains. We finally broke down and called a taxi to take us the short distance. We got ripped off but we made it to the hostel finally.

The guys at the Ginger Monkey hostel were awesome. The Ginger Monkey is definitely one of the best places I’ve ever stayed, the location rocked! After we dropped our bags off, we were taken to one of the local bars for beer and pizza. For the next three to four hours we ate pizza, drank a few beers and joked around with the locals, including a Welsh guy named Rick. Rick was already a couple of sheets to the wind and four hours late past when his wife was expecting him home.

On Christmas Eve, I got to go snowboarding in the High Tatra mountains of Slovakia. The ski area was pretty basic and the runs were short and green, but it was still the highlight of the past nine months for me. It was wonderful to just sit in the soft white powder and stare up at the imposing granite peaks in the distance. I was completely relaxed and fully satisfied for the day. If only Peace Corps had put me here!

We were planning on leaving Christmas morning for Poland, but were easily convinced by the lack of buses and the Ginger Monkey guys’ offer of Christmas dinner British-style. We spent the day hiking in the snow, playing with the dog Wally, and enjoying the company of our generous hosts.

Zakopane, Poland

Eventually we realized we had to finally leave the Ginger Monkey and the High Tatras behind to continue on our journey, so we got a ride across the border into Poland and stopped at the Polish mountain town of Zakopane. Zakopane is the quintessential mountain ski town with a nice pedestrian street full of shops and quiet cafes, located about two hours away from Krakow. We spent the afternoon exploring the shops and eating delicious food until our bus to Krakow.

Krakow, Poland

I must admit that the biggest mistake I made on this trip was only scheduling two days in Krakow. There is a ton to see and do in this great city in southen Poland. We stayed at a nice hostel called the Flamingo with a cheesy pink flamingo decor. I met a group of PCVs from Romania and hung out with them, comparing PC life in two very different eastern european countries. It was fun to feel the camaraderie of being a Peace Corps Volunteer and meeting others going through similar experiences.

While in Poland, we went on a day trip to the Aushwitz Concentration Camp outside of Krakow and were reminded of the autrocities that the people of this area went through at the hands of the Nazis.

“Extreme Tourism”

After a couple of great days in Poland, we boarded a train heading for the Polish-Ukrainian border. I have to admit that I had a certain smile on my face knowing the craziness and oddity that Joslyn and Allison would soon experience as we crossed the border. Another PCV had informed me that leaving Poland and entering Ukraine was “kind of like going back 30 years”. Because the FSU and Europe use different size train tracks, the border crossing can be a 2-20 hour affair. Luckily, the kind ticket counter lady in Krakow helped us get tickets to the border on a Polish train and then switch to a different, Ukrainian train once we cleared the customs house. We still had a good two hours of sitting at the border while the Ukrainian border guards examined our passports and searched for any stowaways. I’m not sure there is a huge demand for people already in the EU to sneak into Ukraine, but I guess they gotta check anyway. The Russian guy in our train compartment asked me why were were going into Ukraine. I explained that the girls were traveling and I was their guide. He replied, “Ha! Extreme tourism” in Russian.

Lvov, Ukraine

Since we were in Ukraine, we felt it was appropriate to stay in the Kosmonaut Hostel. The hostel is operated by an Australian guy named Eddie who felt that Krakow was now too tame and yearned for something a bit more exotic. So he started a hostel in western Ukraine. He was a bit drunk when we arrived and offered us some potent pepper vodka. The hostel was decked out in old Soviet space decorations and the water only worked from 6-9am and 6-9pm, which is common in Ukraine still.

The next morning the girls were introduced to life in Ukraine in high-style. We spent a good three hours trying to buy simple train tickets (see previous post for more details). I took Joslyn and Allison to Posata Hata (”Full house”) for some usual Ukrainian food. I made them try the Ukrainian borsht. It was definitely colder than in Poland and being back in Ukraine just made me want to sleep all of the time. But, we explored Lvov for a bit and I have to say that Lvov is definitely a nice city and has the potential for becoming another Prague or Krakow someday.

Ivano-Frankovsk

On the 30th, Joslyn boarded her train back to Budapest were she would fly out the next day while Allison and I jumped on a bus heading to Ivano-Frankovsk where my friend Jonathon lives. The simple two hour ride turned into about a three hour one, but we finally made it to Frankovsk. The next day we went to the grocery store to buy food and drink for the New Year celebration. Apparently, so did everyone else.

We spent the New Year at Jonathon’s apartment with an international contingent from Ukraine, Poland, Canada, and Turkey. At about 11:30 we rushed down to the main square just in time to see the final moments of the Ukrainian president’s New Year’s speech and the start of 2008. Fireworks exploded and people uncorked champagne. The square was filled with people dancing and welcoming a new year with new hopes, goals, and dreams. As I watched the spectacle I smiled to myself, excited about the fulfillment of my New Year’s resolution.

Chicken Kiev

The time at Jonathon’s was relaxing and entertaining. My favorite part of PC Ukraine is definitely the other volunteers here. I’ve made some amazing friends who I’ll always remember. Allison and I said goodbye to Jonathon and boarded our train to Ukraine. Platzkart was the only available wagon left and I guess the authorities are trying to save money by not turning on the heat in the cheaper classes. So we spent a night in the freezing cold train and in the morning found snow and frost inside of the windows. Allison was getting the full Ukraine experience.

The temperature in Kiev was about -16 C (about 0 F) so we cut some of our sightseeing short, but we did visit the WWII museum which was interesting. In Russia, WWII is usually referred to as the Great Patriotic War and most of the time any involvement by countries other than the USSR is left out. Still, the exhibits were well-done and the pictures told the story of the fight the Russians put up against the Germans on that particular front of the war.

Chernigov, Ukraine

We are now back in my favorite city in Ukraine visiting my host family from training. I’ve again been overwhelmed by the love and hospitality shown by Igor, Olya, and family. It’s also fun being the translator for Allison and I can see that I indeed can really speak a little bit of Russian after being here for about ten months.

We are now back in the USSR Ukraine after a great week in Eastern Europe. We were welcomed back in style at the Lvov train station. I was attempting to buy tickets to Budapest (for Joslyn) and Kiev (for Allison and I). We first attempted to buy tickets at the ticket office near our hostel. The first cashier told me to go to cashier number 9. Number 9 told me to go to number 3. Number 3 told me to go to the train station. So, I went to the train station. At the train station we finally found the cashier for international tickets. We waited in line for 30 minutes while the lady took her sweet ass time talking with friends and basically just making us wait for waiting’s sake. But, after about 2 hours we finally had Joslyn’s ticket on the overnight train to Budapest. Now it was time to try and get tickets for Allison and I. Of course we couldn’t buy those tickets at the same desk so we went back downstairs to the regular cashiers. We waited for ten minutes at cashier number 12. She said we couldn’t buy the tickets ahead of time at this location but had to go to cashier number 6, 7, or 8. So I waited in line number 7 for about 20 minutes. We got to the front of the line and tried to buy tickets. Nope. This was only for exchanges. So I got tired and gave up for the day. The next day, while waiting for our bus to another city, Ivano-Frankosvk, I finally managed to buy tickets for Allison and I to Kiev after New Years. It’s too bad that the only seats left with in platzkart (peasant class) and they aren’t next to each other so I’ll have to try and do some seat swapping when we board the train. Ah… fun times.

Allison is also blogging her thoughts about the trip, so check it out.