Photos from Slaviansk

Photos from weekend at the sanatorium with the kids from Caroline's organization. Kids are from all over Lugansk Oblast. Caroline's organization fights for inclusion of disabled kids in schools and disabled rights. I'll blog more about the weekend later. A small group of us also visited the Lavra in Slaviansk.

Sanatorium

Well, there you have it. May is over even before it started. Time is flying, yet I am admittedly kind of bored. I have read a shit ton of books and do manage to keep myself relatively busy, but time seems to be passing without anything to show for it. In retrospect, that is not true, but coming from the very results driven USA, it’s hard to take pride in all the little things.

Easter came and went. I celebrated in Lugansk with a small handful of PCVs. We spent the weekend preparing for the big To-Do the following weekend. Caroline’s organization for Disabled People in Lugansk Oblast was hosting a Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Celebration in the form of a Variety Show style kids party for the kids who are involved in Caroline’s organization. There was singing, wheelchair dancing, an Easter egg hunt and tons of games and arts and crafts. It was a hit! The kids loved it. I got to bust out my Origami skills and taught people how to make paper cranes. There was play dough, Uno, and cookies and tea. And once done, we celebrated with a great dinner at Caroline’s and pancakes somewhere along the line. At some point we also went to a traditional Ukrainian dance performance which was great. Check out the pictures of the awesome 50th Anniversary Banner that Caroline and I slaved away on.

It feels like after that my landlady’s daughter and daughter’s boyfriend came to visit. This was great, because Anya speaks English so finally there was a bit more dialogue back and forth than the usual basics. I also learned that when my landlady’s kids come to visit, she cooks up a storm. So we ate well. This was also the weekend where I learned about the coming of Baby. Apparently the house-cat had a baby, a tiny little orange ball of fur that I fell in love with. Unfortunately, my love was all for naught, because yesterday during lunch (after about 3 weeks with Baby), my landlady announced that Baby was gone. Some lady with a basket came to the shop and took her away. Then she said, but don’t cry Amy, there will be other babies. So hardcore.

I got invited to the first picnics of picnic season. One was spent in the garden of one of Vera’s friends. Apparently we were invited for beer and snacks, but this woman’s house is way out there, close to the river with an awesome view. Apparently, she also has a pregnant cow and real turkeys. So I had a few beers and started harassing the turkeys by mimicking the gobble gobble noise that turkeys make. The turkey would respond EVERY TIME! Perhaps it was the beer and weird home-made hootch that we drank that made this so hilarious to me, but it was awesome.
The next awesome picnic was more of a BBQ at home. My landlady and her friends all chipped in for steak on Victory Day and we drank and had a great BBQ. After I met up with my friend Luda and we went and watched all the celebrations and concerts that were going in the center of town. This included some kids rapping in English which was hilarious. (Kids, if you happen to be reading this, I will gladly offer my rap-tastic assistance for the next performance. If you are going to be performing in front of native English speakers, there is some work that needs to be done). Apparently, firework safety is a little less stringent in Ukraine. The night ended with a bang, which thankfully didn’t result in any injuries, but aren’t things a little too close for comfort when you have firework detritus falling in your hair?

Probably the coolest thing that happened in May was my witnessing a fight. In Starobelsk, there is a small group of people here that are passionate about standing up for their rights and standing up against corruption. Corruption is a big problem in Ukraine. The fact that these people are standing up and speaking out is awesome. I tagged along with my tutor to a meeting that resulted in some serious screaming and a little bit of neck clawing and shirt ripping. One of the corrupt was the one who did the lashing out. One of those standing up was the victim. It’s just exciting to see some passion here. I don’t want to get too much into it, but there are not a lot of people here willing to question authority. Or for that matter, there are not a lot of people here who even think that there is anything to question about authority. Shit happens, they accept it, because the mentality is that they can’t do anything to change things. Well, change is happening. Albeit in small pockets, but I am excited to be able to witness it.

And on that note, I have hit a point where I am suffering from the blahs. The weather is changing and the HOT has come. Work is a foreign concept unless it involves your garden. Things just seem to have slowed down, A LOT. I am battling with my American concept of productivity and trying to relax and appreciate my experience here in our village in Ukraine. It’s hard for me, but Summer is here and my self-imposed ban on travel is over in a few days. It’s time to start getting a move on again.