What is Ukraine Like?
I thought that the best way to describe this place to you is to explain where I am physically and what my surroundings are.
As I sit here on the other end of your computer screen, I am in an old Soviet Building that I believe roughly translates to "House of Culture." Outside the front of this big imposing building is a statue of Lenin surrounded by beautiful colorful flowers. This building is situated in Red Square (no lie) and I live on Bolshevikskaya street. In western Ukraine names like this supposedly no longer exist, but we are not in Western Ukraine. We are in shzurzik land, where language and culture are mixed between Russia and Ukraine.
Their is a direct connection between this Red Square and the real one in Moscow: The granite that Lenin's Tomb is made out of comes from this town. Apparently good Soviets from all over the U.S.S.R. send granite to Moscow, wanting to have the distinction of being the absolute "best" and this town won. Quite an honor.
This building also contains a small square and somewhere a movie theater. We haven't really figured that out.
Where the computers are located there are two connected to the front room and about eight in the next room which is always occupied by prepubscent boys playing video games. I hear that only these two out front are connected to the internet, but I am not sure, I just simply do not wish to go back there.
The heat has not yet kicked on here and so it is also a bit cold. A few minutes ago I put my hat back on to keep my ears warm (a major thanks to Angie for knitting it for me, it adds some color to my otherwise drab clothing). The two dudes who work here are major punks who like to make fun of us or just like to make things more difficult than they need be. However, they love to blast Russian or Ukrainian pop dance music and occassionally the recognizable American pop song from the Black Eyed Peas or 50 Cent.
Outside the window I saw an older man cleaning up the falling leaves and putting them into a huge wagon that was powered by some old time tractor. In this town it is not uncommon to see horses pulling wagons and livestock just hanging out near the road. This includes goats and cows.
The town itself is attractive in a foreign way, I guess. Roads are kinda dusty and always tree lined. Homes are simple and different than what one would see anywhere at home. But it is a very green town and a very beautiful one. Just have to be careful at night because of the lack of street lights and the fact that brakes on a lot of cars do not work properly, so you have to be careful when you cross the street and make sure that a Lada or Volga isn't going to mow you down.
When I think about the size of this town (25,000) and where I thought that I'd be placed originally, I was a tad disappointed when I made the realization that I may not be placed in a big city. Actually, the chances of that happening are very unlikely. But the more I am here, I see how close knit this community is and how the opportunity to make an impact is that greater. While I don't know if I would end up in the same site as my training site, I am expecting it to be similar to here, and thinking that that is okay.
Although I would be lying if I didn't say that I wanted a big huge city like Kiev. Only time will tell.
As I sit here on the other end of your computer screen, I am in an old Soviet Building that I believe roughly translates to "House of Culture." Outside the front of this big imposing building is a statue of Lenin surrounded by beautiful colorful flowers. This building is situated in Red Square (no lie) and I live on Bolshevikskaya street. In western Ukraine names like this supposedly no longer exist, but we are not in Western Ukraine. We are in shzurzik land, where language and culture are mixed between Russia and Ukraine.
Their is a direct connection between this Red Square and the real one in Moscow: The granite that Lenin's Tomb is made out of comes from this town. Apparently good Soviets from all over the U.S.S.R. send granite to Moscow, wanting to have the distinction of being the absolute "best" and this town won. Quite an honor.
This building also contains a small square and somewhere a movie theater. We haven't really figured that out.
Where the computers are located there are two connected to the front room and about eight in the next room which is always occupied by prepubscent boys playing video games. I hear that only these two out front are connected to the internet, but I am not sure, I just simply do not wish to go back there.
The heat has not yet kicked on here and so it is also a bit cold. A few minutes ago I put my hat back on to keep my ears warm (a major thanks to Angie for knitting it for me, it adds some color to my otherwise drab clothing). The two dudes who work here are major punks who like to make fun of us or just like to make things more difficult than they need be. However, they love to blast Russian or Ukrainian pop dance music and occassionally the recognizable American pop song from the Black Eyed Peas or 50 Cent.
Outside the window I saw an older man cleaning up the falling leaves and putting them into a huge wagon that was powered by some old time tractor. In this town it is not uncommon to see horses pulling wagons and livestock just hanging out near the road. This includes goats and cows.
The town itself is attractive in a foreign way, I guess. Roads are kinda dusty and always tree lined. Homes are simple and different than what one would see anywhere at home. But it is a very green town and a very beautiful one. Just have to be careful at night because of the lack of street lights and the fact that brakes on a lot of cars do not work properly, so you have to be careful when you cross the street and make sure that a Lada or Volga isn't going to mow you down.
When I think about the size of this town (25,000) and where I thought that I'd be placed originally, I was a tad disappointed when I made the realization that I may not be placed in a big city. Actually, the chances of that happening are very unlikely. But the more I am here, I see how close knit this community is and how the opportunity to make an impact is that greater. While I don't know if I would end up in the same site as my training site, I am expecting it to be similar to here, and thinking that that is okay.
Although I would be lying if I didn't say that I wanted a big huge city like Kiev. Only time will tell.
posted by Molly | 1:22 PM
3 Comments:
Molly you make me want to travel! I love your journal, I hope you're able to keep it up.
Molly,
I love your stories. Keep writing! I really don't know what to say about the mayo and tongue pizza. You know how I feel about mayo :)
-Cathy
Molly, I finally tracked down your blog! I hope my feelings about Taiwan didn't disturb you at all. Turns out Taiwan wasn't for me. At all. Sounds like your doing some cool shit and I'm excited to read more!
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