Turkey sans Gravy

So last week was a monumental one. I went to my first, what I would call “Arab” country, and it was awesome. How did this all work out? Well, Kendra came out all the way from the US to meet me in Ukraine and to head on over to Istanbul for a week.

The Blue Mosque

To the truth, we planned nothing but out tickets and 3 nights at a hotel. Kendra’s flight was cancelled and she was stuck in Iceland because of a pilot’s strike so I had to arrangeouraccommodations for an extra night in Kyiv as well as sorting things out with theairlines and the hotel in Turkey but it turned out to be no problem at all. I picked her upand the next morning we were off to the homeland of St. Nick- a former bishop in Turkey.

Inside

We got there at about 8 am so we had to whole day, awesome. We took a the metro to theneighborhood and of course walked around for a long time looking for our hotelbut after asking a bunch of people and getting just as many sets of totally different directions we finally stumbled upon Hotel Sur on a little side street about 300 yards from the famous Blue Mosque. Looking out our window we could see the ruins of some old building made up of 7 or 8archesmade out of crumbling brick and behind that floated 30 or so little fishing boats andabout 50 massive freighters anchored out in the Marmara Sea. And I saw seagulls! I never thoughtI would be so happy to see what I so many times referred to as “rat on wings,” yet after being away from the ocean for so long and being away from the cape for my first summer, Itook anything I could get.

The tombs of many Sultans and their children

We set right out for some adventuring since we were all settled in. Walking around Istanbul was amazing; you can’t even believe how many languages were being spoken.People from all over the world and Turkey were there. The area is not just a tourist attraction forgringos, but is also a sort of Pilgrimage for many. As you may know, Istanbul, once known as Constantinople, is an area that has been fought over for thousands of years between the Greeks, Byzantines, Ottomans, Christians, Muslims, Mongols, Huns, etc. Named after the Roman Constantine I the emperor of Rome, it was the center of religion for the Christians and Muslims, so being that they were always trying to outdo each other, there are some really impressive buildings. To say there are numerous mosques would be a complete understatement. There is a mosque about every 2 blocks and if you are unsure just wait for one of the five Call to Prayers each day.

Spice Market

Anthony Bourdain once described the Call to Prayer more officially knowns as the Adhan as “hauntingly beautiful” and his description fits it quite well. 5 times a day all of the mosques simultaneously call their followers to break from work, wash themselves, and pray. You may be walking down the street, eating lunch, taking a nap or on the metro and one after another you hear the singers start the Call. Each mosque is equipped with a number of megaphonesattached to a microphone in the hand of a Muslim man who summons the followers. It is so loud, and the sounds come from all around you, it makes you shake from your inside out. You cannot help but stop what are doing, smile and just listen to the reverberations climb into your ears, down your spine, and out through toe nails. Its really something I wish I could hear five timesa day everywhere I do. Though I do not particularly follow any religion, it is agoodreminder for you to stop what you are doing and remember that there are more pressing issues than the small problems you may be having at the moment.

Kendra and I at Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia

As you can tell it was one of my favorite parts of the day next to snack time and nap time, all in no particular order, and I would always try and head strait to the Blue Mosque to catch the end of the Call because of the quality of the acoustics. Night time Call was by far the mostimpressive. With the Call blasting out of multiple megaphones adorning six giant minarets, the lights illuminating each tower as well as the mosque itself and its believers quietly filing in you cannot help but being taken aback and have an extreme understanding of why they are so devout. If I had a place to pray every day as beautiful as that I can image being a lot more religious; the mosque, as well as many others are material examples of the glory that people preach so adamantly about.

Reppin OB and TMP outside of the Blue Mosque

But don’t just take my and Tony Bourdain’s word for it. Pope Benedict also visited the Blue Mosque in 2006. This visit was only the second papal visit to an Islamic place of worship in history. You get that kind of feeling from Istanbul, that it is a place of historical feats. I know I have been talking about the Blue Mosque so much, but just as an example. It was built in 1616, that’s just as the first European settlers were starting their move to North America. Not to mention the utterly amazing Hagia Sophia, a church turned mosque, turned museum was built in the 6^th century and had over 4 million individual gold mosaic tiles, many of which you can still see.

Kendra

Hagia Sopia

Lets move to food. So like everything in Istanbul, food too was a religious experience. Whatever you call them, giros, shuarma, kebab, I call it heaven. The food in Istanbul is a religion I could sign on to without a question. I don’t mean those dinky wood sticks you call skewers, degrading even so called chicken or beef cuts on your gas grills, that you call a “shish kebab.” This is so far from that, about as far as the US is from Turkey, so I guess it makes sense. I had previously had some shuarma experiences, but nothing prepared me for this. Let me just indulge you as my stomach grumbles as I type. There is a couple of different ways to do it; most commonly on the street you will see something that looks like an unnaturally large cut of lamb or chicken that is shaped like a cyclone and spins like one in slow motion on a hugestake. These fatty beasts can get up to about a meter long and a half meter wide and they are dripping in juicing delicious fats from a vertical torch which cooks the meat on one side at a time as it spins. How is such a mouth-watering natural disaster created? Well, marinated cuts of chicken, or cuts of lamb are pierced and packed together on a large, rotating metal spike, alternated by cut of delicious fat and hot peppers. Once a layer of the cyclone is cooked a man will shave off the outside layer and serve it in a number of different combinations of delicious fresh vegetables, fried potatoes, sauces, spices, cheeses, all wrapped up in a thin tortilla which is then grilled, a pita, or a half French baget. It was ridiculous. All for about 2 to 4 Turkish Lira aka $3-6 American. I could eat it for every meal, and we almost did.

Good Eats

Oh God! And the cheese! Sooooo good. I have had dreams about Cabbot extra sharp cheddar cheese for the past 9 and a half months, no offence Ukraine, but you just cant match it. It’s a Vermont thing. But Turkey came the closest. I got to have goat cheese pancake/quesadilla things, freaking ridiculous, and the “white cheese” had that sharpness which makes your eye squint and is so rich it hurts your throat. If I lived in Turkey my cholesterol would spike pretty quickly, but it’s the way I would want to go- cheese in hand. The Turkish also love their fresh fruit juice so I had great orange juice. Oh yea, how can I forget the countless varieties of sticky, flakey, pistachio covered baklava?! Its like a drug. Some people like to savor things like that by taking little bites but I find it to be most satisfying to just put the whole baklava in my mouth at once and let it all chemically react in my mouth. Amazing. I am too hungry to continue this subject, but you get the idea, it was almost at the point of being an official food vacation.

The Sistern

We went to a few museums, which are totally underused there in Istanbul. Both places we were in were totally deserted besides Kendra, myself and the guards. This is not to sayt hat material was substandard, Au contraire, mon frère! The first one we went to was the Modern Art Museum. Now I love art, but I have never really been a far of most Modern Art,I uses I just don’t have the patience to analyze it, but nonetheless, it was awfully amusing and there were plenty of pieces that I did enjoy. The next one we went to was the Military Museum which was by far the most impressive museum I have ever been to. Granted I haven’t had the honor to visit such establishments as the Louvre, but hey I have been to Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Smithsonian, so I’ve been around. This museum had every weapon ever created and 10 variants of the same piece from other periods and styles. I have never seen so many guns and swords in my life. Really ornate swords from all different centuries, each one with beautiful designs and names, guns of all shapes, sizes, and materials, used in dozens of different wars will mother of pearl or silver. The collection or cannons, grenades, uniforms, cars, helmets for both men and horses, painting and all other military memorabilia from the BC ages through the Korean War were all featured and we spent about 3 hours walking through the halls.

BM

All in all the trip to Turkey, even though I didn’t get to go swimming was one of the most amazing trips spiritually and gastronomically that I have ever taken. I highly recommend going to anyone because it has got a little something special for everyone and it has some really specially things that we can all share and mutually appreciate. It as just the type of relaxing and new vacation that I needed. Back to work!

Summer Jam Part 1

Recently I have been going to the beach. I did not lie on sand. I did not smell the sea. I did not fee the dry salt on my skin. I did not collect sea glass, but I did go to the beach. It was as close as I have felt to being home in a while. On the shore of the Dnister, Ukraine aft and Moldova and Moldova fore, I swam in the freezing water and layed on the very grassy shore. This is the first summer I have ever not been at home in Falmouth, surrounded by Buzzards Bay, Vineyard Sound, the salty air and my family, but I guess we all have to leave some day.

Beach

It is now summer. We finished classes and then proceeded with the 11^th formers graduation festivities. Quite an experience I must say. But more on that in a bit.

Old WWII Bunker

The last few weeks of school were wonderful and productive yet challenging. While I was overjoyed that the weather was improving, it was pretty tough to keep the kids focused. I do not blame them, end of the year, warm weather, counting down the days; who wants to be cooped up in school all day, so I tried to keep the lessons pretty fun and the clubs outside. I had tried to get our first interscholastic debate organized, but we couldn’t end up making it happen. A shame, but next year we will defiantly do it.

VE Day talk at school

I wont be finished with work just because it is summer vacation, in fact I only have maybe 2 weeks of free time to myself all summer. The rest of the time I will be traveling around Ukraine working at a bunch of other volunteers English camps and learning a little bit more Russian for myself. When I am not in other communities I will be here in MP working on my clubs, Olympiad training, wiffle ball etc.I am also in the process of planning a trip to Istanbul, or for you older generations, Constantinople. I am really excited for that.

My friend Sasha's birthday

We hard our gradation ceremony for our 11^th formers. A funny little thing. In America we call them graduates, but in Britain they are called “school leavers.” Being a school leaver/ graduate is like being a new born; you are only one for just a few moments. All the time before you are a student, then next thing you know you are alumni, but for those few moments in between, you are in limbo, hanging between childhood and adulthood, the past and the future. When you are a school leaver you are so hopeful and nostalgic at the same time, afraid to leave your bubble, but so excited for the experiences in the future. Longing for the past and future in equalamounts. Such a mixing of emotions only happens a few times in ones life, when you areactually in the process of transforming from one person from another, from a student to alumni, from a man or woman to husband or wife, to a parent, and I guess to the grave too. I thought about this process, and watched the parents and teachers who had seen these same childrenstart theirfirst days of school and thought as they did “Wow, they grow up so fast” but if you think about it, they do the most growing in those few moments that they are school leavers, that transitional period when we actually acknowledge and comprehend that we wont be coming back, that in reality we will have to move on to the unknown and we are ready, that is where we grow up, and we are right to think “they grow up so fast” because they do. It seems so cliché to think of the caterpillar to butterfly analogy, but there is a reason why we think of it, because it fits.

I was asked to make a speech and midway through it, I forgot what I was supposed to say, so as I reached into my pocket to get my cheat sheet the crowd irrupted in laughter. Peace Corps- providing comic relief since 1961. Being laughed at is just part of the job, people laugh at me on the daily and I am so used to it now. I also may think it helps me get things done. Oh look at the foolish little American in a tie, lets help him. I have to admit, it was funny. Then after I read what I was supposed to say I got so nervous I forgot it. I basically looked at the words and they didn’t enter my brain so I had to just wing it, which worked out fine. They also released doves, lolZ.

After the school celebrations, the teachers celebrated their own successes of finishing another school year together. All the gentlemen started out in the woodshop room playing dice and cards and I was shooting bones like it was my job. After a short feast I went with the Director to the more official party at a café in town but not before we both got kidnapped by the ladies who clean the school whom were having their own party in their room of the school. After spending some time with them, which is always hilarious because they force food and drink on you more than everyone while asking you dozens of questions and telling you to send greeting to your family in the United States, we left them to go to town. Ukrainians have stamina. After the second party I am about ready to give up and am just waiting for the point where I can dive in between my sheets for a food/ drink coma, but Ukrainians also have a talent of blowing you a second wind and once we reached the café I was ready to go. Since it was summer and Ukrainian people are so in touch with their natural surrounding we had to move the party out doors- to a village, on the river, that was 45 min away. So we hopped in cars, packed up a feast (my fourth of the day I may add, any one of them a substantial portion of food and drink), and went down to the Dnister. It was beautiful and the Ooha, a traditional soup you drink at the river was delicious.

Oohah

The next day was the second ceremony of the school leavers where they had their own party and then will wait to see the sun rise the next morning together as men and women. We went to school, they gave out awards to students and teachers alike we danced, took pictures and then proceeded to the café. This was a big to-do if I have ever seen one. The students entered with their parents all of them with their names announced over the speakers, dressed like movie stars. It was really special. All of the parents and all of the students and a few teachers all there together to celebrate, super touching. We sat down to, you guessed it, another feast, medieval style yo. They showed a couple clips of the students on their first day of school so many years ago, and everyone laughed and cried. We danced and sang and ate and drank. It was a wonderful celebration and I felt proud and honored to be included in such a tradition and they unity of the school, teachers, and students is so explicit, something I couldn’t imagine in the US.

One of my fears in life is globalization. When people loose their cultural identity and become more homogenous it makes me sick and I cant help but feeling partly responsible because of my nationality. When people change they usually do it so they can be more like the West, but at this party I saw a really beautiful combination of the old and new world. I was proud they my students actually knew how to dance like adults, doing the waltz and many other Ukrainian dances and traditions. Therewas no bumping and grinding at this party, no visible parentaldrama, no spiking of the punch caused anyone to pass out everyone was included and important. It was simply a celebration of adults of all ages. While the party was still raving with dancing and more plates of food, early in the morning I made my exit on sore legs. It was really cool.

Took up my rugs for summer, clean house

Still eating well

That’s it for school news, stay tuned for Summer Jam part 1 coming very soon.

Super Post '11

Spring is in the air. It has been quite some time since my last update and for this I apologize, but life has been so full of action that any free time I have been blessed with is immediately allocated to the sleep bank. So what have I been up to? Well, where to start?

A basic update in classes will do. So as usual, things are going great at school and this semester has flew by. We are preparing now to start writing test papers in all of the classes, which means that in just a couple weeks school will be over and summer will begin. I have finally gotten a debate club started at another school and after a few practice runs we will start doing some interscholastic debates which I am super excited about. I am a little sad that summer will be coming so soon because I know it will become a lot tougher to get all my kids together, but that’s why I have 3 more semesters. 3 more semesters? That’s it? It seems like I just got here, but judging by the view from my window, this is quite a different place than the one I arrived to in December.

A Ukrainian Dedush

The trees are blossoming with flowers and the buds have already turned into large leaves. The sun shines and the cool spring breeze runs though my home drying my clothes a lot quicker than in the winter. I have put away my winter coats and can now walk to school in just my suit jacket, a very nice change. During the winter I tended to walk very fast, watching always for ice and slushy puddles, but now that it is so nice I can walk a little slower and admire the valley we are situated in. Like everywhere in spring the sun stays out later and now when I leave the gym at 8 it is still sunny out whereas in January the sun would be long gone when I get there at 6. Strollers have replaced sleds and people are outside all afternoon soaking up the good weather. This is really a whole different country when it is not winter- if it would be like this all the time I may never leave.

As for the three main events of this post I will start with the visit of my good pal Jack. My good old buddy from Falmouth has been studying at the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris for the last couple of months, and after wavering back and forth whether he would get a chance to come visit Ukraine he finally budged. I got two urgent emails from him on a Thursday saying that he wanted to visit and he needed me to let him know if coming the next Tuesday would be ok. A pleasant surprise to say the least. Of course I said! I haven’t seen anyone from the real world in months so I was really excited to show someone from my old life what my present one was like (the blog doesn’t really cut it.) I planned to pick him up at the airport, which I had only been to while arriving in the country and take him back here to MP. Thankfully the travel gods were with me. I took an early morning train to Kyiv, a bus to Boryspol and met him coming out of baggage claim. Getting back was just as easy, though while on the train back home we got off a stop before we were supposed to and had to run back to the train and get back on just as they were lifting the stairs and closing the doors whew!

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Getting ma water on

On arrival to my site Jack and I settled in and got ready for a busy week. I wanted to show him the everyday experience here- plus its not like I can just take a week off work, I got a job to do! And so did Jack. As you can imagine, all of my classes had a lot of questions for him which was great, for one, I got a little break from teaching, and besides that the kids got to practice actually doing what they spend so much time studying. While not at school we did a lot of walking around the town, the gym, getting water from the spring, doing English clubs and Jack was a judge for two of my debate clubs. We also took a trip to the beautiful village right outside Mohilov, called Bronista. We got a very Ukrainian welcome with traditional Ukrainian clothes and were presented with a large bread and salt on a rushnik- a long ornamental Ukrainian towel. Super exciting! After we answered some questions and believe it or not, signing a lot of autographs- you should have seen the look on Jack’s face when he was signing autographs, it was a combination of “why would they want my autograph,” “get me outta here,” and “this is awesome!” but he is going to a famous writer some day, so get used to it Jack, maybe you can write about that one day.

Foreground: Jack

Background: Moldova

It could have been the good old placebo effect but when we got onto the other side everything looked different even the sky and as we climbed the other side of the hills that made the valley the two towns are situated in I got the first glimpse of my town from the other side. Ukraine looked beautiful from Moldova! We walked for a while through the streets looking at how different the architecture and the color of people’s skin was just across the river all the while people could tell we were not from around there. A group of little kids stopped us in one of the more stereotypical travelers encounter. Immediately upon seeing us they called to us in Russian asking if we were travelers, and asking us if we were Englishmen. The alleged three brothers looked nothing alike. I asked if they knew where a street was and one replied he did and they would take us there. After another few moments of talking I asked if they would now show us where the street was, but then they decided they didn’t know where it was anymore. Typical and hilarious. We kept on walking and another lady called us out for being travelers again. Without even saying hi she yelled in Russian “There are nice houses over there to photograph!” We can’t get away with anything. Our last stop in Moldova was the Duty Free store; I was really missing the taste of good whiskey, which didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

The View of my town from Moldova- Proof!

Jack and MP

The next day we were feeling hungry so we went to the bazaar and bought a whole rabbit! Already skinned and cleaned except for the liver. Still with its whole head, it looked like some sort of alien baby. Couldn’t resist. I got the cooking directions from the lady we bought it from and went on home to start getting it ready. Pretty simple. She told me just some salt and pepper and cook it for about 2 to 3 hours. I wanted a little more though so I melted some butter and chopped a few cloves of garlic then salt and pepper rubbed it all in and out of the carcass and let it sit for a few hours in the fridge. Then we popped her in the oven, made some mashed potatoes and when it was done we just popped her out and dug in, no forks no knives, rabbit and potatoes eaten like warriors. We annihilated 2 pounds of potatoes and 4 pounds of rabbit in about 30 min. It was a great visit- I quote Jack “This has been the best vacation I have ever taken” Why? I ask. “Everything is just… real, everything’s like so real. Real.”- Ok Plato! Words of wisdom from a Literature/ Philosophy Major.

Ukrainian Babas getting their water on

The next day we were feeling hungry so we went to the bazaar and bought a whole rabbit! Already skinned and cleaned except for the liver. Still with its whole head, it looked like some sort of alien baby. Couldn’t resist. I got the cooking directions from the lady we bought it from and went on home to start getting it ready. Pretty simple. She told me just some salt and pepper and cook it for about 2 to 3 hours. I wanted a little more though so I melted some butter and chopped a few cloves of garlic then salt and pepper rubbed it all in and out of the carcass and let it sit for a few hours in the fridge. Then we popped her in the oven, made some mashed potatoes and when it was done we just popped her out and dug in, no forks no knives, rabbit and potatoes eaten like warriors. We annihilated 2 pounds of potatoes and 4 pounds of rabbit in about 30 min. It was a great visit- I quote Jack “This has been the best vacation I have ever taken” Why? I ask. “Everything is just… real, everything’s like so real. Real.”- Ok Plato! Words of wisdom from a Literature/ Philosophy Major.

So to all of you who are considering a visit you will receive the same all-star treatment!

Posing with Henrietta

Next event; Easter. This isn’t your parents back yard Easter egg hunt, you wont be getting any microwaved peeps, Cadbury eggs, or Harry Potter flavored jelly beans on this day- this is straight gangsta Easter yo! The old school stuff. Throw back!

So mass at church starts at around 10 pm the night before Easter. Throughout the night more and more people show up to listen to the priest do his rituals behind the amazingly decadent alter. The churches here look more like museums than places of worship, (but aren’t museums just where you worship art?) The walls are covered in frescoes, murals and paintings of icons and saints. The priest is behind a large alter so you cannot see to much of him, but when you do he is usually wearing a large beard, massive hat like the pope wears and this robe with a tall hard collar in the back and of course a massive gold chain cross. Bling. The services here are not what you would really find in the US. People cannot sit, since there are no pews, people pack in like sardines into the hall to listen to the calla and return between the priest and the amazing choir of angels that are a must have at every Ukrainian church. From what I can tell, there is no real sermon at orthodox churches, the priest doesn’t talk about some article he read in the paper or how to be a better husband or anything like that. The point of going to church here is to be present during a religious act done by the priest. We are spectators. People make the sign of the cross constantly and light candle at little shrines.

Church on Willow Sunday

My friends Yura, Sasha and I spend most of our time outside the church with the majority of the thousands of people who show up sometime in the middle of the cold Easter night to have themselves and the food they have brought in their traditional Ukrainian Easter basket blessed by the priest. When I say it was cold I mean really cold. They say it is cold on the night of every Easter. So people encircle in the church in single file rings, round and round and round. At sun up- yes sun up, the precession of the priest, large crosses, the choir, some paintings, and bread circles the church passing by each ring with incense all the while frequently yelling “Christos Voscres!” to where the masses always reply with a loud “Vayisimo Voscres!”– “Christ has risen” and “He sure has risen!” This is also how you greet your friends, answer the phone, cheers your drinks and about everything else on Easter. “Christos Voscres!” “Vayisimo Voscres!” You can just say it and everyone has to answer at any time you feel the spirit. “Christos Voscres!” “Vayisimo Voscres!”

Easter

So after of hours of listening to the rituals and freezing outside it is time for the blessing. Our baskets which are full of the traditional Easter fare; Sausages, cheese, bread, wine, died eggs, water and delicious cakes called “paskah” literally meaning Easter, are then uncovered from the embroidered napkin they were covered under. The priest makes his fourth round to each ring of people, soaks a large brush that looks to be made out of some sort of animal hair and then soaks us. I knew he enjoyed spreading the blessing of God on Easter, you could tell by the huge laughing smile on his face as he soaked us with holy water being carried in a huge vat behind him. Now I said it was cold, but the priest’s blessing on Easter made everything just a little more nippy since you cannot wipe off the water that is splashed all over your clothes and face. Of course, since little kids are most susceptible to the evils of the devil they really get wet, the priest gives them a little extra.

It is now 8 am and we have been there for hours, now soaking blessed, we take our baskets to Yura parents house. His mom is one of the English teachers at school 3 Svitlana Ivanovna and her, and her husband, Vova have prepared a delicious meal. We stuff ourselves with traditional Ukrainian food, vareniki- dumplings with potatoes, meat, sausage, jellied chicken, veggies, paskah, holopski- meat and rice brazed in a roll of cabbage, etc. Delicious. Now 9.30, time for a nap, because Easter doesn’t end yet!

The view of Sto-dek and Moldova from the mountain

Self explanatory

Lova, Yura, Sasha

At 1 I meet back up with Sasha, Yura, and their friend who they call Lova for some shashliki! Aka Ukrainian shish kabob and a national addiction. After assembling the troops and the gear we hauled ourselves up the side of the small mountain that surrounds one half of the town. It was quite a hike, but I couldn’t believe the view when we finally got to the top. We picked a spot underneath three blossoming trees and set out for wood. Yura prepared the shashliki pit, while we three others set off into the woods. We got some bog rocks to set the shashliki rods on while the cooked above the coals and Yura got them glowing nice and quick. We had a few appetizers of cheese and with every toast came a loud “Christos Voscres!” “Vayisimo Voscres!” Making shashliki is a time-honored tradition and they really know how to do it with the simplest of materials. The end result is phenomenal and after for desert we soak in the sun and the view of the Valley and Moldova. Spring is all around and the breeze fills our nostrils will the smell of smoke, blossoming trees and keeps us cool. My friends and I used to sit on the beach in Falmouth and think “What do other people when they are bored? We go to the beach, but can it get any better?” Well I know now- they do this! It’s wonderful. I want to stay there forever, full, sun burned, and dirty. What a life. “Christos Voscres!” “Vayisimo Voscres!”

Me and Adam Tutor aka Radam Duder

Next: Beregszasz Wine Country Half Marathon & 10K. So a few weeks ago I heard about a 10K/ Wine tasting in the Carpathian Mountains so I thought how could I pass that up? So I didn’t. So I organized myself with my pal Adam and we planned to set out to the Wild West to see what sort of adventures we could get into. We boarded a train at around 10 from Vinnistia west to who knows where. The next morning I awoke to see that we were weaving through the valleys of the beautiful Carpathians. Crossing over railroad bridge after railroad bridge looking forward to where the train is turning around on mountain and then looking back towards the valley you just came from, passing through tunnels long and short, and occasionally spotting a little settlement of colorful houses below where I see no road in nor out. You know every train trip contains the excitement and atmosphere as going to Hogwarts for the first time if you can imagine it. Strangers talk and ask us where we are from, where we are going, and why one of us speaks Ukrainian and the other speaks Russian if we are part of the same organization. Since it’s a bilingual country, or conversations are naturally are in as many languages as we can get out. Gnar bag.

Aint no river wide enough baby!

So it was really cool to meet so many volunteers who have been here for such a long time and see others who I haven’t seen in months. This whole Peace Corps experience reminds me vaguely of boarding school when I am with other volunteers and that makes me a freshman again. It’s pretty cool. You get to do the whole “Where are you from?” thing and all that goes along. The race was a lot of fun. I was worried because I hadn’t don’t any training, but its mind over matter. I shocked myself by running the 10K in 54 min all the while Adam and I were singing “Aint No Mountain High Enough”- next year I’m going to double it up by running the half marathon aka 20K, but with a little training. After we celebrated by trying some of the local wines that the region is known for, and of course, lots of shashliki! Later we did some dancing at the disco, but I tell you it’s pretty hard to dance to the electro-techno that they oh so adore here. The next day we headed to the public natural spring pool- basically a huge cement pool, which is fed by hot green natural water that supposedly has healing properties. It was awesome and so nice to swim since it had been months since I have been swimming if you don’t count my bi-weekly bath sessions. Adam and I spent an hour in the water and then took the Hogwarts Express overnight back to Vinnistia. I tell you what, if I could sleep on a train every night, I would! It’s like being rocked in a cradle or sleeping on a boat all cozy and stuff! A upper nook of warm air serenaded by the clack clack clack of the steels wheels on the tracks.

Congratulations to all the soon to be college graduates out there- especially you Eggy!

Happy Birthday to Calvin and Eggy

Happy Mothers day to my mom, grandma, aunts and all yall ma’s out there

Ice Cream; It comes in a tube.

And my flavor of choice you may ask?... “White”. Yes, the flavor is called “White” and its no GMOs apparently too! Anything flavor named after a color has got to be good for you… right? Have I mention already that it comes in a tube? Well if you can imagine having a hunkering for some of that cold creamy goodness, walking in to the store and picking up what looks like a giant sausage of “White,” you will know Ukrainian ice cream or moroshinaya. Scoop not needed my friends- because of its sausage shape you can treat it the same way, just slice right through the plastic and cut yourself a medallion of creamy “White.” It never gets old.

Well I have passed the 3-month mark for service and my 6-month mark for being here in Ukraine. It has flown by. I remember being in Ecuador, and though I loved every moment of being there and I miss the heck out of it, after 5 months I was ready to come home, I wanted out of there for a little, I wanted American style Chinese food- you know General Tsao’s, Sweet and Sour, super sweet MSG. All I wanted was to hear a little English, to drive a car, to not be forcibly converted to Evangelical Christianity every time I needed a haircut (long story.) It is different this time around, maybe Sheryl Crow was right? The first cut is the deepest. I feel that I have smoothly adjusted to this life abroad. Though I deeply miss all my friends, family, and habits in the US, the longing never crosses the threshold into “unbearable.” I hope it stays this way.

I do not know why, but the all the White Stripes albums on random have been more and more frequently pumping through my speakers as I experiment with new cooking techniques, hand washing sheets and towels, and boiling massive pots of water for my baths.

I finally got my first Ukrainian girlfriend. People have been telling me that I will fall in love here with a fair-haired Ukrainian, but I never thought it would come true. Her name is Juanita- but she isn’t your typical lady- for one, she’s a parrot. To be more specific, I believe she’s a parakeet, a very handsome looking white and blue singing machine. My first pet in my first apartment, jeez I feel like a real adult- what next? Gray hair? Too late- starting to find some of those too. But yea, I was graced with a wonderful little parakeet who will be keeping me company here in the old UA.

It is getting warmer here, meaning its time to take the fur inserts out of your boots, remove the fur collars from your jackets, and open your windows to the warm breeze and sun, discover the buds just starting to peak out from the end of the trees and start doing some serious walking. I haven’t been able to totally explore all of my town because it has been so cold and dark outside for the last three months, but Mohyliv-Podilskyy is a valley town surrounded by large rolling hills on each side, a couple rivers, and more confusing side streets than Boston. I am pretty excited to start doing some serious exploring and hopefully I can stumble upon some sweet honey holes for fishing.

Last week was quite and active and different one. As you know most of my weeks consist of teaching massive amounts of my mother tongue in class and clubs, but this past weekwe had kanikoola, aka, vaca. My time off started by going up to the oblast capital Vinniska, (side note, each place in Ukraine has like 5 ways of spelling it, so I am pretty sure this has got to be one of them- I have seen Vinniska, Vinistka, Vinnisia, Vinnystka, etc you get the point,) for a Peace Corps “Meet Your Neighbors” event. Since we are Jackson Pollock style, splattered all over the region, we typically hold meetings where we get together meet volunteers new and old, and share ideas/ events. It is a lot of fun. And of course, no volunteering group event of any kind wouldn’t be without some games. After the meeting most people stuck around to bask in the glory of common experiences, languages, problems, and longings. While trying to find an Italian restaurant we stumbled into a small basement restaurant. After inquiring if they served fine Italian cuisine, they waitresses looked at each other, then at the lederhosens, they were wearing then back at us, and said, “No,its Austrian.” A common light bulb went off leading to an “ah-ha” moment as we too saw their lederhosens, and said, “Ok, table please!” After a quick snack we decided that it was best that we find the Italian place we were looking for, to begin with since the other volunteers would be there.

Later on in the night I had my first fall. Being that we are in a country that can sometimes be pretty slippery you can imagine that people do a lot of falling, which makes for some great humor. If you took some goofy clown music and put it to a montage of volunteers, alone and in groups, busting ass you could do some serious fundraising for Peace Corps projects. So I had made it almost all the way through winter without falling, and on boat shoes even! Sure I’ve had plenty of slips, but have always managed to find my feet before landing in snow, ice, mud, puddles, or what have you, but old Ukraine finally caught up with me. I slipped on a small patch of snow with my right foot, tried catching myself with the left, then went down hahhhd! I got pulled up by a huge Ukrainian basketball player Micha, who is a fan of the Celts by the way, and continued walking laughing pretty hard.

Willem Defoe?

Vacation ended with a trip to visit my friend Theo in Smila, where which was super relaxing, and we visited a huge cemetery. Its funny how you can be so surprised such big differences in cultures when you least expect it, and this graveyard was an example of that. The cemetery had to be a kilometer long with graves quite close together. Most plots are sectioned off with small fences, many having little tables and chairs for people to visit, and I don’t know, have a little meal? Many of them were quite well taken care of, and others had not been visited in awhile, where people typically create large mounds of fresh dirt where the person is buried, giving the impression that the person had just been buried, a very new thing for me. Also many were duel, or tri plots, but what I want to know is if the people leave us at different times whenis the headstone made? Does the first person wait until the second joins them and is left without a headstone for a period? Or do the second people do some forward thinking and create their own headstone? What an existentially strange decision that would be.

Another major difference between cemeteries in the US and UA is that almost every grave has a picture of the deceased here, which can be a little morbid, but also very interesting since it gives you a chance to kind of build a nice story for each person. Most of the new ones are ghostly engraved, but it’s the older ones that really interest me as an amateur photographer. Real photos are used on the headstones, which seem to be their passport photos somehow graphed onto oval tiles, sometimes painted with color, sometimes black and white, but always super cool. It is kind of weird, but I kind of wish I could collect some of them for some sort of kitchen/ bathroom art project in tiling. The pictures of profiles were just so interesting and there had to be thousands of them. When I look at photographs of nature I find them wonderful, but after a certain time it does not do it for me, but I feel as if I could look at profile shots for hours and hours. The people hold basically the same pose, no background, no explicit imagery, lighting or special effects. But like snowflakes, or a more obvious simile, like people, no two portraits are ever alike, and the fact that these people had died just make them more interesting. Enough on graveyards.

Funny Ukrainian video about train traveling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-FY0ub9pc&feature=player_embedded

After a few hours of train rides back I finally made it back. Home sweet home, and to tell you the truth I was homesick for Mohyliv-Podilskyy and my apartment. Interesting feeling. Anyway, I look forward to the couple people visiting this summer and seeing a whole new warm Ukraine. Solidarity yo.

'nother interview!

Now the pressure is on. Now that there has been, what I consider so much media coverage of me in my relatively small town, I am going to have to really preform. Wish me luck!

Side note: I do not know how this began, but I have adopted the word "kalonka" in my head as the noun I substitute for any noun I do not know in Russian. For example. "I wonder how much that "kalonka" over there costs." or "Where did that "kalonka" come from?" or "Look at the "kalonka" on that guys head!" ... Kalonka means "water heater" Don't ask me why- just try it out. It works.

Man Day, Women's Day, Brains, and TV appearance

The last few weeks have been full of special celebrations. The before this past week we celebrated Defenders of the Motherland Day aka Man Day. For those of you unfamiliar with Man Day and its history, I can say that I am under the impression that it stems from the massive appreciation and remembrance of those who gave theirlives in the Great Patriotic War (WWII). Today the holiday is devoted to all men, in particular to those who have served in the military and if you are any man above the age of about 40 or so, that means you. In the Soviet era all men were conscripted into a 1-year minimum of service, like many countries still do today. Even though military service is no longer a requirement it s still a very popular profession choice for many men and women in Ukraine. Obviously the military in other countries are a little different than in the US. Where many of our soldiers are stationed oversees, Ukrainians serve in Ukraine, so you frequently see men and women in inform. Anyway, on Man Day, men are treated extra special. For example- even though I am not a defender of the motherland, I’m not Ukrainian, and I didn’t even serve in the US armed forces, I am a man, which means I was included in the festivities.

Man Day

The Spa Treatment

Fire Drill!!

I received numerous wonderful boxes of chocolates,shaving creams and moisturizers and my favorite gift, a coffee mug with “Patrick Star” from Spongebob Squarepants- this gift of a personalized coffee mug was my realization that Iwas now a teacher, a sort of initiation that all teachers must go through. The day ended early with a wonderful play/ concert organized by a number of the female members of the school. Lastly the men retired to feast in the man chamber aka the woodshop!- Where else?! After devouring pig fats, black bread, pickles, sausages, and Russian salads we did the obvious- talked up our personal ping-pong skills and put them to the test in the gym. There were some real battles, and I can say I did not come out on top. Now I am not a bad ping pong player in any sense of the word, but I can vouch for the incredible ping pong skills of the Ukrainian people as a whole. They are something else. It was a good Man Day.

BRAINS!!! Yes, I ate brains finally.

Now, to all you post third wave feminists out there, be you male or female, do not fret. Ukrainians would not think of having a Man Day without a day to commemorate women as well. All countries except our own USA know The 8th of March. International Women’s Day. We celebrated the day at school on Friday by having senior students take over the instructions of the classes for a day while the teachers relaxed and waited for their own concert. Unfortunately I was not able to see the concert because the male teachers were preparing for our own act, the final part of the concert. I have noticed that Ukrainians love to organize concert, presentations, and shows at the school, and they do a really phenomenal job at it too. Dance acts, singing, wresting and karate showcases, speeches, poetry, and lastly our skit. Dressed as mystical wizards, each one representing a different department of female teachers we recited spells and mixed our wizards cauldron. It was pretty funny, but to tell the truth for most of the rehearsals I thought we were dressed as clowns not wizards. It was only when I heard the word “abracadabra” did I realize we were wizards- part of whole not knowing the whole language you know? But I typically can figure everything out eventually- patience is a virtue. After we had a big feast with lot of food, dancing, music, singing, and of course speeches. Ukrainians have this amazing ability to poetically present good wishes. Even if you do not understand what someone issaying- judging by the tone and rhythm of their voice you can tell that they are wishing someone a happy birthday, safe travels, orany other celebration. A general translation notes wishes of wealth, health, love, all you dreams coming true, praising of beauty, work, and anything other positive thing you can find about someone. I myself even gave a short speech during the feast.

Our wizard get-ups

In other news, I do not know why, but I have been dropping dishes and glasses at an alarming rate. If I keep it up I will have nothing left to eat or drink out of by summer. This is strange, I thought that after those two hard summers at the Leeside, I would be set for life with my plate handling capabilities; I never had too much trouble before. I attribute this new clumsiness to all of the Woody Allen movies I have been watching recently. I do not know what got me interested in the guy, but I love him now. He just cracks me the hell up- I guess I am getting old. Depressing, I know, so I wont mention all the Paul Newman movies I have been also watching. In my free time, while I am not acting like an old man, I have been totally emerged in an Ann Rand book my auntie Maureen sent me called The Fountainhead. I am not usually a novel guy- but its pretty gnarly. Still waiting on The Long Way from my mom though!! Hint hint.

Debate Club

I ripped a hole in the knee of one of the two pairs of pants that I do not wear to school. I dread clothes shopping here because I get so nervous. The language thing doesn’t even have to do with it. I just can never decide if I actually want to buy something or not. This is why I haven’t bought clothes since I was in high school. Since boarding school if I, or any of my peers has ever needed anything you just “borrow” something from a friend and forget to give it back. If I think really hard about the past of most of my clothes I can come to the conclusion that they are not actually mine. But mind you, this is not one sided. I cannot tell you how many of my clothes I have had to part with over the years.

Debate Club

My debate club is thriving and is always a hoot, and I am in the process of starting debate clubs at other schools in town. All out debate warfare!! I am really excited. I have been keeping up with the gym where of course I am frequently greeted by “Hello!!! American Boy!!” You get used to it and grow to like it too. Obviously when I have a workout, a trip to the sauna or a bath needs to follow, and I plan to make sauna a permanent part of my life. I have also decided that now since I will never be able to live without real, crystallized, dark, golden honey, I am going to become an amateur beekeeper. Wish me luck!

Below is the link of my interview on TV-

check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W0xwnBuzrA

Baseball = Confusion

As winter continues to crawl along, I have been keeping a running pace. The weeks have been flying by and I have been keeping very busy with all sorts of activities. For the last few weeks we haven’t had too much snow- especially compared to back home, but today brought a nice change with plenty of powder. Like any there, the snow seems to quiet slow down life, and it comes with perfect timing. I am looking forward to taking a couple naps this weekend in between the normal bustle of lesson planning and prepping for the weeks activities.

Droppin mad knowlege

Classes have continued to remain fun and interesting and the turnouts for English clubs haven’t waned at all. I do three clubs a week; Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. The first club is for 6 and 7^th form students where we just do fun activities, projects and dialogues- since Monday was Valentines day we made valentines with poems and saying in English. Wednesday was the English Debate club I started and it has proved to be a lot of fun and the points students bring up are both intelligent and hilarious. They seem to really get into it sometimes because after the club is over they continue to bicker back and forth, developing their arguments, which makes me really happy. In the US we take extra-curricular activities at school for granted. There is always a French club, Student Council, Chess Club and so on, but its not always the same here. I think there is a great need for more opportunities to do informal learning. Or as I like to think of it- secret learning. The third club is run with the 8^th and 9^th formers who, like the former two, are full of really energetic and open kids. I do not have a real format for this club, its more of a week to week planning thing. Last week we played Jeopardy with Ukrainian facts- the point having the students work on requesting different topics, and giving answers in complete sentences. I think I made a pretty good Alex Trabeck too! Last week we did a lesson on baseball. This brings me to my next subject.

My School!

Up until now I haven’t had too hard of a time with cultural differences- but explaining baseball was by far the most confusing thing I have ever tried to teach. Growing up as a typical American I never had to think too much about how to play baseball- you just play, you just know! America’s Pastime is really just that- its America’s Pastime, and I feel for anyone who has tried to introduce the game to this football (soccer) dominated world. The game is completely foreign to Ukraine so I had to start at square one. I thought to myself- well, I will just have to introduce some new vocabulary, and explain the basic idea and they will pick it up in now time- Nope! I could not have been farther from the truth and the result left me aching in pains from laughing so hard. The more I tried to explain, the more I realized how strange and confusing it is. Nonetheless, we had a great time. Because there are no baseballs or bats here I had to model with a stick of wood some heavy little ball. We couldn’t actually hit the ball so we modeled the basic idea of the game with players in the field and runners on the bases. I had to deal with multiple runners on the same base, still holding the bat, runners picking up ground balls, fielders running all over the place and no one had any idea what was going on. It was awesome. I mean the game makes no sense. One versus nine at a time? Stop and go, stop and go? What does three balls and 2 strikes mean? I thought there was only one ball in baseball! What is the difference between second baseman and shortshop? What’s the point of shortstop? You know it really it makes you question why you played such an odd game for so many years, and who the heck thought of all these weird rules? And the names for things in baseball? Don’t even get me started… I dread the day I have to explain a “bock.” Despite all the confusion he kids (made up of mostly girls by the way) really want to play more and learn about the game But who is ever hopping to contribute to my life here, I would really appreciate a couple wiffle-ball bats and wiffle-balls. I think this will be a better introduction to actually game playing.

In other news, I got a package from my auntie Maureen the other day, which made my week! It came stocked with all sorts of hometown goods- dried cranberries, granola, 5 bottles of hot sauce!!! Books, great socks, and much more! So many thanks to her, and the cough drops came at the perfect time- the day after the package arrived I developed a little soar throat, so молодец тётя спасибо болше! I have been frequenting the sauna recently and it is like a little peaceful embassy where I forget everything except for the extreme feeling of heat and the sweet taiste of Ukrainian honey. It will be one of the many things I hope to bring back to the US with me, making it a perminant part of my life

P.S. I was on TV on Friday night and in the paper, NBD. I'm like totally famous.

Speaking of addictive Ukrainian treats, the word сало, or salo comes to mind. This is the Ukranian equivilant for our love of bacon with is multiplied by probably 1000. This speacial treat from our friend the pig is like bacon- without the meaty part. Basically pig fat. It is made a few diferent ways. First you can buy large, white, fatty strips of it at the bazaar- skin still attached, and slice it to your liking and eat it stright and raw with some bread- skin still attached. Another way is boiled and then preserved in salt and pepercorns in glass jars, eaten with bread again, and the third, and which I have seenleast, is fried, with whatever you want. It is something that is mentally challenging at first- as Westerners we dread putting anything raw into our mouth for fear of who knows what, but once you get a taste of this salty mouth wattering treat you just want more. Its not a far you find on your steak, chewy and hard- where we find the root of the idiom 'chewin' the fat.' This fat melts once it hits the 98.6 degree heat wave of your mouth. If I were to describe it in one sentence it would be- 'Salo; it’s a jacuzzi in your mouth!' Raw food- get into it.

Side note: I am teaching a lesson on Stonehenge and it is taking all my power not to show the music video from This Is Spinal Tap. "No one knows... who dey were,... or... what dey were doin'"

I hope you are all tunneling through the snow alright. I really miss you all, but its already been about 150 days- times flying!