Musings of an Ukraine Traveler

Open Journal: Just some random writings on what I see and may include pictures from time to time. I will keep latest entry at beginning of page so you don't have to scroll through material you may have already read.

September 2, 2003 A Trip to Kyiv

Early this morning I walked through the quiet streets in the slightly chilly air to the bus station to catch one of the many buses from Korostyshiv to Kyiv. Since yesterday's downpour had really cooled off the air, I was thinking that I wouldn't have to worry about no windows being open and my dying of heat prostration during the almost 2 hour ride. The cashier as always was very understanding of my limited language skills and made sure I knew to get on the little bus since there were about 3 outside. I was delighted. The bus was bright yellow but it was the fact that it was brand new that delighted me. It had no curtains. I could actually a full view of the scenery on the way to Kyiv. My pleasure was increased when I realized the bus was automatic not a standard shift which meant my teeth didn't clench every time the driver shifted and stripped gears. No groaning up hills, no taking 5 to 10 minutes to get back up to a decent speed. We made it to the Zhytomer metro stop in one hour and 7 minutes. The same speed as a marshurtka!

Right now since the weather is nice, I get on the metro at the Zhytomer station. I have to walk a long two blocks, but the station is brand new and I don't have to go through the bazaar as I do at Satoshin station. I really like riding the metro. Kyiv natives boast it is one of the best in the world and I can't dispute that and I do know it is the best I have ridden on. It is clean, fast, and efficient--only two minutes between trains. I watch the countdown clock and they are usually a little ahead of schedule. I am amazed today that I'm not counting stops; that I actually understand everything the conductor announces about the doors and the names of the stops.

Ukrainians don't usually talk on the metro or in any transportation unless it's a group of preadolescent girls. Many people just sit; a few sleep; quite a few read. Sometimes there are beggars that get on the train. Some give speeches about their problems at the back of the car and walk through with their hands out. Then there are the sellers. They sell glass cases, batteries and last time I rode packages of ball point pens. They always make a sale or two just like the beggars always get some kopeks.

When I hear my stop "Universitet," I get off and approach one of my favorite parts of the trip--the escalator. This has got to be the steepest, deepest escalator ever built. Early in the morning after rush hour it is surreal to step on one of the 3 and float silently up to the strains of Mozart or a light sax show tune. The lights are definitely turn of the century. I wanted to take a picture and almost got myself arrested. No pictures. Metros are civil defense shelters! Another shorter escalator takes me to the surface where I quickly step down to the understreet passage way filled with professional sellers lined up against the walls with brand new clothes, purses, kitchen supplies, etc. I think of it as a quick stop bazaar!

At the top of the stairs on the other side of the boulevard, I shift my backpack and finish my trip with a short walk under the trees to Peace Corps headquarters.

Right now he's sitting on my lap reaching up for any loose skin he can get that's flapping from my arms. One of his favorite activities is attacking my arms when I'm typing or my feet when I am walking. He learned pretty quickly not to use claws or teeth as my surprise reaction was drop kicking him. I do have a spray bottle which works wonders. I just reacted!

. He and I are fast becoming attached and who would have ever thought it. I had contemplated getting a cat--never a kitten, but at camp here were these 3 stray, tiny, kittens, two subdued black ones and Rah Rah who took over the staff room and tussled with any staff member who was willing to take him on. The trip home was tough, but once here, Rah Rah placed his mark on my heart.

I've had to put up with him stealing and hiding my socks, my napkins, even the litter scoop. He has yanked out flowers from the vase and shredded them all over the floor; and never think about sleeping in. Even if I hide his mouse which has wheels that sound like a tank on the wood floors, I can still hear him galloping from room to room. Then when he's sure I'm awake, it's a leap to the bed where he boxes my head. I was so surprised the first time, but he has never had his claws out. All I feel are these soft little paws batting my cheeks.

Of course I think he's tremendously smart and he makes me laugh so much and that's why he is so important to me. He keeps me grounded; teaches me not to take myself too seriously. Most of all he gives me purrs and strokes that let me know I'm important to him and loved by him.

It's my brother's 60th birthday today and I thought a lot about him and our wonderful childhood as I passed the two club houses that the kids in our blocks (apartments) have built. I was on my way to the spring to get a bucket of water as we have no tap water and will be out, so the rumor goes, for 4 days. I know a lot about water in Ukraine as ensuring potable drinking water is the focus of LEAP (Local Environmental Action Project), the organization for which I work. The Korostyshiv office has renovated this spring with walkways, stairs, and clean, stainless steel pipes. The water is cool, delightfully clean, unlike our iron-laden tap water. I wish I could use it all the time, but there's the rub. How does one haul enough water uphill for about 500 meters to wash clothes, drink, flush toilets etc. Ukrainians across this country do it all the time in the small towns and in the villages.

Ukraine, especially northern Ukraine, is rich in water sources--over 3000 rivers and lakes--and all of it heavily contaminated with heavy metals, radio nuclides and humus. The Black Sea is dying. Consumption of water is high especially by industry and agriculture. The State and the cities can't keep up with treatment so limited water each day and then times like this. The pipes that feed the city are shells, eaten through, iron clogged and when one collapses, we get to walk to the spring and experience the challenge of balancing washing clothes or body, flushing, cooking and drinking. I am fortunate. I can at least buy my drinking water, but the elderly man I see carrying his two 5-liter bottles can't. His struggle is all of Ukraine's for sustainable access to safe drinking water.

August 5, 2003 Fresh Air

Ukrainians, like all people of the world have their own unique traditions and superstitions. For example wedding rings are worn on the right hand, not the left; one should always step over the threshold when giving another person something, no matter what it is and don't go back for anything you may have left behind. All easy enough to practice or not, but when it comes to not opening windows on hot buses, trains, houses especially at night, I am totally confounded. What I'm saying is a generalization of course, but one true enough to make a trip on any kind of transport absolutely miserable. I sweat like a horse and all the calm Ukrainians around me have faces and bodies placid as a quiet pond. Don't misunderstand me, Ukrainians love the smell of fresh air, love nature, but there is something about air blowing through the one window that opens in a marshurtka that most must find offensive. Even the driver won't open his window! I have seen younger men reach up and open a vent on a bus, only to have some woman insist it be closed!

My worst experience was on the train from Ivano-Frankivsk, last week. We left at about 5 pm and it was a hot day. The sun was beating on our side of the plazkart, the window was open, but very little air was moving. Most of the men in our section stripped off their shirts (lucky, lucky) and some put on shorts. I noticed that many other women in the other compartments had changed into shorts or light house dresses. In other words, they came prepared. While I continued to sweat, the rest of our 7 person group played cards, joked about the kitten and didn't complain at all. Finally the sun set about 10 and the air coming through the window was so cool and refreshing. I knew that at last I was going to be cool and sleep well. Everyone climbed into his bunk and I headed back to brush my teeth and ride the toilet. (A little aside here. One must stand on the toilets in a train. Try that sometime. It's more difficult than any mechanical bull! Since it is a regular toilet except for foot stands on the seat, I still can't understand why everyone just can't sit. It would sure be a lot easier to hit the pot.) Anyway, as I walked back down the swaying corridor towards my bunk, I was filled with dreams of cool breezes. I spread out my bedding, crawled under the sheet and noticed I was sweating again! Oh no! The men had closed the damn window--all 6 of them afraid of the night air and this was one babushka that wasn't going to fight them all. Next time a coupe, not matter what the price!

July 2, 2003 Feet

I really never thought much about feet before I came to Ukraine, but maybe I am developing a fetish. It all started last March when I noticed so many women wearing very high-heeled boots. Again, I didn't think too much of it. Then spring came and this time it was stilettos and very, very high wedges. Now these women and girls are walking on cobblestones, concrete, asphalt with potholes, etc, etc. So, I thought, it's not my style and how do they stand the pain. In May, as some of you know, I developed severe pain and tremendous swelling in my feet. I was scared that PC would send me home because if I couldn't walk, I certainly couldn't manage in a town, like Korostyshiv that has no marshurtkas, buses or trolleys. Besides, it hurt! Pease Corps medical was on me like flies on honey and I received treatment for poor circulation. (I was sitting for at least 8 hours a day with my feet down.).

After that I really started noticing feet and I began to see women with bandages around ankles, tape on toes and still wearing their heels. I looked at the feet of the elderly women walking slowly with canes. Many have swollen ankles and legs crisscrossed with broken veins. Unlike me they have never had the medical care that would have prevented that swelling, that pain. How fortunate we Americans are. How fortunate we volunteers are to have the best care ever. There is no such thing as insurance here and since 1991, Ukrainians have to buy bandages, medications, and pay in advance for medical care. What a tough way to live.

June 8, 2003 Bags

Have not wanted to write here as I still am not on line to publish the website and then said to hell with it. I want to write anyway and it can just be for myself. Bags. Most people in Bila Tserke, Korostyshiv and, the not so rich and famous, in Kyiv carry plastic shopping bags everywhere. Stores do not put purchases in them. You have to buy the bag so in a sense there is real conservation here on that angle. These are the plastic bags advertising cosmetics, flowers, cars, stores, etc from all over the world. It is intriguing to see a well dressed businessman sporting bags covered with top model faces advertising lipstick, and a cocky teen holding a bag with colorful pictures of fruit. When I first arrived in Ukraine, I bought a cloth bag, praising myself on my ecological good sense. Of course now I stand out even more as an American, but I am going to stand out no matter what. I'm more often mistaken for a German until I open my mouth and speak Russian with an Oklahoma twang.

Plastic bags won't last forever as more and more businessmen are starting to carry small portfolios--not exactly briefcases. Teens and the young sport backpacks. A lot of teens in Bila Terska had small athletic duffle bags hanging on their shoulders. Briefcases, backpacks, duffle bags are all available nearly everywhere in Ukraine. Buying power will eventually cause the disappearance of the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag in Ukraine.

May 31, 2003 Ukrainian Television/Movies

I didn't watch any television during training even though we were encouraged to do so. All movies, American sitcoms and series are in Russian. News is in Ukrainian as are talk shows ala Jerry Springer, etc. I sure didn't want to watch those. Now I have watched an early version of Jag and some cop show which I didn't get the title of. Watching the Russian version of "Millionaire" is proving helpful. The contestants talk so much that I have plenty of time to translate even if I can't get the answer. I see a lot of Putkin and the happenings in Russia on Channel 1. Discovery channel sometimes is in English at least part of it. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Charmed" are very popular series here Most people here have cable or satellite. My apartment has satellite. Very good reception and lots of channels. Commercials are straight off Madison Ave as most products are from American, Russian or German companies. For example, Orbit gum is a Wrigley product. It comes like chiclets, no sticks. Like the states--maybe worse, commercials seem to go on forever but they do not interrupt movies or the news. They are selling a lifestyle that most Ukrainians can only dream of, but the same in America, no?

Don't know how much I will watch TV but plan on getting VCR a little later so I can watch any tapes my friends may send!! You can get almost any American movie here--in Russian. I watched Lord of the Rings, The Ring Bearer at my host family. Loved it as usual and glad I had seen it so many times in English. Made the Russian a lot easier to understand. Saw Chicago--delightful--and Extreme Matters--terrible, terrible at the theater in Bila Terska. Both were in Russian. Korostyshiv does not have a movie theater, but Zhytomer may. I will find out later.