Laura and Dave by the Oak

Dave and Laura at the famous oak tree on Chortitza island (in November). 

Political Situation

Many have recently asked how the Ukrainian election turmoil is affecting us. The election has affected us, but our perspective is probably quite different from that of other Americans across the country. The area in which we live is very pro-Russia and for the candidate declared the winner in the election, partly because he is from this area. We are also simply closer to Russia and there are more Russian nationals living in this area. (Russian is spoken predominantly here, in contrast to areas of western Ukraine where most people speak Ukrainian). There are no election protesters here, no one wearing orange, which stands for the other candidate. In general, Americans (and Westerners in general) have gotten a bad reputation here because our government poked its nose into Ukraine’s business and declared the Ukrainian election fraudulent. Thus, we make a concerted effort to keep our voices down in public (to not be heard speaking English) and try to blend in as much as possible. Everyone at the university has been very supportive and is always looking out for us. We are very happy to have such a community surrounding us, especially now during our adjustment time. Things are also quieter now that the Supreme Court has voted to hold new elections on December 26, so everything seems to be on hold. The Parliament passed new regulations on elections so the next election will be less corrupt, but has also passed new laws that give less power to the president and more to the Parliament.

Laura

An Eventful Evening

Yesterday was an interesting day for me. Everything was normal until after my language lesson (approximately 5pm). I hopped on a bus marked 11, which is the one I always take home. We left the station and headed in the right direction, but turned at a strange intersection. I had been hearing the conductor saying something, but that was nothing new (they always seem to be talking). Since I never understand anyway, I sometimes tune them out. I am aware that is not the greatest idea, but it is so easy to do when so little is understandable. After a while I realized she was saying "Chetviorti marshrut" which means "4th route." I was confused because the bus was marked 11. The only thing I was able to do was ask the lady next to me if it was in fact 11. She frowned and shook her head. Fortunately I sort of knew where I was so I got off and had a walk ahead of me.
I squeezed into another bus, the doors closed and a fight broke out between the two men in the doorway (directly behind me). They were in very close quarters, yet still able to punch and shove very well. They were also yelling, but I have not learned that vocabulary yet. I tried to mind my own business and prayed that it wouldn't escalate to somehow involve the stupid American. It calmed down in time for me to squeeze by them on my way out the door at my stop.
I arrived home shortly before 7 and was just beginning to calm down and help with supper when the phone rang. My friend, Yegor, had been in town and had found out there was a Donetsk Shakthar (soccer) game. I know little about soccer, but I had heard that Donetsk is in the European Champions League. That is a big deal in Europe and quite an accomplishment for the Donetsk team. Anyway, Barcelona was in town and the he bought me a ticket (about $0.50) for the game which started at 9:45pm. I asked him if it was safe to go out at that time. He assured me that it was and we headed to town again.
We entered Olimpic Stadium by passing through three lines of police officers who each patted us down. I thought this was maybe a bit much, but Ukraine does not pride itself in its efficiency. Anyway, we took some pictures and became situated before the crowd stood up suddenly and started chanting "Ya-nu-ko-vich, Ya-nu-ko-vich,..." I turned around and there was the presidental candidate of choice for the Donetsk region, waving to the crowd from a balcony no more than 50 feet from where we were sitting. This occurred several times throughout the game. The game was an exciting one, Donetsk scored first and I pulled out my camera (like any good tourist would)to catch the moment. The large, intoxicated man who was sitting next to me and had been talking to me throughout the opening minutes (none of which I understood), thought it was time for a big hug. It was a bit unexpected and happened to knock the camera from my hand. I am happy to say that it still takes photos, we just have to be happy with the permanent 3x zoom. Donetsk won 2-0 and the stadium was somewhat chaotic. It seemed to be the only thing people talked about all the way home.
Even though the evening was eventful and exciting most of the time, I was ready to get home to a place where I felt a bit more secure. It was a memorable evening and, now that it is in the past, I am sure that I will be talking about it for many years to come.

Dave

First Dinner Guests

Dave and I hosted our first dinner guests Monday evening: Robert and Debby Martin-Koop, MCC Europe directors, Ionka Hristova, our MCC Ukraine country rep., and Sasha, a local Ukrainian who works for MCC. We realized soon after we began planning a menu and shopping for ingredients that such tasks would take much more effort than we are used to. We scoured the market as best as we could with our pathetic Russian, then for the last few hard-to-find items resorted to a more North American-style grocery store where we could pick out our own groceries and be a bit more anonymous in our ignorance. Dessert proved to be the most difficult item on the menu. I baked a carrot cake, which turned out well, but the frosting was a challenge. Powdered sugar was nowhere to be found and cream cheese was difficult to identify. Cheese is a popular item in Ukraine, so we figured we could pick out a substitute and get by. We picked a container of cheese similar in size and design to cream cheese as we know it back home, and also a little squishy to the touch. It also had a baby on the package eating a lump of the cheese, which seemed somewhat strange. But we decided was a good sign, since the cheese needed to be soft, perhaps creamy, for the baby to eat it. However, after arriving home and sampling the cheese, we realized it could not be substituted for cream cheese. Although white in color, it tasted like Velveeta. Thus, Dave and Yegor, a Ukrainian friend, began a search for cream to whip. That also was fruitless. They even found Cool Whip, but only chocolate and coconut flavored. The last resort, something we should have thought of in the first place, was ice cream. It is a very popular dessert in Ukraine, no matter what the season, and Dave and Yegor came home with a 1 kilo tube of it. Carrot cake with vanilla ice cream was enjoyed by all, especially Dave and I. The evening was fun, and we even gained a few chairs for our apartment, bringing the total to four. Both of us enjoy cooking and entertaining, but now realize our recipes need some adjusting with Ukrainian ingredients in mind. Before we came to Ukraine we were told that we would be able to find almost any food that we were familiar with in the U.S. But we have since realized that finding such foods might take the better part of a few days, which isn't quite worth it. We've also since learned that if we really need powdered sugar, we can make it by running granulated sugar through a coffee grinder. Who'd have thought. For now, we'll be doing without, and enjoying our мороженое (ice cream).

Laura

Language Learning

Today a native Ukrainian asked me how many Russian words I know. It was merely something that he was interested in and he was probably just trying to make conversation, but I had difficulty not taking it personally. It isn't as though I can count the number of words in my vocabulary on one hand, but sometimes it feels that way. It was a quantitative question, which is normally my forte, but I could not estimate how many words I know (maybe the nerd in me will make a list and start keeping track). My response was: "Not enough." As I thought about it I began to wonder if I will ever feel that I can answer that question differently.
I also began to wonder why a part of me took that question personally. It is very difficult for me to say that my primary responsibility is language. I would classify myself as a "doer" and it doesn't really seem like I am doing anything. I just can't classify learning a language as service, which is what I came here to do. In the communicating I have done with former service workers, there has been one common theme in all of their testamony... spend a lot of time learning the language, it goes a long way. I have heard this over and over again, but for some reason their wisdom just won't sink in. Oftentimes I lack patience.
At my third language lesson I struggled with reading one simple paragraph out loud and putting the emphasis on the right syllable. I started getting really frustrated because it felt like I just wasn't getting it. I had read it before and it was supposed to be easy this time. My teacher, Marina, encouraged me to take a step back and focus on what I already know. Maybe I am stupid and she was just patronizing me but I realized that I am actually learning things. I was able to successfully buy a mechanical pencil and 0.7mm lead at the store today. Now I know that sounds pretty minimal, but it was not in sight and I requested both items without even wasting too many words. I won't be giving any eloquent sermons anytime soon, but I am still pretty proud.
The market is very intimidating and sometimes the salespeople seem to lack proper training in customer service. The phrase "the customer is always right" must be a foreign thing. Here they seem to think "The (American) customer is always mentally ill." However, the people at DCU are very helpful. A couple people have gone to the market with us at different times and many have offered to do the same in the future. I realize that we won't learn as much as we would on our own, but at least we won't be so intimidated and shy with a little support. We will continue to work on it and I am sure our repitoire of language miscommunications will continue to grow. I'll keep you posted and that will help to keep me humble.

Dave

Thanksgiving Holiday

Thanksgiving has come and gone here without much ado, which is what we expected. Dave went to a Russian lesson and I worked on lesson plans in the English office during the day, and in the evening we headed to a get-together with some other Americans working for various missionary/service organizations. Although turkey is not widely available here, our hosts found one somewhere and we enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal, complete with pumpkin pie. Even though we knew very few people in the group, it was nice to have some English conversation and make some connections with people. So our first holiday in a new country is done, with a few more to go in the coming weeks. In Ukraine, Christmas is celebrated on January 7, according to the traditional Orthodox calendar, so we'll have two Christmases to celebrate, with New Years in between. Classes will be over for the semester by then and we hope to do some traveling to visit other MCCers in the area.

Laura

Finding Understanding

Being a mathematical-minded person, I devote a great deal of time finding understanding. I want to analyze things and further my understanding. Naturally, I also want to know a bit of what is going and feel comfortable. I have never had as much difficulty doing this as I have in the past two weeks. I realize that it is quite likely that I won't understand much by the end of our time here. It will take most of the time to get used to the customary activities. I don't know how much I understood in my home country, where I had 25 years to analyze and adjust. But I throw myself at the task anyway.
No matter how much time we devoted to preparing to come here, it was not a possibility to be truly ready. There is just too much change. On a superficial note, even though multiple people told us about the fashion here in advance, it was not possible to be ready to see what is in style here. Men carry purses. Now, this isn't me just being Mr. Masculine and unnaccepting man bags. These are actually purses by North American standards. We were also told several times that people wear really pointy shoes that curl up at the front. While you try to visualize that I will point out that I still haven't become accustomed to seeing men wearing elf shoes. I heard about these fashion trends, but could not fully realize them until I saw them firsthand. The question is, will I ever become comfortable with them or even understand them?
Fashion seems like a pretty small aspect of culture and it might seem as though I have a hang up on something petty. It is probably true, but it is also merely an example of all of the different realities that we are experiencing all of the time. When we were driving away from the airport a mere two weeks ago and I was a bit shocked by the buildings I saw. I thought it was a craftsmanship thing. More than that, it was so much different than what I was used to. Two weeks have passed and it seems like the city gets nicer every time we go there, but will it ever seem normal and comfortable?
I tell myself that language is the first main obstacle that I have to navigate in my journey to find some understanding. Once I am able to make small talk in Russian or simply be confident when people seem to be yelling things (possibly obscenities) at me on the bus, then I will be ready to become more comfortable in the new culture and gain greater understanding of it. Will I ever understand or be truly comfortable? No, but the mathematician in me sure finds it fun to try.

Dave