Ukrainian Lessons

08May10

With communication and being in mind, Ukraine has taught and molded me into many things, and I’m grateful to it. In fact, I’m in love with it. In the space I live, I find questions buzzing, pollinating certain ideas and making honey out of others. I find myself evaluating and questioning the way of life, and I find the practice of finally coming into the adult I want to be…it’s the way of consciously and enthusiastically growing into the me.  It appears that the more I make a point to write, to stay connected, the more centered I am. It’s the process in realization that at the center of the “I” is the “other.” The more that we practice communication, the more we are whole as it’s out of communication we are freed to be ourselves and challenged to be that.  Thanks. Thanks for keeping in touch, either by reading the blog or catching up on one or multiple of those technological mechanisms. It means a lot. Seriously and indelibly, thanks.

The further and further I get into the Peace Corps thing, the more I desire a cross-cultural career, and a life of opening possibilities, of engaging in the dialogue of change, of always looking at situations from a new perspective and creating a new perspective to change the way things are. Because of Ukraine and the PC,  I’ve developed compassion of both myself and others, which has been (and still is) a difficult lesson to embody.

For now, here are glimpses into Ukraine:

A marshrutka is one of the inexpensive and frequent forms of transportation in Ukraine. It is one of those untranslatable words like удобно (udobna) and борщ (borscht)…you can translate them but you lose the feeling of the words. For udobna, I could write that this means easy, convenient, and comfortable, but english doesn’t combine these words properly. And whoever translated borscht as ‘beet soup’ should go down in history as making a giant cultural faux pas. The easiest way to explain borscht is ukrainian chili…the way chili is a combination of multiple ingredients in order to give the experience of wholeness. As for a marshrutka, it is like an accordion with wheels. On a marshrutka, you will see a sign that states how many people it can seat and how many people can fit in the Marshrutka. The second number is almost always more than double the seating number. The association is that, when a Marshrutka is seemingly full, there is always room for another…and another…and another..and…

I am frequently asked if Ukraine is better or worse than the states, and my answer, is that it’s different, not better or worse, as every country has its challenges. And then follow-up questions ensue about aspects of America, which I am forgetting, and takes a longer and longer time to draw up the answers.

By the word, you should see me try and speak English now. It’s embarassing. I caught a PCV friend and myself saying things like, “I went by train to Kyiv” instead of the proper “I took a train to Kyiv” or the funny stuff is using Russian syntax in English. for example, “I at the bazaar bought apples” or  “I apples bought at the bazaar”

Yesterday, a woman knocked on my door, in the middle of my meal-making extravaganza. (The image association of a salad now, is no longer a leafy, wonderful thing of walnuts, flax and cranberries, but a possible mix of diced cabbage, radishes, onions and dill, with a liquid combination of either: sour cream, mayonnaise, or oil.)  In the midst of my chopping and my first attempt at borscht, I paused this to meet this new woman, which led to a comical night, as she and the other woman, with whom I hung out, were wonderful embodiments of a play between stereotypical cultural situations and age.

The more I’m here, the more I desire a life connected to the land, and to live sustainably. These feelings have always existed, but now they have a more prominent volume inside. I feel inside me this way of lovely quietness- the way, of wanting to listen to Earth, and fostering a space for that communication and the way of being who I am, because I am. Translated: I want a place with bees, flowers and avocado trees…let’s have goats, chickens and cherry trees too.

In case you can’t tell by my fascination of plants and animals, growing things are beginning sprout back into presence. Last year, what was remarkable, was, for the first time, encountering king’s crown. They’re a lily that blooms upside down at the top leaves of a many-tiered plant. This year, at site, my favorite wonder has been walking down the streets and observing the process of Chestnut trees. The leaves begin in this very tight origami structure, then they unravel, and droop down in the way I imagine how we look and act in our awkward middle school years. Now, they’re finally growing into their lengthy, shady and wide self, and beginning to stick out their pollinating devices.

Until the next…

PS. tomorrow is Victory Day. May is the month full of holidays…check this out: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126630828

Filed under: The 2nd time around   |  1 Comment