Perpetual Change

Cherkasi

I apologize for all the parenthises in the beginning; this is not my best writing. I am trying to catch up. I learned that we don't have to have our posts approved, they just need to know that we have a site. And thanks for everyones comments. I love reading them and feel free to ask more questions...

Saturday was the first day we were aloud to travel away form our small training communities (they didn�t want us going to Kiev before we could handle ourselves) so our group (of 4 - Kate from Illinois, Gloria from Delaware and Chris from LA) decided to visit the home city of our LCF (remember Laguage Cross Cultural Facilitator) Katia. Katia is from Cherkasi (300,000) which is about 60 KM away. We got permission to go (even though it is in another state than Kiev. States are called Oblasts. There are 24. Kiev is the capital of its oblast. Cherkasi is the capital of another). Cherkasi is what I would call a major city, and it is on the Dniper (Ukraine�s largest river which has served geographically in much of Ukraine�s history � By the way, Ukraine is now officially without the �the� which implies it is a region � which therefore implies its subjugation to Russia; Ukraine means borderland but it commanded much of the USSR�s economy with its factories, natural resources and farmland. Moscow considered it key to Soviet success, so it is only a short time until Ukraine learns to use all these resources (plus its large well educated labor force) in a market economy.
Anyway, back on topic, we had a technical session in the morning in my town and then our group rented a car and driver (who drove like mad over generally straight, uncongested, but ICY roads) and dropped us off in front of the �Western� a theme bar of the America West (complete with cowboy hat-ed waitresses and swinging doors where Katia�s husband and twin brother play guitar (mostly Spanish classical, but some western stuff plus Eric Clapton and other American artists). We would end there that evening and the driver would pick us up for the ride of our lives back home (never again will I go with such a driver).
In between, we walked around town and did some small shopping. Chris bought a guitar (this was one of the reason we had come). Kate started talking to some Mormon boys at an intersection where they were canvassing (she wanted to see if they were the group that had come over with us from Chicago � did I write about that?) While she was talking to them, an older woman stopped and asked if we were Peace Corps � imagine that in a town of 300,000! She is a volunteer from Delaware (again the chances) that got here about 6 months ago. Gloria and her chatted and then one of the many sudden snowstorms of the day chased us into an art museum. We saw a nice exhibit that was on Traditional Ukrainian Art and there was a really neat statue in the foyer of a babusya (grandma or older woman � babushka in Russian) holding her son or grandson�s arm as he marched off to defend his country. It was really cool and I asked (in Ukrainian) to take a picture and the ticket agents said yes but when I started to, a security guard came out of nowhere and yelled at me. I was stunned and honestly a bit hurt. The ticket agents apologized and we left, so I can�t share the look in their faces with all of you but I wanted to because I think some of you could have realated to those feelings. Many current volunteers have said you will get yelled at all the time by older community members but in this case I really thought that I had reduced the chance. Oh well, the first but certainly not the last. So then we went down by the river which is very big and pretty, another sudden storm blew in and we hid behind some trees for 10 minutes (picture to come) and then we walked up to a WWII memorial that overlooks the city.
We were then ready to eat so we went back to the Western but our table wasn�t quite ready, so the girls went into a ladies shop next door and I was just watching people go by (I saw a guy my age pass with sneakers, glasses, facial hair and a backpack � all of which are very uncommon on Ukrainians � and I wondered if I had seen another of Cherkasi�s Peace Corps volunteers?) All of a sudden, I was watching an older gentleman walk across the icey street and a car turned heading towards him; the car honked and slid past him, but he jumped back and slipped. He came down hard and hit his head � hat flying one way and the sausage he was carrying, sliding the other ... then he didn�t move.
I and a couple ran towards him before the light changed; I was afraid he was dead. When we got to him, he was staring straight up and taking short breaths but he still wasn�t moving even when the other man asked him questions. Several others gathered around (as cars continued to squeeze by) and the group decided to drag him out of the street which I thought was a terrible idea in case of a neck injury (one of my employees in Yosemite had slipped in the kitchen and hit her head. She had gotten up on her own and they still took her in for x-rays). Then on the sidewalk they pulled him to his feet which he could barely find under him. Everyone thought he was drunk (which is a rather normal occurrence and which his behavior now implied), but I had seen him before he had slipped and I didn�t think he had seemed drunk. The group dusted him off and dispersed. I was really nervous and then Katia came over. I explained to her what had happened. The man was just standing nearby, seeming to try to regain his senses. She also thought he was drunk but then went over to see if we could do anything. He said he was fine and lived close by, but she didn�t think he was drunk anymore, and was a bit nervous herself. He eventually hobbled off, and I watched him go as we went into the restaurant. It scared me pretty good. I couldn�t call for help, I couldn�t input into the situation really at all, and I didn�t think the group was handling it well, but that is part of integrating into the community, I guess. Nothing to really be scared of, but to be aware of. It was a very interesting occurence.
Dinner at the Western was very nice, though; and Katia's husband plays really well, so it was a nice end to the day. Next week we will try Kyiv.

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posted by jjs @ 9:14 AM