Perpetual Change

Flat Stanley III – Western Ukraine, meet the world.

July 21,
After we arrived and left our stuff at John’s apartment, he took us on a tour of his town. The town is 900 years old and was built here because there is a salt mine. The mine still works! There is also a church made completely of wood without nails that was made in the 11th century.
The town hall has a big clock tower from which you can look out over the whole city. The clock tower is a more Polish feature and the town was part of Poland for 400 years. It was also part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and has some nice architecture from that time.
There are many statues around town. One of them is Ivan Franko who is a very famous Ukrainan writer. We had chernahy for lunch at a café. It is like Ukrainian chili, and you can only find it in the western part. Then we went to the village where Ivan Franko was born. Next month, it will be the 150th anniversary of his birth. The village is near by and there is a museum that shows how he lived. His father was a blacksmith, so they were considered wealthy, though it didn’t look so to me. 5 people lived in one room where they cooked, slept and ate. The roof was made of thatch.
In the evening we went to John’s second host family here. We had borscht, watched TV and did laundry for the next camp. They have a washing machine, but many people still wash all their clothes by hand in the bathtub.

July 22,
Today we went to a small town very nearby. The town is in the foothills of the mountains and very famous because it has healing mineral waters that come out of the ground. One is supposed to be for beauty, one for stomachs, and one for kidneys called “Naftusia” is very famous. There are many health resorts and people come from Russia, the Baltic Nations, Germany and Poland to relax and heal here. There is a huge park with sculptures and musicians. People walk around sipping the water from special glasses or with straws because the minerals are bad for your teeth. They look for squirrels because they are rare and here they have big, poofy ears!!
There is also a craft bazaar with many different products made of wood. They are traditional crafts of the mountain people. They also have many of the embroidered towels and shirts here. Traditionally each pattern and color was special to a village or family just like Scottish kilts. Then in the evening we played soccer with some of John’s friends. Then we packed and went to bed because we will have a big day tomorrow.

Sunday 23 July 06
Today we got up at 5:30 am! So that we could make the bus to the International Camp. We are on Team Ukraine with John. John wants to cut his hair like a Ukrainian Cossack. Cossacks were old warriors on horses who defended Ukraine. They had big mustaches and they shaved there heads except for a bit on top, that they left long.
There are people at camp from Poland, Ukraine, and other Americans. We raised all three flags and sang each national anthem. John took a picture of me singing with Baba Halya.
Also this morning we went to church. The women cover their heads with cloths when they enter the church. Most of the service is sung by a choir on the second floor and the Priest. He stands behind a wood wall decorated with many paintings, and you can only see him through the door except for sometimes when he comes to our side. He came to our side at the end to tell all the people how Americans had come to the camp and maybe some would stay. The camp is in a very small village of about 1000 people high in the mountains, but the mountains aren’t too big. They are like the Appalachian Mountains at home.

Monday 24 July
At camp we split into 4 teams. Each day one team had chores. Our day was first. We had to cook on a wood stove and so we had to chop wood. It isn’t as hard as it sounds but cooking is harder because there is lots of smoke. Then we had to heat water on the stove so that we could wash our dishes. The water in the sink comes from a spring in the ground and it is cold but tastes good.

Tuesday 25 July
Today our group taught at school. Our international camp is doing a camp for students from the village for a few hours each day. Today was Environment/Earth day. We learned about food chains and our relationship with the Earth. Then we did a clean up of the village and played some sports.

Wednesday, 26 July
The camp theme today was “Healthy Living.” We taught the campers about HIV/AIDS, the negative effects of smoking and alcohol and about how to eat right and be responsible. Then we played Frisbee after lunch. They don’t have Frisbees here but they really liked it.
After dinner, John decided to have his hair cut like a Cossack.

Thursday, 27 July
Our group had today off at the camp. It was really nice. We took a walk to the old dam that was never finished and climbed on top. Then we played in the river for a bit. The weather is really nice. We aren’t too high in the mountains but it is a little cooler here than in the town. It is about 80-85 degrees everyday, but they measure temperature in Celsius.
We watched the Pirates of the Caribbean in English with Ukrainian subtitles, though many times they translate the movie but you can still hear the English in the background. Then we had a campfire. We played the game like at the wedding where first Ukrainians sing a song, and then the Americans, but this time there was also Polish songs. It was very interesting, - some slow and some like camp songs, but very pretty. We went around many times. The Americans sang “Amazing Grace,” “Home, Home on the Range,” “I’ve been working on the railroad,” and others. Then at the end John sang a scout song that they always sing at the close of a campfire before they go to sleep.

Friday, 28 July
We had chores again today but breakfast was easy because we made the left overs from yesterday. In Ukraine, it is very common to finish for breakfast what you made the day before. Ukrainians eat different types of oatmeal or milk soup with pasta, for breakfast only, but most days’ breakfast foods are no different than other meals. Many people only eat bread and butter and tea. Part of John’s job here is to teach about good nutrition, and the importance of a good breakfast.
Today’s theme is Ukraine, so our group decided to make Varenyky for dinner. They are like ravioli with mashed potatoes inside and you eat them with sour cream. They are a Ukrainian national dish. We started the mashed potatoes before lunch.
After lunch we had a carnival for the kids at camp. We had face painting, finger fencing, bean bag toss, twister and water balloons. It was really fun. Then we went back to finish the varenyky. We made about 300 completely “from scratch”!! There is no phrase in Ukrainian for “from scratch” because there is no other way to make food. Then we had the closing of camp. We lowered the flags, sang the national anthems, shared our “secret santa’s” and our contact info. Some people are leaving very early tomorrow and everyone was tired so most people went to bed early.

Saturday, 29 July
We got up, cleaned, packed and a bus came for us. Everyone said goodbye and we rode back to town. The Americans all came to John’s house to get cleaned up, because today was Kelly’s birthday. She is another Peace Corps volunteer in John’s town. She had a Mexican party with tacos and chips and salsa. These foods are very unusual in Ukraine and some of the ingredients are hard to find.
Some people went to the disco club afterwards. Dance clubs are very popular here.

Sunday, 30 July
John took me and one of the other visiting volunteers to the Polish Catholic Church this morning. Roman Catholic services are the same all over the world so you always know what is going on even if it is in another language like Polish. This church was very traditional though and so a bit harder to understand. John usually goes to a Greek Catholic church. This church has Orthodox customs but speaks in Ukrainian and believes in the holiness of the Pope in Rome. The service is really very similar to the Roman Catholic service but with more singing. John has started singing in the choir which he says is hard because they are very good.
After church we met everyone at one of the two pizza places in town and visited before they all left for their trains. John and I stayed in tonight. We were tired.
[Editor’s note: all of this camp’s entries are so short, because this camp WORE me out, and that didn’t leave much time or energy to write, but it was fun and very worthwhile]

posted by jjs @ 6:06 AM