The (slightly less historic) Yalta Conference

I am so sorry that my blog entries are so few and far between. I get a bit lazy especially in the summer. Crimea was a blast. It was a good combination of rest and site seeing. After the first weekend which was consisted of vodka shot, dance, vodka shot, dance and so on and so forth with some other volunteers at a local club. Paul, Nate and I went to Yalta. Yalta, the site of the historic conference where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin discussed among other things the post war division of Germany. These days Yalta is more of a "celebration of kitsh" as the Lonely Planet guide book said it would be but the name is unsinkable and attracts many tourists. The board walks along the rocky beaches are swamped by cheap trinkets and games. But Yalta is a naturally beautiful place guarded by dramatic and green mountains and the Black Sea is lovely.
Paul, Nate and I had a conference of our own over beers by the water after being chased off from the property of the Anton Chekov house high in the mountians above the city. The surly soviet style guard was a little less than diplomatic when infroming us that the house of the famous russian playwrite was not open to visitors that day.
Our conference mostly consisted of discussing how Yalta became so popular during the soviet era. A historical footnote to be sure.
The next day we went to Sevastopol. A lovely city on the south western coast of the Crimean Peninusla that is a Special administrative district, it is owned by neither Ukraine nor Russia (who has a lease on the use of the port for its navy until 2014), all the ships carry an either Ukrainian or Russian flag, as do each of the buildings, but technically the district has it own governing body. We spent most of the day at Hersonese, it is the ruin of a greek settlement with a nice, private beach. We paid the equvialent of two dollars for the priviledge of seeing the ruins and going to the beach. It was fascinating and beautiful and it felt so good to swim in the sea.
We had a Sevastopol conference as well, mostly debating whether or not to hop on a ferry boat just to see where it would take us. I voted against and thus the motion was defeated.
On the third day Nate had to stay home and do some work so Paul and I went to Bakchisari, where our friend Anna lives and works. Bakchisari is the traditional center of the Crimean Tartar people, both culturally and religiously. It was a fantastic and interesting day. We ate Tartar food, a mix of Turkish and Ukrainian food, drank tea collected from the valley. Bakchisari is located in a deep valley in the center of Crimea. We saw the palace of Kahn who lived there, paul and I dressed up like Tartar people and I hope to post those pictures soon. We went to a working monastary carved into the side of the hill where I got yelled at by a nun becasue I laughed when a strong gust of wind carried a carpet that was hanging over a railing to have the dirt beaten out of it landed on my head. The place was beautiful though, carvings into stone. Then we climbed up to the top of the valley, not for sissies this climb and far more strenuous than anyone had even mentioned. The views were amazing from up there. It was a great trip. And of course always nice to spend time with Paul and Nate.
Now I am back home for a few days, studying for the GREs, finishing up some work for camp, washing clothes and resting up for my busy summer ahead.

The Adventure Continues...

So Krakow was a blast. Phil, Paul and I saw the city by bike. Phil rented a mountain bike and Paul and I rode beach crusers around. I loved it so much I am seriously thinking of purchasing one when I get back to the states. The weather was not too hot so it was the perfect way to get around the city, see the sites and the Wistla river. Krakow is full of great parks and green spaces, one down by the river which is also next to castle hill. The other is a ring that follows where the old city walls used to be. There are overhangning trees, benches, fountains and flowers and locals and tourists alike sit on the benches and pass away the afternoons with friends and family.
The main square is very well preserved. It is full of outdoor cafes. And there was a stage set up where many concerts of traditional and classical music went on through out the weekend. I could always hear it wafting in through the window when we were in the hostel. The stage itself looked like a modern cathedral with silver, gothic style arches adorning the stage.
We met all sorts of people at the hostel including a group of rowdy Brits on a "Stag Party" or to us Americans a Bachelor party (read three day bender in eastern europe which have become very popular becasue of low cost air lines). Their accents were so thick I couldn't understand them half the time. But they were great fun.
Paul and Phil and I left Krakow on the same train in the same compartment eventhough we had bought our tickets at differnt times. It was a 20 hour train ride, not the longest of my life but still a challenge. About three ours of that is accounted for by border crossing. At the Polish/Ukrainian border the train has to change the size of the tracks. Now at the Hungarian/ Ukrainian border you change trains which is a bit of a pain but significantly more effcient. The track changing process requires that the train be jacked up and for some reason I can't identify to be pushed violently backwards and forwards several dozen times thowing us all over the car every two minutes or so for the better part of an hour. And then there are the passport scans and questions and searching of bags. Luckily I was really able to figure out the Polish language. It is only about 20% different than Ukrainian where as Russian is 30% different. Paul and I spent half the trip with our phrasebook working out how to say things. I even gave someone directions in Polish so I am feeling pretty good about myslef. And one time a bouncer at a club wouldn't let us in because it was a VIP night, clearly he didn't know who I am, but anyway we settled on the Russian language and he gave me directions to another club. I felt very intelligent and international to speak all those languages.
I am in Kyiv right now. Phil went home yesterday in the wee hours of the am. But before that he got a chance to meet some of my good Peace Corps friends including my friend Chandani who has early terminated. My whole trip has been a blast so far and tonight I get on a train to Crimea to visit Paul and his boyfriend Nate who lives down in Simferopol, the capital of the autonomus republic of Crimea. I will stay there for a few days and see the sites and enjoy the beach. Then go back to Kopychentsi. That's all for now but stay tuned...

Stand in the Shadow of the Georges

My brother Phil is traveling with me around Eastern Europe this month. First I picked him up in Kyiv two weeks ago. We spent the weekend with my Peace Corps friends and sitting at a cafe down on the main drag, maidon Nazelezshnosti, drinking beers. It was really humid and rainy so there was thunder and lightning so loud and so powerful is set off several car alarms as Phil and I jumped out of our seats.
The next day Phil and I went to Ternopil, we met up again with my Peace Corps friends, walked the city and Phil got to meet the Ukrainian version of himself my host brother Arsen. Now I don't just say that Arsen in the Ukrainian version of Phil because they are both my brothers. I say this because they are exactly alike. They even have similar looks, they are both very athletic and lift weights so their builds are similar. And they are both very personable, social and intelligent. and the best of all they both tell these rambling and funny stories about their many friends who are less competent than themselves. It was a blast so sit by the lake in Ternopil and talk with both of them.
Then Phil got to visit my village, he went to school, answered a million questions, played soccer everyday with the boys in the park, hung with the host fam and went to the Last Bell Ceremony where I spent most of the time translating things like: " the best flower arranger in the district for the seventh grade is Olga Bily, the second best graphic artist in the Oblast for the ninth form is Inessa Covalchuk..." etc. But all the kids wore there traditional embroidered costumes and it was fun. Phil of course was invited to may peoples house and upon walking in the outside yard of my Coordinator Halya's house her aged great-aunt-in-law who fought against the Russians in the Ukrainian Liberation Army came over to the house to "bless my union" as she saw me with a man and assumed I was getting married...oh Ukraine you are such a card.
The random adventures keep on coming... Phil and I went back to Ternopil to catch a train to Budapest last week. We had to get on the train at 2:30am so we hung out with some of my friends and stumbled across a concert in the square in Ternopil, there were all kinds of local acts including a great Ukrainian rock band called Vin Znaye (He knows) and I officially have a crush on the lead singer it was great lyrics and a great beat. Then the best of all, there was a elementary school rap group complete with girls in halter tops dancing on stage, rapping quite well I might add, the classic "Baby if I give it to You" by a 90s group whose name I can't now remember. At this concert the sun was waning and getting in every ones eyes, so Mandi stood on the opposite side of me and Paul next to Phil so our massive, collective height would block them from the sun.
Then we took three different trains to go to Budapest. The best part about Budapest is the Thermal baths. The city is a top a kind of crack in the earths surface that allows sulfur water with healing properties to bubble up. They are all over the city, some decades and even centuries old, tiled with mosaics and complete works of art in themselves. I know they are legit because it turned my silver ring, gold, then bronze, then almost red. But over the course of twenty-four hours it went back to silver, I wish I had taken chemistry sometime in my 22 years of school so I would know what process is going on.
Now we are in Krakow. I am loving this city for its genuine and preserved two square, street musicians and art. I am finding the more European-ized part of eastern Europe a perfect fit for me. Last night the two times customs agents came on the train (at the Slovak border and the polish border) when the customs agents woke us up to check our passports they all thought it was great that I spoke polish, because Ukrainian is so close to polish I am able to fake it. Hungarian is a very isolated language linguistically and I couldn't identify a single word of it. But here in Poland I actually gave someone directions today and no one has to know I am one of the throngs of foreigners descended upon the city.
My friend Paul, also known as Pasha, from Peace corps Ukraine is joining us later today for a couple days of site seeing and enjoying polish culture.