Educator
Last week Tom invited me to speak to his 7th grade classes about my experiences in Ukraine. His students are learning about Eastern Europe in history currently, and Tom wanted to provide some flavor to the lessons in the text, as well as give the kids an opportunity to ask questions about things of particular interest to them. I quickly agreed to his invitation, and today spoke to his class....
moreUkraine 2007, Part 4
Sunday morning we all awoke late, and then piled into a bus for a short trip to the farm homestead of one of Igor's friends. Here we were presented with yet another fabulous feast of food and drink. We were all crowded into a single room, with a large fireplace at the far end. Over this fire fresh meat was being cooked, and the aroma of the meat cooking plus the warm smell of the fire made us all feel very calm and content. We ate slowly, and enjoyed a few toasts, as we all settled into comfortable conversation. After a time, Igor asked several of us if we'd like to play paintball! Kyle, Jeff and I consented, and Igor got several of his Ukrainian friends to join us. We played two rounds, and had an absolute ball! I'm pretty sure my dad took photos of the event, and if he posts them to Flickr I hope he'll drop a link in the comments....
moreUkraine 2007, Part 3
The wedding on Saturday wasn't until 2 PM, so we had some free time in the morning. Within walking distance from the hotel was a World War II era bunker built into several meters of solid rock.
The tour guide explained that the bunker was originally constructed before WWII, ostensibly for use in the event of an invasion from Poland, but was quickly appropriated by the Soviet military during WWII. What the bunker was used for by the Soviets is not entirely clear, as all official records are kept under lock and key in Moscow. Much of what is known about the bunker comes from Germany, and the records that the German army kept when they occupied Korosten and the bunker. What is known is that the men tasked with the construction of the facility were all executed upon its completion.
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Ukraine 2007, Part 2
Friday morning Igor took me for a brief tour of the sites of interest around their apartment. It was cold and drizzly, so it wasn't ideal tourism weather; and Igor's English, while vastly superior to my Ukranian, was sufficiently limited to make in-depth communication hard. This was a real point of frustration for me because Igor is an extremely intelligent fellow, and he knows a lot about Ukranian history. While walking around, I asked Igor how long he'd been living in Kiev (~9 months) and whether he liked it there. Without hesitation he replied "I am Korosten man!"...
moreUkraine 2007, Part 1
Thursday morning we flew to Kiev, Ukraine with a brief layover in Riga, Latvia. The Kiev airport was markedly different from anything we had yet experienced, and was something of a portent of things to come. There are very few organized lines, instead folks just congeal into large masses and fight their way to the front. Ann met us just outside passport control, and took us to the taxi that she had waiting. We had a pleasant catching-up in the taxi, which was a nice distraction from the terror induced by driving in Kiev....
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