When I arrived in Ukraine almost a year ago the first thing I saw in Kyiv was the miles upon miles of apartments that were the exact same. It was liking watching some anti-Soviet propaganda at home. All that I learned about Soviet housing was true. It was block after block of cement apartments. Now after living in a farm town I am in a mine town just north of L’viv. My town is 100% soviet. I absolutely love it. I feel as if I am embracing the former Eastern Bloc with all of my being and really becoming a comrade, or it could be the warm sensation pumping through my veins, the result of another day of post work vodka. But seriously, my town is a throw back to another time; a time when one town was dominated by one industry or one company. In this case the town was built because of 15 mines that operated at one time in this region. Now many of them are shut or are operating in an extremely dangerous manner. But what remains is a very Soviet town. The commercial center of the city is small and limited but the town is very much alive. My previous town was a mix of farms and suburbs, a sort of fringe city. Sosnivka, or
Ñîñí³âêà in Ukrainian, is a strictly a town for housing miners. There are a bunch of apartment building and hostels for the single miners. What is strickingly different is the amount of planning that went into Sosnivka. It is a system of grids and block apartments. But what it created was not a stoic stereotypical Soviet town but a very alive close knit town of 13, 000.
At times I swear that if it weren’t for the language that this could be West Virginia coal country. The only restaurant in town is decorated in old pictures of when this region was very important in relation to the Soviet economy. Now it is a sort of ghost town in that its future lies elsewhere, the mines will all dry up in a matter of time and what will be left is simply apartment buildings with no employment for the residents. There are a lot of possibilities around this region for employment or commercial development but not a lot of direction.
When I drove up here in a cab from Peremishlyany I was shocked at first. The first town I came to was Drobrotvir, which is very soviet and not so good looking. It was a huge change from being around farms and horses and cows. The cab was hilarious. It was a very old Daewoo, aka the smallest crap car the South Koreans ever built. It was powered by propane and as a result the trunk was full of a big gas tank so my bags had to be squished between propane tanks and in the back seat. The roads were awful completely full of potholes the size of small bomb craters. It was slow going and the 120km was covered in two and a half hours. The cab driver was more skilled in being a taster of Marlboro lights not a taxi driver. He had no idea how to get there, and luckily I had looked at a map and was able to direct us along with the 200 villagers we asked along the way. I swear Ukrainians are the most geographically challenged nationality out there. The cab wasn’t too expensive but more than I would want to pay for a nearly lethal experience.
When I threw my bags down in my apartment the teachers and I immediately went to dinner and had a nice Ukrainian meal free of potato dumplings and other heavily starched foods that Dr. Atkins would die if he ever witnessed. After a few bottles of champagne and vodka and some yummy Ukrainian Orange Julius’ we headed back to my apartment and I descended upon the layer of dirt and grime that plagues all Soviet era apartments. After six hours of scrubbing I managed to rescue the kitchen and bathroom from a destiny of filth. Now it smells of bleach instead of the resident mold and cobwebs that previously perfumed my domicile.
On my first day at my new school I was serenaded with the hokey pokey and other strange English songs, we are going to have to update the musical repertoire with some Phish for sure!
A teacher videotaped the hole first day so anyone that wants to see what a Ukrainian school looks like simply has to watch the video with me. I even spoke Ukrainian on it…a feat in itself. After school I went to the big town of Chervonohrad with the young teachers. We had pizza and walked around. I tried to open a bank account but was shut down because I needed about two dozen stamps and a dozen forms. Peace Corps then admitted that they needed to send a page or two to my bank to speed the process up. I’m going to head there in a few weeks to see if I can’t open an account. I did manage to open a new post office box, and my address is now updated simply click here to see it. I still have my other PO Box till the end of the year should any of you have sent a letter or package. I also have a new number, the new number is country code 38 097-838-4673
My third day of school was nearly a full day, but at the end of the day the mine dropped off a bunch of produce for the students to take home so classes ended early, can you tell that I am living in the former USSR? The teachers and I then went to the café to have lunch and of course the requisite bottle or two of vodka. I was tossed by 4 o’clock when my fridge was supposed to arrive. Luckily my director was late so she didn’t see me too tossed, and my fridge is now arriving in a day so I am spared from having to clean a fridge for at least one more day. I now have to sit and relax and pretend to plan my lessons for tomorrow. Because the schedule isn’t set for the year I don’t know what I’ll teach from day to day so I can’ really assign homework. Instead we just talk, ask questions and play games. Very doable even on a hangover, something no 6th grade teacher in America would admit to. It looks like we are going to have a major thunder storm in a few minutes, which is expected after two weeks of sun and Indian summer. I’m somewhat ready for winter but am appreciating the last few weeks of summer.
That is it for now I am posting a few more pictures of the new town, digs and whatnot.
Cheers
A
