It’s been a long time gone…

After over a month of not blogging, I’m not exactly sure where to begin. In the past several weeks I spent thanksgiving in Israel with family and friends and I attended two seminars in an old Soviet family camp in the woods an hour outside of Dnepropetrovsk (the first seminar was related to my project, Do Good, Ukraine! – representatives from different regions of the country attended our training seminar and in the next few weeks we will begin to open branches of our organization throughout the country.. The second seminar was a Jewish leadership seminar for college-aged students who, during the year, create and implement projects within the Jewish community in their cities). Both seminars, spearheaded by the Jewish community in Ukraine, involved new volunteer initiatives meant to further develop Jewish and non-sectarian communities throughout the country.

Two days ago I traveled with the other Ukraine volunteer (Kiev placement) to a small city named Gorlovka located just outside of Donetsk, a large city in the very East of the country. We traipsed through the snow-covered city, skidding over the compacted snow that had frozen into ice over the last week of -15 C weather. Sand instead of ice is thrown on the icy roads and sidewalks and wooden shovels are used to clear the most important routes and walkways. For the most part, the cities here are not cleaned, and the sidewalks are covered in layers of ice, slush and sand.

It was here in Gorlovka that I learned the true meaning of “Jewish mother.” If someone thinks that they understand how a Jewish mother acts (worrying, offering food numerous times, guilt trips), then they have not visited Ukraine and met a generation of women who were born around the time of WWII and who grew up in the USSR. Stepping into the apartment off of the large dvor, or soviet residential complex (concrete buildings in a large block with a central green area, in this case snow), there is the smell of food cooking. The woman who lives here is nearing 80. The TV in the kitchen has a Russian serial playing and Ukrainian subtitles flicker across the bottom of the screen. Large rugs hang on the walls in the living room and bedrooms. A closet full of pickled vegetables and fruits is off the hallway – pickled tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, watermelon and an assortment of homemade sauces, jams and spicy tomato-based spreads. From the moment we entered until the moment we left two days later, food was not only offered to us, but also appeared on my plate seemingly from nowhere. “Here try some fish,” and plop, it was on my plate. “Just try a little bit of chicken, a small piece, just try it, it’s good, it’s good for you, here have some,” and so I took it. “Why aren’t you eating, what’s wrong, you should eat! Eat! Eat!!,” and it continued until we left when I took with me on the train a jar of homemade cherry jam, three pickled eggplants, and candy…

On a completely different note, the following list includes observations that I have made over the past few months while traveling, working, or just walking around Ukraine. While most of them are pretty humorous or bazaar, I hope it allows you, yes you, the reader, to see aspects of this country through my eyes. And here it goes:

1) I woke up one morning to find a chicken head on my balcony. How it came to be here, I still don’t know since the balcony has a roof and iron bars surrounding it.

2) On my way to work, I saw a construction worker in his Soviet style blue work-overalls wearing a Phillies hat.

3) At the train station, by the information booth, it is written on the glass: “Questions with more than 8 words cost 6 hrivna” ( .80 cents).

4) The news channels on TV have no sense of censorship, so it was no surprise when footage of the body of a man who had been murdered was displayed on the screen.

5) At the hotel/resort/”sanatorium”/Soviet camp where the seminars were held, the building manager chastised us for requesting toilet paper, exclaiming that “one roll should be enough!”.. (the cost of this cardboard-like roll is one hrivna, approx. 15 c)

6) A large van, painted red with the communist hammer and sickle, drove past me on my way home from work, the loud speakers blasting soviet music. This entry can also include the communist political party of Ukraine demonstrating by the statue of Lenin as I attended a Do Good, Ukraine! meeting in an adjacent building. Also, the soviet music that plays from the loud speakers of the train station can be included.

7) Two swine flu epidemics in the last 2 months, with quarantines throughout the country.

Home remedies: tvorog (a type of riccotta cheese) will cure a cough and so will tea with vodka.

9) A small sculpture of a black boy that sits by the window of the cafe next to my apartment (restaurant named “Coconuts” and the place-mats have the map of Africa on them), has what seems to be a winter wardrobe. The sculpture was initially dressed with a hat, scarf and flag supporting a leading candidate Yanukovich (upcoming elections in January), and is now dressed in Christmas gear with a Santa hat.

10) During the seminars, I noticed a trend: Lecture leaders answer their cell phones (not on silent) during the middle of presentations, mid-sentence, mid-word, only to say that they cannot talk and will call back later.

11) The local “Arabic Shwarma” stands prepare the shwarma with ketchup, mustard and mayo, and leave out everything “middle eastern” about the dish.

12) A sign on a store door read, “Will return in 6 minutes.”

13) The ballots for Ukrainian elections include the option, “None.” This for those who want to make sure their ballots and votes are not forged and falsified by others.

14) At 7am on a train from Gorlovka to Donetsk, an accordian player played the tune of Hava Nagilah.

Finally, here is a video of some of the current volunteers from the Joint in their placements throughout the world. Enjoy!

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~ by mirmood on December 23, 2009.