Cemya Saturdays

February 14, 2010

My Saturdays have become my family days here in Ukraine. Each Saturday my good friend and colleague, Tanya, invites me to her home for dinner with her family. Tanya and her son, Sergey, speak English. But Tanya’s husband, Valery, does not. :-) This gives me the opportunity to practice my Russian and to learn more. The family is always eager to teach me more and more Russian. And I am always happy to learn.
Saturday, 2/6/’10, I went with my friend Pat to visit Tanya and her neighbors. They had prepared a feast of verinkiey, a very delicious Ukrainian dish. Pat and I laughed and ate with our 7 new Ukrainian friends for 5 hours! We listened to Zeppelin, Hendrix, and other incredible artists from the ‘60s. We sang and played with the children and discussed politics (in Russian) with the adults. It was an amazing night. Which followed an amazing day—Pat and I attended his school’s concert earlier that morning. We applauded the girls as they sang “Auld Lang Syne” and “My Bonny” in English. :-) And danced a Scottish folk dance! It was “the random thing I saw” for the day. I have at least one a day. All are entertaining.

I am very thankful for Tanya and her family. They have made the transition from PST to site effortless. I always have their support. It is Tanya that has worked so hard to help me install internet in the dormitory. I look forward to finally being able to plan my lessons as home, instead of imposing on Pat’s hospitality. He has been very kind in allowing me to visit his apartment and use his internet whenever I like. The internet café near my home can be a hassle to use, what with all of the college students frequenting the establishment and staring over my shoulder as I type. I’m not sure why they’re interested.

My students are amazing! I love teaching at the Pedagogical College & Lugansk University. I’m only teaching four classes right now. I look forward to adding more with time. I also help Pat with his English club for the middle school/high school students. And my English club will begin 2/19 at the college—Pat is helping me with mine. We will introduce ourselves and talk about America. I believe I can now deliver this speech on auto-pilot.

Actually, Pat and I find it amusing how we are now invited to every event, together. Dinners, concerts, festivals…it doesn’t matter. It’s always an open invitation for Джессика
И Патрик. Last Saturday, 2/13, Pat and I went to the library with Tanya and walked around the park. It was more of Stakhanov. I’m still surprised by how much the city I haven’t seen yet, but I blame the snow & ice—and my intense hatred for both. After our excursion, we walked to Tanya’s home to eat блини (pancakes.) Last week was the final week before Lent and to celebrate everyone eats pancakes. According to the Russian Orthadox Church, people are not allowed to eat dairy or meat during Lent. Now, from what I’ve observed, most Ukrainians are not religious. However, this practice of eating pancakes this week seems to be observed by everyone here in Stakhanov. On Sunday we celebrated Maslaneetza, the end of winter carnival. I look forward to telling you all about it in my next blog update.

Oh, a BIG thank you to everyone who has sent letters and packages. :-) I can’t tell you how much I appreciate something of home. Take care!

More to follow…