Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Oh Glorious Spring!

May 19, 2010

"Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer."
-Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

Spring! Oh glorious spring! You have arrived at last! The unforgiving winter has seen its day and now spring has graced us with her splendid presence. The trees are in bloom, the lilacs in blossom—bringing sweet, familiar smells to brighten the day. The swallows play their game of tag in the early morning sky, while the little бабушки settle in to their day of selling aloe plants and tulips outside the busy markets. The May rain adds harmony to the baritone crash of the thunder as it shakes my bedroom window. And the lightning illuminates the poor souls caught out in the tempest without the benefit of an umbrella.

Ukraine in the spring is magnificent. I find myself breathless as I gaze upon the rolling hills of green as far as the eye can see. Its beauty is outstanding. So far this month has brought lazy afternoons of picnicking in the park with friends, while lying in the sunshine reading and dozing. The rainy, stormy days that we have often had this past week makes me a little homesick, as it reminds me of the bipolar weather of Washington State…of home.

However, despite the occasional wistfulness for home, I am incredibly happy here in Ukraine. While teaching today, I took a moment to reflect upon the 5 months that I have lived in Stakhanov and how far I have come with my students already. They are so wonderful. Each of them makes living here worthwhile. I can’t imagine a better place for me right now then Stakhanov, Ukraine. Life is absolutely perfect.

And it helps that I have such sensational friends. :-) And an amazing site mate. Tessie, Pat and Jorge have all been blessings. I’m not sure what I would do without them.

Spring has prompted many trips away from site already. In April I visited my dear friend Nazgol in her town, about 2-3 hours from Stakhanov. It was lovely to see her. And a couple weeks ago I traveled to my twins site—Blonde Jess! She lives in the southern part of Ukraine. We celebrated her 24th birthday and had a marvelous time. I sure miss that girl when we’re apart! I’m already planning my next trip with her, along with many other adventures around Ukraine.

Besides traveling, spring has brought something else: holidays. Three so far, and another next week. Easter happened to coincide with the non-orthodox calendar this year. I celebrated with Pat very early in the morning at our local cathedral. We went with his Ukrainian counterpart, and our mutual friend, Ruslan. It was very interesting to spend this holiday the traditional Ukrainian way; going to the church at 5:00 AM to have our food and ourselves drenched…I mean blessed…with holy water by the priest. Later, after Pat and I made amazing apple-cinnamon pancakes for breakfast, we went to Tessie’s church and celebrated Easter with her friends. Now our friends as well.  It was a pleasure to meet them all.

May 1st was the May Day celebration in Ukraine. I spent that holiday with Pat and Tessie, too! We had a picnic in the park and enjoyed the sunshine. Later we went to the park and enjoyed the festivities—which included many young Ukrainians dancing on stage to various songs. It was a joy to be a part of it all.

May 9th was the European celebration of the WWII Victory Day! I was at Blonde Jess’ site that day, so I saw the memorial covered in flowers with her. And later I enjoyed the fireworks while I waited at the train station.

Next Monday is the celebration of the Pentecost. Which means yet another day of no school. That means, in the four full weeks of May, that we only had ONE week that we attended classes the entire work week. Which, I admit, was fun…if not disruptive. But we have worked! In fact, I have been crazy busy grading papers and finalizing for the end of the term—which is June 5th. I still have a stack of papers to attack with my red pen. Hopefully that happens tomorrow.
Besides school, we have also been very busy at English club. Pat and I run THREE English clubs. One at his school, one at mine and our new addition is the community English club—which at our first meeting had 44 people! Our second meeting was last weekend at our number decreased by half, which was more manageable. However, Tessie and Jorge were kind enough to help us out at this last meeting, which Pat and I appreciated very much.

This weekend Pat, Tessie and I are traveling the 1.5 hours to Lugansk to shop and just have fun in the big city. And later, Pat and I will play basketball with some of the students from the University. We’ve played with a few kids from the college and Pat’s school, which I have greatly enjoyed. I’m looking forward to playing a game with the students this Sunday. Should be fun!

Spring, oh glorious spring! You have finally arrived! And for that, I am eternally grateful.

More to follow…

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