Happy Valentine's Day!

Today was Valentine's Day, which meant that 1 in every 5 Kyivan males was walking around with flowers in his hand. It was a fun day to be in Kyiv. No Valentine's Day fun for me today, however, bc I had to embark on yet another 15 hour train ride to Chernivtsi starting at 6:27 PM, or as they refer to it around here, 18:27. At least this time I rode first class, where your berth is already made for you when you arrive.




When I got home, however, I opened the Valentine's Day card my sweet Aunt Ellen and Uncle Bubba (Walt) gave me before I left. I have proudly displayed it in the living room.

Sunday in Kyiv was really fun. After breakfast with some fellow Fulbrighters (breakfast in Europe tends to be more than cereal, oatmeal, and bread...this one had rice and vegetables and the ubiquitous crepes and potato pancakes on the buffet). Then we went to St. Volodymyr's Cathedral, arriving right in the middle of a service. One thing I have noticed about Orthodox Christian churches: there are no seats. People stand during the entire service. And many walk around, actually. So next time Baxter Wynn or Jeff Rogers at First Baptist Gville get a little long winded (I chose to pick on them only bc I know them and love them and know they will read this and laugh!), think about standing during a service every Sunday AM!




It was beautiful inside. It isn't that old (built in the late 19th c. to celebrate 900 years of Orthodox Christianity in Kyiv) but certainly is a sight, especially inside. Byzantine on the outside with Art Nouveau on the inside. See for yourself:


Today, I conquered the Kyiv metro on our own again...this time going to new places.


I took the Kyiv metro (I'm getting to be pretty good at this, even though it is in Cryllic) to Arsenalna (which of course do not look like Arsenalna when it is written but that is how it sounds) bc I really wanted to go to the museum of the Great Patriotic War (WWII). Once outside the city, it was snowing something fierce. I took a cab to the museum (which worked out fine…when we take cab, I'm never really positive that the communication between me and the driver will be effective) and the first building included exhibits from the country’s various engagements (during the days of the Soviet Union) to spread communism around the globe. There were exhibits relating to Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Africa. I know this only bc I could see pictures and could read the dates of these engagements. Because I know the dates of these conflicts, I could piece it all together. The exhibit text was of no help bc not a single word of it was in English! Great artifacts though. Then we started wondering whre all the WWII stuff was, so I communicated as best I could and discovered that we had to go outside and walk the grounds to find it. I was excited about this bc I had read about the HUMOUNGOUS monument on the grounds of the museum.

The crazy high (think Statue of Liberty) statue made of titanium is a monument to those who served in WWII and has many nicknames inappropriate for this blog. This thing was massive but given the snow it was difficult to fully appreciate it or any of the tanks and other memorials on the grounds, which are supposed to be very nice when snow is not being totally dumped on everything. This is proof that I am from the sunny South: I read in the guidebook that the grounds were nice to stroll around to see all the stuff spread out throughout the park. It never even occurred to me that it would be snowing so hard I wouldn’t be able to see any of them very well.
This thing was HUGE.

The museum was great. Having just completed an exhibit and book on WWII, this was of great interest to me even though I could not read the exhibit text. The exhibits are artifact heavy and are very moving. The similarities between the exhibits (obviousy their budget was likely 10,000 tiems what mine was!) struck me as proof that countries, families, and individuals experience war in similar ways. Our exhibit at the Upcountry History Museum contains letters, paraphernalia, photos, weapons, medals, Bibles, and muriad other items, and their exhibits did as well. This photo reminded me of our exhibit, and made me think about the human elements of war.

I loved how the last exhibit ended. I wish I had had the space and thought to do something similar at UHM. Photos from the war era covered just about every inch of wall space in the last part of the museum exhibits…

After the exhibits, I walked into the base of the statue, which is a really beautiful memorial to those from Ukraine who died in WWII. The white marble, gold inscriptions of the names of the dead that make up the extremely high panels in the memorial are really quite moving.



Soviet monuments are so dramatic...toiling for the motherland...

If I can get video to post on this thing with my uber slow connection, you must watch. While walking the grounds, there is patriotic music blaring from speakers built inside the monument. Think Soviet Army music...

This is what is featured on the ceiling in the memorial,which is in the base of the Iron Lady. CCCP, for those of you who don't read Cyrillic- like me before I got here- CCCP is the abbreviation for the USSR/Soviet Union. C's sounds like S's and a P is an R. An actual P, for those of you who are interested, is the sign for Pi (3.14...). Complicated, I know. A pectopah, for instance, is a restaurant. H's are N's, too. OK...I'm sure this is getting old. However, translating these alphabets has become my life!



I took the photo of the statue above, huddled over, from about 10 feet away. I had trouble making out the details of it bc it was snowing so hard. Can't wait for it to warm up!

One thing I must discuss: I enjoy seeing how bathrooms vary around the world. A typical Ukrainian public toilet is one of the more unique ones. Instead of tryong to explain how this functions, I thought it best to simply take a photograph and let you figure it out for yourself. As I tell my classes, if you have any questions about this or anything else, feel free to email me.

Yes, you are correct. Standing only.

Soviet memorial...



Heading back to town, I took my first trip on a marshrutki (above)! It was great and cost 2UAH (which is about a quarter in US dollars). I picked it up at the monastery where we are going to take AGG (can’t wait to go into the tunnels to mummified monks), and rode it back to the metro. By the way, the Kyiv metro is super efficient, with very frequent trains, and very inexpensive (each ride is about 20 US cents). Furthermore, the inside of many of the metro stations are really beautiful with classical music playing on the speakers. It is a good thing that they make it so pleasant, bc the metro rails runs DEEP below ground and usually one has to take 2 escalator rides that last several minutes each to get to the tracks.

I went back to Maydan to get a cup of coffee and shop, but then ran into a fellow Fulbrighter and so just grabbed coffee and an early dinner before heading to pick up our bags at the hotel and walking to the train station. The walk back to the train station was so incredibly slushy that even my awesome water proof best boots ever made still had a bit of water seep into them bc at one point I was standing in water that covered my feet entirely. This doesn’t bother me too much, bc I have observed two things. When it snows, it means the weather is warmer than it is most days. Two, when it is slushy, it means the snow is MELTING! Yay!

This is the inside of a coffee shop near Maydan that I've becone fond of. In the forefront is a typical Ukrainian young woman: tall, thin, mobile in hand, and oh so stylish...


Now I'm on the first class train car heading back to Chernivtsi. I am going to try to get some sleep bc I know the next two weeks are going to be jam packed.