Little House on the Prairie

...os, as they say in Ukraine, a dacha on the prairie. A dacha is a Ukrainian country home.

On Saturday, I came across a used books market near the German school. There were very few English language books, and most of them were books on learning the English language, or dictionaries. I did manage to purchase 2 pins from the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which I teach, several postcards celebrating select years of the Soviet Union between 1918-1989, some money from the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the turn of the century (which would have been the money used in Lviv and Chernivtsi then) and money from the Russian Imperial period (1909). One of the few books I saw in English was Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie. I don’t believe I ever read it as a child…shameful, I know. I read voraciously as a child, especially during my middle school years, but I guess I just didn’t read Wilder. So I bought it for 4UAH, which is less than 50 US cents.


It is Monday evening and I am on the train heading back to Chernivtsi. There are 2 other people in this train compartment, no one is sleeping bc it is only a 6 hour train ride that arrives at 11pm, and it stinks in here bc these women have their shoes off. One woman is playing music from her cell phone and most of it is not good, although Jai Ho, the theme song of Slumdog Millionaire just played, and I like that song.

Suffice to say, overall, I have been in far more pleasant situations than this.

So I have focused on reading during this train ride. I just finished Little House on the Prairie and I really enjoyed it. Many of the themes of this book-simplicity of life style, importance of family, relationships with the land and nature, maximizing the use of the resources we consume, the adventurous and pioneering spirit- resonated with me. When I finished it, I walked into the train hallway to get some fresh air and saw Ukraine’s version of the prairie.

Last week my Mother noticed horses pulling farm equipment through the rows, and men with axes and plows, laboring by hand and with horses.  It is such a contrast from the way things like this are accomplished in America now, where large farms tend to have large farm equipment.

I really enjoyed just watching the rolling hills of the Ukrainian countryside pass by from the train. Children wave as the train passes, and you can view chickens, goats, horses, and lots of birds. I marveled at how green the countryside is now, because only 5-6 weeks ago this land was blanketed in white.

The full moon is very pretty tonight.

I have spent much of this ride planning what I will accomplish the rest of this week. I am way behind on blogging and have some work to do as well. I have made yet another to –do list. I knew this about myself before I came to Ukraine, but have realized it even more now: I am a serious list maker who thrives on establishing goals, achieving them, and crossing them off the list. It doesn’t matter if the goals are large or small, I just have to have to identify what they are, preferably in writing. It keeps me focused, productive, and living purposefully. I think Oprah once said that a person should never have more than one to-do list. I say nonsense. I like to categorize mine. This probably sounds crazy, but it keeps me feeling good about who I am and what I am doing during my time on this planet.