20 September 2006I-F JournalMy advanced writing classes are two groups of fourth year students majoring in English. The first reading we did was from Ellen Goodman " The Commuter's World." The assignment was to write about a trip they often take and to try to capture their thoughts as they 'commute' from that place to their destination. Here is my draft of the assignment.
My Walk to SchoolI gather my things methodically in the apartment foyer, even more carefully than I do when I leave the house in Chicago. I check to make sure my wallet, keys, glasses are in the same pockets I have trained myself to put them in. I can't afford to be sloppy here; it's more difficult to replace a pair of subscription lenses or a lost set of keys. I have already lost one phone the first week I was here. I check the mirror, hair, lips. Off I go!
I double latch the door as the owner taught me and head down the three flights of stairs. The stuffy corridor gives way to the outdoor air, pleasant as it hits my face. The jacket will be needed later in the evening so I am glad to carry it. Laundry is swinging in the courtyard and the man in number 31 is trying to coax his dog into the car. "Davai, davai" (get in, go). I turn from the arched passageway into the street and see today's passers-by. We are two blocks from the train station and next door to a court building. There are those who stand nervously and smoke waiting for the court proceeding, talking to an attorney, standing with briefcase conferring on the sidewalk. Across the street people are hurrying to their departure, stopping just one moment in the store to buy some sausage and beer. There's the man in a handsome suit with a quick gait carrying a bouquet. I want to turn his way and follow him to the platform, take my camera discretely to capture the moment they meet, but some other day. We are all on our way somewhere. The streets are full, the 'marshrutkas' (mini-buses) full of people going somewhere. I have to be at the university in an hour - my advanced writing class. I am eager to see what my fourth year students have composed for this assignment I am writing now.
My walk along Hryunvaldska street presents several choices each day. Shall I go through the square that leads to 'Rynok' (market)? Or shall I walk in front of the government building they call the 'White House' and cross just behind it? I pass a young woman who is runway fashion beautiful, and behind me approaching is a woman whose click click click pace sounds too uncomfortable for my feet. As she passes I have to agree the shoes look marvelous on her, but I could not wear them. The next block I notice a furtive glance a woman makes at my bag and shoes. We are all just too aware of each other's dress and clothing, yet we don’t dare stare.
At the 'White House,' with its enormous two statues in front, my memory takes me back to Leningrad and Moscow in 1987. I imagine what Ivano-Frankivsk was in that year. I imagine that I could not have walked alone then as I am now. There would have ben more military on the streets. I would not have seen this young women pushing a baby carriage across the square, mobilka (cellphone) in one hand and an Italian leather bag on her arm. She is scantily clad, even for a warm September day. Women here are much more revealing than I am used to in Chicago, but it is a pleasant side of culture here to see the kind of freedom I did not see twenty years ago. I wonder what these women think of this change and their lifestyle.
My usual route takes me across Nezalezhnosti (Independence) Street, the main boulevard, closed except to pedestrian traffic, past the book vendors where I have bought dozens of postcards, past the telecom center where the attendant screamed at me for not understanding she wanted 'pyat kopiuk' (five kopeks), past the 'poshtamt' (post office) where Tatiana has learned to show me the calculator to tell me how much my stamps cost. I cross the street and round the corner at the Institute of Tourism where I remind myself to stop one day to look whose bust is there and why there is a wreath in his honor. The other day I had an appointment at this corner to meet someone for coffee. I took the five minutes I was early to capture some street views on the digital camera I am learning to use, the traffic snarls and the bustle of shopkeepers and students at the end of their day, parents walking their kids home hand in hand after work and study. When I learn how, I will post some photos.
Along Chornovola street, where the university is located, the narrow sidewalk is not wide enough for all of us to pass. I give way to a woman with a cane and mother-daughter arm in arm. But I hold my position on the sidewalk if a group of three students come along. One can pass behind the other two to make way for me. It is a stream of students and some faculty, construction workers, the man delivering bread. I glance at store signs and recognize more words than I did three weeks ago. Some signs still blur for me and I pass by not understanding what I see. I need a tutor. I wonder how long it will be before I regularly pass people I know. That has happened only once in three weeks. 'Dobri vecher', Panni Valentina, (Good evening Miss Valentina.)
My phone beeps as I walk. It's a text message from a friend who confirms our appointment for coffee on Saturday. I am almost at the gate of the University. As I enter the building, the mass of students returning from break is so thick that I imagine myself being carried upstairs with my feet off the ground. But I hold firm to the steps and arrive at the second floor English department office. With the sound of Ukrainian around me that I do not understand, I am reminded how different my everyday commute is from my way of getting to school in Chicago. And I am energized and appreciative that the time I spend walking to the university empties my mind of where to buy bread and cheese. There is time enough for that on the way home. Today I can think about the new place I am in and how to engage both the place and the people. I can devote my time to reading good writing and sharing my drafts with students who have their own stories to tell. I am ready to begin my day.
******
12 Sept. 2006
It took 24 hours (an olympic record by local standards) to get
the lights back on. The previous tenant failed to pay the
bill. Someone rang the doorbell on Thursday morning but they
had just rung next door. I thought they were Mormoms or something so I
didnt answer. Apparently the neighbor said nobody was living
there and she gave them the key to the box to switch the power
off (best I can piece the story together.) Neighbor must have
figured her part in the saga because she offered me candles
and matches that night. So with a lot of
huzzah and phone calling and 3 people coming to my rescue I
read with a flashlight that night and got a call yesterday at
9 that the previous teneant paid the bill and it would be switched back on
my noon. Yeah. So. Fortunately, this was the day we were
signing the contract for the apt and I said at 1:00 I wouldn't
be there until the power got switched on. More huzzah. 2 pm a
man arrived, fiddled with wires, turned it back on, I thanked
him he said 'do svydanya.' I went to the signing. A very
apologetic previous tenant and owner (friends) explained she forgot was so sorry, embarrassed etc, she paid a little extra on the gas to make up
for it. (The electric owed was a matter of 50 hryva, 10
bucks.) Owner and former tenant came to the apt inspected
eveything and the previous tenant gave me a rose. All was
well. Owner happy that she has somebody reliable who pays 4-6
months ahead, I gave her Trader Joes chewy caramel cookies, she
kissed me on the cheek and invited me to her place in the
mountains for 'shashlik'. She introduces me to Zhenia a neighbor who, we agreed, will earn a little extra money by caring for my apartment. I didn't think I needed anyone twice a week. She said she wouldn't touch any of my stuff, she would do the bed linens but she wouldn' do my own laundry, and she wouldn't touch any of my stuff and if I have visitors she doesn't get nosy. I asked through Lesya my translator and contact that if I leave student homework, would she please be sure and correct them for me? ;-) She laughed and said her English is nil. But for 200 hryna a month ($40) as it turns out she cleans eveything, she washed curtains monday and the place is now fresh. By the end of the first three hours, she's calling me Stefuchka and I learned new Ukrainian words. So, I was due for a clean apartment, lights in the house, and a peaceful weekend.
Last night I hit the jackpot on 'homestay' families without
having to live with one. Due to my electricity black out, I happened to meet the neighbor upstairs (3 units on each landing) Lena who doesn't
speak a word of English but her grandson is 7, 8 next week
goes to a school specializing in English. So, when I enlisted
her help in the grand saga of no power, Sasha and I start to
talk. Last night I went back to tell her power was back on,
she invited me to stay for tea, Sasha brings out his little
books and we do colors and numbers together. The mom Tanya
(daughterinlaw)is 32 and a few minutes later she brings
out the family album and tries to remember her best
vocabulary, sister brother, etc. An hour later we're still at
table they've brought out the slovnik (dictionary) and Tanya
and I know about the same amount of English and Ukrainian. I
finally figured out they asked me how did I find the
apartment, breakthrough, ah an agency. Tanya studied at the same
university where I teach with a degree in Russian and Ukrainian literature.
Seems she thinks this is a good match as she also wants to
learn English. Father comes home on Saturday and it's the
boy's birthday.
So, I was due for a good day. Two weeks and I finally know
how to say Goodbye (dopoBACHenna) and Nice to meet you (too
long to write.) And I met some 30 something friends of the
Peace corps volunteers, one who is leaving to study at Soros univ
in Budapest and one who has a sister in Vienna and plans to go
to Vienna and Prague maybe December. Anyway, I may be more
independent by spring and that's a better time to be in
Prague.
31 August 2006 ThursdayHello,
You've probably been wondering where I am and if I'm ok. I'm
fine, I'm settling in. Not that it's been easy. The flight
from Chicago (Fri 25 Aug) was delayed (tornado warnings shut
down JFK - tornados in NY?) so it was a mess there and I anticipated not meeting
the international flight out. So spent the night at a Holiday Inn (they
don't pay when it's 'weather related...'). Ohboy. I met up with a
guy going to Ukraine to meet a women he's been corresponding with thru internet. Other bright sports were a woman from Barcelona with whom I spoke French (she speaks Catalan but no Spanish, interesting) and there was a group of twenty-somethings from France trying to get back home and joinging us in mocking the idiot crowds and impatient travelers -- those around us who were pushing forward with their chorus of 'mi- - mi- mi' first ... so, we just tried to have a good time.
I finally got re-booked for the next day from JFK thru Paris to Kyiv, (my original flight had been direct NY - Kyiv). When I got to Kyiv we were not terribly surprised to know our baggage was not there. Alas. I slept, snored I am sure the entire way on the 20 seater prop to Ivano-Frankivsk, stayed the night in a soviet-era hotel with renovations ($24/night
and a nice breakfast.) My contact Lesya is 29 years old, speaks perfect English and is very helpful, attentive to me. She met me at the airport in Ivano-Frankivski with a sign that had my name on it. In my fatigue, though I had seen her foto, I might have missed her. On our way in the taxi to the hotel, we got acquainted. I knew she had been on a Fulbright in the states. She talked about her year at Pembroke College in Carolina a few years before and I knew I was in good hands because she knows what it is like to be away from home and need to know where to buy bread. She has been assigned to see to my needs. She is attentive and engaging.
On Monday we looked at an apartment which I took right away - 1 BR 3 rooms incl kitchen, hot
water, what else could a girl want. Third floor walk-up in a vintage building, high ceilings, big doors, washing machine (I can't figure out yet) near the train station and a 30 minute
walk to the university. As I write this, there is no power, but I hope it's back on when I get back home.
Tuesday 31 August my luggage arrived, shrink wrapped, most of it intact. My meds arrived and most everything in my 3 suitcases. Next time I travel I will take the time to buy the TSA locks I had on my list. I recommend them now to the Fulbrighters who will come here in January and anyone else who travel internationally.
As it turned out the airlines only had the luggage for two days beyond my arrival so by many standards that's a very good record. And the problem was not on the Ukrainian side. It was caused by the storms in New York and having to re-route through Paris. I was lucky.
****
(Next follows an e-mail to family and friends sent in Latvian. First and English translation with some addenda.)
6 Sept.
Hello people! At last I've settled in Ivano-Frankivsk. The trip from Chicago (Fri. 25 Aug.) began with a delay since we were told there was a severe storm - (rare tornado in NY. I prepared myself mentally that we would not arrive in time for the trans-oceanic flight (there was only an hour scheduled between arrival and departure flights). It was crazy in NY. Every plane was late landing from everywhere, but our outbound flight to Kyiv had left more or less on time. You know how impatient passengers are even in the best of circumstances. I met a number of people who also were in line - a woman from Barcelona, some young people from France and an American who was going to Kyiv to meet a woman he had met on the internet. With help from Ann and Rosie in Chicago, I found a place near JFK to stay for the night. Delta refused to pay for the room when 'weather' cancels flights and I waited until they re-wrote my ticket from JFK to Kyiv through Paris (originally I had a direct flight.). I was the last in our line to get my ticket since everyone else's ticket problems were more important. Funny. (In the end I helped the woman from Barcelona get her room paid for at the Marriott since her English language skills weren't very good and they told her they had scheduled her for another flight she missed but no one told her they had done that. I argued on her behalf that this was therefore not weather related and they needed to pay for her stay. A supervisor took her aside and arranged that. She later came over to thank me.)
The next day all was normal, DeltaAirFrance flight to Paris-Kyiv. When I arrived I was very tired. Normally I can sleep on flights but this was uneasy sleep. At the passport control on entry it was very slow, but seemed normal, including the national Olympic pastime of jumping ahead in line. [There was a Thai group of a dozen that was particularly expert and the American in front of me, a big may but he was too polite to elbow ahead. At one point, I asked the young guard pacing nearby in my first feeble use of Ukrainian - - 'militsyi, kontrol, bud-laska' (officer, control, please) and the young uniformed man meekly pushed a few people back and attempted to establish a line where there was an undefined clump of weary passengers waiting with carry-ons, passport and entry forms in hand. Little help.]
When finally we got through, none of us rerouted from NY had baggage. Predictably. We found where to fill out forms to tell where to forward baggage. I feared that the baggage would never arrive but I was ready to live without my things for a few days. I was escorted out through customs sans baggage. I found Terminal A and where to board the flight to Ivano-Frankivsk. [ I looked in the mirror in the bathroom, end og August it was hot and I looked like a wet mop.] An hor or so later I found my seat in the last row of the 20-seater noisy prop, and fell asleep, snoring I have no doubt, as I woke up just before we landed an hour and half later to see a snack box in front of me and the gentle fields and villages outside of Ivano-Frankivsk.
I was met by Lesya, a 29-yr old teacher, form the first moment very reliable and helpful. We went by taxi to the Hotel Nadiya. Later we walked the town where still on Sunday evening (the 27th) the Independence Day celebrations of 24 August continued; a choir was singing and there were displays everywhere of Ukrainian crafts to buy. Beautiful.
They had offered me a deluxe room, but I chose a regular one ($24/night). They are remodeling the entire hotel and some areas are still 'soviet.' It was ok for one night. The buffet breakfast was good.
The next morning I went to the Orthodox church in the centre where they were celebrating one of Mary's holy days. Beautiful singing, the church filled with worshippers, hardly room to move. I met Lesya later and we looked at a one-bedroom apartment. It was suitable so we arranged renting it right away. It is $300 US per month with hot water (you have to ask) an old style like my cousin Silvija has in Riga, three rooms (bedroom, living room, kitchen), with high ceilings, on the third floor. Lesya showed me where to shop. A few days later we bought a cell phone and a small tv. I met the department chair and she was very nice. She said I would teach be teaching starting the week of 11th of September. The second class would begin after a week. That is ok with me; it gives me a chance to get settled while they get organized.
Tuesday night the doorbell rang. It was Lesya and a colleague with my baggage! When I rummaged through all of it I thought there were some pieces missing, but learned later I had re-packed them in a box I sent through Meest-Karpaty.
I am having and will continue to have difficulties with the language. Sometimes where I go to use the internet, when I don't understand, the woman yells, as if that would help. In stores too, (this is the first time not counting a few hours in Finland and some days in India where I had a guide) this is the first time that I am traveling without knowing the language. Young people often know English. I have asked if there isn't somebody (tutor) who can help me learn but so far there isn't. I can understand tv so so, but the first few days I was trying to figure out what is Russian and what Ukrainian. Confusing enough, I don’t watch the Russian channels at all.
About the language - on the street people stop and ask me where this is or that. I must look like a local. But as soon as I open my mouth, then blah, nothing. I learned to say 'ya ni haVARu ukrainsku.' (I don’t speak Ukrainian.')
Women and young women dress very chic here with the kinds of shoes that I could not wear.
I met some Peacecorps volunteers workers, one from Chicago, and had dinner with them Saturday. Two women have been for a year or more and two men; they are here for two years. The women teach English, one in the same department as me and the guys work in the Bsuiness centre where everyone speaks English or there are translators. They offered computer access to me at the center which is very convenient. I am appreciative.
It is odd not to have 20 projects to do at one time, budgets etc. A short vacation, I get time to get to know the city, population about 300 thousand, an active city, small parks, easy to walk where I have to go. My apartment is near the train station, and when the weather gets bad, mini-buses can get me to the university. Otherwise it's 30 minutes on foot.
Prices here are low. A dollar is 5,05 hryvna. Lesya and I had dinner (soup, bread, beer) and it was 20 hrynva. The cell telephone was the same price as in Chicago ($70 for a Nokia phone), a 17" tv was $100. There are a lot of cafes, pizzerias are very popular. Grocery store prices, relatively speaking are inexpensive.
My address (not that you have to write, but for information's sake - I will end postcards when I find out where to buy them) --
Vul. Tolstoho 1/37
76000 Ivano-Frankivsk
mob. +380956851152
I found out that from here I can call to Latvija, so I called cousin Tonija in Tukums. That's it for now. If you write, please send to slatk@uchicago.edu
All the best,
Stefa
****
2005. g. 6. sept. Sveiki laudis!Beidzot iestajos seit Ivano-Frankivska. Brauciens no Cikagas (piektd 25. aug.) jau iesakas ar aizkavesanu jo bija vetra Nuyorka. Es jau tad zinaju, ka mes netiksim laika uz parokeanas lidojumu, (tikai bija viena stundas laika starp ielidojumu un izlidojumu.)Tur gan traki Njujorka - visas lidmasinas velas, musejais aizlidoja samera laika. Jus zinat cik nepacietigi pasazhieri ir vislabakos apstaklos. Iepazinos ar kadiem citiem tur kas gaidija, sieviete no Barcelonas, jauniesi no Francijas un viens amerikans kas brauca uz Kievu apmeklet sieviete kuru vins ir saticis interneta. Nu tad, ar palidzibu no draudzinam Cikaga atradu kur apmesties pa nakti (aerolinejas neatmaksa kad iemeslis ir 'laika del') un es gaidiju kamer man parrakstija billeti braukt caur Parizi uz Kievu (man bija tiesi uz Kievu). Es biju pedeja musu rinda jo parejiem bija vissvarigak nokartot billetes. Smiekligi.
Nakosaja diena vis normali, Delta AirFrance uz Parizi un tad uz Kievu. Kad iebraucu gan biju noguruse, parasti varu vismaz drusku pagulet bet soreiz bija nemieriga gulesana. Nu tad, pases kontrol gara rinda, atkal lenam, bet normali. Ieveroju ko varetu saukt 'national olympic pasttime jumping ahead in line'. Kad beidzot tiku cauri mums nevienam nebija baggaz. Predictably. Atradu kur parrakstit formu kur es busu un kur parsutit. Es baidijos, ka neatnaks, bet jau biju gatava paris dienas dzivot bez mantam. Atradu kur tikt uz lidokumu uz I-F, un kad ievietojos pedeja sedekli 20-sedeklu mazlidmasina es tulit aizmigu un visu stundu ar pus celu, guleju.
Mani satika L, 29 gadiga skolotaja, loti kartiga un izpalidziga. Mes ar taxi aizbraucam uz Hotel Nadija, vislielaka viesnica. Mes pastaigajam pa pilsetu kur vel svetdienas vakara bija neatkaribas (24. aug) svinesanas, koris dziedaja un pardeveji visapkart. Skaisti.
Man piedavaja lux istabu bet es izveleju tadu prastu (24 dolari par nakti ieskatot brokastis), ok parnaksnot. Remontej visu viesnicu, ir vietas loti sovietiskas. Brokastis labas.
Nakosaja rita es aizgaju uz Ortodox baznicu kur astonos svineja viena no Marijas dienam. Loti skaista dziedasana, baznica pilna ar cilvekiem, nebija kur kusteties. Satiku atkal L. apmeklejam vienu dzivokli, kas ir piemerots, un nokartojam ieresanu. (tris simt par menesi ar karsto udeni - japrasa) stils tads vecmodigs ka masicai ir Riga, tris istabas ieskaitot virtuvi, ar augstiem griestiem, tresaja stava. L. man radija kur var ieperkties. Pec paris dienas mes nopirkam telefonu un mazu televiziju. Iepazinos ar facultates prieksnieci, N., izliekas ka vina bus laba. Man ieteica sakt klases tikai pirmdien 10. septembri. Otra klase sakcies tikai pec nedelam. Tas ir ok ar mani, laiks iekartoties kamer vini organizejas.
Otrdienas vakara, piezvanija pie durvim. L. ar kolegu ar manu bagazu! Jauki. Kad beidzot izkrameju cauri visu, uzzunaju ka dazas lietas truka, dazas konfektes, dazas gramatas, mana valsts karte, nedaudz seviski vertigi. Velak, atcerejos, ka es tas lietas ieliku cita kasti, ko es sutiju ar lenu kugi.
Grutibas ir un bus ar valodu. Dazreiz kur es aizgaju lietot internetu, kad es nesapratu, sieviete uzkliedza, it ka tas palidzetu. Veikalos ari, te ir pirmo reiz (neizkaitot dazas stundas Somija un dazas dienas Indija kur man bija guids) pirmo reiz ka es celoju nazinadama valodu. Jauniesi biezak saprot angliski. Es prasiju vai nebutu kas man palidz iemacities bet vel nav. Ar televiziju so to varu saprast, bet pirmas dienas es meginaju tikai atsifret kas ir krieviski un kas ukrainiski. Es krievu kanalus nemaz neskatos, negribu maisit valodas galva.
Vel par valodu, uz ielas cilveki apstaj un prasa kur sis, kur tas. Es laikam izskatos ka vieteja. Bet ka muti atveru, tad blah, 'nichoho.' Es iemacijos teikt 'ya ni haVAru ukrainsku.) Meitenes un sievietes uzgerbas loti 'chic' ar tadam kurpem - es nevaretu staigat.
Es satiku 'miera korpus' jauniesus, viens ir no Cikagas un biju uz vakarinam ar viniem sestdien. Divas meitenes jau ir seit gadu un bus vel gads, tie puisi dazi menesi un te stradas divi gadi. Meitenes maca angliski, viena bus man blakam universitate, otra ir mazpilsetina; puisi strada bizness centra kur visi runa angliski vai ir tulks. Man piedavaja lietot vinu kompjuteru un seit es esmu sodien jums ko paplapat. Nav bijis lidz sim brivlaika. Ceru, ka es varesu biezak seit nakt lietot internetu. Pagaidam stradaju (jums rakstu) un neviens mani netrauce.
Jocigi ir nedarit divpadsmit projektus viena reize, ne budzet, neka. Atvalinajums. Iepazistos ar pilsetu, apm. 300,000 iedzivotaju, kustiga pilseta, daudz mazparku, viegli var tikt kajam kur man jaiet. Mans dzivoklis ir tuvu pie dzelscelstacijas, un nelaika bus mazs autobusins lai tikt uz universitati. Citadi 30 minutes kajam.
Cenas te ir loti mazas. Dolars skaitas 5,05 hryvna. Mes divas paedam vakarinas (zupa, maize, un alus), mazak ka cetri dolari kopa. Telefons normali ka pie mums Nokia $70, maza televizija zem $100. Kafeinicas ir daudz, pizza loti populars ediens, ari letas pusdienas. Partikas vekala mazas cenas, viss loti lets.
Mana adrese (nav jaraksta, informacijas pec) es jums aizsutisu pastkartinas, kad es atradisu kur nopirkt.
Stefa
