For the past few days I have been at home from school sick, so in addition to catching up with emails and work, I have decided to post a couple of interesting articles I have read recently. Most of you know that I have a serious, serious addiction to The New York Times. I read the paper daily and when I was in college, I would read it at least four times a day. I am simply obsessed with the wide variety of coverage they provide, the articles they write, and their travel section. During college, I never needed a TV, even on election nights, all I had to do was to simply refresh their website.
Most of you know that this is my second tour of duty in Eastern Europe. My first round was from 2005-2006, when I was an exchange student with the Rotary Club in Kosice, Slovakia. My second hometown of Kosice occasionally has gotten some attention in The New York Times, including this article last month:
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/eurofile-slovakia-off-piste/.
Its a really nice city and I hope to go back and see my friends and my host families there and even my class reunion in 2012 now that I am here in Ukraine.
The second article is about a program called Teach and Learn Georgia, which takes young Americans and send them to Georgia, another former Soviet Republic to teach. Unlike the Peace Corps, this program is funded by the government of Georgia. There are a lot of similarities, but some differences to from what my experience has been like so far in Ukraine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/world/europe/24georgia.html?ref=europe
Well, I hope you are staying warm amongst all of the storms at home.We have no snow here, which is normal because we are so close to the Sea of Azov. Any way stay warm and feel free to comment.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The Two Ukraines
Perhaps you may have been wondering what I am doing in Ukraine speaking Russian (or maybe you are not). But half of Peace Corps Volunteers here learn how to speak Russian, the other half of course, Ukrainian. Because I studied Russian for a couple of years in college, I was assigned to learn Russian.
The reason for the language divide is a historical one, Ukraine was divided between two different empires: the Russian Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Naturally, the part that belonged to Russia, which was mostly to the right of the Dnieper River, speaks Russian. The part that belonged to Poland, lying on the western banks of the Dnieper River speaks Ukrainian. Eventually Russia took over Ukraine, so the entire country speaks or understands Russian or a mix of the two called Surzhyk. Since my village is on the right bank of the river, we speak Russian
However, despite the language differences, the national language of Ukraine is Ukrainian.. Classes in my school are conducted in Ukrainian, even though Russian is taught. Our local newspaper is in Ukrainian as are all of the signs on the road or in the museum. Further to the East and closer to Russia, Russian is predominantly spoken and is on all of the signs. Students learn Ukrainian once they enter school or pre-school.
And lastly, there is an article about me, the work I am doing at the school, and the Peace Corps. That is me in the center, helping a student read.
But unlike English, which in my opinion has no language that is really close to it, Ukrainian and Russian speakers readily understand the two. After spending a year abroad as an exchange student in Slovakia, I came to Binghamton with the idea that I should learn Russian because it was not really to far off of Slovak.. I also felt that foreign languages were vital after seeing my friends in Kosice fluently converse in at least three different languages (Slovak, English, and French or German, the latter three are the most frequent foreign languages studied in Europe).
Learning Russian was not as easy as I thought, but it was not too difficult either because it was so similar to Slovak. All Slavic languages are very close to one another. I think that Ukrainian is a mix between Russian and Slovak, so I do not find it so difficult to understand either. However, Russian is in Cyrillic and Slovak is not, so reading it and writing it are always a challenge. Nevertheless, I think once I am fluent in Russian, which I hope to be at the end of these two years, it will really open up some doors for me.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend and as always, feel free to comment or shoot me an email at laurachaath@gmail.com
The reason for the language divide is a historical one, Ukraine was divided between two different empires: the Russian Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Naturally, the part that belonged to Russia, which was mostly to the right of the Dnieper River, speaks Russian. The part that belonged to Poland, lying on the western banks of the Dnieper River speaks Ukrainian. Eventually Russia took over Ukraine, so the entire country speaks or understands Russian or a mix of the two called Surzhyk. Since my village is on the right bank of the river, we speak Russian
However, despite the language differences, the national language of Ukraine is Ukrainian.. Classes in my school are conducted in Ukrainian, even though Russian is taught. Our local newspaper is in Ukrainian as are all of the signs on the road or in the museum. Further to the East and closer to Russia, Russian is predominantly spoken and is on all of the signs. Students learn Ukrainian once they enter school or pre-school.
This is the local newspaper called "New Day". It is in Ukrainian, even though most of its readers speak Russian.
This is a picture of my host mother and I in the newspaper. It is an article about the Old New Year's tradition of caroling. This year a group from my school came to my house dressed in folk costumes to raise money for the school.
But unlike English, which in my opinion has no language that is really close to it, Ukrainian and Russian speakers readily understand the two. After spending a year abroad as an exchange student in Slovakia, I came to Binghamton with the idea that I should learn Russian because it was not really to far off of Slovak.. I also felt that foreign languages were vital after seeing my friends in Kosice fluently converse in at least three different languages (Slovak, English, and French or German, the latter three are the most frequent foreign languages studied in Europe).
Learning Russian was not as easy as I thought, but it was not too difficult either because it was so similar to Slovak. All Slavic languages are very close to one another. I think that Ukrainian is a mix between Russian and Slovak, so I do not find it so difficult to understand either. However, Russian is in Cyrillic and Slovak is not, so reading it and writing it are always a challenge. Nevertheless, I think once I am fluent in Russian, which I hope to be at the end of these two years, it will really open up some doors for me.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend and as always, feel free to comment or shoot me an email at laurachaath@gmail.com
Thursday, January 20, 2011
My addresses
Some of you were asking about my address, well actually I have two here. This is my address for our office in Kiev. You can only send me letters here:
Or if you would like to, you can send me a package to this address:
PCV Laura Chaath
111A Saksahanskoho St
Kyiv, Ukraine 01032
Or if you would like to, you can send me a package to this address:
Gerasumenko, Jozefa Petrovna Герасименко Юзефа Петровна
Laura Chaath Лора Шаат
ul. Stepnaya 105
s. Konstantinovka
Melitopolsky rayon
Zaporizhia Oblast 72365
Ukraine
s. Konstantinovka
Melitopolsky rayon
Zaporizhia Oblast 72365
Ukraine
Sorry this needs to be in Russian and English to make sure I get it, but you can just copy and paste and print it out on your computers to make life easier for yourself. As always, anything you send me will be greatly, greatly appreciated. I hope that you can continue to check my blog as I continue to post more frequently now that I have internet in my house. Up next, more pictures of my house and hopefully a clip for tonight's evening news which featured a story on me and my school.
Have a good weekend everyone!
Friday, January 14, 2011
New Year...New House...New City...New Life!
Hi everyone,
Happy New Year! I am not sure truthfully of how many readers I have left after posting so rarely and infrequently, but part of my New Years resolution is to keep posting on my blog and to do it more frequently. Much more frequently.
As I said last month, I now live in a new place where I will remain for two years. I live in a village called Konstantinovka, which is known as "the biggest village in Europe." There are 12,000 residents and three schools, one of which I teach at.
I am sure many of who, or the few of you I have left are wondering about Ukrainian holidays. The biggest holiday here is New Years, which looks like our Christmas, complete with a Christmas tree and a Santa Claus like Grandfather Frost, who comes with a Snow Queen. During the night of New Years Eve, Grandfather frost delivers presents, which children anxiously await for. And of course, people countdown to midnight. This year I celebrated at my counterpart Sveta's house with her and her family. Before midnight I came home and celebrated with my host mother. She had a feast prepared even though I had just eaten, but as always the more the merrier.
This is a picture of our midnight New Years feast. I ate among other things hot dogs, cabbage salad, halupsi, pilaf, fish, and lots of candy, cookies, and fruit.
The next holiday comes Christmas, which is on January 7th. Christmas is another feast, but gifts are usually not given on the holiday, like they are at home. My host mother had all of her children over, but I went to the nearby city of Donesk for a friend's birthday.
The final holiday is Old New Years, which we just celebrated. People come from house to house, singing carols and wishing people a joyous (old) New Year. This year we had 3 groups come, students and teachers from my school, another group of teachers from the nearby pre-school, and a little girl and her grandmother. The school groups were doing it to raise money for our school and the little girl was doing it for fun. Last night, my host mother's son, son-in-law, and two grandsons came early in the morning to throw buckwheat around every room in the house. The traditions is supposed to bring good luck. When I woke up this morning there was buckwheat everywhere, even in my bed! At school, I had to dump out my boots too.
That's all for know. Below are some pictures and I will try and be more dilligent this year about posting. Happy Belated Holidays everyone and thanks for the Birthday wishes!
This is a picture of my host mother Yulia Petrovna to my left, on my right is her 23 year-old daughter Katya and to Yulia's left is her 21 year-old daughter Larissa.
Happy New Year! I am not sure truthfully of how many readers I have left after posting so rarely and infrequently, but part of my New Years resolution is to keep posting on my blog and to do it more frequently. Much more frequently.
As I said last month, I now live in a new place where I will remain for two years. I live in a village called Konstantinovka, which is known as "the biggest village in Europe." There are 12,000 residents and three schools, one of which I teach at.
I am sure many of who, or the few of you I have left are wondering about Ukrainian holidays. The biggest holiday here is New Years, which looks like our Christmas, complete with a Christmas tree and a Santa Claus like Grandfather Frost, who comes with a Snow Queen. During the night of New Years Eve, Grandfather frost delivers presents, which children anxiously await for. And of course, people countdown to midnight. This year I celebrated at my counterpart Sveta's house with her and her family. Before midnight I came home and celebrated with my host mother. She had a feast prepared even though I had just eaten, but as always the more the merrier.
The final holiday is Old New Years, which we just celebrated. People come from house to house, singing carols and wishing people a joyous (old) New Year. This year we had 3 groups come, students and teachers from my school, another group of teachers from the nearby pre-school, and a little girl and her grandmother. The school groups were doing it to raise money for our school and the little girl was doing it for fun. Last night, my host mother's son, son-in-law, and two grandsons came early in the morning to throw buckwheat around every room in the house. The traditions is supposed to bring good luck. When I woke up this morning there was buckwheat everywhere, even in my bed! At school, I had to dump out my boots too.
That's all for know. Below are some pictures and I will try and be more dilligent this year about posting. Happy Belated Holidays everyone and thanks for the Birthday wishes!
Above is a picture of the house I live in with Yulia Petrovna. It is a pretty big house with three bedrooms, a large kitchen and bathroom, and a living room that is so big I call it the ballroom.
This is me in the main square of the nearby city of Melitopol. Melitopol is pretty fun with lots to see and do. The buildings are really old and beautiful. There are some cobblestone streets too, and as I discovered this week, a good French bakery.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
I am offcially a Peace Corps Volunteer!
Hi everyone,
As of this Thursday, I am officially a Peace Corps volunteer! I am excited to now finally begin my service in Ukraine. I will be working at a Lyceum in the village of Konstantinovka, which is in Southern Ukraine. It is located here: map. It is a village of about 12,000 people and it is known as the biggest village in Europe. It is more like a suburb because it is not far from the city of Melitopol, which has 150,000 residents. Melitopol is known as the "gateway to Crimea" a popular vacation place on the Black Sea.
Our swearing in ceremony was held in Kiev. Here is a picture of my training group and our linked group with the country director Douglas Teschner:
As of this Thursday, I am officially a Peace Corps volunteer! I am excited to now finally begin my service in Ukraine. I will be working at a Lyceum in the village of Konstantinovka, which is in Southern Ukraine. It is located here: map. It is a village of about 12,000 people and it is known as the biggest village in Europe. It is more like a suburb because it is not far from the city of Melitopol, which has 150,000 residents. Melitopol is known as the "gateway to Crimea" a popular vacation place on the Black Sea.
Our swearing in ceremony was held in Kiev. Here is a picture of my training group and our linked group with the country director Douglas Teschner:
On the left is Jun from FL, Heather from IN, Charley from NJ, Danielle from NC, Nathan from GA, Jing from CA, our Country Director, Jakob from IN and me
as you can see we are psyched to be done with training
my counterpart Sveta
Our farewell party in Mirovnika with our host families
Happy Holidays everyone!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Where is she and what is she doing now?
Hi everyone,
I know it has been over one month since I have posted, but I have been extremely busy. I have finished training and next week I am going to Kiev, to our swearing-in conference, where I will officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer. In Kiev I will find out where I will be stationed for the next two years. I am excited and nervous, it will be like adjusting to the country all over again. That's all for now. I will post more later.
Laura
I know it has been over one month since I have posted, but I have been extremely busy. I have finished training and next week I am going to Kiev, to our swearing-in conference, where I will officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer. In Kiev I will find out where I will be stationed for the next two years. I am excited and nervous, it will be like adjusting to the country all over again. That's all for now. I will post more later.
Laura
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Just a quick update
Hi everyone,
Just a qucik update on what is going on in my life. I am still really busy between -day a week 4 hour Russian language sessions, two six hour session per-week at school which includes teaching a couple of English classes, and many other things. I often get home until 7 o'clock at night after a twelve hour day. I have also added dance classes to the mix. So far I have learned how to waltz, samba, cha-cha, and belly dance. I will post some pictures of dance class soon.
Since I last posted, I have been to Kiev twice, it is a beautiful city. It reminds me some of Prague and Budapest, but with a more eastern flare. I can't wait to go back and see more.
This is me in Kiev, in front of St. Michael's Monastery
These are the member os my training group, called cluster. From the left is Jing, Nathan, Monica, Jakob, and myself. They are all very nice and we get along really well. We were missing one girl, Heather that day.
This is my host family. From the left My dad Sasha (Alexander) My mom Sveta, and My sister Valeria. To the right is my host dad's niece Jana.
This is our house. It is quite big by Ukranian standards. My bedroom windows are on the top right. Our new dog Jessie is on the stoop.
I must get back to doing homework but I will update you all again soon!
Just a qucik update on what is going on in my life. I am still really busy between -day a week 4 hour Russian language sessions, two six hour session per-week at school which includes teaching a couple of English classes, and many other things. I often get home until 7 o'clock at night after a twelve hour day. I have also added dance classes to the mix. So far I have learned how to waltz, samba, cha-cha, and belly dance. I will post some pictures of dance class soon.
Since I last posted, I have been to Kiev twice, it is a beautiful city. It reminds me some of Prague and Budapest, but with a more eastern flare. I can't wait to go back and see more.
This is me in Kiev, in front of St. Michael's Monastery
These are the member os my training group, called cluster. From the left is Jing, Nathan, Monica, Jakob, and myself. They are all very nice and we get along really well. We were missing one girl, Heather that day.
This is my host family. From the left My dad Sasha (Alexander) My mom Sveta, and My sister Valeria. To the right is my host dad's niece Jana.
I must get back to doing homework but I will update you all again soon!
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