Week two is in the books

Dear Readers,

I have no finished my second week here in lviv. Right now it is 6:00 in the evening, and a thunderstorm has descended upon my neighbourhood of Riacne (Рясне). The last two days have been quite warm, and so the thunderstorm hasn't come as a great surprise.

This week I began my actual placement at the workshop after my Ukrainian lesson, although I ended up going only twice during the week. I went on Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, one of the druzi (друзі) hosted lunch in her apartment building ('druzi' is Ukrainian for 'friends': in l'Arche Ukraine, they call the core members 'friends') . Then, yesterday and today the druzi from my workshop were away for a weekend excursion to the Carpathian mountains. Yesterday after our Ukrainian lesson, Kimberly and I went to Vira's academy to visit her English class. The students, all of whom were women to my surprise, were shy to speak to us in their broken English, but their teacher urged them on. A few of them spoke up and asked us some questions, but everyone got a chance to hear two native English speakers speak English.

After my Ukrainian lesson this morning I attended the Divine Liturgy (Holy Mass) in the Ukrainian Catholic University chapel. Priests from the university serve the Divine Liturgy daily, which is a wonderful thing that I wish more students and staff took advantage of. Only 8 people attended the Liturgy this morning!

Then I decided to explore the downtown core of Lviv on my own! I had only been there with others thus far. It was a bit of an adventure. When I was on the streetcar, a lady came up to me and starting barking orders at me. Having not a clue what she was saying, I said 'I don't understand Ukrainian' to her in Ukrainian. That didn't help, because she just kept going, and seemed to grow more inpatient. It turns out she was checking to see if we had stamped our tickets. The lady who was with her gestured that to me, then I gladly showed her my stamped ticket. Only then did the first lady finally clue in that I actually don't understand Ukrainian. Some others in the streetcar had a chuckle, and I heard "Він не розуміє Український" (Vin ne rozumiye Ukrayins'kiy), which means "He does not understand Ukrainian." That I did understand! O well. It was a learning experience. If anyone comes up to you in a streetcar and starts barking orders at you, just show that person your stamped ticket and they should stop barking at you and go away.

At the actual workshops I already have had to do some conflict management, which was somewhat challenging given I do not know the language. After lunch on Wednesday there was a balloon volleyball game in the main room, and it got rather intense. Some of the druzi starting making fun of one of the other druzi because he wasn't as quick in reacting to the balloon. I tried to put an end to it, but my efforts were futile. Though, it wasn't long before one of the girls that volunteers there (who, by the way, is much louder than I am, and knows Ukrainian!) did a better job.

It has been a little difficult at the workshop simply because I can't really carry a conversation yet. I know a few phrases, and I know a few verbs, nouns, and adjectives, but I can't really put them together. But I am trying to learn more. I intend to study Ukrainian every evening and practice with my host sisters. I counted to 100 with Marta the other day! But if anything, this will help me be humble, which is a good thing! I must embrace this inability of mine.

I hope to be able to write more often, perhaps twice or three times a week, but I cannot make any promises.

Until next time,
Michael