Dear Readers,
Tomorrow (Thursday 25 June) I will leave for the Carpathian Mountains. I am going with some members of my workshop and some members of Kimberley's workshop (but not Kimberley). It should be a lot of fun.
Since I will not have access to internet, I will not be able to write my usual weekly update on Friday. I will get back on Sunday, so I should be able to write my next entry then.
Until next time,
Michael
About Me
- Michael Hayes
- I am a third year student at the University of Toronto-St. Michael's College doing a double major in philosophy and Christianity and culture. This summer I will go to Ukraine for three months to work with Faith and Light--an international community bringing together people with disabilities. This is an integral part of the Intercordia program in which I am enrolled. I will use this blog to record my progress. Intercordia is a registered charity. BN# 833547870RR0001
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Week Six
Dear Readers,
I am now on day forty-two. In a few days I will hit the half way point of my stay here. I'm not sure what to write about right now though.
I realize that I have only six or seven more weekends here, and I have yet to go to Ternopil or Kyiv. Those two cities were the two absolutely must sees I decided upon before my departure. I want to go to Ternopil because there are a bunch of Canadians there, including some from the University of Waterloo. I want to go to Kyiv because it's the capital, but most of all to see the ancient churches there. There is a monastery in Kyiv almost 1,000 years old, and the main church St. Sophia's is just as old. Although St. Sophia's Church is Orthodox, I really want to go there to pray. Just being in a church so beautiful and so old will be an amazing experience. Also, the patriarchal cathedral in Kyiv for the Ukrainian Catholic Church is currently under construction. The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church Major Archbishop Lubomyr recently moved from Lviv to Kyiv. However, the construction of the new cathedral is being hampered for a number of reasons.
Kyiv is really far though, about 600km. It's a whole weekend trip, or perhaps I will want to take off a few days during a week so I can stay there for 5 or 6 days. I'll have to start planning this very soon, since I am very quickly running out of time.
There are many problems with Ukraine, to which I have alluded in previous posts. There is a great deal of corruption in politics, business, etc.... Many people don't make enough money to support themselves, and so there is an exodus of Ukrainians (especially Western Ukrainians) to the European Union. Some go legally, many illegally. The country is locked in a constant struggle between Western Ukrainians who want to become more western, want to join the EU and NATO, and Eastern Ukrainians who want to move closer to Russia. However, there is something special about this country (or at least the area in which I am living) and I cannot say that I look forward to leaving. The people I have met and worked with thusfar are all so wonderful and cheerful. People here are more cheerful in general. It really is amazing, considering that a good salary might be $200 per month. While people here are materially poor, they are spiritually very rich. It reminds me of the story when Blessed Theresa of Calcutta was to give an address to a graduating class at an American university, and the man who introduced her mentioned that she was a woman living and serving in one of the poorest lands in the world, and will give a speech to a group in one of the richest lands in the world. Blessed Theresa began her speech by stiffly (but charitably) correcting this. She said that India was one of the richest countries in the world, while the United States was one of the poorest. She of course was speaking in terms of spirituality, which is infinitely more important that any material possessions one may have. I believe something very similar could be said about things here in Ukraine.
When I go back to Canada in seven weeks, I will return to my country which refuses to teach her children her history and heritage. I can see what it means to be a Ukrainian here. There are songs, styles of dress, food, and much more. I am not sure though what it means to be Canadian. I can see that to be, say, an Italian Canadian is to retain Italian culture in Canada, or to be an Indian Canadian is to retain Indian culture in Canada. But for me, my family has been in Canada for over a 130 years. My Mom's side came over from Eastern Europe (originally they are Dutch) in the 1870s, and my Father's side came over from Ireland even prior to the Great Famine. My roots are Canadian, but I don't know what it means to be Canadian. We have a great history, but no one knows it. We have many patriotic songs, but no one teaches them any more. Even our national anthem is sometimes attacked because it includes references to God, gender exclusive language (although the 'Thy sons' refers to ALL Canadians), and the Cross (in the French version). We seem to at best ignore our heritage, or at worst reject it. There is a certain spirit here, an aliveness. This no doubt has to do with the fact that for most of Ukraine's history she was occupied by foreign powers, whether they were Austrian, Polish, or Russian. And so the people had to try very hard, and even at times at the risk of their own safety, to teach their children Ukrainian songs, Ukrainian poetry, and the Ukrainian language. In Canada, we have not seen war on our soil since the War of 1812 (1812-1815), and we have had a much smoother time gradually gaining the independence we have to day. But this seems to have its cost.
I love my country Canada and her history and her institutions. I much prefer the parliamentary system with a constitutional monarch to the American President-Congressional system, or even a parliamentary republic like what exists in most European countries. I think it is amazing how Canada came into existence. We never had to fight a revolution or make any declaration of independence. I love our Queen, Her Majesty Elizabeth II. What few Canadian patriotic songs I do know I am proud to sing. Sadly, very few Canadians know them, so I can never sing them with fellow Canadians.
I think I have a better idea of what it means to be Ukrainian from my six weeks here than what it means to be Canadian from my 20 years of living there. Isn't there something wrong with this picture?
Until next time,
Michael
I am now on day forty-two. In a few days I will hit the half way point of my stay here. I'm not sure what to write about right now though.
I realize that I have only six or seven more weekends here, and I have yet to go to Ternopil or Kyiv. Those two cities were the two absolutely must sees I decided upon before my departure. I want to go to Ternopil because there are a bunch of Canadians there, including some from the University of Waterloo. I want to go to Kyiv because it's the capital, but most of all to see the ancient churches there. There is a monastery in Kyiv almost 1,000 years old, and the main church St. Sophia's is just as old. Although St. Sophia's Church is Orthodox, I really want to go there to pray. Just being in a church so beautiful and so old will be an amazing experience. Also, the patriarchal cathedral in Kyiv for the Ukrainian Catholic Church is currently under construction. The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church Major Archbishop Lubomyr recently moved from Lviv to Kyiv. However, the construction of the new cathedral is being hampered for a number of reasons.
Kyiv is really far though, about 600km. It's a whole weekend trip, or perhaps I will want to take off a few days during a week so I can stay there for 5 or 6 days. I'll have to start planning this very soon, since I am very quickly running out of time.
There are many problems with Ukraine, to which I have alluded in previous posts. There is a great deal of corruption in politics, business, etc.... Many people don't make enough money to support themselves, and so there is an exodus of Ukrainians (especially Western Ukrainians) to the European Union. Some go legally, many illegally. The country is locked in a constant struggle between Western Ukrainians who want to become more western, want to join the EU and NATO, and Eastern Ukrainians who want to move closer to Russia. However, there is something special about this country (or at least the area in which I am living) and I cannot say that I look forward to leaving. The people I have met and worked with thusfar are all so wonderful and cheerful. People here are more cheerful in general. It really is amazing, considering that a good salary might be $200 per month. While people here are materially poor, they are spiritually very rich. It reminds me of the story when Blessed Theresa of Calcutta was to give an address to a graduating class at an American university, and the man who introduced her mentioned that she was a woman living and serving in one of the poorest lands in the world, and will give a speech to a group in one of the richest lands in the world. Blessed Theresa began her speech by stiffly (but charitably) correcting this. She said that India was one of the richest countries in the world, while the United States was one of the poorest. She of course was speaking in terms of spirituality, which is infinitely more important that any material possessions one may have. I believe something very similar could be said about things here in Ukraine.
When I go back to Canada in seven weeks, I will return to my country which refuses to teach her children her history and heritage. I can see what it means to be a Ukrainian here. There are songs, styles of dress, food, and much more. I am not sure though what it means to be Canadian. I can see that to be, say, an Italian Canadian is to retain Italian culture in Canada, or to be an Indian Canadian is to retain Indian culture in Canada. But for me, my family has been in Canada for over a 130 years. My Mom's side came over from Eastern Europe (originally they are Dutch) in the 1870s, and my Father's side came over from Ireland even prior to the Great Famine. My roots are Canadian, but I don't know what it means to be Canadian. We have a great history, but no one knows it. We have many patriotic songs, but no one teaches them any more. Even our national anthem is sometimes attacked because it includes references to God, gender exclusive language (although the 'Thy sons' refers to ALL Canadians), and the Cross (in the French version). We seem to at best ignore our heritage, or at worst reject it. There is a certain spirit here, an aliveness. This no doubt has to do with the fact that for most of Ukraine's history she was occupied by foreign powers, whether they were Austrian, Polish, or Russian. And so the people had to try very hard, and even at times at the risk of their own safety, to teach their children Ukrainian songs, Ukrainian poetry, and the Ukrainian language. In Canada, we have not seen war on our soil since the War of 1812 (1812-1815), and we have had a much smoother time gradually gaining the independence we have to day. But this seems to have its cost.
I love my country Canada and her history and her institutions. I much prefer the parliamentary system with a constitutional monarch to the American President-Congressional system, or even a parliamentary republic like what exists in most European countries. I think it is amazing how Canada came into existence. We never had to fight a revolution or make any declaration of independence. I love our Queen, Her Majesty Elizabeth II. What few Canadian patriotic songs I do know I am proud to sing. Sadly, very few Canadians know them, so I can never sing them with fellow Canadians.
I think I have a better idea of what it means to be Ukrainian from my six weeks here than what it means to be Canadian from my 20 years of living there. Isn't there something wrong with this picture?
Until next time,
Michael
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
A thought: The informal 'you' vs. the formal 'You'
Dear Readers,
I had a little bit of an awkward encounter with my host grandmother, and it had to do with a feature of the Ukrainian language which is no longer part of the English language. I don't think it is a huge deal, but I thought I would write about it anyway.
Those who know only the English language are probably unfamiliar with a certain feature of many other languages, that is the use of two different words where in English we have only one word 'you.' Many laugh when words like 'thou' and 'thee' are used since they are considered archaic and comical, but historically 'thou' is the second person singular, while 'you' is the second person plural. In English we just use 'you' to denote the second person singular as well now. You may remember from French class the words 'te' and 'vous' which both mean 'you', but are used in different circumstances. 'Te' is the singular 'you' (or 'thou'), while 'vous' is the plural 'you'. 'Vous' is also used in the singular when used in a formal setting, for instance if you were speaking to someone you just met, or to someone in a higher rank. Ukrainian in that sense is no different. Instead of 'te' and 'vous' though, Ukrainian has 'ти' (ty) and 'ви' (vy).
Now, 'ви' is always used when using the plural 'you' so that is easy to remember. And it is usually very easy to know when to use ти as opposed to ви in the singular. You would use 'ти' when speaking to people with who you are familiar, or when they are younger. You would use 'ви' when speaking to people with whom you are unfamiliar, with someone who is older, or when someone who is of a higher rank. So if I were to meet a young child for the first time, the child would address me using 'Bи', but it is perfectly okay for me to answer using 'ти.' However, if that person I just met was the same age as me, I would answer back using the formal 'Ви'. If I were speaking to my boss, I would always always always use the formal 'Ви'.
When my host sisters addressed me with the informal 'ти' early on in my stay here, I was very relieved. I felt much more comfortable since they were comfortable addressing me using the informal 'you'.
Now, there is only one person with whom I don't know exactly how to address. That is my host grandmother. Because she is a senior, I address her automatically using the formal ways of saying hello, which is on the same level as the informal 'you' and formal 'you'. Even when she initiates a greeting, she uses the formal way of saying 'hello'.
Anyway, yesterday in the kitchen, she was going about being herself, and Ukrainian, which for the North American seems very bossy, but in reality it isn't. I was feeling a little uncomfortable. Then all of a sudden she said 'Do you want to eat' using the formal 'Ви'. This threw me off, and it made me more uncomfortable because I assumed she would use the informal 'ти' when speaking to me.
Now, I will not dwell on this, because it probably isn't a huge deal, but is one of the things you have to deal with when in a new culture. In this case it wasn't so much that I didn't know the language, it was that I knew this aspect of the language but didn't know what to do with it, and what to expect from others. That's more of a cultural thing rather than a linguistic thing.
Until next time,
Michael
I had a little bit of an awkward encounter with my host grandmother, and it had to do with a feature of the Ukrainian language which is no longer part of the English language. I don't think it is a huge deal, but I thought I would write about it anyway.
Those who know only the English language are probably unfamiliar with a certain feature of many other languages, that is the use of two different words where in English we have only one word 'you.' Many laugh when words like 'thou' and 'thee' are used since they are considered archaic and comical, but historically 'thou' is the second person singular, while 'you' is the second person plural. In English we just use 'you' to denote the second person singular as well now. You may remember from French class the words 'te' and 'vous' which both mean 'you', but are used in different circumstances. 'Te' is the singular 'you' (or 'thou'), while 'vous' is the plural 'you'. 'Vous' is also used in the singular when used in a formal setting, for instance if you were speaking to someone you just met, or to someone in a higher rank. Ukrainian in that sense is no different. Instead of 'te' and 'vous' though, Ukrainian has 'ти' (ty) and 'ви' (vy).
Now, 'ви' is always used when using the plural 'you' so that is easy to remember. And it is usually very easy to know when to use ти as opposed to ви in the singular. You would use 'ти' when speaking to people with who you are familiar, or when they are younger. You would use 'ви' when speaking to people with whom you are unfamiliar, with someone who is older, or when someone who is of a higher rank. So if I were to meet a young child for the first time, the child would address me using 'Bи', but it is perfectly okay for me to answer using 'ти.' However, if that person I just met was the same age as me, I would answer back using the formal 'Ви'. If I were speaking to my boss, I would always always always use the formal 'Ви'.
When my host sisters addressed me with the informal 'ти' early on in my stay here, I was very relieved. I felt much more comfortable since they were comfortable addressing me using the informal 'you'.
Now, there is only one person with whom I don't know exactly how to address. That is my host grandmother. Because she is a senior, I address her automatically using the formal ways of saying hello, which is on the same level as the informal 'you' and formal 'you'. Even when she initiates a greeting, she uses the formal way of saying 'hello'.
Anyway, yesterday in the kitchen, she was going about being herself, and Ukrainian, which for the North American seems very bossy, but in reality it isn't. I was feeling a little uncomfortable. Then all of a sudden she said 'Do you want to eat' using the formal 'Ви'. This threw me off, and it made me more uncomfortable because I assumed she would use the informal 'ти' when speaking to me.
Now, I will not dwell on this, because it probably isn't a huge deal, but is one of the things you have to deal with when in a new culture. In this case it wasn't so much that I didn't know the language, it was that I knew this aspect of the language but didn't know what to do with it, and what to expect from others. That's more of a cultural thing rather than a linguistic thing.
Until next time,
Michael
Saturday, June 13, 2009
My Host Family
Dear Readers,
I must apologize for the lack of photos. I have been taking many, but unfortunately the internet connection in my house isn't that great, so I haven't been able to upload them onto facebook or onto this blog. But, I can share with you this one photo, of my host family.
Top row: Yuriy (Юрій) (19), Marta (Мартa) (11), Pavlo (Павло) (18)
Bottom row: Halyna (Галина) (11), Natalia (Наталія), Petro (Петро), Anna (Анна) (9)
No one here seems to call anyone by their actual name, so here is a list of what we actually call the family members:
Yuriy: Yurko
Halyna: Halya
Natalia: Natalka
Anna: Hanusia. She said that we can also call her Anya.
Aren't they lovely?
Until next time,
Michael
I must apologize for the lack of photos. I have been taking many, but unfortunately the internet connection in my house isn't that great, so I haven't been able to upload them onto facebook or onto this blog. But, I can share with you this one photo, of my host family.
Top row: Yuriy (Юрій) (19), Marta (Мартa) (11), Pavlo (Павло) (18)No one here seems to call anyone by their actual name, so here is a list of what we actually call the family members:
Yuriy: Yurko
Halyna: Halya
Natalia: Natalka
Anna: Hanusia. She said that we can also call her Anya.
Aren't they lovely?
Until next time,
Michael
Friday, June 12, 2009
Week Five
Dear Readers,
It is about 9:20pm here as I begin writing this entry. Today was a very full day. It started out as usual, as I had my workshop from 10:00-1:00. Then I went to UKU for lunch and my weekly check in meeting. I would have written this entry there like usual, but I didn't have time. After my meeting, I went back to the Emaus Centre (the Faith and Light head office) and ended up helping translating something from Ukrainian into English. Well, sort of. I didn't actually do the translating, I just helped out with getting the wording right for the English translation. That was a bit of a chore, since the Ukrainian was written in such a way that it was very difficult not to get an awkward English translation.
Afterward I ran into Petro at UKU (remember, he works there) and Natalia was there also. Their plans were to go to the market to buy groceries, then go to their cottege in the suburbs to fix up some things, and then go home. So, I went with them! It was actually pretty neat. It was my first time in a market here. First, we went to an indoor market to buy meat and cheese, then we went outside to buy produce.
We then went to their cottege in the suburbs, which is really a very small house on a small piece of land. They also have a small garden there. We didn't spend a whole lot of time there. Petro just wanted to clean up some things around the yard.
Now, about my week...
Remember how last Friday I mentioned that I had no plans for the weekend? Boy, did that change come Sunday morning. At around 10:30 in the morning, Petro's brother Taras came over to invite me to spend Sunday and Monday with him, his daughter (13 year old Olena), and my three host sisters at his cottage in the Carpathian mountains. So, I decided to go. I went the Carpathian mountains for the first time!
The drive was about 2 hours, and was really nice. On the way, we stopped to go to church, and then we stopped again by a river to eat lunch outside and go swimming, except I really didn't feel like swimming. When we finally got the cottage, I wasn't feeling well at all unfortunately. However, the scenery was beautiful. It isn't Rockey Mountains beautiful, but there are endless miles of high hills, forrest, and farms. Taras and I went to visit one of his friends down the street, while the four girls stayed at the cottage. At Taras' friend's place, there were 2 people who could speak English reasonably well. Everyone at that house is related, and they also have relatives in...Mississauga! That was a really neat connection.
So, we stayed there for an hour and a half I think, then we went back to the cottage. When we got to the cottage, I felt no better, so I had a little nap while Taras and the girls made supper. It was Olena's 13th birthday, and Taras made sausage and cabbage salad. After my nap, I felt a little better, or at least good enough to eat.
After supper, I went to sleep, or at least I tried. Taras and I shared a bed with no mattress, and it was one of my worst nights of sleeping I can remember in a very long time. Some time in the middle of the night, I woke up, and lay in this hard, uncomfortable bed, unable to fall asleep. Then, at around 4:00am, my dinner from the previous night came up the way it went in, which of course was very pleasant. Although I felt a little bit better, I simply couldn't sleep the rest of the night.
We came back on Monday, with another stop at the same river for swimming, and luckily I was able to sleep in the car. After that, I felt much much better. We got home, and life went on.
This week I experienced the frustration that comes with not being able to speak to people. After workshop on Wednesday, I went to UKU for my Ukrainian language class, which was to begin at 5:00. One of the assistants (Iryna, Ira for short) at my workshop also had to go to UKU, because she had an exam there that evening (yes, she is an UKU student). It takes about 20 minutes to get to UKU from our workshop, and the whole time we could barely talk at all! She knows Ukrainian, Polish, and Italian (she lived there for six months), and of course, I know English and troshky (a little) Ukrainian. Actually, I think her English is about the same as my Ukrainian. Our conversation was, well, interesting, and most of it was us laughing at ourselves, at each other, and at the whole situation. Sometimes I would actually whip out the little French or Latin I know because the words I needed are closer to Italian in those languages than they are in English. It actually worked. When we got to UKU, we both went to Emaus where there were people who knew both English and Ukrainian. That was a relief.
On Thursday morning, Kimberley and I went to the orphanage instead of our respective workshops. We were there for two hours, and just played with the children the whole time. Their ages ranged from 2 to 4, or something like that. It was fun, but I think two hours was about as much as I could handle for that day. After that, we both went back to our workshops for the afternoon portion of the day.
So, that was my week five, in a nutshell. Only seven more to go.
Until next time,
Michael
It is about 9:20pm here as I begin writing this entry. Today was a very full day. It started out as usual, as I had my workshop from 10:00-1:00. Then I went to UKU for lunch and my weekly check in meeting. I would have written this entry there like usual, but I didn't have time. After my meeting, I went back to the Emaus Centre (the Faith and Light head office) and ended up helping translating something from Ukrainian into English. Well, sort of. I didn't actually do the translating, I just helped out with getting the wording right for the English translation. That was a bit of a chore, since the Ukrainian was written in such a way that it was very difficult not to get an awkward English translation.
Afterward I ran into Petro at UKU (remember, he works there) and Natalia was there also. Their plans were to go to the market to buy groceries, then go to their cottege in the suburbs to fix up some things, and then go home. So, I went with them! It was actually pretty neat. It was my first time in a market here. First, we went to an indoor market to buy meat and cheese, then we went outside to buy produce.
We then went to their cottege in the suburbs, which is really a very small house on a small piece of land. They also have a small garden there. We didn't spend a whole lot of time there. Petro just wanted to clean up some things around the yard.
Now, about my week...
Remember how last Friday I mentioned that I had no plans for the weekend? Boy, did that change come Sunday morning. At around 10:30 in the morning, Petro's brother Taras came over to invite me to spend Sunday and Monday with him, his daughter (13 year old Olena), and my three host sisters at his cottage in the Carpathian mountains. So, I decided to go. I went the Carpathian mountains for the first time!
The drive was about 2 hours, and was really nice. On the way, we stopped to go to church, and then we stopped again by a river to eat lunch outside and go swimming, except I really didn't feel like swimming. When we finally got the cottage, I wasn't feeling well at all unfortunately. However, the scenery was beautiful. It isn't Rockey Mountains beautiful, but there are endless miles of high hills, forrest, and farms. Taras and I went to visit one of his friends down the street, while the four girls stayed at the cottage. At Taras' friend's place, there were 2 people who could speak English reasonably well. Everyone at that house is related, and they also have relatives in...Mississauga! That was a really neat connection.
So, we stayed there for an hour and a half I think, then we went back to the cottage. When we got to the cottage, I felt no better, so I had a little nap while Taras and the girls made supper. It was Olena's 13th birthday, and Taras made sausage and cabbage salad. After my nap, I felt a little better, or at least good enough to eat.
After supper, I went to sleep, or at least I tried. Taras and I shared a bed with no mattress, and it was one of my worst nights of sleeping I can remember in a very long time. Some time in the middle of the night, I woke up, and lay in this hard, uncomfortable bed, unable to fall asleep. Then, at around 4:00am, my dinner from the previous night came up the way it went in, which of course was very pleasant. Although I felt a little bit better, I simply couldn't sleep the rest of the night.
We came back on Monday, with another stop at the same river for swimming, and luckily I was able to sleep in the car. After that, I felt much much better. We got home, and life went on.
This week I experienced the frustration that comes with not being able to speak to people. After workshop on Wednesday, I went to UKU for my Ukrainian language class, which was to begin at 5:00. One of the assistants (Iryna, Ira for short) at my workshop also had to go to UKU, because she had an exam there that evening (yes, she is an UKU student). It takes about 20 minutes to get to UKU from our workshop, and the whole time we could barely talk at all! She knows Ukrainian, Polish, and Italian (she lived there for six months), and of course, I know English and troshky (a little) Ukrainian. Actually, I think her English is about the same as my Ukrainian. Our conversation was, well, interesting, and most of it was us laughing at ourselves, at each other, and at the whole situation. Sometimes I would actually whip out the little French or Latin I know because the words I needed are closer to Italian in those languages than they are in English. It actually worked. When we got to UKU, we both went to Emaus where there were people who knew both English and Ukrainian. That was a relief.
On Thursday morning, Kimberley and I went to the orphanage instead of our respective workshops. We were there for two hours, and just played with the children the whole time. Their ages ranged from 2 to 4, or something like that. It was fun, but I think two hours was about as much as I could handle for that day. After that, we both went back to our workshops for the afternoon portion of the day.
So, that was my week five, in a nutshell. Only seven more to go.
Until next time,
Michael
Saturday, June 6, 2009
On the Lighter Side of Things
Dear Readers,
I thought that you might enjoy a more humourous post.
Last night I was sitting at the kitchen table with my host sisters, their cousin Olena (around 13 I'm guessing), my host mother, and host grandmother.
We were playing our vocabulary game again (we tell each other what things are in Ukrainian and English), and Halya asked how to say 'shirt' in English. So, I said 'shirt.'
I guess that 'shirt' is a rather difficult word to say for Ukrainians, because neither the 'i' nor the 'r' sounds in 'shirt' exist in Ukrainian. My host sisters sort of got it by replacing that weird 'i' sound in 'shirt' with a Ukrainian 'e' and by rolling the 'r'.
Anyway, my grandmother was really struggling, and she starting saying something like 'шит', and kept saying 'шит' when I tried to help her prounounce 'shirt'. This was mildly amusing for me, of course, because in Ukrainian, ш = 'sh', и = 'i' as in 'bit'', and т = 't'. So, here was this elderly lady saying "шит, шит, huh, шит?" It was about 10:00 at night, and I was tired...I found it amusing. I had to try hard to hold myself from laughing.
Side note:
'Shirt' in Ukrainian is 'майка', which last week confused me because it is remarkably close to 'Майкл': my name in English transcribed into cyrillic (as opposed to 'Michael' translated to Ukrainian, that's Mykhailo-Михайло). So, when Marta was pointing at my shirt saying 'майка, майка,' I responded by saying 'Ні, Я Майкл,' (No, I am Michael). Needless to say, Marta and Hanusia found that very funny, and we all laughed at me.
Another side note:
Hanusia's actual name is 'Anna', but everyone calls her 'Hanusia.' I have no idea why.
Until next time,
Michael
I thought that you might enjoy a more humourous post.
Last night I was sitting at the kitchen table with my host sisters, their cousin Olena (around 13 I'm guessing), my host mother, and host grandmother.
We were playing our vocabulary game again (we tell each other what things are in Ukrainian and English), and Halya asked how to say 'shirt' in English. So, I said 'shirt.'
I guess that 'shirt' is a rather difficult word to say for Ukrainians, because neither the 'i' nor the 'r' sounds in 'shirt' exist in Ukrainian. My host sisters sort of got it by replacing that weird 'i' sound in 'shirt' with a Ukrainian 'e' and by rolling the 'r'.
Anyway, my grandmother was really struggling, and she starting saying something like 'шит', and kept saying 'шит' when I tried to help her prounounce 'shirt'. This was mildly amusing for me, of course, because in Ukrainian, ш = 'sh', и = 'i' as in 'bit'', and т = 't'. So, here was this elderly lady saying "шит, шит, huh, шит?" It was about 10:00 at night, and I was tired...I found it amusing. I had to try hard to hold myself from laughing.
Side note:
'Shirt' in Ukrainian is 'майка', which last week confused me because it is remarkably close to 'Майкл': my name in English transcribed into cyrillic (as opposed to 'Michael' translated to Ukrainian, that's Mykhailo-Михайло). So, when Marta was pointing at my shirt saying 'майка, майка,' I responded by saying 'Ні, Я Майкл,' (No, I am Michael). Needless to say, Marta and Hanusia found that very funny, and we all laughed at me.
Another side note:
Hanusia's actual name is 'Anna', but everyone calls her 'Hanusia.' I have no idea why.
Until next time,
Michael
Friday, June 5, 2009
Week Four Complete
Dear Readers,
Week four is now complete, and I can't believe it! They say that the first month of the Intercordia placement is supposed to be long and hard and not too enjoyable, but I have had such an amazing time so far. The time has just flown by!
So, what went on this week? Monday and Tuesday went pretty much as usual. I got up in the morning, went to the workshop for 10:00am and stayed there until 3:30pm, and came home. Wednesday was a really long day though. After my workshop day ended at 3:30, I came to the university for a Ukrainian language class at 5:00. For the next few weeks, I will have a Ukrainian language class from 5:00 - 6:30 on Wednesdays at UKU. Anyway, I was exhausted all day Wednesday, though I don't know why. Maybe it was due the lousy weather.
After our language class, we finally went to see Pani Maria and her son Vajdik. Vajdik has no intellectual disabilities, but he has severe physical handicaps so he cannot really speak at all nor can he walk. His mother has had to push him around in a wheelchair for the past 25 years and he is really a full grown man, so she has really bad back problems from all of those years of pushing him and carrying him from bed to the chair to the bathroom.... Nevertheless, they are both so cheerful! Vajdik I am told is one of the most wonderful positive people you'll ever want to meet, and if he was able to he would become a monk. Vajdik loves going to church and going to different churches, so when we started talking about the different churches in Lviv, he got very excited. His mother too is very cheerful and grateful for Vajdik, and for Faith and Light which have supported them in different ways over the past seventeen years. I was really glad I was able to go see them on Wednesday evening, even though I was exhausted and hungry.
Thursday was also a long day, although not as long. After my workshop Kimberley and I went to the psychiatric hospital again. However, it was a really bad time to go, and after 20 minutes there they had supper so we had to leave. So, after 20 minutes on the marshrutka (sardine conditions of course), and 15 minutes of walking, we were only there for 20 minutes. Then, Kimberly and I got to spend another 40 minutes on a sardine can of a marshrutka and 30 minutes of walking to get home! Thankfully though, I wasn't nearly as exhausted as I was on Wednesday, so it wasn't too bad.
Yesterday the washing machine guy came and fixed our washing machine at home. The bathroom (which also serves as the laundry room) floor was covered in clothes to be washed, as the washing machine had been out of service for a week. I am just glad to know that I will have clean clothes to wear on Sunday for church. By the way, this Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, so it is extra special.
That brings us to today, Friday. Like usual, I had a half day at the workshop, so we finished at 1:00. Afterward, I came to UKU for lunch and our weekly check in meeting. For lunch I had green borshch (borshch without beats) , hrechka (buckwheat) with smetana (sour cream), and crepes filled with sweet cheese (I can't remember the Ukrainian word for crepe). It was duzhe smachno (very tasty).
Speaking of food, my workshop coordinator Iryna asked yesterday asked me if I would like to prepare the meal on Tuesday (we get Monday off--Pentecost Monday). I gladly said yes. Then she asked me to make a salad that I like from Canada to have with the hrechka (buckwheat again...yes we eat a lot of it here) and kovbaca (sausage). I thought that caesar would be good. Of course, caesar salad isn't in any sense a particularly Canadian salad, but I haven't seen it here at all, so I thought it would be a good choice. Iryna told me then to bring a list of ingrediants. This morning when I showed her the ingrediants, she either hadn't heard of them or she said she hadn't seen them at all, which I took to mean they were out of season (namely, romaine lettuce). The olive oil was way out of the question: too expensive. She suggested then that the salad on Tuesday would be cabbage and cucumber. I am just as glad with that.
Cultural side note: We eat a lot of cabbage here. Quite often at home, we'll have a cabbage cut into 6 or 8 pieces and everyone will just take one or two pieces and eat it raw. I was delighted when I saw my host sisters and still younger host cousins eat it like that. When I was their age, there was no way I would eat raw cabbage like that. End of cultural side note.
In my host family there is a rotation of who gets to wash the dishes. It is very convenient here because there are seven in the family, and seven days of the week. Still my host father Petro asked that I choose a day, and he suggested to do it on Friday with Hanusia, the 9 year old. I thought that would be a good idea, so tonight I'm washing the dishes with Hanusia.
Thus ends my entry for today.
Appendix: A day in the life of the Busy Bees workshop on Naukova Street, Lviv.
You may be wondering what a day a the workshop is like. Actually, I know that at least one of you is wondering that, since you sent me an e-mail about it. So, here is my answer.
We start the day at 10:00am with prayer time, which goes until about 10:30. First, we sing three songs from the Faith and Light songbook, then a passage from the Gospel is read and discussed, and finally we go around and everyone states their prayer intentions. Today was our last workshop day until Pentecost, so today's passage was the story of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Then Iryna (our workshop leader) says who will be doing what for the morning work. There are always three people cooking (one assistant, two core-members), then the rest are divided between bead work and icon making. If you work with beads, you are essentially making necklaces or other things with beads. The icon people for most part sand the wood which will be used for the icons. When the time comes, we'll actually attach the icon images to the blocks of wood. I have also lacquered icons which are put together.
At 11:30, we stop for 10 minutes of stretching. Everyone stands in a big circle in the main room and we go around the circle, everyone leading the group in a different stretch. After exercises, we go back to work.
Then, at some time between 12:30 and 1:00, we have lunch. The work of those three who were cooking all morning is now brought to fruition. After lunch we have tea and sometimes cookies or chocolates.
After lunch, the three who cooked all morning wash the dishes, while everyone else has free time. Some do some more beadwork, some play baloon volleyball in the main room, some play fooseball. One of the core members Myron really likes the accordian, so every day after lunch he grabs the accordian and starts making noise with it. He asks me if I like his music, so I say that I do. He is really funny. He'll stand right in the middle of the baloon volleyball game with the accordian.
At around 2:00, we have our afternoon activity. Sometimes we'll go out to play soccer, sometimes we'll stay inside and do some different kind of beadwork, sometimes we'll draw things. Sometimes people are doing different things. It is really laid back, as opposed to the less laid back morning of work. I say less laid back, because I can hardly call the mornings stressful or hard.
At 3:30 or so, we finish, and everyone goes home or to wherever they are going. I really like the workshop and the people that are there. The core members all have different personalities and so it has been really interesting getting to know them all.
Remember that Canadian guy I mentioned last week? He's still here! And he's really annoying. That scary guy who is always in the St. Michael's College library computer lab would have had his head by now if he were here.
This weekend is a three day weekend, and I am very excited!!! We get Monday off because it's Pentecost Monday. I don't have any plans though. I want to buy a pair of jeans, because the one pair I brought over is a little bit old, and starting to fall apart. I hope to do that this weekend. But other than that, I don't have any plans.
Do know that things are still going great, and I am sad that I am here for only another two months. I wish I could stay longer!
Until next time,
Michael
Week four is now complete, and I can't believe it! They say that the first month of the Intercordia placement is supposed to be long and hard and not too enjoyable, but I have had such an amazing time so far. The time has just flown by!
So, what went on this week? Monday and Tuesday went pretty much as usual. I got up in the morning, went to the workshop for 10:00am and stayed there until 3:30pm, and came home. Wednesday was a really long day though. After my workshop day ended at 3:30, I came to the university for a Ukrainian language class at 5:00. For the next few weeks, I will have a Ukrainian language class from 5:00 - 6:30 on Wednesdays at UKU. Anyway, I was exhausted all day Wednesday, though I don't know why. Maybe it was due the lousy weather.
After our language class, we finally went to see Pani Maria and her son Vajdik. Vajdik has no intellectual disabilities, but he has severe physical handicaps so he cannot really speak at all nor can he walk. His mother has had to push him around in a wheelchair for the past 25 years and he is really a full grown man, so she has really bad back problems from all of those years of pushing him and carrying him from bed to the chair to the bathroom.... Nevertheless, they are both so cheerful! Vajdik I am told is one of the most wonderful positive people you'll ever want to meet, and if he was able to he would become a monk. Vajdik loves going to church and going to different churches, so when we started talking about the different churches in Lviv, he got very excited. His mother too is very cheerful and grateful for Vajdik, and for Faith and Light which have supported them in different ways over the past seventeen years. I was really glad I was able to go see them on Wednesday evening, even though I was exhausted and hungry.
Thursday was also a long day, although not as long. After my workshop Kimberley and I went to the psychiatric hospital again. However, it was a really bad time to go, and after 20 minutes there they had supper so we had to leave. So, after 20 minutes on the marshrutka (sardine conditions of course), and 15 minutes of walking, we were only there for 20 minutes. Then, Kimberly and I got to spend another 40 minutes on a sardine can of a marshrutka and 30 minutes of walking to get home! Thankfully though, I wasn't nearly as exhausted as I was on Wednesday, so it wasn't too bad.
Yesterday the washing machine guy came and fixed our washing machine at home. The bathroom (which also serves as the laundry room) floor was covered in clothes to be washed, as the washing machine had been out of service for a week. I am just glad to know that I will have clean clothes to wear on Sunday for church. By the way, this Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, so it is extra special.
That brings us to today, Friday. Like usual, I had a half day at the workshop, so we finished at 1:00. Afterward, I came to UKU for lunch and our weekly check in meeting. For lunch I had green borshch (borshch without beats) , hrechka (buckwheat) with smetana (sour cream), and crepes filled with sweet cheese (I can't remember the Ukrainian word for crepe). It was duzhe smachno (very tasty).
Speaking of food, my workshop coordinator Iryna asked yesterday asked me if I would like to prepare the meal on Tuesday (we get Monday off--Pentecost Monday). I gladly said yes. Then she asked me to make a salad that I like from Canada to have with the hrechka (buckwheat again...yes we eat a lot of it here) and kovbaca (sausage). I thought that caesar would be good. Of course, caesar salad isn't in any sense a particularly Canadian salad, but I haven't seen it here at all, so I thought it would be a good choice. Iryna told me then to bring a list of ingrediants. This morning when I showed her the ingrediants, she either hadn't heard of them or she said she hadn't seen them at all, which I took to mean they were out of season (namely, romaine lettuce). The olive oil was way out of the question: too expensive. She suggested then that the salad on Tuesday would be cabbage and cucumber. I am just as glad with that.
Cultural side note: We eat a lot of cabbage here. Quite often at home, we'll have a cabbage cut into 6 or 8 pieces and everyone will just take one or two pieces and eat it raw. I was delighted when I saw my host sisters and still younger host cousins eat it like that. When I was their age, there was no way I would eat raw cabbage like that. End of cultural side note.
In my host family there is a rotation of who gets to wash the dishes. It is very convenient here because there are seven in the family, and seven days of the week. Still my host father Petro asked that I choose a day, and he suggested to do it on Friday with Hanusia, the 9 year old. I thought that would be a good idea, so tonight I'm washing the dishes with Hanusia.
Thus ends my entry for today.
Appendix: A day in the life of the Busy Bees workshop on Naukova Street, Lviv.
You may be wondering what a day a the workshop is like. Actually, I know that at least one of you is wondering that, since you sent me an e-mail about it. So, here is my answer.
We start the day at 10:00am with prayer time, which goes until about 10:30. First, we sing three songs from the Faith and Light songbook, then a passage from the Gospel is read and discussed, and finally we go around and everyone states their prayer intentions. Today was our last workshop day until Pentecost, so today's passage was the story of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Then Iryna (our workshop leader) says who will be doing what for the morning work. There are always three people cooking (one assistant, two core-members), then the rest are divided between bead work and icon making. If you work with beads, you are essentially making necklaces or other things with beads. The icon people for most part sand the wood which will be used for the icons. When the time comes, we'll actually attach the icon images to the blocks of wood. I have also lacquered icons which are put together.
At 11:30, we stop for 10 minutes of stretching. Everyone stands in a big circle in the main room and we go around the circle, everyone leading the group in a different stretch. After exercises, we go back to work.
Then, at some time between 12:30 and 1:00, we have lunch. The work of those three who were cooking all morning is now brought to fruition. After lunch we have tea and sometimes cookies or chocolates.
After lunch, the three who cooked all morning wash the dishes, while everyone else has free time. Some do some more beadwork, some play baloon volleyball in the main room, some play fooseball. One of the core members Myron really likes the accordian, so every day after lunch he grabs the accordian and starts making noise with it. He asks me if I like his music, so I say that I do. He is really funny. He'll stand right in the middle of the baloon volleyball game with the accordian.
At around 2:00, we have our afternoon activity. Sometimes we'll go out to play soccer, sometimes we'll stay inside and do some different kind of beadwork, sometimes we'll draw things. Sometimes people are doing different things. It is really laid back, as opposed to the less laid back morning of work. I say less laid back, because I can hardly call the mornings stressful or hard.
At 3:30 or so, we finish, and everyone goes home or to wherever they are going. I really like the workshop and the people that are there. The core members all have different personalities and so it has been really interesting getting to know them all.
Remember that Canadian guy I mentioned last week? He's still here! And he's really annoying. That scary guy who is always in the St. Michael's College library computer lab would have had his head by now if he were here.
This weekend is a three day weekend, and I am very excited!!! We get Monday off because it's Pentecost Monday. I don't have any plans though. I want to buy a pair of jeans, because the one pair I brought over is a little bit old, and starting to fall apart. I hope to do that this weekend. But other than that, I don't have any plans.
Do know that things are still going great, and I am sad that I am here for only another two months. I wish I could stay longer!
Until next time,
Michael
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