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