This blog continues because I am continuing my Peace Corps
adventure – this time in Ukraine! Since February 2018, I’ve been posted as a
PEPFAR Response volunteer in the city of Nikolaev in the south of Ukraine
(about three hours away from Odessa). I’ve only had three weeks between my posts
to repack my bags, take care of some paperwork and say hello to Boston and
Philly.
And now I am back into a post-Soviet space – the place where
my family is from, and where I’ve left a lot of roots, connections, hopes and
fears. In fact, my desire to serve here was triggered by my maternal
grandmother’s death last year. It affected me so much that I have decided to go
to Ukraine and reconnect with a culture that I was very close to but never too
familiar with. So, here I am.
A little bit about my site: the city of Nikolaev (also known
as Mykolayiv) was founded as a ship-building city and a port in 1789 in the outskirts
of the Russian Empire to stake its claim (ahead of Turkey) on the Dikoe Pole (Wild
Field) that was a no-man’s land for many years. The founder of Nikolaev is a
historical figure, Prince Grigoriy Potemkin (who was one of lovers of Catherine
the Great).
During 18th and 19th century the city
became an important gateway into Black Sea through the Southern Boog River estuary.
There were even consulates of several European nations, as well as customs,
banks and ship-building schools. Even now as you walk along Nikolaev, you can
see old buildings built from a pretty pale yellow sandstone with shell fossils –
former banks, schools and custom offices.
During the Soviet times Nikolaev became a so-called “closed”
city. Not everyone could freely move here. It had important strategic ship-building
factories that designed and built ships for the Soviet Navy. A lot of
Soviet-style buildings were built back then too --- schools, more factories,
theaters, tall apartment buildings etc.
Now Nikolaev lies on the outskirts of Ukraine... Even though
you can feel its old glory in straight tree-lined boulevards and riverbanks, it
has a high unemployment rate and a 3rd highest HIV infection rate
among Ukrainian cities. Which is why I have been [placed here in the first
place. I work with a charity fund UNITUS which works with risk groups to reduce
the infection rates and place HIV-positive people on the required ART-therapy.
It is mostly a Russian-speaking city, where I fit right in. Of course there are
Ukrainian-speaking residents, and I’m trying to learn Ukrainian by talking with
them.
And now, even though I’ve been here for only three months, I
can already sense what type of service I’m having through these songs ----
The song Back in the USSR is
the epitome of my time here – I am literally back in the land of my childhood
with its shabby apartment buildings, fluffy cats and tea-drinkers. It is a nice
feeling, but I also feel a bit detached from life here --- as an explorer who observes
things happening around them with an impartiality of a surgeon.
This song - Yedu Ya means “I’m going” – and it is about traveling. I’ve been traveling a lot here –
mostly by marshrutka bus and train. It talks about traveling companions,
everlasting search for something fleeting and unexplainable. “I’m going, going,
going (though) rivers, steppes and fields…” Very nostalgic indeed.
This is a beautiful Ukrainian folk songs is called Galya is carrying water . A lot of local songs are
about love, of course, but what make them stand apart from Russian ones is the
fact that they are more happy and flirty (while Russian songs are more about
unrequired love or tragic loss of a beloved). Coincidentally, my mom’s name is
also Galya. This is the song that also inspired me to apply to serve in
Ukraine.
Ok, this song is hilarious! Vidlik is a parody of a famous songs of the same name by a talented artist,
Onuka (who, to me, is a Ukrainian version of Robyn). It attempts to be artsy to
show a typical village life (while the original is just artsy). I’m posting the
original Vidlik as well. It is a song of VERY few words!
No comments:
Post a Comment