Catching up: Mom and Dad in Ukraine

July 11-16 Mom and Dad visit me in Ukraine

I have the best parents in the world! As soon as they found out that I was going to be living in Ukraine for this year they started planning a trip to come visit me. Many other folks (especially those who lived through the cold-war and anti-soviet union messages) would never jump at the chance to go visit Eastern Europe, even 19 years after the fall of the soviet union. My wonderful parents, however, saw my Fulbright experience as the perfect excuse to plan some travels of their own to some “off-the-beaten-path” locales. After hopping through Central Europe (Prague, Vienna, and Budapest) they caught a plane to Kyiv where I met them for the beginning of an adventure that would take us through Ukraine and end up in Istanbul, Turkey. We spent a couple days in Kyiv and saw many sites worth seeing but the collective favorite was the Kyivo-Pechers’ka Lavra (the name signifies that it is a cave (pechersk) monastery (lavra) in Kyiv. The lavra still functions and is essentially the “Rome” of Orthodox Christianity). While mom and I hung on every word of history that our English-speaking guide delivered, dad was having the time of his life with his camera in this veritable visual playground of golden domes, brilliant frescos and ornate altarpieces. We spent a lot of time just walking around and seeing sights that were close by our centrally located rented apartment. We saw St. Michael’s Church, St. Andrew’s Church, walked down the famous St. Andrew’s descent (a winding hill leading from the upper city center to a lower part of the city by the harbor—it is full of souvenir and art vendors), St. Sophia’s Cathedral, and explored Independence Square. All in all we did a lot of walking! We happened to be in town for the World Cup final and had a good time watching the game in an outdoor café with many Kivan football fans. On the evening of the 13th mom and dad got to experience an essential part of Ukrainian life….spending the night on a train! We had the compartment to ourselves but the ride was especially rocky that night and none of us slept well (which was strange because typically I really enjoy sleeping on the train). We arrived in Donetsk early the next day and were met by a driver who drove us the 50 min. ride to our final destination, my town, Artemivsk. Mom and dad were grateful for the slower way of life in this small eastern Ukrainian town…I think they enjoyed having time to just nap and relax in my apartment while I went to work in the mornings. We did do some walking around the city and had a great meal with my Ukrainian “mom and dad” Irina and Sergei. They were my host family when I visited Artemivsk 4 years ago and we became very close and stayed in touch via email over the years. The most memorable part of the evening was when Irina gave a toast to the fact that during the soviet union, American’s and members of the Russian Federation were taught to despise and fear each others’ countries and people and yet here we all were just 19 years later sharing a meal and laughing together. It was truly a moment that summed up the goal of the entire Fulbright program…to promote mutual understanding. It was certainly something to toast to!