Day five in Novograd-Volynski! Why is this so noteworthy? Day five happens to be September 1st. What’s noteworthy about that? September 1st in Ukraine is the first day of school all around the nation. No matter the day September 1st falls on, this is the start of the school year and this year it just happened to fall on a Saturday. The town was bustling and alive from the onset and you could feel the energy in the air.
Being the first day of school I had to wake up early to make sure we could get to school on time. I had my alarm set for 7am and I was slowly moving around my hotel room getting myself awake for the day. I had the TV on and was trying to read the different cities they were displaying for the weather. I was able to make some out but others flashed by so quickly that my inexperienced eyes were not able to translate quickly enough. It was just more motivation for me to continue my lessons once I got back to the States.
As usual, I made my way over to Larisa’s in the morning and met her and Vitalik getting ready for school. We made our way to a new part of town that I had not seen yet. More for my touristy eyes to see and take in! Families from all over town were all walking to the same destination and as I said before, you could feel the energy in the air. Most everyone was dressed up for this occasion and it was certainly a fun sight to behold.
The first day of school starts with an assembly outside the school that included some politicians speaking, school officials giving speeches, traditional Ukrainian dancing and a few other traditional things that I really wasn’t sure what was going on until Larisa was able to tell me about when there was a short lull (like the goddess of education passing the torch for another year). There were a few awards to be handed out and it was fun to see my new friend Vitalik being the recipient of an award…and seeing Larisa be the proud mother of that fine young man.
After the assembly it was time to head into the classroom where parents get to talk to the teacher a bit and the students do an hour or so of class. Teachers end up with quite a few flowers on this day as each child brings a nice bouquet as a first day of school gift to them. Larisa and I stood toward the back of the room while observing the happenings in there…but I noticed child after child turning around to look at me. By “look at me” I mean “stare at the two-headed goofball in the back of the room”. I had done my best to dress inconspicuously and blend in with the crowd but I guess when you’re the only American standing in a classroom full of Ukrainians it’s pretty obvious I’m an outsider. Finally the teacher got everyone’s attention, said something to them while looking at me and then I had a slew of fourth grade Ukrainians asking me questions in the best English they had.
“What is your name?” one asked…and then they all laughed when I said my name was Chia.
“Where are you from?” asked another and I replied Atlanta…and then the United States as I wasn’t sure how familiar with US geography they were. A few more questions were asked and then it was time for the students to get back to their regular work and Larisa and I headed on out. One of Larisa’s sisters is a teacher at that school and it was my duty to carry armfuls of flowers home for her. It was as if I was carrying bundles of firewood home, my arms cupping and holding as many bouquets as I could without dropping any. (I dropped some…shhhhh…don’t tell anyone).
We stopped at Larisa’s apartment on the way back to drop some things of and pick a few things up and while doing so saw a quick wedding procession. Hm, now that I think about it, I wonder if getting married on the first day of school is an auspicious thing or not. I’ll have to ask!
Next up was heading to the market so we could get food for breakfast and then time to stuff our faces until it was time for the day’s festivities. In Ukraine it is tradition to do something special after the first day of class. Some families have big lunches at fancy restaurants, others have small trips, some have picnics and we decided that a group outing to the bowling alley outside of town would be fun. Larisa, two of her sisters, Vitalik and myself crammed into a small taxi and made our way to the bowling alley, all the while my head spinning in this direction and that as I took in yet more sights from parts of town (and outside of town) that I had never seen before. The country captivates me and I must come back.
When we arrived at the bowling alley, a building I never would have guessed was an alley, I noticed a large cage at the end of the parking lot. Once we exited the car I stepped closer and noticed there was a bear inside the cage. Well ok then…I’ve never seen a bear in a cage in the parking lot of a bowling alley out in the middle of nowhere. I kind of felt bad for the poor thing as it really was just a cage in the middle of nowhere. At least at a zoo the bear would have some sort of stimulation but this was just…there. Nonetheless I was a bit captivated and surprised to see such. Time to leave the poor bear alone and head inside. We got in, I looked around and saw all four lanes open and ready to be bowled on. Coming from big city American I thought “aw, tiny!” and “aw, cute!” as we rented our shoes and got ready to bowl. It was fun seeing my name up there on the score board written in Russian.
We ended up playing three games today. I’m not sure what proper etiquette is while bowling in Ukraine as a guest but my new Ukrainian friends kept talking so much trash that I let my competitive side take over and I ended up winning all three games. Let’s see if they ever let me come back to visit after my bowling dominance. I guess it’s only fair for them beating me at Uno so much. Ha!
Alas, after much bowling and laughing and making faces at each other it was time to venture on to dinner. After returning our shoes we hailed another taxi and it was back into town and civilization. We stopped back in to the first restaurant that Larisa and I ate at when I first came to town and got our tables. Once again jet lag was still affecting me a bit and I needed a coffee. Larisa ordered me a coffee and I was ready to get my caffeine jolt going. Once again my American “we have giant portions of food” bias came through as the coffee that was delivered was in my eyes a small (by American standards) but was in all reality a large coffee in Ukraine. If anything, this was a good way to curb my coffee intake! I sure didn’t plan on ordering six coffees just to equal that of a grande coffee at Starbucks.
After some quality time of stories and more laughter around the dinner table and stuffing my face with Ukrainian cuisine it was once again time to head back to mom’s house. It’s amazing how much activity we’ve been fitting into each and every day. I can remember waking up each morning thinking “eh, it’ll be a chill day with maybe some shopping” but it seems like every day was packed full of activity, even while sitting around the table while lunch was being made. Interesting stuff indeed. Exhausting, interesting but fun. It helped me learn so much more about everyday life in Ukraine. I paid the bill (everyone kept saying no no no but I said it was the least I could do for being such generous hosts to me while being there) and it was off to catch a bus. The bus we ended up catching was another one of those super old, “I think I saw this in a 1962 Soviet spy movie” type buses and it was quite crowded but hey, it just added to the atmosphere. Oh how I was beginning to love my new town.
Our bus made its way to the outskirts of town and we walked the very familiar path back to Mom’s house. The sun was setting, the air getting crisp and I would take deep deep breaths to inhale as much of the countryside that I could. A fireplace burning here, some leaves burning there, the fresh air blowing through the trees picking up that “tree” smell…such a refreshing change from the humid city smell I was used to back in the States. Once we got to Mom’s and settled in a bit the water pot was on for our usual evening tea and/or coffee. Given the hour I chose tea while we sat around the table, sipping tea, sharing stories, munching on snacks and having them quiz me on how to spell words in the Cyrillic alphabet. To my pleasant surprise (even though I was still disappointed that I couldn’t walk around the country unaided) I was able to spell a good number of them correctly. Yay me! As the evening wore on Vitalik ended up watching a movie on the laptop while Larisa and I caught up on the day, what I saw, what we both thought, and so forth. The night eventually set in even more, getting to that point where it would be time to call the taxi for me and have me make my way back to the hotel. Ah yes…the taxi…same as always…pre-negotiated price by Larisa and then having me sit in a car silently as it made its way through town back to my hotel. I’ve come to enjoy these rides actually…
So here we are…with our final thoughts of the day. As exhausted as I am each night when I get back to my hotel room (exhausted as in “I don’t even want to brush my teeth or change out of my clothes, I just want to flop on the bed and sleep” exhausted) I always enjoy reflecting back on my day and what’s to come.
Tonight’s thoughts include:
• I’m quite sad that this trip is about to be over. It feels like I just got here. There’s so much more to see. I feel a good bit of calmness about me and I want to keep this feeling.
• I’ve felt quite relaxed all week despite going non-stop most of the time.
• I’m trying not to think of the rat race at home. I definitely need to change the way I live life when I get back.
• Why is my stomach gurgling every morning? Is it all the different food I’ve been eating?
• I’ve also been having some heftier and more frequent, um, “movements”. Is that from all the bread and coffee that I’ve been having? I don’t eat that much bread at home so maybe so…