Tuesday Is for Learning

Yesterday we bought OJ, staving off any further vitamin C crises outside of the head colds that we have both manifested. This is what comes of my orange juice denial on Saturday...

We managed to learn several "new" things yesterday, too.

1. First of all, we had totally blanked on the fact that there is a Mexican Food restaurant (!) here in Kharkov, La Cucaracha. So, we rambled over there for lunch. It was a strange experience. We showed up at about 12:30 and were the only people in the place save a woman who was cleaning and a guy behind the bar, both of whom steadfastly ignored us until we persisted in poking our nose around each corner and began opening doors. The cleaning woman explained that the waiter had stepped out for a moment, but would be back and we could just seat ourselves wherever. The food was suprisingly okay. We ordered tacos, which came in threes, were made with chicken, and contained dill, but were otherwise surprisingly good. Thus, we have declared it a "keeper" and will return and try, say, the fajitas... 
2. Stores have started closing up shop. Well, I don't know how surprising this is or not. I guess I am surprised at the volatility in the market place. Jason needs a pair of shorts to work out in (long story), and we thought- we'll just run into that Adidas store around the corner. Guess what? gone. Boxed up. They were taking down the sign, when we walked past on Monday. The Puma store on the main drag? also gone. What about that place that sells L'Occitane products? gone. I told Jason that I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but apparently they didn't survive the holidays or recup any losses during the after Christmas sales...and then there is the whole threat of currency devaluation looming on the horizon, which made me wonder if some western brands are pulling out ahead of a monetary crisis. 
3. We had some time between La Cucaracha and our language lesson, so we popped into an "Apt'eka" to find out if this could possibly where one buys contact solution and efferdent. Score! They had both. They even had Jason's preferred Opti Free brand of contact solution (though the packaging was in Russian, including the Opti Free name itself). When we explained about the efferent, which included a gesture to my teeth and the phrase, "if you don't have real teeth and need to clean them", which did indeed cause some analysis of our smiles by all present, they brought us to an open box. I asked for a whole box, but they didn't have one. Apparently they usually sell each tablet separately (sigh). I bought what was left. 
4. We've come to the conclusion that the reason we keep finding clumps of undissolved laundry detergent in our washer is... it must require liquid detergent. Yepper. That one took us a little while to decipher. 

A Quiet Sunday in Kharkov

Jason and I decided to go out for a walk this afternoon and explore a bit of Kharkov that we hadn't gotten to yet. The weather was cold, but clear, and the sidewalks are mostly snow-free. Oh- and we forgot to go to the bank, so we had no cash for any endeavor that required "nalichny" (cash payment)... like say, a restaurant or museum. Seriously, in line at the grocery store I denied ownership of a carton of orange juice because I couldn't afford it (when I saw the tally was more than our last 152 Grivna, "no, no, that's not my orange juice! pfft- don't be ridiculous!"). 

But hey! walking is free and so are the photos. Our first stop was the Holy Shroud Lavra (monastery). There was quite a line in the Cathedral- they had a holy icon on loan (it was the Holy Mother + a name that I did not recognize). In any case, people were snaked around the interior of the Cathedral, lined up to pray, kiss and light a candle in front of the icon.

We dodged around a bit, going from Cathedral to Cathedral- this area was apparently spared during the war. Interestingly, the riverbank has a nice walking path, but the neighborhood around it was dodgy. No one has come in and started building high-rise apartments with river views. 

    Holy Shroud Monastery

Store at the Monastery...

... selling icons, bags, and bottles of Holy Water

Assumption Cathedral

Thankfully- we captured that trash can for posterity. 

Jason in the park by the Monastery- decends to river with the added bonus of remarkably bad art for sale (you start feeling bad for the frames and canvas...) 

Kharkov River Walk

Annunciation Cathedral- gorgeous inside, dodgy outside.

Waiting for metro at the Istorichisky Muzei (Historical Museum) metro stop

Healthy Living

We've started collecting advice we've been given for healthy living from TV and other sources. It is nothing less than astonishing... and not just because neither garlic nor mustard appear in a single remedy:

1. If you don't want to get meningitis, wear a hat outside.
2. If you are suffering from depression, drink more coffee and tea.
3. If you are sick, do not watch TV or use a computer as both will raise your temperature.
4. Replacing one meal a day with that newfangled vegetable, broccoli, will help you lose weight. (note: this was part of a program introducing the vegetable to people and explaining its benefits and uses: you may have seen it in the store and wondered what it was...)
5. If you are worried about the potential negative energy attached to used clothing, wash them in salt after you buy them.

That last one is one of my favs. It harkens back to all of the folklore and superstition that is pervasive.

The gyms that we belong to are having a great deal of difficulty with my work outs. Just last night a trainer came over and tried to get me to give up my 45 lb bar for a 15 lb, saying it would be more "comfortable" for me. i think the guys at CF M4 have given up trying to get me to lighten my load... for a while, they even suggested that i do fewer reps than Jason (to which i responded, "sure", and then proceeded to do the same as Jason). Now, i think i just frighten them. They tend to waiver between gawking and looking askance. I guess i don't fit their model of femininity . Yeah, and I'm not going to do the workout in spandex and 4 inch heels, either guys...

The Academy

I wanted to write about this topic not only because of the state of education in Ukraine, but also because it speaks to the levels of corruption within the county. Incidentally, I wrote this piece in a coffee shop down the road from the OVIR office, where Jason was trying to register his visa... but that is a whole other can o' worms.

Oh where, oh where do I begin?

We started hearing hints of the troubles in Academia as soon as our orientation began. We heard that something was going on at Kiev Mohylo University (the top university in Ukraine). Some one mentioned that university rectors had to pay anywhere from 100 to 400 thousand USD to keep their jobs/contracts from year to year. Who do they pay? Why, the Ministry of Education.

Shortly after the Orange Revolution (ca. 2004) the country instituted a national exam before high school graduation. The exam became one of the key means of ranking students for admission to college and effectively leveled the playing field between haves, have nots, and those with connections and influence (often one in the same as the 'haves'). This worked for a while. The old system of bribing ones child into college (into a specific college) has been making a re-appearance. Some schools are slowing adding interviews and other elements to their application process, which makes the slide of cash across the table easier to accomplish. They haven't done away with the entrance exam (although there are some in the Yanukovich government that wish to do so- such a democratic systems devolves too much power to people beyond the immediate "Family").

I should also explain that there are two types of students in Ukraine: those that pay and those that don't. In principal, the freebie students (who also receive a stipend for living expenses) are the best and most worthy students. The others- not so much. Bribery is used to not only secure a specific school, but also one of the elite, freebie slots. Parents calculate that they can recoup their bribes via the scholarship and stipend.  

Having all of those pieces of information, let us get to the nitty gritty of Kiev Mohylo University and the subsequent circumstances of all Universities in Ukraine. Kiev Mohylo cannot be bought. As a consequence, the current government and Ministry of Education (by extension) have been waging a war on them. They have gone to court no less than three times and each time the triumvirate of judges has stated that they, in principal, side with the university, but in order to keep their jobs must rule in favor of the Ministry of Education.

Their current battle is over (get this!) the ability of students to change their major. The current Minister has declared that a student may not change majors...ever. Not as an undergrad. Not as a grad student. In fact, they have declared that if someone's undergraduate and graduate degrees are in different fields, their degrees are null and void.

A complication, however, is that Ukraine has signed on to the (European) "Bologna Process", which upholds the rights of students to change majors. Thus, it is the hope of Kiev Mohylo to take the issue to the Hague court.

A secondary fight is occuring in the legislature (the "Rada"). The Ministry of Education has proposed legislation, which would concentrate more power into its hands. The following are a few of the things over which the Ministry is seeking control:

• hiring new faculty and staff
• curricular changes
• new course offerings

They want to control who gets into college, what they are learning, who is working at each university...and, indubitably, who works where afterwards. 

Sadly, I do not know enough about world educational systems to know if this is a common problem. Under the old Soviet system, there existed this sort of cronyism and control (all in the name of equal access to the commune!). I also know that the cost of education in America is pricing out first generation college students and creating a class of elites even as it strives to give equal access. On the other hand, I am by no means apologist at the lack of such overt corruption within our system (outside of, say, student athletes and athletics). 

Our Russian tutor has brought up corruption within the education system several times- asking about buying grades and the like. Jason keeps shaking his head and asking, "how much would a student have to pay me for a grade?" He finds the idea inconceivable. I suggested 50 large seemed a fair price (kidding!).

American Embassy 2

So, Jason is appalled (not really) that i left out a few details of our trip to the Embassy.

First and foremost- it was a bunker. The fence around it was 20 feet high, and the fence itself was a good 50 feet from the first building. We had to go through metal detectors and no electronics (computer, cells phones, cameras) could be brought in. i set off the metal detector, but did not get wanded like the guys. Also, they let me bring my bag in, but the guys all had to leave their various man-purses (shaped like backpacks). We traded our passports for bright red ID tags that declared:ESCORT REQUIRED.

I know, i know, I needed both Wage and a camera- a missed opportunity for a series of brilliant photos.

We were invited to shop at the commissary and told that if we needed supplies to let them know and they would smuggle them out to us. So, what did we get? any guesses? Jiff PB, corn meal, baker's unsweetened chocolate (=brownies), and molasses (=BBQ, Kung Pao, and brown sugar for cookies), and Mrs Butterworths Pancake syrup (i have had success making "buttermilk" pancakes using kefir). I am saddened to report that i forgot to grab vanilla :o(

Finally, the security officer told us all that the safest ATM in Ukraine was inside the Embassy. They took us there so we could get cash (pre-commissary). As soon as we got back to the hotel, there was a phone call from our bank in the states... the Embassy ATM had flagged their security!

American Embassy

As many of you know, Jason and I hauled in to Kiev this last weekend for Fulbright orientation. We got up early on Thursday and took the fast train (4 hours versus 10), making stops in Poltava and Mirgorod (two famous cities in their own right, but I'll not tell you why because I have full intentions of visiting and describing them later).

The trains were made by Hyundai and purchased in time for the European soccer cup held in Ukraine and Poland last year. Amusingly people kept warning us of the "problems" the train has been having. Apparently, Hyundai sent engineers to check it out and ride on the trains, generally inspecting the situation. They concluded that the problem was not the trains, but rather the rail lines... whaaaa? (okay- maybe just a little sarcasm there).

In any case, train ride in, hauled to hotel on the metro... only to discover that you could see the train station from the hotel. yeah. It looked farther on the map.

I apologize, but I forgot to snap some shots of the hotel and room. So, let me describe it as Intourist Luxe, although the obligatory digital clock in the lobby was no more and had been replaced by fish tanks. The bathroom was unusually small for intourist- I had to wedge myself under the sink to sit on the toilet and perform yogic maneuvers to get to the TP. I suspect even a Japanese person would have been impressed with its efficiency. All of the furniture in the room was made of some blond wood facsimile and numbered in black magic marker. Jason and I each had a...er...let's go with twin sized bed, although they were about my shoulder's width, and which we duly referred to as our "pods". There was a fridge, an inaccessible balcony, a 12 inch tv (which sometimes worked), free wifi (which also sometimes worked), and free breakfast. Regarding breakfast, you were okay so long as curried chicken, rice, deviled eggs or cocoa puffs were to your liking. Actually, they had okay bliny (crepes) filled with apple and pretty decent coffee that was actual coffee and not instant (I swear they boiled it in huge vats and dumped it into the dispenser! I saw a waiter delivering some from the kitchen). In any case, these luxurious accommodations cost a mere $100/night. In truth they were pretty reasonable and clean.

I have managed to digress a bit and I apologize. I'm trying to get us to the Embassy. I took copious notes on what we were told and thought you would find it interesting to hear some of the stats and advice we were given:

• Per Transparency International's corruption index, Ukraine is ranked number 144 out of 167, tied with Syria and Eritrea. 
• Per the Economic Freedom Index, Ukraine is dead last. 
• 2012 in Ukraine ended in a recession. 
• Ukraine is currently negotiating with the IMF. They were supposed to start debt repayment (or, at least, make a plan) by December 2012, but the date came and went with no activity. 
• The government has conceded that it will no longer use pirated Microsoft software in its offices...really. 
• President Yanukovich's crowd of supporters and oligarch's are referred to as "The Family".
• Petty crime is more prevalent than violent (e.g.- pickpocketing in crowds and on transportation).
• There is no real terrorism here, outside of the occasional bombing associated with business/organized crime (e.g.- a real estate deal gone bad a few months back). 
• The largest Peace Corps contingent is here in Ukraine. 
• Driving is considered a full-contact sport. 
• One Ukrainian academic said that Yanukovich is too lazy to be authoritarian like Putin, which takes effort- you must tighten the screws all the time. 

There was a whole session on the state of education in Ukraine. I will hold off until tomorrow to write about it. It deserves its own topic and time, and, in fact, many Fulbrighters are itching to write articles and papers on the goings-on in education...So, until tomorrow! 

The Sky Is Falling

There has been a warm up in Kharkov. We've busted out of the 20s into the 30s and 40s, which means a couple of things:
1. The snow is melting and my feet are wet. My valenki (felt boots) were not made. for "byezdorozhnost'" (lit. roadlessness). note: must find waterproof boots.
2. The perpetual snow has turned to perpetual rain.
3. Huge sections of the sidewalks are cordoned off because of snow and ice avalanching off of roofs around town. So far, one person has been killed and one car has been destroyed (i'll try to find a photo of the car).
In truth, I am glad to see the snow go. Every time we ventured out, it felt like a slog. We couldnt find enough will power to go to any of the city sites. We didnt see the town as much as the ice covered sidewalks. Thus, I look forward to seeing the city , which we just read is the prettiest of all of the industrial cities in Ukraine :o)