Aleksandrovsk

I couldn't have asked for a better way to kick-off the gorgeous Spring weather here, as well as our 10-day vacation, then with a trip out into the country with a perfect international group of Americans (mostly volunteers here with the Peace Corps), Iraqis, and Ukrainians.  Our destination was a beautiful wooded area just outside of the town of Aleksandrovsk for a little sun, fun, and shashlik (Russian-style barbecue):

In true American style, we introduced our comrades to a little water-balloon tossing, and lured in participation with a grand prize of being the first to eat (which, incidentally, was won by my partner and me...score!):

The second round, however, I ended up refreshingly soaked:

Iraq, Ukraine, and America representing:

In between football-tossing, frisbee-throwing, and badminton-playing, we had a hoard of food.  Glorious, glorious creations from everyone!  It was awesome.

The last of my stash of my Kansas City barbecue sauce even made an appearance and was a welcomed hit:

Photographers and photo shoots...it's not a picnic in Ukraine without them:

About a 15 minute walk from our spot in the woods sits this old, abandoned mansion. Built in 1772 (240 years ago!), it has served as a private residence, been occupied by the Nazis during WWII, and was a hospital for tuberculosis patients in it's final days of occupancy:

With the front door open and eerily welcoming, needless to say, it made for a great afternoon of exploration:

Heading up to the second floor on the "floating" staircase:

The walk back to the campgrounds was just as nice...I felt a million miles away from Lugansk:

Two very rockin' Peace Corps volunteers:  Wyoming and Caroline (who put this whole shin-dig together in the first place!  Thanks, lady!):

Besides spending the day with some seriously hilarious and inspirational people, it's nice to know that, despite what our governments and media outlets do to pine us all against one another, we can gather in the woods of Ukraine not as countries with borders and agendas, but as friends.  That is beyond cool:

I don't know if it was the healthy dose of sunshine or the amazing company and food (or all three), but I have a renewed sense of energy for the upcoming week of...vacation!  Ha!  Heading out west tomorrow to the Carpathian mountains for some more Ukrainian culture and hospitality!  пака!

In Remembrance

This past Sunday in Ukraine was an extension of Easter known as провидна, or Sending Off Sunday, a time for families to gather together and remember their deceased loved ones and ancestors.  It's similar to our Memorial Day, except a little more religiously vodka-soaked.  My friend and colleague, Ola, invited me out to her family's village of Petrovka to participate in the traditions out at the colorful little country cemetery:

On the walk to the graveyard, hoards of people migrated in the same direction with bouquets of flowers (especially gorgeous red tulips) and picnic baskets filled with food.  One of the more unique characteristics of Ukrainian cemeteries is the addition of small tables and benches next to each grave especially for times like these.  The families decorate the graves with flowers, candy, and dyed eggs, and then have a meal and more than a few vodka toasts (I was told no less than three will do) to celebrate their loved ones.  It's a really interesting atmosphere in start contrast to the more reserved forms of paying respect in our cemeteries back home:

The local Orthodox priest walks through the cemetery with some lovely Pious singing ladies and, for a few hryvnia out of your wallet, they'll sing a song and do a blessing at the grave of your choice.  I couldn't help but wonder if he dabbles in a bit of the vodka-custom as well.  I mean, what exactly is he hiding under all of those robes anyway!?  In any case, I felt that I had to go into stealth-mode to get a photo and a super short video of the hoopla as I'm pretty sure paparazzi-ing religious moments in a cemetery isn't the best way to make friends in Ukraine.  

In what could be considered a super hands-off approach to both Halloween and Easter combined, children go around with bags and collect all of the eggs and candies left on the graves after dutifully making the sign of the cross first.  Probably this has resulted in more than one tombstone show-down, but I didn't witness any of the action.

Afterwards, it was back to Ola's sister, Katcha's (and her husband, Sasha's), house for a barbecue:

I love heading out to Sasha and Katcha's home in Petrovka.  It's so cute and quaint, and the fresh country air surrounding the place is so refreshing!  We dined al fresco in their darling little outdoor dining room:

These ladies know how to celebrate life!  They're always so much fun:

In addition to the gorge-fest of food prepared by Katcha, we also had traditional Ukrainian shashlik, or barbecue, lovingly prepared for us by Sasha.  Seriously uh-may-zing.

For a while, the sun came out and I not only got to show off my gleaming white limbs, but I also got to don a traditional Crimean Tartar piece of headwear, which I think I pull off nicely:

And then the clouds gathered over the place and we drank and dined amongst the rolling thunder and soothing stream of rain:

Before heading back, we took one last little walk through their garden and into another seriously old graveyard just behind their house with the dog...with bellies full of shashlik and more, it was a much needed excursion before the ride back to Lugansk:

Celebrating the dead is no light business in this country, and it's so incredible to be a part of something so culturally important and traditionally different than what's considered "normal" to us in the West.  And to top it all off with a fabulous country barbecue, fantastic company, and some incredible shashlik, well, that's definitely Ukraine for you.