Sunday, April 3, 2011

Spring Break and Projects Continued

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Spring!! I hope the warm weather is beginning in the US – here it is beginning to warm up and the winter clothes are slowly being shed. I am greatly looking forward to the warmer weather so I can stop wearing all the leggings, wool socks and winter boots which have been my primary wardrobe for the last few months!!

Since my last post I have been busy traveling for spring break! Adding to the many exotic locations I have had the fortune of visiting, I traveled to Istanbul (not Constantinople), Turkey! Following the last day of class I took my overnight train to Kiev where I had the great opportunity to spend the day with a friend from Northwestern, Tatiana. Tatiana is a good friend of Meaghan’s, my fellow NU alum here in Ukraine, and I got a chance to show her around Kiev for the day! We had a great time visiting, catching up and reminiscing about NU! Below is a picture of me with Tatiana and our massive backpacks before I put her on a bus to Meaghan’s site and I went to take a bus to the airport.

Traveling to Turkey, I was accompanied by 3 other PCVs from Ukraine – Jacob from Arizona, Kim from Delaware and Kathleen from Illinois. We stayed at a super fun hostel called the Bahaus Guesthouse. The hostel has a bar/lounge area on the top floor and a lot of space for hanging out which is where we met a number of really cool people from all over the world! One thing I love about traveling and especially about staying in hostels is the people whom you meet there! On our first morning in Istanbul we met a Canadian from Saskatchewan, my second ever!, named Jordan. He was traveling around Europe and joined our crew for the majority of our trip. On the second night we met a guy named Wren from Seattle who dazzled us (and all our waiters) with rope tricks and balancing forks on toothpicks on saltshakers! We included an Australian gal named Audrey on our third day of touring and managed to run into another PCV from Ukraine who was accompanied by 2 PCVs in Armenia traveling with their friend who lives in China! It is simply amazing how the world can come together these days. The number of nationalities represented in each given space always thrills me.

Istanbul, once known as Constantinople, is a city split into three parts. Two parts belong to the European continent while one belongs to the Asian continent. Istanbul is an interesting mix of modern and ancient from food, to clothing, to architecture and beyond. While there is Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, Little Caesar’s Pizza, Dominoes and more, there are ancient columns standing at every turn, ancient water reservoirs located below shopping streets and traditional Turkish baths open next to knock off Burberry purse stands. The smells of roasted corn and chestnuts, kebabs and Turkish coffee linger in the air as you walk down the streets. Languages from all over the world are spoken and Turkish shop assistants running the bazaar stands are skilled in no less than 5 languages each to support the massive number of tourists arriving each year. Windows filled with baklava and Turkish delight, a special hard jellied candy; catch your eye as you walk from site to site. The Bosphorous river boardwalk is lined with fish sandwich boats, men selling mussels with a drip of lemon juice and boats to take you across to the other two parts of Istanbul. The whole city is alive with tourists and natives. The bazaars have just as many trinket stands as they do underwear, dresses, pashmina, shoes and other necessary item stands. Turkish baths are not simply frequented by the tourists but also by the locals wishing to feel that intense clean one can only get after an hour of sweating it out in a sauna. I really loved this city!

Our trip, sadly, was short – only 3 full days with two days for travel. However, we made the best of the time! On our first day we arrived early to see the Topkapi Palace, the home of the sultans of the Constantinople Empire. Built about 1453 the palace consists of 4 courtyards each separated by magnificent arches which kept out the lower subjects as one ventured farther into the palace. Upon entering the second courtyard we ran to get into the Harem, a maze of rooms which housed, cared for and educated not only the concubines of the sultan, but also the sultan’s family. Harem means “private” and thus many of the decorated rooms were assigned to the sultan’s mother and family. Similar to the mudejar style of ceiling I found in Spain, rooms were intricately decorated in designs of bright colors, carved wood patterns and gold. Fountains, spaces for candles and cauldrons for fires accompanied many of the rooms. In one room one of the guards explained to us through miming, as he spoke no English and Turkish is not an easily understandable language, that the spaces in the walls were not bookcases but would have held a candle whose light would be reflected outwards to lighten the room.

Our favorite part of the tour included a visit to the Treasury. Like all good empires – Constantinople had some serious bling! The treasury room holds three different thrones made of solid gold and covered in precious stones, the arm and skull of St. John the Baptist, the staff of Moses, and an 86-carat diamond known as the “Spoonmaker’s Diamond,” the fifth largest diamond in the world. The diamond is known as the “Spoonmaker’s” because it was originally found in a garbage dump and purchased by a street peddler for 3 spoons!! Quite a bargain huh?

Following the palace we visited the Basilica Cistern. The Basilica Cistern is a water reservoir, which was built in 532 AD to house the water for the palaces located nearby. Following the decline of the empire, the cistern was forgotten about until 1545 when an archeologist discovered it beneath houses whose tenants claimed they could miraculously obtain water by dropping their buckets down the basement floorboards. The cistern is a cavern of 336 columns, which once could hold 80,000 cubic meters of water! The lighting is incredible – an eerie red glowing on each column. One fun feature is the unexplained existence of two Medusa heads holding up two of the columns - check out pictures below!

In the afternoon of our first day we hit up the spice bazaar. In Ukraine, spices do exist but they are mediocre and unflavorful. So a spice bazaar was a paradise for us! As we took in the smells of saffron, curry and chili, we viewed the rows and rows of brightly colored spices as well as the endless shelves of treats and candies. We didn’t make it far into the bazaar before we were taste testing everything and buying all our money could afford. My new favorite candy is pomegranate Turkish delight – a jelly chew made with pomegranate juice, filled with pistachios and rolled in powdered sugar – mmm mmm good! Mom your Swiss army knife was in frequent use cutting up pieces to share with our crew throughout the trip!!

The last site we visited was the Blue Mosque. Built between 1606 and 1616 the Blue Mosque has 6 minarets and the largest courtyard of all the Ottoman Mosques. Tens of thousands of blue tiles decorating the inside give the mosque its name. Inside you must remove your shoes while walking on the carpet and women must cover their heads. Wearing our scarves while holding our tennis shoes we befriended a Turkish guy named Murat who wanted to practice his English and thus walked us around the mosque. The interior is beautiful with low hanging lamps to illuminate the vast prayer space. The many names for God are painted onto the wall spaces. As the prayer space is separated from the tourist standing area, the atmosphere was a bit different for me than at the Muhammad Ali Mosque in Cairo where you were able to feel more connected with the people coming to the mosque to pray. Here it felt a bit more like a zoo, gawking at the people in prayer sadly while many American women stood with their heads uncovered. When you travel – please remember to be culturally sensitive!

Our second day of traveling was no less exciting! We began with a trip to the Aya Sofya, Hagia Sofia in Greek or Church of the Divine Wisdom in English. The Aya Sofya was built in 537 AD and reigned as the greatest church in Christendom until the Conquest in 1453 when it was made into a mosque. In 1935 the Aya Sofya was opened as a museum. Today tourists can enter to view the vast dome ceiling, impressive mosaics which have been preserved and restored and the weeping column which is said to predict curing of ailments and disease if you place your thumb inside the hole and it comes out wet! Inside the Aya Sofya we ran into my friend Damon, the other Ukraine PCV who then joined us later in the evening for our adventures to another section of Istanbul.

One of the silliest parts of our trip occurred in the afternoon when our crew hopped on a ferry and road over to the Asian side of Istanbul. Now most people would wait to visit China or Japan to claim they have been to Asia, but forget that! I’ve now been to Asia!!! And all I did there was eat a kebab. It tasted the same as it did in Europe.

On our last day we decided to end with a relaxing Turkish bath. Like in Morocco, Turkey does large public bathhouses where women scrub other women down in steaming rooms to obtain a good clean. Kim and I entered the women’s room while Jacob, Jordan and Damon headed to the men’s. The Turkish bath is a nice experience – first you sweat it out in a large marble room with natural lighting and then a Turkish woman scrubs you down followed by a nice soap massage! Obviously pictures are not allowed in the bath but check out the website if you want to know more or see the pictures of the large marble room! It was quite a nice relaxing treat to end our trip!

http://www.cemberlitashamami.com/

Sadly on Thursday we had to fly back to Ukraine. The morning however was not wasted! Jacob and I got up a bit early and took a 1-hour metro ride to the outskirts of the city to one of the largest malls in Europe where we were able to hit up H&M!!!!! Yes it was worth it!! With a few new items for summer plus a Chai latte in hand for the metro ride back – we were happy campers!!

One last thing I want to share about Istanbul was the influence Anthony Bourdain played on our trip. Star of the Food Network show “No Reservations” Anthony Bourdain travels to cities and, simply stated, films himself eating. Jacob had us watch the Istanbul episode that lead to us searching the city for different recommended delicacies. We were successful in finding mussels along the river, which were amazing!! (I think we ate the guy out of his stand) We also found lachmachun which is Turkish pizza – a thin dough with meat and spices covered in salad and dressed in lemon juice all rolled up to be eaten – see a picture below of Jacob and I eating in success of our find! Istanbul fed us well!! If you would like to watch the episode please check it out below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz223HRovno

Upon return to Ukraine I was not done with traveling just yet – instead, I took an overnight train to Lviv in the west of Ukraine. One PCV’s organization yearly organizes a climb of Mt. Hoverla – the highest mountain in Ukraine. Located in the Carpathian Mountains in the southwest region of Ukraine, Hoverla stands at 6,672 feet high. About 100 PCVs joined by almost 400 Ukrainians loaded a private train, which traveled overnight to the mountain to climb. Poorly prepared for the weather and conditions for climbing, many PCVs sported tennis shoes and a few layers – luckily I had my winter boots on and enough layers to stay warm the entire trek (yeah for being a good Minnesnowtan!). Snow and ice still covered the mountain and we made it up slowly but surely! Arriving at the second to highest peak we thought we had made it all the way until our seated picnicking selves turned to see another peak located just behind us – boo! Unfortunately, due to massive winds and hail we were not able to make the summit but began the treacherous attempt to descend the snow covered mountain. With little traction and lots of snow, most ended up sledding down on their rear ends without another choice. At one point I fell and started to slide with so much momentum I turned to accidentally sled down backwards a good 20 feet – not so fun! But we all made it safely back to the train –sore all over with only a few minor scrapes and cuts. Our wagon conductor had no idea what to do with the 50 Americans sprawled out all over his wagon with clothing hanging and drying as far as the eye could see!

The whole trek was a lot of fun and now I can cross it off my Ukraine bucket list! It was also a nice chance to spend some quality time with some of the PCVs who will be leaving us come the end of Spring! Soon my group will be the seniors – such a crazy thought! I also was able to spend some good quality time with my site mate, Shannon! I have finally taken a picture with her – check it out below!

The last event I want to tell you about occurred just this last weekend – the painting of the first of two World Map Projects here in Velyka Lepetykha. The final part of my HIV/AIDS Awareness Project included the purchasing of paints and materials for completing two world maps. I was able to obtain the assistance of the janitors and wood shop teacher in my school to build me a hardwood backdrop which they did a lovely job of completing (pictures below). The class master of 6A, Vika, is an artist and she helped me throughout the week/weekend of painting. During the week we painted two coats of ocean blue while on Friday 4 of my 9A students helped me to trace the outline of the map using the transparency my mom had printed and sent from America! Thanks mom! Saturday I had 3 other PCVs come to Velyka Lepetykha, Barbara and Mike who live in Kherson and Kaity who serves just outside Kherson. Along with 6 students spanning 6th-9th grades, Vika, Shannon and the 3 other PCVs we had quite a painting crew on Saturday and the work went quickly and smoothly!! Countries were painted based on the color-coding of a map loaned to us by the Geography teacher. A tree was added to the backdrop for the upcoming Earth Day on April 22nd to support the Environmental Working Group’s efforts. And a red HIV/AIDS Awareness ribbon was painted in another corner as my HIV/AIDS Grant sponsored the map. The top two corners received a Ukrainian flag and the symbol of Peace Corps. On Saturday we painted from 10:30am to 1:30pm – the students did an amazing job!! In the afternoon I got a chance to take Barbara, Mike, Kaity and Shannon to the burger place of my Armenian friend where they had their first (good) hamburgers since being in Ukraine! A little tour of Velyka Lepetykha followed – it was really fun to show off my town and they really liked it! Velyka Lepetykha really is a pretty place in spring – especially with the sun shining! On Sunday we applied a lot of second coats, touched up the Polynesian Islands, which somehow had turned out as big as Cuba, added a few countries, which were discovered to be missing and completed the boarder of the map. On Monday at school, my director gave me a big “Molodetz!” which means “great job” in Russian – I am really happy with the students and how it turned out!! As my dad said, this will be a great legacy for me to leave in VL for them to remember me by.

Before I close this post I want to let all of you know of two opportunities you have to support both myself and the efforts I am making here in Ukraine. This upcoming summer I will be working two summer camps, Camp HEAL and ABCamp. Camp Heal is an educational summer camp, which teaches Ukrainian students about HIV/AIDS including its biology, transmission and prevention as well as the stigma and discrimination that accompany HIV/AIDS in hopes that fewer youth in Ukraine will fall victim to this tragic disease. ABCamp, which I staffed last summer, teaches Ukrainian youth the importance of leadership and volunteerism as well as the skills of project planning and development while also presenting such fun topics as international cultures, theatre and world music. These camps mean a lot to me as well as the Ukrainian youth who attend them. I would greatly appreciate whatever support you can afford! Donations are tax deductible.

Camp HEAL

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=343-215

ABCamp

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=343-206


That is it for now! This coming weekend (April 9th and 10th) we will be painting School #2’s World Map! And at the end of April I have a friend from NU visiting for my birthday!! So many exciting events to come!

Once again I hope you are all having a wonderful, warm spring season!

All the best,

Megan

Pictures Include:
- Me with my NU friend Tatiana in Kiev
- Kim, Jacob and I outside the Topkapi Palace
- Inside Topkapi Palace (9 pictures) along with our friend Jordan from Canada
- Eating roasted corn on the street with Kim and Jordan
- With Jacob and Kim outside the Blue Mosque
- Visiting the Basilica Cistern (3 pictures including one of the Medusa head)
- Apple tea in traditional Turkish teacups
- Baklava with crushed pistachio in the window
- Turkish Delight
- Spices from the spice market
- Me outside the Blue Mosque
- Blue Mosque from inside the courtyard
- Inside the Blue Mosque (2 pictures)
- With our Turkish friend Murat outside the Blue Mosque
- Mausoleums of the Aya Sofya (i.e. burial places of the sultans) (3 pictures)
- Inside the Aya Sofya with Kim and Jacob (5 pictures including 2 of ancient mosaics)
- Outside the Aya Sofya (3 pictures)
- Eating mussels near the river, Anthony Bourdain approved!! (2 pictures)
- Having lunch in Asia with our Ukraine PCV friend Kathleen and her German friend Philip
- Kim and I at the Asia side ferry station
- With our PCV Ukraine friend Damon and 2 PCV Armenia girls and their friend from China as well as another friend from Seattle Wren in Taksim Square
- AMAZING Turkish dinner (6 pictures including one of Wren showing the waiters his balancing trick!)
- Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya at night (1 picture of each)
- Me with Blue Mosque – the sun came out!!
- Starbucks with Kim
- The biggest doner kebab I’ve ever seen!
- Grand Bazaar (2 pictures)
- Jacob and I eat Lachmachun!!!
- Jacob, Kim, Kathleen and I for our Bosphorous Boat tour (5 pictures)
- Entrance marker for Mt. Hoverla National Park
- Climbing Mt. Hoverla (14 pictures including one of me with Shannon, my sitemate!)
- Second highest summit of Mt. Hoverla where we picnicked (6 pictures plus 2 of attending to make it to the top peak before being turned back)
- Sliding our way down the mountain (2 pictures)
- Me with the sign pointing towards the path up after making it down!
- Janitors build my World Map backdrop! (2 pictures)
- Me painting the 2nd coat of ocean blue!
- 9th grade girls tracing the map
- Painting the World Map (10 pictures including 2 end of Day 1 pictures!)
- Eating hamburgers at Cactus Café in VL with Barbara, Mike, Shannon and Kaity
- Having an American spaghetti and Greek salad dinner with my host mom Vera and her friend Tanya
- End of day 2 picture (map still needs a title, date and labeling of all the countries but the painting is all set!!)