good skies for stone statues

I was in Kyiv this weekend with my grandparents, and for the most part we were quite lucky - warm weather, not to hot, and sunny, blue skies.  Before this weekend, I hadn't really been struck with the desire to photograph the myriad clunky statues that grace the city, but with the skies so blue I ended up snapping a few.

Statue of Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912), a Ukrainian pianist and composer, near the Opera House in downtown Kyiv.

 The controversial Lenin Statue in downtown Kyiv.  His nose was broken off this summer, and a tent from the Communist Party have been keeping guard on the square ever since.

Yaroslav the Wise (988-1054, Grand Prince of Rus and known as the founder of Kyiv, near the Golden Gate.  I posted about this statue earlier this year, it's the one some call "the dude with the cake."  But the cake is really the St. Sofia, in case you're wondering.

Statue of Soviet soldiers near the World War II museum and Lavra.

Rodina Mat (Mother Motherland) near the World War II Museum.  The Lonely Planet mocks her (quote: "what the hell, indeed"), but I think she bears a striking resemblance to Lady Liberty:

(hard to track down the photo credits to this, so I'll just say I stole it from someone who did the same)

My grandparents near the World War II Museum.  How can you not take photos next to this tunnel of gigantic soldiers?

May 18th - A day a morning

photo credit (not mine!):  RFE/RL

May 18th of this year marked the 66th anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars.  Every year thousands march to the center of Simferopol, many walking for miles or travelling from far corners of Crimea and Ukraine, and even countries such as Romania, Turkey, and the United States.  Due to the extremely high level of casualties during and immediately after the deportation, every family has someone for whom to mourn.  The photo above (taken from here) was taken in Simferopol's Lenin square on Tuesday.

This day follows two other important days in Ukraine:  Victory Day, which is celebrated on May 9th with much fanfare, and the commemoration of the victims of the communist regime.   In a recent column, Mariana Karapinka writes these days and what it means for national identity in today's Ukraine:

The beginning of May is a challenge for Ukrainians: during this time the conflict of memories, which is always at stake in Ukrainian history and thus projected onto the present, becomes the most harsh and painful. May 9 and May 16 – two important dates of commemoration – present two myths of Ukraine and two visions of its future. May 9 is a holiday of Soviet legacy – the day of the Great Victory in the Great Patriotic War  (commonly known as World War II) and May 16 is day of commemoration of the victims of the communist regime.  The fact that these two opposite holidays are so close in the Ukrainian calendar is rather symbolic than accidental. We live like this.

Since Ukraine gained independence 19 years ago, Ukrainian intellectuals as well as ordinary people have been trying to understand their history. Which facts were glorious and which were shameful? Who are our heroes and who are inglorious bastards?  What was victory and what was defeat? The dichotomy (this is a simplification because there are more than two general opinions) in the perception of historical facts and thus in building a national identity is the sign of modern Ukrainian times. 

Adding May 18th to the 9th and 16th gives us even more to think about this month.

Who are Ukrainians

I had high hopes when I saw the cover of this free copy of Kyiv Weekly in a hotel lobby in Odessa this week:

The cover asks What does the world know about us?  What do we know about ourselves?  Is that true?  Who are Ukrainians?

Must say I was a bit disappointed with the rest of the issue.  The most relevant article is "Myth of a country of 130 nationalities", which, as you can see by the first line, doesn't say much: Ukraine is slightly behind the majority of European countries in terms of the level of multi-ethnicity, but at the same time it appears to be a fully nationally homogenous country.  Is this why you've dressed a black child in traditional Ukrainian costume?

In exploring these pressing questions, we learn the following:

• "Labor productivity in Ukraine is among the lowest in the world"
• "Housing conditions in Ukraine do not differ much from our former Gulag inmates
• Ukrainians engage in sexual intercourse 108 times a year, on average
• "Every 5th child born out of wedlock"

Ukrainians are also compared to their neighbors.  Observe:

• "More mobile than Belarusians"
• "Borrow like Serbians"
• "24 liters of milk behind Europe"
• "Russians 5 liters ahead [in average yearly vodka consumption]"

Still not the deep probe into ethnicity, history and cultural identity I was hoping for.  

One of the most illustrative answers to these questions of Ukrainian identity vs. the world, at least for the writers and audience of Kyiv Weekly?  Sushi Ya's advertisement calls out to customers on the last page by advertising itself as Modern Japanese Cuisine with "Western Management."  

Crimean Khans in art

I learned about these beautiful portraits of the Crimean Khans from a Crimean Tatar list-serv I subscribe to.  The artist, Yuri Nikitin, has painted the Crimean Khans to a great degree of historical accuracy on stretched leather.

A daytrip to Yevpatoria

I recently daytripped to Yevpatoria with Adrianne and Meghan, two Peace Corps volunteers here in Ukraine.  Here are some pictures from the day.

Adrianne and Meghan with the newly purchased Frisbee.  Our best guess was "спортивный диск" but apparently that's actually Russian for hubcap.

Anyone know what is going on in this here toilet sign?

Obligatory shots of old and young in a cathedral

Particularly photographic couples along the seaside:

And one more

A few thoughts about passport holders

Out for some shopping this weekend and I picked myself up a new passport holder.  Your run-of-the-mill passport holders were 3 grivna (with purple and glitter marbling), but I shelled out 10 for this one.  Was it for the leather-like imprint on the plastic giving an impression of higher quality that won me over?  No, instead (amateur geographer as I am) it was the map of Ukraine impressed onto the book's cover.  I'd like to Strange Maps this one - apparently the only city of note in Crimea is Yalta and it is situated in present day Djankoy.

I heard a rumor that one can get into some sort of vague trouble for carrying around a passport in a passport holder not in correspondence with one's own country of origin.  Seems it could hardly be a problem as long as you took it out before handing it over to someone in a uniform.  Readers in the know - any truth in this?

While I was working as an elections observer this winter I saw quite a few voters with Ukrainian passports dressed in Russian or Soviet passport holders.  I thought about them yesterday at Victory Day while watching marchers in the parade - both young and old - chant about unity with Russia and the Soviet Union.

65 лет победы

Today marks the 65th anniversary of Soviet victory in World War II, or the Great Patriotic War as it is called in Russian.  I've previously attempted to scratch the surface of the rich topic of historical memory in Ukraine, and Victory Day is another example of how quite a few emotions, perspectives and versions of history can collide, this time on one of Ukraine's most important holidays.  For a great introduction, listen to this short (six minute) piece broadcasted on NPR today, with Myron Stachiw, the Director of Fulbright in Ukraine, featured in the second half : "World War II Holiday Brings Ukrainian Nightmares."  

My weekend began in Sovietskii, a town where I am conducting research for my project and have also made some great friends.  After attending an event at a local school on Saturday, a friend of mine invited me over to her mother's and grandfather's house for tea before I headed back for Simferopol.  They were preparing for her grandfather's 86th birthday party, which happens to occur on Victory Day.  He himself is a veteran of the war.  Like all Crimean Tatars who fought during the war, he was deported to Central Asia despite his service.  Ironically, Victory Day comes little more than a week before May 18th, the anniversary of this deportation which is solemnly remembered every year.

He showed me a medal he had been sent this year.  It read "65 лет победы!"  65 years of victory!  He treated it like a joke and said they gave it to him for his old age.  "They gave me a medal after the war, too," he told me.  "But I told them I didn't want it, I didn't care about it.  My children were young then.  I told them to give me a cow so I would have some way to feed my children."  The family told me they weren't very interested in Victory Day.

He talked about his time in the army and the places he had been.  My friend took my camera and told him, you've been in France, you've been in Germany, now in this picture you'll be in America as well!

As I was leaving Sovietskii, I purchased a phone card from the kiosk by the bus station.  The woman asked me where I was from and what I thought of Ukraine.  I give the wide-eyed American answer I always give - "It is a beautiful country." (I always give this answer because regardless of where I am, it is always true.  At the risk of being corn-ball, this is a beautiful planet we live on.)

 "You think it is beautiful?!" she asked?  

"Yes," I said, continuing my wide-eyed American role, which is easier than engaging in an in depth conversation through a tiny kiosk window, "It is a very beautiful country and the people are very kind..."

"You mean the people have a lot of patience, and they put up with a lot" she said sadly with a slight smile, giving me the standard Russian wish of happiness as I headed for my bus.  Crimea is perhaps one of the few places I've travelled where simply stating that the country is beautiful and the people are nice is not a sure ticket to a smile and a knowing nod.  I am beginning to think that Crimeans want visitors to understand and acknowledge what they have seen and lived through.  Or perhaps that is true everywhere, and the people I've met were simply unimpressed by my heavily accented platitudes.

I've been thinking about the patience and endured hardships of Ukrainians all week as I've seen the city prepare for the Victory Day celebrations.  This morning I attended the Simferopol parade my friend Adrianne, a Peace Corps volunteer based here.  Many people I know travelled to Sevastopol to see the parade there with the recent renewal of the Black Sea Fleet, it certainly must have been an interesting atmosphere.  Yet I don't regret staying in Simferopol - it was nice to be able to walk around the city streets I'm now comfortable with, and even spot a few friends and acquaintances throughout the day.  Feeling the mood of the city, I had that wish to see the celebrations here throughout the years.  When the streets were cleaner, the city greener.  The first years when those deported were allowed to resettle in Crimea.  In the first years of an independent Ukraine.

Before the parade started, I met up with a young friend of mine, let's call him Sergei, who was marching with the Party of Regions, the party of President Yanukovich.  Although Sergei didn't vote in the previous elections and is completely disillusioned with politics, he decided to march in the parade because a friend of his works for the party, and was paid for the number of marchers he was able to organize.  I found Sergei absorbed in his mp3 player holding one of the giant Party of Regions blue flags by the tank near Parliament, and took some pictures of him.  "Don't post these on Facebook, please!" he asked, as I tried to get him to smile.  I said goodbye to meet with with a friend, and he waved as he put his headphones back on.

A few months ago I had a Russian language test over the telephone as part of my grant requirements, and it took me awhile to convince the Russian speaker calling from the U.S. that yes, it is indeed possible that I am living in Crimea but yet have never been to Russia.  Some other foreigners I know living in Ukraine, but not Crimea, sometimes ask me what Crimea is like.  They want to know if it is true that it is really just a "beached" part of Russia, Russian-speaking, leaning and yearning.  There is certainly no shortage of graffiti boldly declaring "Крым - это Россия!" Crimea is Russia! This is more of a topic for a dissertation than a blog post, so I'll keep it short.  I believe that this pro-Russian identity is one strong influence on the peninsula, but certainly not the only one.  That being said, many of those marching in the parade held up signs or repeated chants asserting a Russian or Soviet identity.

This woman was chanting "RUSS-I-A!  RUSS-I-A!"  Many in the crowd were cheering.  Behind her group came were representatives from the Democratic Party of Ukraine.  As they passed by, many of the onlookers began to boo.

Here is my Picasa album of pictures from the day.  This is one of my favorite pictures:

Remembering Ataturk

After my post about Lenin statues, Austin posted his version, which really is a good bit cooler:

On my recent trip to Turkey, I spent a lot of time thinking about the differences between Turkey and Ukraine.  It takes only an hour and twenty minutes to fly over the Black Sea to Istanbul from Simferopol, but quite a bit longer to adjust to the differences between the two spaces.  Here are some children playing around the Ataturk statue in Fethiye.

chaos in kyiv

A bit late on this, but wanted to share this great photo from the Ukrainian parliamentary chaos of last week, credited as Sergei Supinsky/AFP in the Wall Street Journal's weekly photo round-up.