A year in Dnepropetrovsk
An American volunteer in UkraineArchive for Excursions
The Center of the Universe
Not 30 minutes outside of Dnepropetrovsk, past the giant factory that used to employ over 1/5 of the city to make ballistic missiles, there is a large village called Krasnopolye. There you will find a church, a store that carries meat and liquor, a lake, and many small houses with their own farms.
Twice in June I had the pleasure of traveling there, of walking past the cows and the goats, of picking strawberries and grilling shishkebab over an open fire, and of breathing air the fresh air I didn’t realize I missed until I left the city. The people who live there say, laughing, that Krasnopolye is the center of the universe. For a few hours, it was for me, as well.
May travels: St. Petersburg and Moscow
Actually, these pictures are only from Moscow. The St. Petersburg ones are, unfortunately, on my mother’s camera in NY, where they will stay until September, when I load them onto the computer. For now, you will have to do without the beautiful views of Peter’s many palaces, rivers, and museums and instead content yourselves with Moscow’s historical and inspiring statues, churches, and gardens.
May travels: opening of the new Hesed building in Krivoy Rog
May 12, 2009 the new Hesed building in Krivoy Rog, now named the Beit Graham Jewish Home, was officially opened for business! In town for the celebration were not only all of the JDC Dnepropetrovsk staff members and those who work at Krivoy Rog Hesed, but hundreds of members of the Krivoy Rog Jewish community, as well as over forty English donors who flew in for the occasion.
Krivoy Rog, located in the westernmost part of the Dnepropetrovsk Oblast, is the longest city in the world. Its main roads, all connected in one straightaway, stretch 140 km in length. There are only a couple of blocks on each side of this main road; the city is, essentially, this main thoroughfare.
May travels: Den’ Pobedy in Odessa
I left Metsudah early to do some touring of Odessa proper. I stayed with Sol and Dina, the JDC volunteers in Odessa, for four days, hanging out with them and seeing the Jewish and touristy parts of the city. They then left for Metsudah, and my friend and colleague Yulia came in to spent the last day with me in Odessa before taking the overnight train with me back to Dnepropetrovsk.
May travels: Metsudah
The second installment of the four-week leadership conference, Metsudah. This session was held the first week of May in a city not an hour from Odessa, by the Black Sea. The hotel, as you can see, was China themed (even though the main courtyard had Ukrainian khatas, or huts, in it), and so the madrichim, or counsellors, took that theme and ran with it.
I’m back!
It is not an easy thing to travel to and from Dnepropetrovsk. First of all, it is an extremely expensive prospect to fly to Ukraine (on average, some $1500 for one round-trip economy ticket), simply because there are so few airlines and flights to this country. This difficulty is easily overcome, however, since AeroSvit, the Ukrainian national airline, offers a much reduced fare.
Gone to NY (and Boston)
Hi, you’ve reached Michelle. I’ll be in America until March 23, but if you leave your name and a brief message, I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks, and have a great day.
::BEEP::
Volunteering in Donetsk as we open DGU
Be sure to check out the official Do Good, Ukraine! articles about these events!!
10:45 I arrived at the Workers’ Cultural Hospital 15 minutes later than planned, since Seriozha (my driver) and I got a little lost in the big city of Donetsk. Dasha, organized as ever and arranging twelve things at once on her two cell phones, was waiting for me outside the entrance. We tell Seriozha that we’ll be back in less than an hour, and then rush up the stiars to the children’s oncology ward.
10:50 We had to put blue plastic slippers over our feet before entering the floor. I could see as soon as I walked through the double doors from the stairs that the performance had already begun. Standing outside the doorframe of one of the rooms are five young students about my age, dressed as a cat, a crow, a little girl with pigtails, an old man with a straw hat and a handlebar mustache, an old woman with a cane, and a princess, all in gold. Another student, dressed as a young boy, runs out of the room and frantically changed into a new costume, while happy children’s music is playing “onstage.” He buckles new pants over his shorts, throws on a fur vest, a fake beard and mustache, and a Russian fur hat, before hunching over on a cane. Just in time for his cue, he walks back into the room where the performance is taking place. I move over to stand with a few parents and volunteers outside the door to get a better view. There must be twenty children there, plus at least one parent for each child. It’s a good crowd, stuffed in a fairly small room. Most kids are sitting on their parents’ laps. Some, not many, are on the floor. There are a few really little ones, maybe 2 or 3 years old, quite a few 4-9 year olds, and one or two 10-12 year olds. Some are wearing sanitary masks over their mouths. About half are bald. All of them look like they were enjoying the performance.
Packing list for Hillel Shabbaton in Lecnoy
- coat
- scarf
- hat
- gloves (it’s cold out!!)
- my badass American snowboots (I’m the only woman in all of Dnepropetrovsk who owns a pair of shoes this ugly, but it’s worth it! This morning, women in skirts and high, high stiletto heels were slipping and sliding in the snow, while I was able to run and jump comfortably through it)
- jeans
- 2 long sleeve shirts (although really, I’d only need one. It’s very common to wear the same outfit for many days in a row here. People don’t have that many clothes here, so they wear their Sunday best every day of the week, and if that means that they wear the same two outfits again and again, so be it)
- sweatshirt (normally, I couldn’t wear something so informal, but this is a group of university kids drinking together in the woods. I think it’ll be fine)
- 2 pairs of leggings
- sports bra
- long sleeve t-shirt (I plan on going jogging. Through the woods. In the snow. I’ll be the only one, and I’ll probably do it hung over, but I don’t care. There’s only one day a week when I’m not working during daylight hours, and therefore can jog, and I’m not giving up my Saturday run just because I’m in Lecnoy!)
- toiletries
- Anna Karenina
- 2 bottles of vodka (for serious)
- 1 carton of juice (chaser)
