group picture
Recent fall 2009 Ukraine visitors to Cincinnat with the new Ukraine Project Students
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
"Spaciba!"
Quote of the Day: "They pull off their turtlenecks so well!" -Ryan Dierker
Quote of the Day: "WHERE is WES! WHERE is WES!" -Alexi (one of our Ukrainian guides)
Beyond their unrelenting kindness, one thing that we are increasingly impressed with is Ukrainian style. As stated in Ryan's quote from above, we are constantly admiring the European clothes. They are always dressed up and looking so nice!
The start of our day was really special. We had the opportunity to visit an orphanage of little kids who had bad parent situations. The children we met were some of the cutest kids I have ever seen. They put on a performance for us where they sang and danced. So talented! We took so many pictures and decided we wanted to take all of the orphans home with us! Then we toured their building, saw their dormitories, and met with the head advisor of the orphanage. She was so so kind and you could tell that she loved what she did.
After our lunch (where they served us about 5 servings-plates kept coming and coming! Nothing unusual about Ukrainian culture..) We went to another student group, called Dovira (Trust), who volunteers around the city, promoting others to volunteer as well. They work with kids and put on theatre productions for them, and many other activities. Talking to all the people we are meeting, it is so interesting because under the Soviet Union, volunteering didn't exist within their country. But now with them gone, volunteering is on the rise again. They say the older generations don't understand their work, but that the idea of volunteering to make a difference is becoming more popular with the Ukrainian youth. Hearing about the differences between Soviet and post Soviet rule is so interesting! Each day we learn more and more from the people.
Afterward we were so fortunate to be able to see the Ukrainian ballet. This is truely a once in a lifetime experience! It was beautiful and now we all want to see more ballets when we come back to the States.
Each night we get different visitors to our hotel from our new friends who we've met throughout the week. It is awesome to get the opportunity to sit and talk to them more about their lives and their culture. Once again, all of them are so so nice and giving. We've exchanged so many emails and facebook accounts! We all hope to keep in touch with our new Ukrainian friends.
Wes has taken some amazing pictures. Because of this, he is oftentimes lagging behind to capture everything. For our Ukrainian tour leaders and translators who have to keep to our strict schedule, one English phrase that they have definitely made use of is "WHERE is WES!" We all laugh and made this the quote of the day from above. But without him, we wouldn't have all the amazing pictures that we are looking through right now! Make sure to check out the couple that are posted on the blog. They are spectacular.
We are loving this country so much!
By;Grace
Special shoutout to Julia Carleton for her comment on our last post! :) Thanks! We miss you!
Quote of the Day: "WHERE is WES! WHERE is WES!" -Alexi (one of our Ukrainian guides)
Beyond their unrelenting kindness, one thing that we are increasingly impressed with is Ukrainian style. As stated in Ryan's quote from above, we are constantly admiring the European clothes. They are always dressed up and looking so nice!
The start of our day was really special. We had the opportunity to visit an orphanage of little kids who had bad parent situations. The children we met were some of the cutest kids I have ever seen. They put on a performance for us where they sang and danced. So talented! We took so many pictures and decided we wanted to take all of the orphans home with us! Then we toured their building, saw their dormitories, and met with the head advisor of the orphanage. She was so so kind and you could tell that she loved what she did.
After our lunch (where they served us about 5 servings-plates kept coming and coming! Nothing unusual about Ukrainian culture..) We went to another student group, called Dovira (Trust), who volunteers around the city, promoting others to volunteer as well. They work with kids and put on theatre productions for them, and many other activities. Talking to all the people we are meeting, it is so interesting because under the Soviet Union, volunteering didn't exist within their country. But now with them gone, volunteering is on the rise again. They say the older generations don't understand their work, but that the idea of volunteering to make a difference is becoming more popular with the Ukrainian youth. Hearing about the differences between Soviet and post Soviet rule is so interesting! Each day we learn more and more from the people.
Afterward we were so fortunate to be able to see the Ukrainian ballet. This is truely a once in a lifetime experience! It was beautiful and now we all want to see more ballets when we come back to the States.
Each night we get different visitors to our hotel from our new friends who we've met throughout the week. It is awesome to get the opportunity to sit and talk to them more about their lives and their culture. Once again, all of them are so so nice and giving. We've exchanged so many emails and facebook accounts! We all hope to keep in touch with our new Ukrainian friends.
Wes has taken some amazing pictures. Because of this, he is oftentimes lagging behind to capture everything. For our Ukrainian tour leaders and translators who have to keep to our strict schedule, one English phrase that they have definitely made use of is "WHERE is WES!" We all laugh and made this the quote of the day from above. But without him, we wouldn't have all the amazing pictures that we are looking through right now! Make sure to check out the couple that are posted on the blog. They are spectacular.
We are loving this country so much!
By;Grace
Special shoutout to Julia Carleton for her comment on our last post! :) Thanks! We miss you!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Vice Mayors, Ukranian Girls, and Verynaki
Quote of the day: "If you want to reach something special in your life, it is not enough to act, you need to dream; it is not enough to plan, you need to believe!" - School 162 Students
We began our day visiting the School 162 Specialized school. We received a very warm welcome from the students through a presentation on their outreach work and created a small show for us. Many students got up and sang and danced for us in their auditorium, a couple were award winning in Europe. Afterwards they suggested that we should get up and sing something for them too! Possibly embarrassing our country in the process, we scraped together "Hey Jude" in an octive five times lower than our voices capable before they cut us off....Very embarrassing but very memorable. Despite our terrible singing voices, they still were kind to us beyond belief. The girls took a particular liking to Alex...hahahahah. Something he's been hoping for the entire trip. His Ukrainian dream, now achieved.
Next we were honored to visit the vice mayor of Kharkiv, something that most citizens here are not given the opportunity to do. The meeting was filmed and had cameras, and apparently we will be in the newspapers and a portion on the news! This was so special to be able to take part in.
After lunch, we visited the blind school for children. We saw their classrooms and how they learned and it was all so interesting. We were able to meet our old friend, Galyna Chala, who was a delegate that had visited Cincinnati this past fall.
Next we went to the new American center where we were given the opportunity to Skype with some family from home. We had a great time there connecting with the Ukrainian teens that will be visiting us in the end of May. They are all so friendly people and we can't wait for the opportunity to show them Cincinnati.
Finally we saw the dolphinarium show. It was comparable to American Sea World. Fantastic!
After a long day, we are so happy to have been given this opportunity for such an amazing trip and meeting such wonderful people. Some of the best times we have are when we get to just talk to the Ukrainians about their life and culture and compare it with ours. This is truly a chance of a lifetime.
More to come for tomorrow, when we will visit the homeless children orphanage. !! (:
We began our day visiting the School 162 Specialized school. We received a very warm welcome from the students through a presentation on their outreach work and created a small show for us. Many students got up and sang and danced for us in their auditorium, a couple were award winning in Europe. Afterwards they suggested that we should get up and sing something for them too! Possibly embarrassing our country in the process, we scraped together "Hey Jude" in an octive five times lower than our voices capable before they cut us off....Very embarrassing but very memorable. Despite our terrible singing voices, they still were kind to us beyond belief. The girls took a particular liking to Alex...hahahahah. Something he's been hoping for the entire trip. His Ukrainian dream, now achieved.
Next we were honored to visit the vice mayor of Kharkiv, something that most citizens here are not given the opportunity to do. The meeting was filmed and had cameras, and apparently we will be in the newspapers and a portion on the news! This was so special to be able to take part in.
After lunch, we visited the blind school for children. We saw their classrooms and how they learned and it was all so interesting. We were able to meet our old friend, Galyna Chala, who was a delegate that had visited Cincinnati this past fall.
Next we went to the new American center where we were given the opportunity to Skype with some family from home. We had a great time there connecting with the Ukrainian teens that will be visiting us in the end of May. They are all so friendly people and we can't wait for the opportunity to show them Cincinnati.
Finally we saw the dolphinarium show. It was comparable to American Sea World. Fantastic!
After a long day, we are so happy to have been given this opportunity for such an amazing trip and meeting such wonderful people. Some of the best times we have are when we get to just talk to the Ukrainians about their life and culture and compare it with ours. This is truly a chance of a lifetime.
More to come for tomorrow, when we will visit the homeless children orphanage. !! (:
By: Grace Brown and Alex Mangas
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Journey Has Begun
Quote of the day: "Their niceness is astounding!" - Ryan Dierker
The Cincinnati Group arrived in Kiev Urkaine on saturday. They attended the International Film Festival concerning human rights, ran by Gennadiy Kofman who was one of the delegates who visted Cincinnati in October. The following day, they toured Kiev with Volodymir Bulba and Oksana Potapova who were also delgates to Cincinnati. After this we got on the train to Kharkiv and arrived late sunday night. They were greeted with great hospitality, and beautiful rooms.
The next day, they were involved in numerous events such as meeting with the Director of the local University, touring Kharkiv, and meeting with the students who will be vistiting in May. We also have exchanged gifts, and recieved very interesting ones such as chocolate, coins, cake, and a bottle of Cognac!
The Cincinnati Group arrived in Kiev Urkaine on saturday. They attended the International Film Festival concerning human rights, ran by Gennadiy Kofman who was one of the delegates who visted Cincinnati in October. The following day, they toured Kiev with Volodymir Bulba and Oksana Potapova who were also delgates to Cincinnati. After this we got on the train to Kharkiv and arrived late sunday night. They were greeted with great hospitality, and beautiful rooms.
The next day, they were involved in numerous events such as meeting with the Director of the local University, touring Kharkiv, and meeting with the students who will be vistiting in May. We also have exchanged gifts, and recieved very interesting ones such as chocolate, coins, cake, and a bottle of Cognac!
By: Alex Mangas, Ryan Dierker, and Rob Marty
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Buy a book and help Ukraine students come to Cincinnati
Five local Cincinnati high school students take part handing out book coupons at Joseph Beth Bookstore Sat. 03/20/10 along with their sponsoring Sister City Cincinnati Ukraine Partnership Board Members. Pictured first row left to right: Julia Carleton, Ryan Dierker, Rob Marty; second row standing: Elizabeth Zhou, Whitney Mangas, Alan Brown, Cincinnati Ukraine Partnership Board President.
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