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Journey to the Borderland

May 19

Posted by Lindsey Whissel on 05/19 at 09:46 AM

Last day in Slavyansk…

The day started with an excursion to a local history museum. There were lots of interesting displays and we learned a great deal about the area. At one point, the curator (I think) invited us to his office to look at some new artifacts they hadn’t yet displayed. I got to try on a ring that’s over a thousand years old! We also got to handle ancient Mongol coins and some weapons; our poor translator broke the tip off a sword and almost passed out from mortification, though the curator told her not to worry (I guess that’s what super glue is for:).

Next stop was a beautiful park, though I can’t remember the name of it. It’s next to one of several salt lakes in Slavyansk and surrounded by various rehabilitation centers.

After a leisurely stroll through the beautiful grounds, we headed to an outdoor folk museum and were greeted by a dance group bearing the traditional loaf of “welcome” bread. The dancers performed several numbers, first in the Ukrainian Cossack style, than in the Russian style. We were all invited to join in and stumbled our way through the unfamiliar steps, though our partners were all very gracious.

Tour of the grounds was next and we got to see a traditional home, blacksmith, and windmill. The windmill was interesting because it was placed on a sort of log-turntable so it could be moved to catch the wind.

We ended the night at a pub where we heard four local bands play.

Word of the day: чувак (choo-bak)- dude.