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Journey to the Borderland

May 2

Posted by Lindsey Whissel on 05/03 at 03:59 PM

Onward to Simferopil…

I would like to congratulate our team on the incredible feat we just achieved—getting all of our bags into the sleeper compartment on the train from Kharkiv to Simferopol.

We spent an incredible day in Poltava; I think we all fell in love with the place even though we only had a short time there. We were given a tour of the city and through its many monuments and beautiful buildings we were able to learn a lot about its history. One of my favorite stories is of how one of the city’s parks came to be— at one point, the government wanted to cover the whole area with concrete, however, they ran out of money so it never happened. Later on, the local university students saw that it was in need of some TLC, so they began planting trees and it is now a beautiful and very green park (I’m not doing the story justice, but hopefully you get the idea).

After the tour, we planted lilac trees to help commemorate the 15th year of Rotary in Ukraine. It was neat to feel like we were some how leaving a small something behind.

We ended the day at a sort of historic site (reconstruction of a traditional village) owned by the couple who hosted me. They gave us a tour of the grounds, which was interspersed with cultural and historic information, followed by a mead tasting. Viktor told us all about the making and importance of this particular beverage. Very tasty stuff!

One of the highlights of our day was learning about traditional Ukrainian handicrafts, then getting the opportunity to make them. We each got to make a doll from yarn and string to take with us for good fortune. It was explained to us that dolls in ancient times were not simply toys, they were part of a young woman’s dowry and also tokens of protection and good luck. One thing I found interesting is that when a girl was married, she was given one year to play with dolls before having children so she would learn how to be a good mother. We also saw some rope/ string goats and when I asked about these I was told goats are a symbol of good fortune.

Of course the day would not be complete without a hearty meal and several rounds of toasts. I was excited to learn one of the Rotarians write and directs cultural and historical programs for Poltava Regional state TV and Radio broadcasting company “Ltava”; a regional affiliate of a national system.

After the evening with our new friends came to an end and we were driven two hours to Kharkiv to catch a train to Simferopil, so this cozy little compartment will be our home for the next 10+ hours. When we wake up, we’ll be in the Crimea, which we’re all very much looking forward to because we’ve heard wonderful things about it.

Word of the day: Галушка (Ga-lush-ka) -  dumplings

[The above photo is our team’s visit to the Galoushki monument in Poltava]