La música buena

For you music lovers out there, I recommend finetune.com.

I have been a member of this site for a long time and have finally incorporated it into my blog (see right hand side of page). Ultimately, this site is a great tool for sharing and finding "new" music. Also, it has amazing utility for travelers and people on the go. The best part is that it is all FREE.
If you set up an account and would like to share music, my screenname is kimberlydj (my finetune). I hope this is helpful for some of you!

Love
I Corinthians 13: 4-7
Romans 13: 8

As promised, a Ukraine post.

Well, I haven't been able to think of a good enough excuse to warrant further procrastination, so -- without further hesitation. . .











For four weeks between May and June I was in Ukraine. Earlier this spring I applied for the Alma College Ukraine Service-Vision Project Scholarship (USVP), which fully funds a month-long trip for two Alma students. Though it is not necessary for receipt of award, both myself and Lauren (the other student who was selected) are members of the Alma College Forgotten Children of Eastern Europe (FCEE). This student-run organization sponsors the Veselka Children's Home north of Kiev and has been a primary focus of the USVP trip. That is to say, during the USVP trip each year, the selected students serve as "ambassadors" (for lack of a more precise term) for FCEE. This year, Lauren and I were able to visit the Veselka Home, The Way Home in Odessa, the Crimean Peninsula, and various organizations in Kiev. We met wonderful people and generated a lot of great ideas for the direction of FCEE (at least, we think they're great, of course we would!).


The trip began at Veselka. We spent nine days there playing with the children and learning more about how we can help at Alma throughout this coming school year. Neither Lauren nor I speak Ukrainian, but (surprisingly) many of the children spoke Spanish! It was a good thing too because we really got to know them well.

After the orphanage, we passed some time in Kiev, exploring the city. I think we saw every major tourist site in the city with expert guidance from Rick DeLong (our translator and guide in Kiev). The weather was beautiful and the sites were fun (my favorite during this first trip in Kiev was the Kiev Philharmonic, see below).


We then took a train to Odessa, a major port-city on the Black Sea. There we worked with The Way Home, a private organization that helps street children return safely to their homes and serves as a transitional home for them. In our brief time there we participated in social patrols (going out into the streets, feeding the homeless children, and encouraging them to come into the Way Home Center) and helped the director, Dr. Robert Gamble (This Child Here) write his annual donor report. Through our many interactions with Dr. Gamble we identified some potential avenues for FCEE sponsorship of The Way Home.

While in Odessa, Lauren and I also took advantage of some non-volunteer opportunities. The first was that we learned some basic Russian phrases and how to read the Cyrillic alphabet from our host family (a young girl learning English and her grandmother, a former language teacher). The second was a concert to see the Russian-speaking pop-rock group Bymbokc (Boombox, they sound like Jason Mraz). We were able to get free tickets from our host-brother who sings in a talented local band. The final thing was going to the "beach." Our last day in Odessa we packed a small picnic and enjoyed beautiful weather and a nice view of the Black Sea.

Following our week in Odessa, we took the train to the Crimean Peninsula for a two day trip between Bakhchisaray and Balaklava. There we learned a bit about Crimean-Tartar culture (basically the only ethnic issue in Ukraine). We visited the Kahn's palace and hiked up to the old Tartar fortress in Bakhchisaray. In Balaklava, despite a bit of rain, we hiked to a ruined tower above the bay. There was something fantastic about the sights and food in Crimea. I wish we could have stayed longer than a couple days.


During our return trip in Kiev, we visited a lot of individuals and organizations which work in Ukraine on current issues such as tourism, domestic violence, business management, and legal services. We met a lot of interesting people. While emphasis of this time in Kiev was learning, we were able to sneak in a little bit of tourist fun, namely we saw a phenomenal guitarist, Enver Izmailov.



This video is from the concert we attended. This song, in particular, was one of my favourites.

Overall, the trip was wonderful and I would love to return to Ukraine in my future. If you want to see more pictures, the following are links to my Ukraine Facebook albums: Ukraine, More Ukraine

Also, all photos in this blog post are courtesy of Rick Delong, tryukraine.com

I hope you are all well and happy. Peace and Love.