Germany, First Impressions

I woke up on the bus to frozen fields, fog and mist, flying by on the right. The left had Volkswagens, BMWs, Mercedes and Porsches. The roads were silky smooth. When we passed construction sites, the resting equipment was lined up perfectly in rows, angled slightly, accurate to the angle of the front tires. I got a nice tour of Eastern Germany, stopping in many cities before reaching Stuttgart. Super fast train up to Heidelberg, and my holidays officially begun.

Holidays Begin

Everything wrapped up nicely at the end of the semester, aside from my grant budget spiraling out of control in correlation with inflation and the global financial crisis.

I got on the bus, and sat there, 5 hours to cross the border out of Ukraine and into the European Union. The Ukrainian check point involved cash exchanging hands, the Polish bag searches and sniffing dogs. Visas were scrutinized, stamps were stamped, but finally, we made it onto the much smoother roads of Poland (about equal smoothness to NM).

My neighbor until Dresden was an older Russian lady, who loved to talk and taught me some more Russian. It was amusing when we hit a word that I couldn’t understand and she couldn’t remember how to say in Ukrainian, because she would turn around and ask the neighbors all around how to translate that word. So the whole bus listened to our conversation (Ukrainians don’t talk much on public transportation and the movies hadn’t started (we had automatic tv screens fold down from the roof, like a Boeing) and generally silence prevailed) and learned lots about the strange American who was living in Ukraine.

Stuff

 I always try to be positive, but sometimes things outside of my control are truly frustrating. I don't have the willpower to compose a well organized argument, so I'll just let frustrations flow, numbered for easy scanning when you get tired of reading whining.

1.     Bribing and cheating in universities is alive and well. Students buy course papers, buy attendance records and it's fairly easy to buy a diploma. The reasons go far beyond laziness. The quality of many classes is fairly low, and the grading system is absolutely opaque. Some classes the professor reads out of a book and the students copy down notes. Some others students are asked to present their HW on the board, only to be told that there is only one correct way to do this. Grading is up to each professor's discretion. There is no requirement to publish rubrics or expectations at the beginning of the semester, and no requirement to disclose a student's mark to that student until after the course has been completed. I'm speaking about two universities in Lviv, and not about the entire Ukrainian higher education system. What worries me is that these universities are well respected and rank high in Ukraine. It goes beyond academics. Bribes are expected to reserve dorm rooms, and even get spots in certain classes.

2.     It's not all bad news; I finally figured out that classroom discipline depends very heavily on giving daily grades. So, really good that I figured this out. Really bad that it took me so long. There's a great Ukrainian word for this process, дійшло, which translates to something like "it finally soaked through my skull".

3.     Workplace attitudes especially among higher ups are negative. It's just work, no reason to worry so much about it, and everyone would be much happier if there was some humor added to the stress. It's almost like there is some job description that says "this is a serious position, it requires a serious disposition, no smiling allowed".  

4.     I hate when people tell me to take off my hat. This goes back to second grade when mom told me that Quakers have a long tradition of not taking off their hat for royalty, to demonstrate the equality of all mankind. Of course this always gets me in trouble in school. In high school it got me sent to the principles office and into a long philosophical discussion about how agreements require concessions on both sides, and both teaching and learning in a school requires a common code of conduct, which can even include clothing. Anyway, it was freezing yesterday in school, and I just buzzed my head so it felt particularly cold. It was late in the day, and the students were only taking a test, so I had my wool hat on as I wondered the classroom making sure they weren't cheating. My former host mom/boss/assistant principle walks in a chews out the students for missing on of her classes. Then just now she finds me and says "make sure I never see you wearing a hat in school again", as if somebody told me that there is a no hat rule in school (I could have assumed it). I do respect her for not telling me in front of students, but what really gets me is that women are allowed to wear hats, but men aren't. I really have to pick my battles, and this one I won't fight, but it gets under my skin.

5.     My bus to Stuttgart is 27 hours. Actually this is a positive, because I'm going to Germany and will escape some of the above for a while. So yeah, that's it. Now I'm going to be positive. I must get lunch, go to a parents meeting, teach the ecology club about water pollution, meet with director about the aids training in February, pay rent, check post office, go to Ukrainian tutoring, make dinner and do it all again tomorrow. Three days till holidays! Sweetness.

It's not rocket science

A study done by The Ukrainian Center for AIDS Prevention just released
some really interesting findings. "A nationally representative sample
of 6841 women age 15-49 and 3178 men age 15-49 were interviewed. This
represents a response rate of 92% for women and 90% for men. This
first part is hard numbers from the national registry for May 2007,
which records 5909 new cases of HIV in Ukraine in that one month.
While Intravenous Drug Use still accounts for slightly more HIV
spread, unprotected heterosexual contact is about to pass it.
IDU new cases in May, 2007; 42.7%, 2468 individuals.
Heterosexual contact new cases in May, 2007; 39.0%, 2256 individuals.
This is especially alarming because only 10 years ago, over 70% of
new cases were a result of IDU. HIV has jumped from a very high risk
group of individuals to a relatively normal segment of the Ukrainian
population; heterosexually active individuals who don't use condoms.

Also this week I showed A Closer Walk about HIV and the world in
general. The film is already getting older, but still enlightening in
its examination of HIV around the world. It's especially valuable to
show here because there is a 14 minute segment on Ukraine, though
unfortunately it only focuses on the IDU problem. The most powerful
part of the film for me was hearing Paul Farmer explain how stopping
and reversing huge epidemics is not very complicated. The medical
science exists and needs only be implemented. Behavioral changes have
been identified and must likewise only be enacted. HIV is relatively
hard to spread. If you have sex, use a condom. If you use drugs, don't
share needles. Yes some cultural complications arise, but overall,
duh.

There was a huge segment on women's rights, and how the world's
continued ignorance of women's rights and education is a huge factor
in the spread of HIV. Indian women, for example, are under huge
pressure to have babies once married, and even if they know their
husband is HIV positive, women will often choose to have a baby and
get the virus (as well as possibly giving it to their baby) rather
than be forced into divorce, poverty and shame.

Back to Ukraine and that study. Higher risk sex is defined as sex in
the proceeding 12 months with a partner who is neither a spouse nor a
co-inhabitant. 33% of respondents had had higher risk sex in the last
12 months and of that group, only 56% used a condom. That seems bad to
me. Anybody know USA rates?

Now, why did we put up all those notes all over school explaining how
the virus does not transmit? -94% of those surveyed would keep it a
secret if a family member was infected.
Three quarters of those surveyed would take care of a family member
who is HIV positive.
84% would not buy fresh vegetables from a shopkeeper who has HIV.
63% say that a female teacher with HIV (no symptoms) should not be
allowed to continue teaching.

And then the good news, more than 85% of those under 50 years old
agree that children age 12-14 should be taught about using a condom to
avoid HIV. That's where my job comes in, because even the health
teacher I work with is reluctant to bring condoms and explicit
language into the classroom. In health classes they talk about the
basics, but nothing like we do in the US (talk about sex, buy condom,
check date, get erection, roll condom on right way all the way to the
base of penis leaving space at the tip for semen, ejaculate, withdraw
before penis shrinks holding base of condom, remove away from vagina
and dispose of condom). Those sorts of specifics are just ignored, but
with aids, trail and error is not an option. So we are going to have
professionals start it with a session in February, and see how they do
condom demonstrations, keep kids learning even if they are giggling
and blushing, and provide effective education. That's what I wrote the
grant for, to bring in those educators, provide materials and
hopefully get sexual education up and running here in Velyki Mosty and
in the surrounding 5 villages. Ideally we can train some 9th and 10th
grade students to do the trainings and then go with them as they
conduct HIV prevention trainings.

That's all I got today. Now back to Ukrainian study, because I'm
determined to beat Caitlin's LPI score this time. So many great books
waiting to be read on my shelf, but no time. Grammar and vocabulary
here I come.

Mud Running

I don't plan to push off of each step, but rather to flow over the
ground, keeping my cg's trajectory stable and steady, minimizing all
centrifugal acceleration. Winter should really be called mud season,
as should spring and autumn here. It's not that there are more dirt
roads than NM, it's just the soil type. Perhaps the roads here aren't
prepared, more of just scars in the earth. The mud builds up on my
shoes, flinging off in all directions, slippery, variable in
consistency. When possible I run on the grass next to the trail/road.
Running shoes are getting old again, so road running is not advisable.
Achilles seems to be doing better, but that could just be the complete
absence of soccer.

Working on organizing a huge amount of pedagogical notes and
activities I received onto my flash drive. File names are all messed
up, and some are just silly with the procedures for the lesson plan in
a different pdf than kids part of the lesson plan; Eliminating
duplicates, organizing, planning so that I can apply rimes of great
activities and communicative games to my classroom. Next I will get my
printer working, so that I can print stuff out at home, then copy it
on my way to school, and become a more effective teacher, with
materials to use in my classes. Chalkboards and textbooks are nice,
but kids respect printouts, pictures, cartoons and cards much more.

All this English stuff is nice, but the healthy lifestyles classes
still feel more important. This whole past week was coined "health
week", and kids from many classes made posters about everything from
smoking to chemical spill procedures. My kids of course did HIV/AIDS
posters and effectively plastered the school with little slips of
paper giving examples of how HIV does not transmit. "HIV does not pass
through sweat"; HIV does not pass through spit"; HIV does not….kisses,
hugs, sharing dishes, toilet seats, combs, coughing, phlegm and so on.
Most of the older kids know how it transmits, but it's important to
remember how it doesn't to eliminate fear, stigma and discrimination.

Winter here begins December 1st.

Thanksgiving came and went. Wonderful gathering out on the very border of Poland. Curtis'last days in Ukraine. Had turkey, stuffing and lots of other ukrainian dishes. Talked with Silas and Mom. Good holiday, much better than last year when I didn't even take off. Crazy that it's my second thanksgiving in Ukraine.

Grant came off nicely. Will hear in about a week of it's success. I hope.

Was late today for the open lesson in my ecology club. I hate being late. Some sort of military/police exercise stopped all the roads as I was trying get back from Lviv. Only 6 min late, but that's not good when other teachers and principles are observing. At least the lesson went well.

Still no internet at home.
will call the guy again tonight.
computers at school closing
must go
yo