Ukraine

Before

Today we wake up in Munich, Germany, where our next flight was waiting for us. We take the flight to Lviv, one of the most important cities in west Ukraine. We arrive to the new airport of Lviv at 12:15. There are two airports in Lviv. The new one was built for the Euro Cup 2012, which was held in Ukraine and Poland.

The most important people for us in Ukraine, Alex and Andriy Masty, are at the Lviv airport (Міжнародний аеропорт "Львів"). Alex is the person in charge of International relation in the Drohobych University. He studied in the US, so he can speak English without accent. He also works as an interpreter at Drohobych University. Andriy is 24 years old and is an electrical engineer graduated from the University of Lviv. Moreover, he can speak English and German fluently. They are going to be with us most of the time during our study abroad. We travel by bus/van from Lviv Airport to Drohobych. On our way to Drohobych, Alex tells us some general facts about Ukraine and Lviv. For instance, he tells us that the major religion in Ukraine is Eastern Orthodoxy. We see a lot of churches and icons of the Virgin Mary on our way.

We arrive to Fata Morgana at 15:30. We stay in Fata Morgana hotel. It is in Derezhychi village, 5 km from Drohobych town and 90 km from Lviv city. We have one hour to rest because we have a special welcome dinner at the University Cafeteria (Unicaf). We eat a traditional pink soup, fish, and, a delicious homemade wine. After dinner, we do a little tour around the downtown of Drohobych, where we can see the traditional architecture of the city.

Finally, we go to Fata morgana to sleep. The group is tired because of the long trip and the seven hours of difference between Ukraine and US.

During

Today we will have the most expected activities in this trip. We will go to a ballet performance in Lviv and a traditional Ukraine wedding.

These types of weddings are unique because of the rare customs and rituals. For instance, it is a tradition that the bride’s family waits in their house for the groom’s relatives. When the groom’s relatives arrive, they have to “negotiate” the price of the bride. They give to the bride’s father presents such as bottles of Vodka, cakes, and desserts to try to convince him that the groom will be a good husband. After the negotiations, a person pretends to be the bride. He or she goes out the house and approach to the negotiation table. Today, this fake bride is Craig. Then, the groom has to say that he or she is not his future wife. The bride gets out the house and meets her groom. The bride’s mother spread rice on the new couple and everybody starts walking to the church. We are in church for a while, but we have to go to Lviv to the ballet.

We go to the Lviv opera, where the show starts at 6 o’clock. This opera was built in 1990. It has Renaissance and Baroque architecture.

Today’s show is a ballet named Le Corsaire or Kopcap in Ukraine. The show is about a dispute between trades and pirates for the beautiful Medora. The traders are trying to sell the woman to a rich man, Pasha. He buys her, but the pirates plan to steal her. After 2 acts and 4 scenes with prologue and epilogue, the pirates can steal her and live happily ever after. In addition, the ballet has a live orchestra.

We return to the weeding. It is in a big lounge where the guests are singing songs for the new couple. It is a tradition in Ukraine to have a lot of food on the tables; we have about 12 different plates on our table. During the dinner, the guests sing songs and eat. Then, most of the people go to the dance floor and start dancing traditional folk dances.

The traditional weddings in Ukraine last at least 20 hours; however, we come back to Fata Morgana at 1:45.

After

In the morning, we go to Drohobych University to meet with the vice director. He shows us a particular building of Drohobych University. It was a jail during World War II. Though, this building becomes University art faculty. The Decorative Arts, Crafts, and Design Departments are an important department in Ukraine. Later, we go to our last business in Ukraine, Tandem. Tandem is a flower factory, which produces 13 types of flowers and 12 types of gerberas. It has 4.7 hectares of plantation, which are equal to 17 acres. It has automatic irrigation; also, it is low energy consumption. So, it can decrease its expenses and increase its profit. Then, we have a meeting with the research vice-rector, Micola Pablobi. He expresses his gratitude for our visit. We tell a short testimony of how we feel in Ukraine.

After having lunch in Unicaf, the group leaves to Truskavets’ market to buy souvenirs, but Andriy and I stay in Drohobych to play table tennis.

We return to Foxy-Roxy to say goodbye to Ukraine students and to thanks for all the effort to be with us during this trip. They are awesome.

The group, Didukh Uliana, Olena Biletska, and Alex go to Zalissia, a restaurant near a lake. There we have dinner together for the last time.