It turns out I was not the only one coming into Poltava, though. Carrie came in from Kyiv, several Poltavaska oblast volunteers came in to Poltava and Sean and Mike came from Kharkiv. Why? Well, no one's sure, least of all Jared, whose apartment we all crashed at. I think that everyone heard that other people might be coming in and suddenly critical mass was achieved.
One of the Poltava volunteers works with tourism NGOs and is training Ukrainians to give walking tours in English and Ukrainian. She took us all on a walking tour of Poltava, and it doesn't get any better than to have someone who specializes in tourism give you a tour.
The tour group in front of a recreated Ukranian home
One of Poltava's parks
Poltava's opera house
Suits for sale at Poltava's bazaar
Spire commemorating Ukraine's victory against the Swedes. You didn't know that Sweden once invaded the Baltics and made it as far south as Poltava, did you? Well, neither did I
Carrie on a cannon beneath the spire. Jared is beside her. Those cannons are real
One of Poltava's churches, undergoing renovation. What I thought was interesting is that the church still has an earthen floor, covered in grass
This is slightly morbid: Many of the cobblestones on this street were made from Jewish gravestones. The synagogue (not pictured) has been converted to apartments, but you can still see some of the Jewish symbols in the fascade
This is Sasha, my PDO teaching partner. Behind her is a friendship monument between Ukraine and Russia. And it's not what you're thinking: she has a boyfriend
Sasha cooked me up a Ukrainan lunch of dumplings filled with homemade cheese. Yes, homemade cheese. It involves letting milk curdle for a very long time and then boiling it. I'm actually going to try it. Here is homemade wine that Sasha's family is fermenting. She also explained to me how to make it. You see all the great things I'm learning in Peace Corps?