Chicken Kiev!

One of the many perks of teaching overseas is the opportunity to travel internationally as part of my coaching duties. This is my second year coaching middle school cross country and it is such a refreshing change from the varsity level back in the States. The practices are only two days a week compared to six, and the season last for only 6 weeks. In Idaho, I would start coaching during the dog days of early August and complete the season around Halloween. Also, instead of traveling to a different city for meets every week, we culminate all of our hard work with a trip to a different international school.

This year, we were fortunate to take a trip to Kiev, Ukraine. Since declaring independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, this country has been divided. Those that live in the West want to forge a closer bond with Europe, and eventually obtain EU membership, and those that live in the East long for the days when they were one with Mother Russia. In fact, one of the most striking monuments in Kiev is the Mother Motherland Statue commemorating the Soviet loss of over 20 million people in World War II.

Kiev has also been called "the Rome of Orthodox Christianity" since this religion traces much of its early history to the churches built there. They certainly are impressive structures with multiple gilded domes dotting the city skyline. The brightly colored facades hint at the stunningly brilliant murals inside depicting the saintly deeds of the church founders.

But for me, what was most fascinating about Kiev was the ubiquitous presence of organized crime. Large black luxury cars and SUVs with tinted windows moved slowely up and down the main streets within the city. Upon parking, there would always be a cadre of burly, neckless thugs wearing earpieces that would surround the vehicle before the occupant exited. I'm not saying that just because you own an ultra-expensive car and have bodyguards, you are affiliated with the mob, but my tour guide informed me that 200 people control 90% of the wealth in Ukraine. It takes a lot of greased palms to acquire all that power in such a short time. And corruption breeds poverty while poverty, in turn, breeds resentment. I'm thinking that these guys need a lot of protection and also the status symbols that make the resentful impoverished people like me remember where my place is.

My colleague, Rachel, and I were lucky to get an up-close look at a couple of these cars outside the restaurant where the coaches' dinner was being held. The bodyguards were even kind enough to let us pose for a picture. Even the Ukrainian mafia is kind to tourists.

Politics is definitely a taboo topic of conversation in Ukraine. I tried to get some perspective on the state of the government from Mila, our tour guide. This woman has been living in Kiev since she was a little girl and has seen it all. Elections had only been held a few weeks before and she said that it was too soon for her to be commenting on them. However, I have a comment. I want to congratulate Ukraine on electing one of the most stunningly beautiful prime ministers in world history. At age 48, Yulia Tymoshenko shatters the mold of what a powerful woman should look like. I applaud the Ukrainian people for putting her in power even though she doesn't exude authority like the Thatchers and Merkels before her.

One of the stops on our tour was a walk through the park that sits across from the parliamentary building. Since 2004, political lobbyists have been camped inside tents on the park's lawn. The number of tents has fallen from a high of 20,000 in 2004, around the time of the pro-west Orange Revolution. Only a few dozen communist sympathizers have kept up their vigil near the capital. They really hold no allegiance to any of the 38 parties that hold offices, but instead are paid to "rabble-rouse" for the highest bidder, usually the shady oligarchs (Putin lovers) on the eastern side of the country.


The President, Victor Yushchenko, sends his kids to Pechersk International, the school that hosted the cross country meet. Apparently, he is married to a Ukrainian-American and they wanted a bilingual education. People I talked with at the school described how much of a distraction it can be to have armed guards outside their classrooms even though their is a sign clearly posted in front telling you to check your weapons at the gate. In case you've forgotten, Yushchenko was the guy that had his face disfigured from dioxin poisoning during the 2004 elections. They play by a different set of rules in the "Wild East".

Thanks for reading . . . only 8 more weeks until I am back on American soil! Check out some pics of the Motherland (Ukraine that is):