Monday, March 14, 2016

Харкiвский Спецiальний Навчально-виховний Комплекс (Kharkiv Special Training and Educational Complex)

Last week, I visited Kharkiv, where I gave a lecture at O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy.  I lectured on the topic of effective program development in education.  One of the individuals at my presentation was an administrator of the local school for the deaf, and she invited me to visit her school, which officially is called the Харкiвский Спецiальний Навчально-виховний Комплекс (Kharkiv Special Training and Educational Complex).  This particular school admits only deaf students.  There is another school in Kharkiv for hard of hearing children.  I have learned that Ukrainian educators are very strict about educating these two groups of students separately.  

As with all of my other visits to Ukrainian schools for students who are deaf, this was a wonderful learning experience, and as always the kids were great.  They were fascinated by the visit of an American like them, and I found their enthusiasm infectious, so we signed excitedly with each other and despite the differences in American and Ukrainian Sign Language, managed to communicate.  If necessary, an interpreter could step in.  The older children were full of questions, and of course, many of them wanted their photos taken with me, as did the teachers and administrators, as well.


Following the customary photos and excited conversation, all of us were led to the far end of the school yard where a colorful effigy of winter made of, I guess, paper, was positioned on a metal pole.  It was doused in flammable liquid and set ablaze, a process so rapid, it was completed almost before I could get any photographs taken.  This was the custom of burning winter during the holiday of Масляна (Maslyana), immediately prior to the season of Lent.  In addition to saying goodbye to winter, pancakes are enjoyed during this holiday.  



Saying goodbye to Winter

After saying goodbye to winter, all of us went inside and were ushered into an auditorium where I was presented a loaf of bread in a traditional Ukrainian welcome ceremony.  I was then shown to a seat, so I could watch a Ukrainian cultural performance which had hastily been arranged for me.



Traditional Ukrainian Dancing
(The bread and traditional Ukrainian 
presentation cloth can be seen in
the lower left hand corner of the photo)


Traditional Ukrainian Dancing

The school is very proud of its students' artistic abilities.  The administrators hire former deaf students who have graduated from art school to be teachers here.



A few examples of students' art


Following the performance, I was taken on a tour of the school during the afternoon period of arts and crafts.  This part of my visit was absolutely fascinating and tremendously enjoyable.  The students were immersed in creating traditional Ukrainian art:  писанки (pysanky), textiles, and painting floral designs.  The students are very proud of their work and were thrilled to demonstrate their talents to me.


Creating traditional pysanky using hot wax


Ukrainian pysanky


Pysanky


Examples of pysanky created by the students


Traditional Ukrainian floral painting 


Floral painting 


Floral painting 


Floral painting 


Textiles class 


This young man is using a very old antique 
loom to create traditional Ukrainian textiles


An antique loom and examples of traditional 
Ukrainian textiles created by the deaf students


Obviously, the students are learning some wonderful skills, and the teachers care very deeply about their students, but the educational philosophy of this school is still rather Soviet.  Over a wonderful and generous tea, the rector, an older lady who has overseen this school for many years, shared with me that she does not support integrated education for students with disabilities.  "Ukraine is not ready," she remarked.    












Sunday, March 13, 2016

Ukrainian Hospitality

Several weeks ago, I did some work at Donetsk National University in Vinnytsia.  For faculty and students, I presented a lecture on the topic The Inclusive University:  Strategies to Help Students with Disabilities Succeed in Post-Secondary Education, and for students, I presented an additional lecture on the topic The American Deaf Community. I also assisted the math faculty with a project.  While I was in Vinnytsia, my friend and colleague Fedir invited me to his home for supper.  We were joined by some of his colleagues and former and current graduate students.  Of course, it was a feast of traditional and scrumptious Ukrainian fare.  





We enjoyed traditional cabbage/carrot salad, two kinds of beet salad, smoked plums with a sweet vanilla laced 82% smetana (Ukrainian sour cream) that was so thick and rich it was more like sweetened cream cheese, four kinds of verenyky (cabbage, potato, cheese, and cherry), pickled eggplant (which sounds strange, but was intoxicatingly delicious), addictively tasty roasted garlic stems, fresh fruit and much more.  

The point of this post isn't that Fedir and his friends shared a lot of delicious food with me.  It's that Ukrainians by nature are very gracious, loving and generous hosts.  This attitude towards friends (and also strangers welcomed into their homes) is exemplified by a beloved Ukrainian folk song which Fedir and his other guests sang for me after supper. Below is the refrain which my dear friend and interpreter Vira translated for me:

Green is the rye.
My good friends are with me.
Green rye is beyond the village.
And my good guests are at the table here.

Rye is the giver of life, and the author of this song equates friendship with the green rye.  In other words, friends make life worth living.

Monday, February 8, 2016

Bogomolets National Medical University

I was recently invited to tour Bogomolets National Medical University in Kyiv.  



Bogomolets National Medical University 

The main purpose of my visit was to see the research library, as my tour guide on this day, Stanislav Ustinov, has a goal of upgrading it to a modern library.  It may surprise some readers that a national medical university does not have a modern research library, but this is Kyiv, Ukraine, which suffered under years of Soviet domination, and Ukrainians are currently fighting a war with Russia, so many public universities lack funds to make necessary improvements.  For instance, a few years back, Bogomolets National Medical University began constructing a twenty-four story building in attempt to modernize the university, but funds were depleted, and construction was halted in 2011, leaving only a towering empty concrete shell.

The library at Bogomolets is small and antiquated.  Students are not permitted to peruse the stacks, and they must search for books using an old card catalog system that dates to the time of the Soviet Union.  When they locate a title they need, they hand their request to a library worker who retrieves the book for them.  



The card catalog at  Bogomolets National Medical University

Furthermore, the collection is actually not very large for a medical university and many of the volumes are old and outdated.

Stanislav has a dream of creating a modern library with a larger collection of up-to-date books, a computer lab where students can access international medical databases such as PubMed to search for articles on medical research, (which students currently cannot access), and install a computerized library database for searching the collection, along with a bar code system for quickly and easily checking out volumes.  Stanislav's goals are hardly unrealistic.  It is unfortunate that young future doctors at Bogomolets National Medical University do not have access to the same quality of library services that medical students in the United States and Europe have.  In reality, this is a serious need.  If medical students are going to be effective learners and develop the critical skills and knowledge to be competent physicians and surgeons, they must have access to the most current medical research and information available.  A modern library at the medical university is not a luxury.  It's a critical need.

I am trying locate grants that will help fund Stanislav's highly important initiative, but it's extremely difficult.  If any readers might have some information that will help Stanislav, please feel free to e-mail me.  Thank you!

Incidentally, the university is named after Dr. Alexander A. Bogomolets whom Joseph Stalin tapped to lead a team of researchers in the quest for prolongation of life.  


Bust of Bogomolets in front of the university

Bogomolets never really succeeded in discovering how to extend life expectancy, though he did do some important and interesting hematology research.

Friday, February 5, 2016

The Photographic Work of Joseph Sywenkyj

Joseph Sywenkyj is a Fulbright scholar and photographer who documents the lives of Ukrainian veterans who have been wounded and subsequently disabled.  The Link is below:

The Photographs of Joseph Swenkyj "Рани" http://rany.com.ua/


This is an important project, so please check it out.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

The Inclusive University

A while back, I developed a proposal for one of the universities in Ukraine that is exploring the possibility of admitting deaf students.  Below is a variation of the proposal that I submitted.  Obviously, this is structured to meet the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students and should not be considered an exhaustive list of academic supports.  Students of every disability can succeed in higher education and should be given equal access to universities and other post-secondary institutions in general.  Therefore, depending on the specific needs of each individual (blind students or those with learning disabilities, for instance), additional supports not mentioned here may be needed.  Actually, I have noticed that in Ukraine, some post-secondary programs seem to lean towards admitting certain groups of students with disabilities.  Fortunately, Vinnytsia Institute of Economics and Social Sciences is more open and admits students with a range of disabilities, so there is hope that practices are changing.

While it is essential that Ukrainian universities begin the process of developing inclusive education programs, it is not enough to simply admit students with disabilities.  While placing students with disabilities in university classrooms may be considered a form of integration, it is not inclusion (Ivanyuk, 2007). Inclusion is a philosophy and process that allows all students to participate in all academic and extra-curriculum programs (Ivanyuk, 2007; Krsek, 2012; UNICEF, 2011).  Furthermore, in order for individuals with disabilities to succeed in higher education, a university must develop critical support systems and services for these students.  Academic support services and classroom accommodations aim to provide deaf and hard of hearing students equal access to the same instructional content as their peers without disabilities (Cawthon, Schoffstall, Garberoglio, 2014), which provides students with special educational needs with full and unfettered access to the curriculum.  These supports and accommodations equalize educational opportunities for students with disabilities and facilitate their academic success.  It is critical to remember that success will not occur by merely placing students with special needs in university classes.  In cases where students with disabilities have been admitted to universities without being provided support, the consequences have been failure, which is then used as evidence against inclusive education.  In the United States, deaf students hard of hearing students in successful inclusion programs are provided the following supports to facilitate learning during their studies:

·         Resource centers: These are safe and quiet environments where students with disabilities can meet with their academic advisors, study or do research.  Additionally, these centers are equipped with a range of resources such as Wi-Fi, computers, books, a video/CD library, and other helpful materials.
·         Academic tutoring, Many deaf and hard of hearing students benefit from tutors who can help them master course content and prepare for exams (Brooks, 1999; Gardner, Barr, & Lachs, 2001). Tutoring services can be provided in the university Resource Center.
·         Metacognitive Strategies:  Metacognition is literally “thinking about thinking," or "knowing about knowing,” and students skilled in metacognition have a keen awareness of self-learning.  It is a critical skill that Fox (1994) suggested should be included in a program of academic supports for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Benedict, Rivera and Antia (2015) found that deaf students can be taught metacognitive strategies to improve reading comprehension, a critical skill in any higher education program.  Students skilled in metacognitive skills self-monitor during the learning process and identify intervention strategies when they realize they do not understand the material.  They also self-evaluate their thinking and comprehension after completing learning tasks.
·         Testing accommodations:  These accommodations may include extended testing time, a quiet testing environment, a test administrator familiar with the student, an interpreter, or the use of a scribe or computer, which may be more effective for the student than hand written answers (Cawthon, Schoffstall, Garberoglio, 2014).
·         Sign language interpreters:  Sign language interpreters are critical in providing equal access to the curriculum, lectures, and class discussions (Cawthon, Schoffstall, Garberoglio, 2014).
·         Note takers:  Deaf and hard of hearing students frequently benefit from classroom note takers.  (Brooks, 1999; Cawthon, Schoffstall, Garberoglio, 2014). These are dependable and competent classmates who volunteer to share their written or word processed lecture notes with deaf and hard of hearing peers.  It is very difficult for individuals with hearing loss to watch a sign language interpreter or speech read a lecturer while simultaneously taking notes.  Hearing students can look down at their copy books or laptops while listening to the professors, but deaf and hard hearing students cannot.
·         Braille and large print materials for deaf-blind students. Deaf and hard of hearing students with visual impairments require materials modified in Braille or printed in large type (Cawthon, Schoffstall, Garberoglio, 2014).
·         Captioned video presentations: When showing videos in class, it is necessary that they are captioned, which will provide deaf and hard hearing students access to the information presented in the video (Gardner, Barr, & Lachs, 2001; Cawthon, Schoffstall, Garberoglio, 2014).
·         Captioning services: Another important support is real time captioning, or speech to text, whereby a speaker's lecture is immediately projected in text on either a student’s laptop or onto a projection screen for large audiences by skilled stenographers.  A printout of the lecture text can be made available to the deaf and hard of hearing students following the presentation (Gardner, Barr, & Lachs, 2001).
·         Audiological services and digital hearing aids: Many deaf and hard of hearing students benefit from the use of digital hearing aids, but to be effective these should be individually fitted by fully trained and licensed audiologists.  In order to succeed, students must have access to the curriculum, but that access will be denied if they cannot effectively hear in class. 
·         Environmental modifications:  Many classrooms have very poor acoustics.  To improve the listening environment for deaf and hard of hearing students, the following modifications can be made:  acoustic ceiling tiles, carpeting, and drapes to minimize disrupting environmental noise and providing appropriate lighting to effectively illuminate a speaker’s face (Gardner, Barr, & Lachs, 2001).
·         Priority seating:  This extremely helpful accommodation allows the student who is deaf or hard of hearing to determine the best seating arrangement depending on his or her individual needs. For the majority of students with hearing loss, sitting in the front row of the classroom provides the best opportunity for visual learning.  This is particularly helpful for deaf students using a sign language interpreter.  Hard of hearing students benefit from front row seating, because it allows them to better hear the instructor's voice and see his or her face for more effective speechreading (Brooks, 1999; ).
·         Assistive listening devices and amplification: There are a number of technologies that help deaf and, in particular, hard of hearing students hear better in classrooms, some of which, incidentally, benefit hearing students, as well.  These technologies include wireless FM systems, which send the teacher’s voice from a microphone he or she wears directly to the student’s hearing aids via radio waves; infrared devices, in which a transmitter converts sound into a light signals and transmits it to a receiver that is worn by a student before sending the sound to a his or her hearing aids; induction loop systems, whereby a coil of wire around a room or under carpeting uses electromagnetic energy to transmit sounds from a microphone to hearing aids or loudspeakers (Brooks, 1999; Gardner, Barr, & Lachs, 2001) and sound field systems, which integrate loudspeakers with a wireless microphone. As a teacher talks into a microphone his or her voice is transmitted to a specialized receiver/amplifier connected to a loudspeaker assembly mounted on a wall or ceiling (Ross, 2001).
·         Visual aids: Visual aids are extremely important in providing full access to the curriculum for students with hearing loss who generally require a visual learning experience.  Examples include videos, PowerPoint slides, pictures or photographs.  Instructors can also provide printed materials to reinforce information and content that is discussed in class, such as chapter outlines, study guides, and lecture overviews (Brooks, 1999).  The more visual a lesson is, the more a deaf or hard of hearing student will benefit.
·         Accessibility to TTYs:  These telecommunication devices for deaf and speech impaired individuals are an important means of making phone calls and reducing dependence on others, and they are especially critical in emergency situations.  These can be located in offices and/or the Resource Center.
·         Emergency alert systems:  These devices are a critical means of alerting students when there is a life threatening emergency in the area.  They consist of bright flashing lights that deaf students can see in the event of a fire, preventing tragic loss of life.  In the U.S., visual emergency alert systems are required by law in all college and university buildings (Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990).
·         Laptop Computers:  Laptops are a critical tool in contemporary education. They can be used to store course lecture notes, write papers, and conduct research beyond the walls of their universities, and for deaf and hard of hearing students, they are a necessary means of communication.  Professors often may not be able to sign, but the laptops can become critical tools which allow professors and students to communicate with each other effortlessly, breaking down barriers and providing students with limitless access to the curriculum on equal footing with hearing students.

In addition to these direct student support services, there are a number of other indirect supports and university conditions that must be met for a higher education inclusion program to be successful.

Accepting and Supportive Environment:

Fostering a supportive and welcoming environment is just as critical as providing physical and academic supports.  The university environment must be encouraging and promote unconditional acceptance of all students.  It is essential that faculty, staff and students espouse a university-wide philosophy that all students should learn together, wherever possible, regardless of any difficulties or differences they may have (Krsek, 2012).  Furthermore, it is important that faculty and staff value the presence and contributions of students with special needs as much as they do the other students.  They must also accept that deaf and hard of hearing students learn differently, and it is important for instructors to be willing to design lessons compatible with the learning styles of these students.

Training for University Instructors:

Additionally, it is important to educate administrators, faculty, and staff about the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students.  In most Ukrainian universities, members of the faculty are unprepared to work effectively with students with disabilities.  Consequently, there is a critical need to prepare professors and teachers for this student population.  “To advance inclusion in higher education settings, training must be provided for instructors so they are better able to meet the individual needs of students” (Raver-Lampman & Kolchenko, 2007, p. 50). 

Remedial Courses:

It is also important to have an understanding that deaf and hard of hearing students will come to universities academically unprepared, not because they are incapable, but because they have not been provided an appropriate curriculum in elementary and high school, which would have prepared them for higher education.  Universities should take into consideration that most students with disabilities didn’t go to school with their peers without disabilities, but rather attended segregated special schools.  Segregation during elementary and secondary school negatively impacts deaf and hard of hearing students’ academic development and readiness for postsecondary programs.  Colleges and universities must accept deaf and hard of hearing students’ lack of preparation and instead of using it as an excuse to deny equal educational opportunities to them, should instead offer these students carefully developed remedial courses during their first year to prepare them for university classes and facilitate their success.

Transistion Plans:

It will also be important for universities to work with high schools to help develop postsecondary transition plans for deaf and hard of hearing high school students to help prepare them for university before they arrive on campus.  Transition plans for high school students with disabilities are required by law in the U.S., but not currently in Ukraine.  Consequently, postsecondary transition plans are not normally written for Ukrainian deaf and hard of hearing students.  The present lack of transition planning should not prevent Ukrainian universities from admitting deaf and hard of hearing students, as the need for developing inclusive programming is absolutely critical and should not be delayed.

Sign Langauge Courses:

Many universities in the United States offer sign language courses to all students as a foreign language option or a cultural elective.  This helps develop a barrier-free communication environment, giving hearing and deaf students the opportunity to communicate with each other.  Teaching the other students sign language improves socialization among deaf and hearing students, fostering cooperation and allowing friendships to develop, which in turn helps deaf students’ integration within the university community.  This also helps deaf students to improve their social skills, while at the time teaching hearing students that it is okay to be different.  An integrated social environment helps students without disabilities see that individual differences among peers is normal.

Belief in Equal Educational Rights of Students with Disabilities:

Faculty and administrators in successful inclusion programs espouse a sincere belief and a strong vision that deaf and hard of hearing students have the same academic potential and educational rights as all other students.  This entails a rejection of the stereotypical practice of limiting deaf and hard of hearing students to manual vocational training programs, allowing them to participate in the same academic programs as their peers.  Dr. Olga Krsek at V. Dahl EUNU constantly reminds other Ukrainian administrators and professors that the role of universities is to train deaf and hard of hearing students’ minds for a future of independence, not their hands.  It is also important to remember that opening the doors of higher education to individuals with disabilities is a basic human right (UNICEF, 2011).

Sources
  
Benedict, K. M., Rivera, M. C., & Antia, S. D., (2015). Instruction in metacognitive strategies to increase deaf and hard-of-hearing students' reading comprehension. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 20(1), 1-15.

Brooks, P. (1999). Deafness 101. Postsecondary Education Consortium. Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Cawthon, S. W., Schoffstall, S. J., & Garberoglio, C. L. (2014) How Ready are Institutions
for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing? Education Policy Analysis Archives, 22 (13).
http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v22n13.2014.

Fox, S. D. (1994). Metacognitive Strategies in a College World Literature Course. American Annals of the Deaf, 139(5), 506-11.

Gardner, D., Barr, V., & Lachs, S., (2001). Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in Postsecondary Education. American Council on Education, Washington, DC.

Interfax-Ukraine. (July 6, 2011). Ukraine to bring its legislation in line with UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukraine-to-bring-its-legislation-in-line-with-un-c-108113.html

Ivanyuk, I. (2007). Status of inclusive education in Ukraine, Regional Preparatory Workshop on Inclusive Education Eastern and South Eastern Europe, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved from the Internet, November 8, 2015, http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Inclusive_Education/Reports/sinaia_07/ukraine_inclusion_07.pdf

Kolupayeva, A., Trends in the integration of special education in Ukraine, Modern Trends of Special Education Development (Canada-Ukraine Experience). Open University-University “Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine-Edmonton, Canada, 142-146, May 2004.

Krsek, O. (2012).  Inclusive education for university students with disabilities. Concept Paper: USAID, Regional Mission for Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus.

Raver-Lampman, S. & Kolchenko, K. (2007). Comparison of perceptions of inclusion between university instructors and students with disabilities in Ukraine.  The Journal of the International Association of Special Education, 8(1), 43-53.

Ross, M. (2002). Classroom sound-field systems. Volta Voices.

UNICEF, (2011). The Right of Children with Disabilities to Education: A Rights-Based Approach to Inclusive Education in the CEECIS Region. Geneva, Switzerland.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Inclusive Education Round Table Event

Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 2, there will be a very important round table event on inclusive education at the Kyiv Fulbright office.  Feel free to join us if you would like to participate.


2 лютого 2016 o 18:00
вул. Еспланадна, 20, офіс 904
М «Палац спорту»
Програма імені Фулбрайта в Україні
Круглий стіл
«Інклюзивна освіта в Україні»
2 лютого 2016 o 18:00
Мови дискусії: українська, англійська

«Досвід США в організації інклюзивного навчання»
Лайл КАУФМАН, фахівець зі спеціальної освіти, Kansas City Kansas Public Schools (Kansas
City, KS), стипендіат U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program 2010-2011 рр., 2014-16 рр. в Україні.

«Правове забезпечення інклюзивності освіти як гарантія реалізації права на освіту»
Володимир КОВТУНЕЦЬ, координатор з питань законодавства Альянсу USETI;
координатор робочої групи з розробки законопроекту «Про освіту» при Комітеті ВРУ
(2013-2015 рр.)

«Розроблення наукового та навчально-методичного забезпечення інклюзивної
освіти науковцями Інституту спеціальної педагогіки НАПН України»
Алла КОЛУПАЄВА, заступник директора з наукової роботи, Інститут спеціальної
педагогіки НАПН України, доктор педагогічних наук, професор

«Інклюзивне навчання в Україні: реалії та перспективи розвитку»
Тетяна СИМОНЕНКО, начальник відділу освіти дітей з особливими потребами
департаменту загальної середньої та дошкільної освіти, Міністерство освіти і науки
України

«Інклюзія: практичні аспекти та реалії»
Євгеній СУКОВСЬКИЙ, психолог, поведінковий аналітик (Львів), магістр у галузі
спеціальної освіти, стипендіат Fulbright Graduate Student Program 2012-2014 рр. в
University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)

«Трикутник змін: батьки, школа та спільнота»
Інна СТЕПАНЮК, спеціаліст із практичної психології та соціальної педагогіки,
Житомирський державний університет імені Івана Франка, стипендіат Fulbright Faculty
Development Program 2014-2015 рр. в University of Wisconsin (Platteville, WI)


Модерує Інна Степанюк.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Crimea

In 2011, my dear friend Sasha and I spent two weeks in Crimea, Ukraine.  This trip was organized specifically for me by my colleague Dr. Olga Krsek.  She wanted me to have a vacation before I returned to the U.S., but also see a part of the world experienced by few Americans. 

In 2014, Crimea was invaded and annexed by Russia in direct response to the democratic revolution that occurred in Ukraine during the winter of 2013/2014.  I had hoped to return to Crimea during my second Fulbright Scholarship, but the Russian invasion squelched that possibility.  Sasha will remember that I had thrown a coin into the Black Sea, a very old Ukrainian tradition.  It is said that whoever throws a coin into the sea will one day return to Crimea.   It is my hope, along with every Ukrainian, that Crimea will be reunited with the rest of Ukraine.

Here are few photos of a very beautiful and special part of Ukraine. 



A view of Yalta in the distance from the Livadia Palace




Swallow's Nest, Crimea




Swallow's Nest




Swallow's Nest




View of the Black Sea coastline from Swallow's Nest





Yalta in the distance as seen from Swallow's Nest




Yalta



Yalta



Yalta



Yalta



Anton Chekhov's Home in Yalta



Characters from Chekhov's novel The Lady with the Dog, Yalta



Yalta in the distance as seen from the village of Livadia



The mountains as viewed from the Alupka Palace (Sasha took this and most of the following photos at Alupka.)



Alupka Palace, construction continued from 1828 to 1848. 



Alupka Palace 



Alupka Palace 


Alupka Palace 


Alupka Palace 



Alupka Palace 



Alupka Palace 



Sasha at Alupka Palace 



Masandra Palace. This was built for Tsar 
Alexander III, who died before it was completed.  
Construction was finished in 1900. (Sasha's photo)




Masandra Palace (Sasha's photo)




Masandra Palace. Joseph Stalin used the 
palace as his own personal dacha during 
his visits to Crimea. (Sasha's photo)



Masandra Palace (Sasha's photo)



Sasha at Masandra Palace (Sasha's photo)



Me at Masandra Palace


Sasha at Masandra Palace



View from Masandra Palace



View from Masandra Palace (Sasha's photo)



View from the church at  Foros, Crimea


View from the church at  Foros, Crimea


View from the church at  Foros, Crimea



Sasha scaring the heck out of me at the church near Foros.
He is sitting on the edge of a 400 meter (1,312 feet) high cliff.



Church of Christ's Resurrection 

(consecrated on October 4, 1892), Foros, Crimea




Church of Christ's Resurrection, Foros, Crimea



Church of Christ's Resurrection, Foros, Crimea




Foros, Crimea




Foros, Crimea




Livadia Palace, the private home of Tsar Nicholas II 
and his family. It is located in the small village of Livadia, 
which is 3 kilometers west of Yalta.  Construction was 
completed in 1911.  Nicholas and his entire family were 
murdered on the orders of Vladimir Lenin on July 17, 1918



Livadia Palace. The Yalta conference 
was held here in February 1945 and was
where Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed.




The room where President Roosevelt worked 
and the desk he used during the Yalta Conference.
Livadia Palace, Crimea, Ukraine





The desk of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas Romanov II
Livadia Palace. Crimea, Ukraine





Balaklava, Crimea, the location of a Cold War 
era ultra secret nuclear bomb proof Soviet 
submarine base under a mountain.



A view of  the ruins of a 14th century Genoese 
fortress. Visible in the background is one of the 
two entrances to the Soviet submarine base.



In this photo, the entrance to the base can be seen to 
the right. During Soviet times, Balalkava was so secret, 
that the town was not even on maps. Even Soviet citizens 
needed special permission from the authorities to visit 
this small town, and only to visit relatives who lived here.



The submarine base is under the mountain 
in the background and is nearly undetectable. 
Soviet authorities guarded the secrecy of this 
base with such jealously that even neighbors 
were never aware that each had jobs at the base.