Lisle Kauffman: My Fulbright Scholarship at EUNU-Luhansk, Ukraine: Kyiv: Day 6

Tuesday, Amy and I were becoming anxious as we realized that the end of our visit together was quickly approaching. Seven days is not enough. Fourteen days would have been far better and healthier. Unfortunately, Amy could not get any more days off from work. Despite her years of hard work and dependable service, her supervisors remain stubbornly rigid. I really wish she had been allowed to take more days off. We need to find an original sketch by Van Gogh at a garage sale.

I had been asked to lecture at a university in Kyiv Tuesday morning, so Amy used the time to get some much needed rest. I spoke to students and faculty at Dragomanov National Pedagogical University in Kyiv (Kiev). The topic of my lecture was Special Education in the United States: Foundations and Practices. The students and faculty were attentive and seemed very receptive to my ideas. Interestingly, the entire front row consisted of deaf and hard of hearing students enrolled at the university. I did not realize deaf and hard of hearing students were present until their interpreter arrived…30 minutes late.

Students in Ukraine tend to be very quiet and do not ask many questions. In contrast, some students in this group did ask a few questions. They wanted to know about educational opportunities for deaf students in the United States and if it was common for them to go to universities.

Following my lecture, one of the professors invited me to her office for tea, a common custom in Ukraine. We discussed her university’s current experiences with admitting deaf students. She was quite surprised that I am in Luhans’k, and perhaps even a bit disappointed. When I pressed her, she admitted that she believed I should be at Dragomanov, not V. Dahl EUNU. While I would love to live in Kyiv, I think it is more appropriate for me to be in Luhans’k. The need here is greater.

When I returned from my lecture, we went for a walk. Since there were exhibits at the historical museum we didn't get to see, we decided to go back. We arrived just as a motorcade of black Mercedes and passenger vans arrived, led by a police vehicle intent on using its siren. Three of the Ukrainian licensed Mercedes had state flags mounted on the front fenders: Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania. We were close enough to see the people exiting the vehicles. I didn't recognize the passenger in the Ukrainian flagged automobile. He definitely wasn't President Yanukovych. The security detail appeared rather light, so at the time, I was guessing that it was a relatively low level cultural or diplomatic delegation. Later I learned that legislative representatives (parliamentary law-makers) from Lithuania and Poland were in Ukraine that day for talks regarding Ukraine's integration into the European Union. My guess these people were participants at the meeting.

The people who had entered the museum were fairly low on the international political food chain, so I was rather annoyed that we were denied entry, especially since the museum was open and some individuals were lucky enough to gain entry before the politicians got out of their cars. If Amy and I had been several minutes earlier, we would have made it in, as well.

The National History Museum with the cars ferrying folks
from Poland and Lithuania. The officer in uniform on
the right is the fellow who not allow us to enter.

Following our failed attempt to visit the museum, I took Amy over to the historic Andreevsky Descent. The Andreevsky Descent is a very old part of Kyiv and the location of St. Andrew's Cathedral. Along the entire length of the Descent are venders selling souvenirs and handicrafts. It can get very busy and crowded with tourists during the summer.