Zlukacamp

Posted on

I’m behind on my post about Zlukacamp that I attended on Saturday, January 22, in Chicago. It was a remarkable experience, and I consider myself lucky to have met this driven and passionate group of Ukrainian students.

We began with a symbolic representation of our connections to Ukraine as each participant marked the place in Ukraine where they were born or most identified with.

Truly we were “all over the map,” with our roots stretching across Ukraine. It was a fitting way to begin our talks on January 22–Ukrainian Unity Day, commemorating the declaration of unity between the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UNR) and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic (ZUNR) proclaimed in Sofiyska Square in Kyiv on 22 January, 1919.

These Ukrainian students spoke eloquently about issues dear to their heart: Why do some students from Ukraine choose to remain in the US? Why do others return and what kind of support system is in place to help them to succeed? How can they work with Ukrainians in Diaspora to affect change in Ukraine?

Dr. Myron Kuropas presented the history of Ukrainian Diaspora and attempts by the Ukrainian communities to preserve their culture and traditions in America.

Several of the Ukrainian students spoke about the challenges at hand: corruption, education, expectations, and politics. There are so many obstacles for anyone who wants to make a positive change for Ukraine and her people, and these young people are aware of those challenges and continue to develop ways that they can make a difference.

I spoke about my novel, The Silence of Trees, and my own feeling of being on the threshold between two worlds: Ukrainian and American. It is characteristic of Diaspora literature, this connection to ancestral homeland and the idea that those in Diaspora should collectively be committed to the preservation/restoration of this homeland.

Joined by the Consul General of Ukraine in Chicago, Kostiantyn Kudryk, we listened to a variety of speakers including one of the founders of Zlukacamp, Daria Kaleniuk, as they presented strategies for the future, including supporting Ukrainian students who choose to return to Ukraine, and building a team of Ukrainians and Diaspora who can work together to create projects aimed at supporting Ukraine.

Afterward, we headed over to the Ukrainian National Museum where we heard three additional speakers talk about the importance of archaeological research, the plight of the Crimean Tatar people, and the work of Ukrainian author, Andriy Gudyma.

I was inspired to be in such good company, and proud of this generation of young people coming out of Ukraine. They care deeply for Ukraine and understand that it’s going to be a long road toward improvement. Many of them seem up for the challenge and eager to collaborate with others who share their passion for helping Ukraine.

There’s a flickr page with more photos, and a nice article (in Ukrainian however) here.

I know that they are planning more events in the future, in Chicago and other cities with Ukrainian communities. If you’re interested, they have a facebook page and a google group.

I know they welcome others who are interested in collaboration, brainstorming, and networking. I am proud to have been a part of it, and I hope to stay involved in some way.

This is a group to watch. They are capable of incredible things.

Ukie Fusion

Posted on

I love Brussels sprouts. I never had them as a child. They just were not on the rotation.

I tried them as an adult and liked them, but hadn’t attempted to prepare them at home until recently.

I’ve been playing with different ways to serve them and was inspired to create a variation on Ukrainian holubtsi (stuffed cabbage leaves). Instead of stuffing the leaves, I sauteed Brussels sprouts (they are in the cabbage family, after all) and added them to the rice, onion, and ground beef mixture (vegetarians can use a rice, onion, and mushroom mixture instead).

I placed it all in a casserole dish, added tomato sauce, and baked it in the oven.

It was delicious!

Words like Winter Snowflakes

Posted on

I recently saw the movie Ghost World with friends, and it’s been haunting me.

I did not like it at first. We had a good conversation following the film and talked about what we did/did not like about it. I had plenty of things too say. I was probably too loud, too vocal. My response to the characters was strong: Why didn’t the protagonist (or would she be an anti-hero?) Enid fight for anything? Why did she choose to run away? Why didn’t she allow herself to connect with people? Why was she so busy looking down at people that she forgot to look around, to learn, to grow?

My companions were not quite as angry with Enid (Thora Birch). Where I saw an easy out, someone else saw hope in Enid’s choice to leave. We agreed to disagree.

Days later, the character of Enid has stayed with me, as has Seymore.

I cannot easily dismiss characters that remain with me, that live on and challenge me in some way. So here I am. Why is Enid haunting me?

Sure, I identified with some aspects of her character–trying to be different, trying to find an authentic style. But I didn’t *like* Enid. I wanted more for her.

Did my response come from a place of “Valya-as-parent?” Was it because I fear for my own children, that they could quit, or  push everyone away, or run away from home?

Maybe. That’s part of it.

However, I think it’s more than that.

Thora Birch (Enid) and Steve Buscemi (Seymore) both did a fine job in their roles, and their performances were the highlight of the film. I cared about their characters, I was cheering them on when they connected. But the connection is too brief, too fleeting. In the end, Enid keeps everyone and everything at an ironic distance.

Yes, she has clever, snarky comments of disapproval, but beyond that what does she have? What does she hold onto? Are Enid’s sarcastic comments an attempt to be real in an increasingly artificial world?

She never chooses to be a part of anything, except for her brief time with Seymore and the tatters of her relationship with her best friend Jessica. The only thing she chooses is to ride on an empty bus to nowhere. I suppose that’s a choice and fits with the movie, but I was not satisfied.

Was I looking for a Hollywood ending? No. That’s not it. I know that it’s not all sunshine and unicorns, especially at that age.

I remember being young and feeling lost and disjointed. Was this meant to be a film for my generation, or the generation that immediately followed my own?

Perhaps Enid evokes my Jungian “shadow”? Often the things that annoy us most about another person are the aspects of our self that we dislike and try to ignore.

While I may not have liked Ghost World, I think it was a successful and provocative film. Not many films have earned a journal entry. 😉

I want to read the comic book version next.