the End. the End?

Life-changing

It all started with a simple thought, with an ordinary idea. It has grown into a life-changing journey of discoveries, conversations and beauty.

Ukraine. these flowers are considered to a national attribute of the country.

Why life-changing? There is an obvious side: what has been happening in Ukraine is fascinating to everyone all over the world, it has changed the life of Ukrainians forever. The not so obvious, the more personal one, is that it has been life-changing to me. I have met extraordinary Ukrainians all over the world and had the honor to live through some wonderful parts of their life. My name is Kateryna Kostiuchenko and I became inspired by all the power and beauty that young Ukrainians showed during the Revolution of Dignity. Young. Inspired. Ready for action. Such Ukrainians I met in December 2013, when I came back to my home country after having lived abroad for around three years. It was the moment, when I had the idea to start this blog and I have never regretted it for a single moment ever since. Today, I would like to tell you about what this blog has been for me. Recall the incredible personalities I have written about and remind you one more time of why they are special and why I have written about them. But first, I would like to thank Melody Gilbert, who has been helping me through this journey. She has demonstrated, with her own example, what it means to be an outstanding journalist. She has shared her cinematography career (as a director and producer), journalistic tips and simply set an example as a wonderful woman. I started my blog with a question in mind, which basically gave the name to my first post: WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?

Kyiv, Maidan. 3013

It all started with a concept of portraying the real events back home. Interviewing family and friends, who are in Ukraine and through them, giving you, my dear readers the first – hand insights of the events in Ukraine. Although, it turned out that almost all of my Ukrainian friends now live outside of Ukraine, as I do myself. So that was the turning point in my blogging journey with the post, called: THE COUNTRY OF THE FIRST CONSTITUTION IN THE WORLD.

Maidan. 2013

In that post I have given some of the most important fact about Ukraine, which are actually not very known to most of the people. I have also interview the political science professor at the American University in Bulgaria, who gave his opinion on the situation as a professional. Then, there was the EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY post.

I interviewed a really close friend of mine for that post and had the pleasure to share some personal stories with her, while hearing her point of view on the established situation in our home country. Next, I have met Katya, the student at AUBG, who inspired me to create: “WE DON’T SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE” OR IS THERE UNDERSTANDING? post.

The post that addressed the issue of the disparity of the languages in one country and explained why the issue is not as simple as it may seem to be. BOOM OF NATIONAL PRIDE

was a true boom at our University, as everyone fell in love with the dance, Ukrainian students prepared for the Taste Fest at AUBG. It was also the time Evheniia Melekhovets told me about her passion of design and how she has spread the message about EuroMainad thanks to it. HE PHOTOGRAPHS THE SOUL

opened up the remarkable story of the French photographer from Paris, whose parents are from Ukraine. He has been photographing the ATO zone and all the major events in Ukraine, as well as the EuroMaidan in Paris. “When you have a photo camera in your hands – that is one thing, but when you have your eye behind the lenses – that is a completely different thing. That is what makes you a photographer,” says Youry Bilak. SILENCE OF THE WIND

permitted me to experience what it truly means to be writing while traveling. I believe I have another passion in my life now, which is precisely travel writing. I was going to Switzerland to one of the EYP conferences and the interviewee of mine was actually another Ukrainian girl, who has just returned to Ukraine from one of those conferences. “SO MUCH OPTIMISM”

was precisely what I felt at that time. “Wow, finally, changes. So much optimism. We are the generation that made the change,” Ira Garbuz. It was the post all about her. THE GENTLE ONE post

was a discovery of a young lady, who currently lives in Berlin, but is originally from Ukraine. She writes. She writes beautifully. She has published three books of poems already and I had the pleasure of transforming one of her poems onto a video. Then, I MET HIM AT THE TIME OF CHANGES

was about a friend of mine Illya, who now lives in Canada. We share a passion for camera and photographing, people, streets, anything that catches our eyes. And my final post so far was about Max, who said: “YOU KNOW, I’D NEVER THINK YOU ARE UKRAINIAN”

this post was rather a profile of the young man. It was interesting to be discovering exciting things about his personality. Feel free to visit it again 🙂

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Throughout this experience the initial question of “What is happening right now?” has changed into “What life do Ukrainian expats live right now and how do they keep up with what is happening in Ukraine?” You can see why it changed. It just happened naturally, and I am happy, I had a chance to share with you all I did here. So far that’s it my dear readers. For the millionth time in my life: I cannot believe how fast the time flew by. There was always something special in each of the personalities I have met. Each of them brought something fresh and exciting, each of them had a reflection of me. Thank YOU, dear readers, for staying with me throughout this voyage, I hope I brought something exciting and interesting into your lives. Again, I am proud to say that I am from Ukraine, I am proud to say that Ukrainians are incredible people, who carry love in their hearts and insatiable desire to bring the beauty into the world and achieve something wonderful. And it doesn’t matter in which part of the world they are, they will always shine, as their eyes are the brightest and their hearts are the warmest.  I hope that this journey has been as interesting and special for you, as it was for me.

Sincerely yours,

Kateryna

P.S. Here is just a short personal video I have created. I really do hope that this blog has made an impact on some people’s lives.

“You know, I’d never think you are Ukrainian”

You know that feeling of coziness. When you sit somewhere inside and can feel the fresh breeze from outside of the window? When it is a rainy day… It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon, the big glass window was wide open, as we could feel the vividness of the wind and calmness of the rain drops outside. It was a nice and pleasant talk, as I have had a chance to discover something more about the personality of Max. He is another Ukrainian, here, on AUBG campus. It was the ending of the day, which permitted me to learn more about someone, whom I met exactly a year ago.

Max Shpirka

“You know, I’d never think you are Ukrainian,” Max shared his first impression, shortly after we started our talk. He is from Ukraine, himself, but from a different part of the country – eastern part – Dnepropetrovsk. Up until the time he came to AUBG, Max Shpirka left the country to go to Greece several times, otherwise, he experienced his childhood and adolescence in his home town. Max had a rather unique high school experience, as he graduated from the Lyceum of Information Technologies at the Dnipropetrovsk National University. It was highly focused on IT and Max, as well as other lucky and smart ones (the admission process is highly selective in the school) has a chance to explore some of the newest courses related to technology. Moreover, it was a wonderful experience to be among the brilliant ones. The only downturn (although, a very good thing, as to me) was that the curriculum was very challenging. The school was originated the same year as AUBG and throughout that time there was only one recipient of the golden medal (the highest possible ward students can receive for their academic achievement in Ukraine upon the completion of the middle and high school studies). He doesn’t know too many people on campus, and there is a reason to that. After being only two months at AUBG, Max moved off the campus. It was the time, when he met his girlfriend: Lisa. “We used to go out for lunch together: to the Swing Jazz. Every single day,” Max recalls. They’ve been together for 4 years and 7 months now. 🙂

the Sonicare brush Max has

As in any kind of conversation, there is a twist, the most interesting discovery, in a way. During the conversation with Max, I found out that he liked interesting technological things, in which other people might not see as much value. For example, he does not have an ordinary tooth brush. His tooth brush is Philips “Sonicare”. It all started when Max needed to have a special cleaning of his teeth, which turned out to be very expensive, so the young man did a lot of research and found out about the one time solution for his teeth. “It is a great thing,” he says. Although, I met only one person in my life so far, who has the same one: it was a guy I worked with in California. Max remembered a funny thing, relating to his tooth brush: picturing himself, being a lot younger, he was in the supermarket, looking at the similar tooth brush, and thinking to himself: “It is so expensive. Who buys those things, and why would you even need one.” Ironically enough, he is one of those people who bought such tooth brush. Besides the tooth brush, there are other interesting things Max has in his possession.

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“I also like cars,” says Max. “I have actually fixed a car for a girl in the US once,” and a huge smile appeared on his face. Max just loves technology. He has mentioned that a couple of times throughout our conversation. Besides the brush, Max has an expensive and pretty unusual bike. “The bike was bought in the US,” Max says. “I had to transport it somehow back to Europe, I could do it legally, I knew it. Although, as you can imagine, my bags were extremely overweight.” After doing a little bit of math, Max realized that he has to pay $200. He had exactly $102 in cash. The money from his workplace was not transferred to his account, yet. So he ended up being totally lucky, with 32kg of baggage, 15kg of hand luggage and 15kg backpack. He did the maximum. Max had been taking his bike on every single adventure with him. Here are some nice proves to that together with the picture of his bike in the luggage.

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Max with his phone

1+1 Company phone

His phone comes with an interesting story as well. It is produced by the OnePlus One company (a Startup in the US). One could only buy it having an invite. The company initiated a lottery, which would permit the lucky ones to obtain an invite to buy the phone. What do you think? Of course Max won one. “It is the highest value for money ratio,” he says. “The phone has every feature that an $800 would have and it has a very nice design.” To sum up, I would like to mention that Max likes listening to various podcasts and watching different Youtube videos that inspire him. He shared one of them with you to get inspired. Enjoy! And I will be back to you next week.

I met him at the time of changes.

It is especially warm tonight. It is not the ordinary city. Being hundreds of miles away from the sea, I feel the breeze and see seagulls in the balmy sky. Mild piano notes are reaching the center of the city from somewhere far away. It is no ordinary place. Tonight, I am vanished in two of my passions: writing and traveling, as I am exploring the oldest city of Europe and starting today’s blog post. I will be writing about another Ukrainian. This time, the one, who lives across the ocean from here, in Canada. I will be writing about Illya Lebedintsev.

Illya. Personal archive

I met him at the times of changes. When we were really young and immature. It was in 2010, while getting ready for the trip to the US. Not just a trip, it was a year – long journey of excitement and joy, hardship and pleasure, transformation and self-discovery. Both of us were the Future Leaders Exchange Program finalists. We met right before the start of the program, in Kyiv. I wouldn’t say we became friends right at that time, although, as years past, we started seeing something interesting in one another’s personalities. Today, I would like to tell you something that reveals Illya’s Ukrainian identity, while he is on the other side of the world. The young man left Ukraine three years ago and started his bachelor’s degree in Vancouver, Canada. He met many Ukrainians in the area, who soon became his friends. Illya is also someone, who cherishes Ukrainian traditions, thus he has been keeping up with national traditions as much as he could.

One of Illya’s friends, who has launched the “Solodko Ukrainian bakery” in Canada. From personal archive

One of the things he has been doing is helping his friends, who launched a Ukrainian bakery. They called it “Solodko Ukrainian Bakery.” “Solodko” means sweet in Ukrainian language. They are making traditional Ukrainian baked goods, as well as the famous borsch and selling them to people in Vancouver. Sweet apple with cinnamon, poppy seeds and blueberry piroshky are among the most popular ones that they are making. Here are some photographs of Illya, his friends and the sweetness they have to offer.

Illya plays the guitar and sings. He has a wonderful voice. When the conflict in Ukraine started, his contribution was made through the music. He, together with other musicians, organized charity concerts, and the money generated went to help the Ukrainians. This is a video of Illya singing at one of such events a year ago. The song is based on Vasyl Sumonenko’s (famous Ukrainian poet) poem: “Задивляюсь У Твої Зіниці.” He is the proof of the talent and power Ukrainians carry in their hearts. You can feel it in his deep voice. Recently, Illya launched his own project: Vancouver Vibes. Discovering the potential of a camera, he has been portraying people of Vancouver. Hope you have enjoyed meeting Illya and discovering the little part of his life. Enjoy the last sunny days of beautiful Easter break and I will get back to you next week with another exciting story.

The Gentle One

Gentle…  “Gentle” is the title of her last book. Gentle is how she looks like on photographs. Gentle is what she is in real life.

Nadiia Telenchuk is the twenty-two-year-old Ukrainian, who currently studies in Germany. Her major is International Economics, but her passion lies within poetry. “There are so many things going on right now. Don’t even know where to start. What I know for sure – is that I often do not have enough time.” This is how our interview started.

She wrote her first poem when she was eight years old. It was about Ukrainian language. “I remember me to be very patriotic.” Nadiia went to a Ukrainian school in Kherson. Speaking Ukrainian was a rare thing, as she grew up in the Russian-speaking part of the country, but the young lady is now grateful that she was raised bilingually.

After a few not-so-serious poems, Nadiia started writing about more personally significant matters, such as her first love. From the mid-2008 until May of 2009, the girl was in Kansas, United Stated, studying in a high school through the FLEX program. That was the second push towards more meaningful writing. It was a life-changing experience. She understood what being independent means, most importantly, she understood herself. The accumulation of such knowledge lead to a series of poems published in her first book: “The new interpretation of the rain.”  I remember Nadiia, talking proudly of her accomplishment, when we first met. The desire to express her artistic personality motivated Nadiia to make the cover of the book herself. Here you can see a photograph of the book, with her own painting on the cover.

Nadiia’s first book cover

The second book was published one and a half years after, and it is called “Happiness in a wrap.” That “wrapped happiness” for the girl has always been chocolate. I can surely say that many Ukrainian girls share such sign of “happiness.”

Nadiia’s second book cover

Nadiia’s third book cover

Nadiia has special tender feelings towards her latest book, the “Gentle” one. “It is the most favorite one,” she says. Because it is the latest one. There is not toughing upon civil or philosophical matters. It is different. Here are some of the words by Nadiia, so that you can see what poetry looks like:

Forgive me candles which we never burned –

My heart is taking care of the flames.

The shameless night is yet again to blame

For every fragile thought which takes its turn.

The light is dropping down between my palms.

Let sadness melt like wax and fade away.

Incessant pressure seems to find its way

Without letting our breath be calm.

Nadiia at the presentation of her latest book. Kyiv. February 2015

This February, Nadiia had a presentation of her book in Kyiv. Many people, who are interested in poetry, her dearest and nearest among them, gathered around to listen to the girl reading her work. The fundamental part of the event was that Nadiia donated all the money collected from selling her book to the children of forced migrants from the Eastern Ukraine, which summed up to 1200 UAH.

This year, Nadiia decided to discover the world of prose. She was selected as one of the participants of the international short story project called “The Crisis Inside.” 18 stories, 12 languages and more than 30 countries are united by this initiative, which came from Germany. Young writers are free to write whatever they feel, just having those three words as a guide: The Crisis Inside. Nadiia shared some insight of her story. She writes about her personal experience. A Crisis inside occurs all the time. For example, when you are making a choice: that is sort of crisis inside. Moreover, that is an exceptional opportunity, because the theme depicts what has been going on in Ukraine. I am sure that Nadiia will have a wonderful interpretation of the Ukrainian crisis through her personal experience. Good luck to Nadiia with everything she will be doing further on! She is one of the people Ukraine is proud of.

Here is a video that I have done for one of the Nadiia’s poems. Enjoy!

Stretching the possibilities of telling a story

Today we have learned a very fun and useful took to use in journalism: Storify.

Stofiry.com “helps make sense of what people post on social media.” By putting one or two words of your interest in the search box, you can see the latest post from all over social media. Youtube, Twitter, Facebook – everything in there for you to create your own story out of all posts. You just need to be interested and creative 🙂

Here is the storify I have created today, as a part of this post. It is related to EYP Ukraine.

Here is the link to the full Storify: https://storify.com/insideukraine/so-much-optimism

The first Youtube video explains what EYP is and what EYPUkraine specifically is. Then, you can see a little story of the latest session : Kiev School Session of EYP. Enjoy and don’t forget to explore the Storify.com for your own projects.

Storify on EYP Ukraine http://t.co/GojjH7WlZw #Storify #storytelling #fun

— InsideUkraine (@InsideUkraine) March 31, 2015

And here is another secret of beautiful storytelling (ThingLink.com): you can upload a photo and make various comments, attach post, videos, anything you want to make it special 🙂

//www.thinglink.com/card/639459069500850176

“So much optimism”

“Wow, finally, changes. So much optimism. We are the generation that made the change.” Today, I am thinking back about what inspired me to start the blog about Ukraine. Euromaidan: power, inspiration and changes. That’s what it meant to me. My latest interviewee, Ira Garbuz, from Kyiv, shares the same kind of feelings about Maidan. The above quote belongs to her. I have had a chance to talk to Ira over Skype this weekend and find out about her EYP experience, how it has remodeled her perception of Ukraine. Euromaidan was the representation of life-changing events in Ukraine. “In ten years they will be writing in history books about us, about what happened. Kids will be studying that at school. How cool is that?”  Ira says. I have found someone, who felt exactly like me when Euromaidan occurred. Today, I have a vivid picture of the inspired eyes, motivational words and encouraged minds on the Maidan, as if it were just a few days ago.

Ira Garbuz. Euromaidan. Personal archive.

Ira took part in the peaceful protests, back in November 2013. She was among people with the same vision, with one common goal. “It was like the city within the city,”  her memories come flooding back. It was very cold, but no one cared. People were singing. They stood there proudly with flags.  This is Ira and her friend while on Euromaidan. She has a wreath on her head, one of the most famous Ukrainian national symbols. Today, Ira does not feel less optimistic. She just sees the country from a different perspective. The girl has always been very patriotic. If someone spoke highly of any other country or praised some beauty in the world, she would say: “You probably have never been to Ukraine: now, that is a real beauty.”  Although, in August 2014, Ira left Ukraine to start her Master’s Degree in Germany. Coming back four months later, she saw Kyiv with different eyes. “I am not comparing. I have just started noticing some imperfections, such as trash in the underground and some other minor things.” Each time, coming back to her native country, the girl notices that the standard of life of Ukrainians is getting worse and worse. The first time, the dollar to hryvnia exchange rate was 17, the second – 20, and the last time it became 38. It was incredible. However, people managed to live as they lived before. That proves the Ukrainians to be the nation, whose spirit cannot be broken down. “Here, 99% of people understand me,” Ira says. “In Ukraine, I don’t need to be explaining to anyone that we are not 42 millions of stupid people, but a beautiful country.” The girl points out that people from other countries can hardly understand her . There, no one can figure out what she means. Not even a little bit. Moreover, people cannot understand why she cares so much about everything that is happening back home.“The biggest difference is that Germany is a more individualistic society.” People are not used to helping each other as much as we do in Ukraine.

At the same time, there are many positive and inspiring aspects in traveling to other countries and exploring new regions. As a part of the EYP, Ira has been traveling to various European countries during the past two years. Ira’s main motivation for joining the EYP was the opportunity for traveling, volunteering and personal growth. During the interview I have discovered that Ira and I shared the first experience of EYP during the VinSpring session in 2012. When I asked the girl, which of the sessions was the most memorable to her, she said that it was the one back in 2012. Being slightly surprised by the first odd activity during VinSpring, Ira soon became in love with all the benefits EYP offers her to her. After having many wonderful sessions all over Europe and having experienced a significant personal development, the girl decided that she has to contribute to EYP herself. So, she organized a session in Cherkassy, Ukraine.

This organization is an endless source of inspiration to Ira. “When I joined EYP I did not have all the skills and personal characteristics that I have developed throughout my EYP journeys,” she says. Whoever joins EYP has an opportunity to develop leadership skills right away, and that is the trend Ira has been seeing among the younger ones, who are joining the organization right now. “EYP is changing the youth for the better. As we know, the young ones are the future, the essence of our society, thus EYP is improving society as a whole.”

Ira at a EYP session in Portugal. April, 2014.

Another memorable session for the girl was in Portugal. There, she was a chair for the first time there. “I fell in love with the country. I cannot tell exactly why. The atmosphere was pleasant and welcoming. There was this inexplicable feeling though… It was different, don’t know in which way, but it was so.” “What I know for sure is that it was the first time our generation demonstrated our nationality. We have been studying Shevchenko poems at school, the powerful ones, but that was only done for a grade. We have never done it with our hearts. Until now.” Ira shares.

Today, I can surely say that every single one of us, of the young Ukrainians, is proud to be one. It is one of the most important contributions we can make to our country. We need to be ambassadors of Ukraine and teach the world about the real history and values our nation holds. Ira Garbuz is one of those personalities already. She is a wonderful proof of what it means to be a patriot.

They say that the only history which truly exists is that one happening right now, seen with your own eyes, but not the one  written in history books. I’m proud of young Ukrainians who create history for their future generations, for their children and grandchildren, the history they won’t be ashamed of.

Ira Garbuz and Violetta Kolisnichenko at a Tbilisi session EYP. 2014. Personal archive.

Here is my “storify” for this post

to see the full storify, click here: https://storify.com/insideukraine/so-much-optimism

silence of the wind

It’s 5 am. It is calm and dark outside. I love the sound of the falling cherry blossom and the silence of the wind. The bitter feeling of leaving another country is here again. Memories do not want to let go. . . Charming fog outside the cold window in the train makes me remember the freshness of the air of this beautiful city. Finally, the long – awaited sunrise is here.

Sofia café

I have lived in three different countries during past three years and visited three more. I have learned what freedom is. I have learned to smile, when the only thing I feel is emptiness and sadness. I learned to say goodbye. Today’s post is special, not only because I am sharing a little part of my own life, but also because I am writing it while I am traveling. Right now I am sitting in a cozy café in Sofia, waiting for my early flight in the morning. Tomorrow I will be in Zurich. European Youth Parliament is the program for young people from all over Europe. Its mission is to “support the development of young people into politically aware and responsible citizens by involving them in European political thinking and promoting intercultural understanding.” This weekend I am in Switzerland, chairing one of the committees of the European Youth Parliament in Zurich. My goal is to manage the work of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) and help the delegates write a successful resolution, which answers the question:  “Should Switzerland follow the plans of the EU to establish a gender quota for leading positions in private companies or would other measures be more effective to establish gender-equality on the labor market?” and help them participate in the General Assembly debates. I will also tell you about one of the Ukrainian students – Irina Lukyanenko – who was the chair of the EYP regional session in Geneva. She tells me a little bit about her EYP experience.

“My favorite of all surely was the 8^th Ukrainian National Session,” Irina shares. First of all, we had to delay it due to the unstable situation in Ukraine. Thus, it was one of the most long-awaited sessions.”

The girl was one of the organizers. She is talking proudly of her team. They all worked very well together, and the head-organizers were of the greatest support to them. That was the second reason for the session to be the most memorable one. Irina was responsible for the “delegates support.” The girl took it with the most responsibility, as how many students would come to the conference depended on her, and she wanted to make it an unforgettable experience for every single one of them.

“Furthermore, EYP is an opportunity to broaden your horizon. See what other countries look like. Compare. Make certain conclusions.”

Irina and her committee on the EYP regional session in Geneva.

Irina shares that EYP and the opportunity to go to other countries makes her think about Ukraine. It is important to her. For the girl, EYP has been an opportunity to express her opinion, share her knowledge and develop ideas into reality. In 2013, Irina, participated in her first session, which took place in Ukraine. “The best thing in EYP is people,” she says. “Sometimes, I open up Facebook and see what all of them are doing. It inspires me to do more.” Each of the EYP participants is a unique personality. The girl is sure that without those people EYP would not have been possible and would not have been what it is today. This is how Irina’s EYP experience looks like. I hope that you have enjoyed another post and found it knowledgeable. Wish you a wonderful rest of the week, my dear readers. Talk to you soon. P.S. Today we had a freedom to share a video from our personal archives. This is how my Paris summer looked like two year ago. Well, almost, as this is the caption of some of the relaxing moments. Enjoy!

Halfway through the journey

Good day everyone,

Today I will share with you what my journey through the Multimedia course looked like so far.

As to the blog, my last story was about Youry Bilak, the photographer from Paris, who has been photographing life in Ukraine throughout the past few years. He has started with discovering and photographing life in the Western parts of Ukraine. During the past year he has been depicting what real life looks like in the ATO zone.  “When you have a photo camera in your hands – that is one thing, but when you have your eye behind the lenses – that is a completely different thing. That is what makes you a photographer,” Youry says. He proves that a photographer is first of all great personality, someone, who is curious, intelligent and brave. Meeting Youry has been a great experience for me. It proved me that there are strong patriots of Ukraine far outside the country. It has been said about him, that it is the person, “who photographs the soul,” and one can see that it really is that way, while looking at his work.

The week before in my midterm post, I have touched upon a serious matter that hit Ukrainian economy. The currency rates dropped significantly. I was shocking to find out that 50 hvyvniah now were only 2 leva, so as two years ago it would have been 10 leva. The “boom of national pride” post from the previous week, really made me realize how many Ukrainian talents we have abroad. They are proudly representing Ukraine in their communities. AUBG students from Ukraine, who performed at the AUBG Taste Fest, inspired many at the University and showed how much potential young Ukrainians have. During the same week, I have interview Evheniia Melekhovets. She has done many design projects that helped to inform French people about the situation on Ukraine. With her talent and her work, the girl was able to contribute to the international awareness about Ukraine. Moreover, she has mentioned that she is proud of the current government: “Not to mention their recent rebranding which is such a modern step. I’m just proud of my government at moments like this.” A week before that me, and my colleagues have learned the five shoot video technique. This is used by many professional journalists all over the world each year, and we have had a chance to discover such practice for ourselves as well. The same week my blog post was called “We don’t speak the same language.” The Ukrainian girl Katya shared her experience from back home and talked about the crucial at that moment Minsk Ceasefire Agreement. She noted that “if the cease-fire remains during the first 48 hours, then it will be successful,” which unfortunately did not happen.

In the “Every picture tells a story” post, I have combined the story about Ukrainian student at AUBG Anna Zahorodnyuk and Daisy Sindelar’s article about Ukrainian people. This post brought the idea of the clash in the Ukrainian society that occurred due to the language. In the “Country of the first Constituion in the world” post I have given some of the facts that many people did not know about Ukraine to introduce everyone to the interesting things about the country. Initially my blog has started with the “What is happening right now” post. This is when I have introduced to the blog to you, my readers. So this is a little retrospective on the work I have done so far. I hope that this journey has been pleasant and educational for you, my dear followers. I will talk to you soon.

Here is the video I have done for this post. Enjoy!

He photographs the soul

Just think, how many times in your life did you “accidentally” meet someone? Probably a lot. To me, it seems that we do not meet people by chance. Each acquaintance is meant to bring some kind of significance into our lives. Undoubtedly, there is a purpose in every situation, in every conversation, and every person. I have been fortunate to meet wonderful people in my life in the most unexpected situations. People are inspiration to me. I take each person, who comes into my life as a gift. Today, I would like to tell you about the incredible person I was fortunate to get to know recently.

Youry at the presentation of his photoalbum “ГУЦУЛИ”

Youry Bilak. The person who has started his career as a dental technician, later on an actor, a director and, most importantly – a photographer – something he is most known for today. He says about himself: “I am a hutsul myself – just a French one.”

(Hutsul , Ukrainian: “гуцул” is someone, who lives in the Carpathian mountains. They have been for centuries and still are an ethnic group, which lives in the Western part of Ukraine and keeps strong national traditions.)

Youry Bilak was born in Lyon, France, now he lives in Paris. Youry’s parents are from Ukraine. His father, along with 1300 other soldiers, came to France as part of German troops during the World War II. They were sent there by German people to fight against French, although, due to the established circumstances, all those men switched to the French side. Since then they have stayed in France. Youry’s mom was one of the Ost-Arbaiters. Ost-Arbeiters (literally : Eastern workers) were young, mostly Ukrainian, people, who were sent to Germany to work. They had to wear a label “OST” on their clothes, which was a sign for Germans that these people are of a “lower” status. These two young Ukrainian people, Youry’s mom Vasylyna and his father Orest, who were neighbors back in Ukraine, found themselves reunited after harsh war events in the French city of Lyon. This is where Youry Bilak was born.

Raised by his parent in France, but in the Ukrainian environment. Youry perceived Ukraine as a mysterious country, which perhaps never existed.  This “created” world became reality in the early 1980s, when the photographer went to the country himself. He lived among Ukrainians for some time.

A Frenchman that speaks Ukrainian is rare. A Frenchman, with a camera, who speaks perfect Ukrainian, and doesn’t know a word of Russian – is even more unusual. That was the strangest and most interesting thing to people in Ukraine. It is true that when foreigners go to Ukraine, they most likely speak Russian, unless they have Ukrainian ancestry.  Youry was such a person. After visiting Ukraine for the first time, he went back there in 1990s, 2004, 2006, 2008 and almost every year ever since.

“I cannot but taking pictures of the country my parents are from,” he says. Although, there is something more than just a depiction of a state in Youry’s photographs. The first photo by Youry that I have seen was one of a young boy. He was looking straight into the camera. Seeing his eyes was like seeing his whole world. It felt like I can understand all his fears, his loves and passions. I could see his whole life through his eyes in that photograph. No doubt, Youry is the person “who photographs the soul.”

Here is one of Youry Bilak’s exhibitions, called “Ukrainians” that was organized by French embassy in Ukraine in 2007. The author traveled all over Ukraine and portrayed real people in each part of the country.  He has done some more significant projects since that time. What fascinates me the most in Youry’s work is that he is really getting to know the person before photographing him or her. “I don’t want to take the picture; I want the person to give it to me,” he says. Once, he had to photograph a politician, for which he was given only 15 min. “OK, so I will be talking to the person for 14 min and photographing him for 1 min,” he decided. “The best moments to me are those, when someone’s personality opens up in front of me.”

While working on his further photographs, Youry lived among Ukrainians in different towns in the Carpathian Mountains region. He eventually stayed in one city in the region and portrayed people’s regular everyday life there. He wanted to be a part of their lives. He wanted to show their real customs and traditions, how they celebrate Christmas and other holidays so significant to Ukrainians, what do they cherish the most and what kind people they really are.The result of his work in now the Tmeless Hutsuls exhibition.  Youry says that a photograph can be perceived as the end of his communication with someone. It is the result of knowing the person. Photographer’s main goal is to “touch the soul of the person” he is talking to.

Youry Bilak during his “Touch and See” exhibition.

At some point, while promoting one of his exhibitions, the photographer realized that potential attendees were also blind people. That was the moment, when he came up with an idea of making a tactile exhibition, where people, who are unable to see, could still feel and experience the beauty of his photographs.  In order to know the best way of organizing the exhibition, Youry took courses, specially designed for blind people. He wanted to understand what their life is like, what they need and what struggles they live thorough every day. While in Louvre, Youry got to experience what textured pictures looked like for blind people. Based on his knowledge, he made his own, tactile exhibition, called ”Touch and see.” Although, the artist added sound to provide people with the genuine perception of his work, so that they can “experience it by  the ends of their fingers.”

My father has always been the example of perfect Ukrainian language to me. No matter where he is in Ukraine or whom he is taking to, he always spoke Ukrainian, never switching to Russian. “We are Ukrainians and the language we speak is the first sign of who we truly are” he always tells me. Moreover, I noticed that people tend to switch to Ukrainian, after my father starts talking to them, even if they initially started the conversation in Russian. I was surprised to hear the same point from Youry Bilak. “When a Ukrainian person has been raised in Russian-speaking environment, he/she automatically speaks Russian, but people do speak Ukrainian and they do switch to the Ukrainian language.” Youry is one of those, who ruins the usual stereotype about the gap that has occured in the Ukrainian society due to the language. Moreover, he shared that when he asked one of the mine workers: “You speak Russian, but you live in Ukraine. Do you feel more like Ukrainian or Russian?” They responded that they are Ukrainians, their ancestries were true Cossacks (“Turkish: free man.” By the end of the 15th century the name acquired a wider sense and was applied to those Ukrainians who went into the steppes to practice various trades and engage in hunting, fishing, beekeeping, the collection of salt and saltpeter, and so on. They were the first Ukrainian men, who fought for their land). Here you have the answer. “In order to unite them [Ukrainians] one should not be trying to divide them,” Youry says. “The problem of the language is the main one. People need to get along with the language first, and then go further into the unification.”

While thinking of his parents and other Ukrainians, who came to France, Youry says that “they found their Carpathians in France.” Most of those people live in the Mountain region, near Rhône-Alpes. They keep Ukrainian traditions and try to stay in contact with those in Ukraine.  When asked, why they are doing so, why it is so important for them to know about Ukrainians and the culture, Youry said the following: “We cannot know where to go in the future if we do not seek for our roots. We cannot build ourselves in life, I think, if we don’t know where we are coming from.” He is happy to see that there is this culture in Ukraine; to see vyshyvanky and pysanky.

I could not help but wonder what kind of relation Youry has to the current situation in Ukraine. It is clear that every crucial event, every revolution or crisis has those who fight, who give their lives and scarify health for their countries and dear ones. I also think that it is not less important to have people, who let the world know about such momentous events. They are the ambassadors of the true actions, of real emotions. Youry has become one of the representatives, not only of the Ukrainian culture and people, but also the current events in Ukraine. One of his most influential projects was The Maidan.

Photograph taken by Youry Bilak in Dnipropetrovsk. The sign literally means : “Currently unidentified defender of Ukraine”

While thinking about whether one should photograph a controversial event or not, Youry says that it is better to make the shoot. “For example, you have a dead person in front of you, who was killed by someone. Do you take a picture? This will let the world know what happened. Or do you not take a picture, because of the respect?” He chooses the first option – to let the world know.  That is probably one of the reasons Youry decided to go to the ATO region (territory on which the counter terrorism measures are being taken. These are the two regions in the Eastern part of Ukraine, where the war in currently happening). He says that one cannot grasp the true reality or tell anyone about the events that are happening there unless one actually “goes there, lives with Ukrainian soldiers, finds out where they sleep, what they eat.” Now, after having lived in there, Youry has the right to tell all about it to the French people.

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Photograph taken by Youry in the Щастя (Happiness) town on the front line near Severodonets.

He went to the ATO zone in November for the first time, and came back for the second time in January. His plan is to go back again this upcoming April.

Last but not least, I would like to say that it takes more than just have a camera in your hands to make a worthy photo shoot.  One must think of what is around, what is the meaning of it. Most importantly he/she must notice the details, be passionate about the world and see its uniqueness, even if it occurs in its simplest aspects. “When you have a photo camera in your hands – that is one thing, but when you have your eye behind the lenses – that is a completely different thing. That is what makes you a photographer.” Being so proud of such talented people, I am happy to know one of them and be able to let the world know about his works and make the world inspired by it.

Midterm post

Today’s blog post is different from what I have previously done , as it is our midterm assignment. My goal is to “localize”, as the professor have assigned, the most recent news about Ukraine and make it relevant to Blagoevgrad.

One of the most recent articles that I would like to talk about is “Ukraine crisis: Food prices soar in Donetsk as currency collapses and supply falls.” The problem discussed in the Telegraph piece is that Ukrainian currency keeps dropping and prices for food and other good keep rising, while the salary stays the same. One of the examples Roland Oliphant gives to illustrate the paste at which prices are going up is that today he bought a kilogram of clementines for 40 hryvnias, while yesterday the price was 37 UAH for the same kilogram. He also mentions that the shelves with products are far from being empty, although it is people’s inability to afford those good that keeps them full. One of the most shocking facts from the article is that “Ukraine’s national currency, the Hryvnia, has lost 67 percent of its value against the dollar in the past 12 months.” In December the inflation was captured to be more than 25%, and the situation became worse since, so it is clear that today the number is way more than 25.

Misha Oleshchuk. AUBG Admission’s Office

The first thing I have decided to do is to go talk to one of the alumni from Ukraine, who works here, at AUBG, in the Admissions office.  Myhailo Oleshchuk says that he has been following the news every day, “I am constantly reading about what it going on in Ukraine, and as every Ukrainian I am concerned about the economic situation there,” he says. Right now, working on one job, he earns as much as his mom and dad together, even though they are considered to have “respectable jobs in Ukraine.” Misha came to Bulgaria about four and a half years ago and at that time and throughout his education he did not notice any changes in the prices between the two countries. He could buy the same things in Bulgaria as he would in Ukraine for about the same amount of money. Today, the situation has change, so that Misha can buy twice as much here, in Blagoevgrad, as his parents can back home. It is worth mentioning that Myhailo’s family is from Western part of Ukraine, thus we can see that the whole country is affected by the crisis in Ukraine. It really is a struggle for Misha’s family in the Western part of Ukraine, for mine in the Center and, obviously, for people in the Eastern part, to buy every day necessities and basic food.

Value of 50 UAH has dropped to 2 leva

Here you can see a picture of Misha, holding 50 UAH ($2 or 1.88 euros), which is now worth only 2 leva, a significant drop since four years ago or even since last year. WHen I came to Blagoevgrad (2012) I remeber 5 hryvnia being worth one lev, today to have one lev you need 18.80 hvyvnias. Fascinating, no?

The next thing I have decided to do is to go out to a local fruits and vegetables shop and see what the prices look like there. Further, you can see some pictures I took. While comparing the prices in Ukraine, based on what was stated in the article, I see that locally produced fruits and vegetable in Ukraine cost much more than those in Bulgaria. For example, a kilogram of potatoes in Ukraine is around 14 hryvnias, which is 0.9 Bulgarian leva, and in Blagoevgrad, one kilogram of potatoes is 0.55 leva. Oranges in Ukraine cost 40 UAH ($1.65 or 1.51 euros) per kilo (2.5 lev) and here, one kilogram of the same fruits is 1.20 lev, which is more than twice less. It is shocking for me to see those numbers. It is shocking for people in Ukraine to be living is such conditions.

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This is the latest news from Ukraine and the perspective of an AUBG student on it. No projections, ho further analysis can be done by regular people. We all can only be guessing about what will be the next news about Ukraine.