Ukraine Rulz: Podstakanniki

Before living in Ukraine, I was only a rare tea drinker.  However, Ukrainians are a people that love their tea.  It’s virtually impossible to not take up the habit while living here.  In the morning, during breaks at work, after lunch, after work, after dinner:  Ukrainians are always drinking tea.  Hell, even the six hour bus ride between Kyiv and Lutsk (which I am intimately familiar with at this point) stops mid-route at a rest stop for a complementary tiny plastic cup of tea.

But my favorite place to drink tea in Ukraine is on trains.  In Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Paul Theroux lists off the idiosyncrasies of train travel in different countries.  I don’t recall what he identified as peculiar to trains in India or Vietnam, but I do remember him specifically mentioning the samovar on trains in the former Soviet Union.  Each wagon is equipped with one of these coal-heated water heaters that are tended to summer and winter by the wagon’s provodnitsia, or conductor.

Shortly after boarding, the provodnitsia will do her rounds, asking passengers if they would like tea or coffee.   These drinks are served in the incredibly awesome podstakannik.  The word means literally “under glass-er.”  A podstakannik is a wide-based metal glass holder with a generous handle that serves to simultaneously stabilize a glass of tea during the train ride and dissipate the heat of the samovar-hot water.  They are usually decorated with some sort of design, typically the Ukrainian railroad’s logo on Ukrainian trains.  A glass of tea served in a podstakannik is the perfect way to relax after busting your ass to make your train and the perfect complement to waking up with the sun the next morning.

Contemporary Ukrainian Railroad podstakannik

Because they are the perfect souvenir, I have long pondered how to get my hands on some podstakanniki.  I was even considering how I might be able to convince a provodnitsia to sell me some.  In the end, I settled for some cool Soviet-era podstakanniki that I found in a crafts bazaar in L’viv.  And I must say, both the build and the intricate decor of my new under glasser-ers are superior to any of the modern-era variants I’ve used on Ukrainian trains… A credit to those oft-made claims by the elderly about things being better during Soviet times?

My Soviet podstakanniki

The design on the front is classic:  a succession of Soviet spacecraft–beginning with Sputnik and progressinng to rockets–orbiting the earth.

Soviet-ear space decor

After finding and buying them, we didn’t waste any time putting ‘em to work while walking around L’viv.  Podstakanniki: they aren’t just for tea anymore…

Vesna prishla

Please excuse the lack of updates in April. I’m finishing up an extremely busy month that found me literally traveling to the other side of Ukraine and back, not to mention loads of other places.

I’ve got a number of posts planned about various experiences during this time, but until then, enjoy these pictures of spring’s arrival in Ukraine. The coming of spring after the long gray winter elicits a kind of reawakening and general light-heartedness that I feel is notably more intense than any I recall experiencing in the Midwest. Because the weather is actually milder here in Lutsk, it’s difficult for me to explain exactly why this is. However, I think these photos will help illustrate the point…

SET A: A garden area and apartment building in my neighborhood

March 15, 2009

May 5, 2009

Set B: A neighborhood on my way to work

February 17, 2009

April 29, 2009

Anatomy of a beauty pageant

This week I had the uncomfortable privilege of serving as a judge for the “Miss Romano-Germanic Philology Department” contest. I say uncomfortable because that’s basically how I feel when I’m asked to do these things. Gender roles are still thriving in Ukraine, and the “women must look beautiful” role is perhaps lead among them. That’s why it’s acceptable to stage pageants featuring students in revealing clothes and sexed-up dance performances. Ultimately it’s nothing too risqué; you can see worse in a music video on television. But in a school environment… well, my American sensibilities usually result in me feeling pretty awkward, cringing and averting my gaze as much as possible.

Anyway, onward. And brace yourself: I think this is going to be difficult to top in my remaining time here.