"No, don't drink the water...just drink the vodka."

So I had a really amazing experience today. I am trying to learn more about the Ukrainian people before spending time there this summer. So today I took a little field trip to the Ukrainian Village in Chicago. I began my trip at the Ukrainian National Museum. I found out that they were going to host a special talk given by Ukrainian immigrant, historian and author Dr. Myron B. Kuropas. Since I had about four hours to kill, I went and had some dinner at a Ukrainian restaurant (the soup was wonderful!) and did some homework. It was also a wonderful place to people watch.

I still had some time to walk around the village. They have some beautiful churches in the village…I can’t wait to see the ones in Ukraine. I also walked through a few stores. One of the store clerks talked to me in Ukrainian as I was checking out and I got the main gist of her meaning even though I really didn’t understand a word she said. At the end, I said thank you in English. She looked really surprised and said, “O, you don’t speak Ukrainian? But I thought you understood me…you look Ukrainian.”

After that, I went back to the museum. I was warmly welcomed by a fairly large gathering of people from the Ukrainian community. I found out that this group of people seemed to be a close-knit community. There were probably around 40 people there tonight to hear what Dr. Kuropas had to say about Roosevelt, Stalin, Hollywood and Ukrainian Americans. His main emphasis was that once FDR came to power, there was a huge surge in pro-Soviet films. They portrayed a very inaccurate way of Russian life to the American people and painted Stalin as a benevolent and loved leader. He also talked about how communist in the U.S. were able to influence some people in power at that time. We watched part of a film called North Star, made in the 1940’s, that was supposed to help with promoting the Russian image needed to keep them as allies. Dr. Kuropas used a mixture of both English and Ukrainian in his talk, so some parts I did not understand, but it was a very fascinating talk.

I was given the opportunity to speak with some of the Ukrainian people present at the event tonight, and my time there was such a blessing. They were very welcoming and answered all my questions. I’m excited to learn more. We had some very interesting conversations about Ukraine, Russian, immigration, Ukrainians in Chicago, language and…vodka. One of the most interesting discussions of the night was in reference to moonshine (Ukrainian style, of course) and other forms of fine Ukrainian beverages. Hence the exchange between three friends occurred as they debated what I should drink while I am in Ukraine.

“Make sure you don’t drink the water…it’s horrible.”
“The water is good—what are you talking about?”
“Not for her. She will get sick!”
“No, she’ll be fine…drink the water.”
“No, don’t drink the water…just drink the vodka.”
“Ah, yes, vodka, vodka is wonderful there. You’ll like it.”
“Maybe she doesn’t drink…”
“Doesn’t drink? Who doesn’t drink?”
“Oh, the vodka, you will love it!”

Yes, I was educated, entertained and enlightened during my time in the Ukrainian Village today.