Diary from School picnic on September 13

Home Diaries Best Pictures Road Trip

School Picnic

September 13, 1998

On Sunday, Sept. 13, The Kyiv International school (KIS) had its annual back-to-school picnic. It was held at a wonderful "architectural museum". This is a huge site, just south of Kyiv, where examples of traditional village buildings were brought (as those villages were being collectivized.) The day was a combination of picnic-like-any-picnic and a history lesson.

Here is Marianne, another teacher and a few of the kids going into the park.

The path in led past an old wooden church. The horsemen were representative of the Cossacks who started in Ukraine. These particular Cossacks rode around throughout the park and with the open plains it was easy to visualize "the hordes" coming across the steppes.

There were several houses which had been removed from the plains and mountains.

Some of them had furnished interiors like this one with an old loom Some of the other shops had handcrafts for sale and one was a small restaurant. Everything was very authentic - including the low doors and ceilings that made me stoop over all the time.

The picnic itself was held in a hilly meadow. All the adults hung around talking while the kids ran around throwing a football or playing soccer. It was great for us as we met a few more people and learned a bit more about our new home.

After lunch, Marianne and I walked a bit and took several pictures of another church. Later, we found out that we had missed several whole sections of the park (and several other churches!). We'll have to return soon -- this is an easy way to see "all" of the old Ukraine.

Previous Diary

Next Diary

Home Diaries Best Pictures Road Trip

Originally sent October, 1998. Reformatted for website 12 May, 2001 This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.

	Here is Marianne, another teacher and a few of the kids going into the park.
	The path in led past an old wooden church. The horsemen were representative of the Cossacks who started in Ukraine. These particular Cossacks rode around throughout the park and with the open plains it was easy to visualize "the hordes" coming across the steppes.
	There were several houses which had been removed from the plains and mountains.
	Some of them had furnished interiors like this one with an old loom Some of the other shops had handcrafts for sale and one was a small restaurant. Everything was very authentic - including the low doors and ceilings that made me stoop over all the time.
	The picnic itself was held in a hilly meadow. All the adults hung around talking while the kids ran around throwing a football or playing soccer. It was great for us as we met a few more people and learned a bit more about our new home.