Contraditions

The native/foreigner moniker is really not such a good description for the complexity this visit to the Black Sea has presented.  So much history, so many stories, such interesting interpretation.  So when a tour guide says to you, this city recently celebrated its 200th anniversary, and before it there was "nothing here", you begin to take it with a huge grain of salt.  A clever listener however begins to see the multiple layers of civilization on these shores.  Visiting archeological sites gives but a glimpse - and you begin to question the sometimes incomprehensible routes that avoid strategic aspects of historical significance. and read the tiny hints embedded in the artifacts themselves. 

People in positions of power may interpret as they please but the fact that publications about the archeology of this place are now accessible to a wider public means the individual artifacts themselves draw attention.  Each ancient artifact speaks volumes about the times, the place, the ideas and dreams of the people. From ancient temples, to agricultural tools, to the study of ancient man and the development of strategic technologies, this area has it all.  Undoubtedly the early people were nomads, but nomads with wealth, connected to the wider world with its trends in thought and technology.  This meant prosperity, prosperity that other envied and coveted.  Peaceful trade, possibly, but policed by fierce warriors and leaders making negotiated treaties on all sides.  Neighboring empires with their need for trade goods, tribute, and services of all sorts have infused the people with a type of resilience that is hard to describe. 

I have so many questions about this place.  Though there may have been "nothing" here, why do authorities allow children to climb into the remains of a centuries old stone fortress just meters away from the Potemkin Steps, taking the walls apart stone by stone.  What to say about the young man climbing onto a monument encouraging his reluctant companion with something to the effect 'you know we've been told we own this place'?  What to say about the bandura player on the boulevard who played a song about Marusia for me?  Or the woman in the Armenian church who quietly and perfectly clearly spoke Ukrainian as she handed me a candle?  Or why tour guides spend an inordinate amount of time on people who "lived in this place" for 3 years, perhaps 4, and then rush through thousands of years of historical artifacts hidden in deep corners, dimly lit and supervised? 

A place of contraditions, a place of deep history, complexity and mystery. 

Memorabilia

Tourists give themselves away so quickly when they walk into new surroundings, rubbernecking, checking maps, and fumbling with the currency.  Fortunately, the tourist trade is often profitable business for the locals.  With experience, cajoling locals can entice eager tourists to open their wallets with the "gotta have it" trinket or treasure to remind them of their journey. We have all picked up little things that eventually, and laughingly, land in the bins of the "white elephant", or garage sale.  This Black Sea tour is loaded with such fare.  Little stacking matrioshka dolls, Black Sea beach towels, Black Sea Fleet hats and shirts, miniature plates and pots emblazoned with the location, small reminders of a good vacation by the sea.  And photos of this mysteriously beautiful sea! 

The Black Sea coast is a place of fabulous vistas, and absolutely inviting seascapes.  Warm and hospitable, the climate is perfect for a summers beach holiday.  We have seen lots of people swimming at the crowded beaches near town here in the summer, but that is not really what it is about.  In fact, the fresh water draining from the river deltas around populated port cities like Odessa continues to be polluted, and not recommended for drinking.  So most people use the opportunity to stroll endlessly, and visit arcades, cafes, bars and clubs here.  Nonetheless, at Chersonesus for example, while the archeology of the site speaks volumes, some obliviously walk through in search of a place to a "swim", to assert their dominance over a little portion of the pebbly beach at this fabulous government protected site.  They seem indifferent to the foreign eyes who thirstily soak up a sense of its hallowed and honorable past.  

I imagine living in a place absolutely soaking in history can affect a person's character, perhaps of the entire nation.  It might get tiring, boring or tedious to see old stones, old temples, places that are ancient, when you are yearning for new, for opportunity, for the newest technology, for prosperity.  It might seem that the stones could be better used, the artifacts crushed, burned, or repurposed.  All that old stuff means one thing to the locals, easily gotten resources to sell.  It is something completely different to tourists from newer civilizations. 

Feeling a bit like a tourist, a bit like a native/foreigner, and a curious traveller lately.  Can I bring more trinkets, more "stuff" into the collection of valuable artifacts that I call home?  What about embroideries, pottery, and textiles?  What about songs, dances, melodies, rhythms and subtle turns of phrase?  Stories and history?  Without my active engagment with them, they are silent as the stones at Chersonesus.  The treasures I am acquiring don't take too much room in my suitcase, my mind is a buzzing.  

The Propaganda Machine

Propaganda is an amazing thing.  Powerful and effective, it is also revealing in its simplicity.  The absolute need to impress the simple folk with desperate machinations speaks volumes.  Throughout this Black Sea Cruise we have been touring the important sites, hearing reputed speakers from America, and then setting off with local guides and interpreters.  Impressive, learned presenters from American universities who have a humility, a respect for the many players in the historical drama have shared some high points in the complex unravellings of the nation-states-people and "culture" of the area.  Lectures about the ikon tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy, authors of note, myth and legend have filled the "free time" hours of what would otherwise have been a beach visit.  Altogether very intelligent, very high class.  And very respectful.

Here on the territory of a sovereign Ukraine, it is interesting to observe the quality of the local guides hired to present the highlights of the region though.  My personal experience with local guides in North America, and Europe of course are my frame of reference.  In each of those cases as representatives of their culture, nation and people, I have noted the generosity and genuine love for their topic.  And pride for the accomplishments of their nation, people and culture.  It is a little different here.

We have seen the resourcefulness of local bus drivers, the generosity of local vendors, and appreciated the human faces that met ours.  At one museum I was approached by a young man keenly interested in selling some books about Ukraine, and found him a lovely, genuine person who cared for his country and tried to meet me half way between Ukrainian and Russian.  In another case, an old man playing a bandura, kobzar style, brought us to tears with his fervent plea for things Ukrainian here.  We have also experienced some social decorum faux pas, things that speak volumes about class and status. 

In Sevastopol the opportunity came for the Black Sea Fleet Ensemble to perform on the cruise ship.  Lovely singing, and graceful dancing - all appreciated by a North American audience.  But it was like seeing something from a place in history that does not seem to want to change.  Unfortunately here, the performers were not champions of Ukraine and her sovereign language, but a carry over from empire  times.  The songs and images had an old-fashioned-ness that for some, must speak if nostalgia, I guess.   But though my cruise mates admired, they were clearly aware, and observant.  Open eyes, open hearts and keen intellect catches things, you see.  Through North American eyes, it did seem a bit over the top to have a high-power troupe perform for simple tourists.  It just does not happen that the state troupe is conveniently available for a small cruise audience, at least in my world.  

I am a native/foreigner here and a tourist too. Being a consumer, I recognize quality, but I also know what I paid for. Is it too presumptuous to think this "high class" show was more than "cruise entertainment"?  Or perhaps was it cleverly packaged propoganda, a form of communication intentionally designed, in this case in emotionally loaded music and dance, to perpetuate an ideological, irrational fraud about Empire on unknowing consumers?  But does being a tourist in Ukraine necessarily mean one should believe all the big glitzy gestures? Do we have enough media and propaganda savvy filters to see what is real beneath all the "stage presence"?