I guess this is an extension of my Fort Tarakanivskyy post, but, I had the chance to tag along on an all-day class field trip.
Our field trip started with a tour of a stuffed animal factory, then we ended up at Lubart’s Castle in Lutsk.
This post will mostly be photos because, well, I didn’t understand much of the guided tour. I’m working on my Ukrainian language skills, I promise! But it’s really hard to comprehend technical language, slang and regional dialect with the occasional bit of Russian thrown in.
Oksana tried to live-translate for me, but she was also in charge of keeping about 30 sixth-graders in line… so I didn’t expect too much of her. She was stressed.
Luckily, the internet exists, so you can read more about Lubert’s Castle here.
I will say, I was really blown away at how ridiculously old this castle was. It was built in the 14th century, which — yunno, to Amerikanka Randi — is SO long ago! But for my students, who are used to being surrounded by ancient Eastern European and Russian history, it wasn’t a big deal at all.
They were more interested in the selfie opportunities, tbh.
Anyway, that’s all for now — just some dope photos of a castle. That’s right. I live in a country WITH CASTLES. How freaking cool! I cannot get over it.
This post was originally published Jan. 13, 2021. Its timestamp has been updated to better reflect the timeline of my Peace Corps service.
