Eco-Halych: Wildlife Rehab Реабілітація дикої природи

On our way home from Ivano Frankivsk we stopped by Eco Halych Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. They care for wild animals who have been injured. You can tour their property and see the animals there.

So happy we found them! Here is a link to their website: http://eco-halych.webnode.com.ua/

Our trip to Ivano Frankivsk, Ukraine [Vlog]

We took a short little trip to Ivano Frankivsk for Yulia's birthday this year. We've only passed through this city in the past, but since it's so close to where we live, we thought we should finally venture out and see it a little more thoroughly.

It turns out that Ivano Frankivsk is beautiful, and we're so glad we came! It's a nice place to visit, and it's probably a nice place to live!

Evergreens and their special place in our heart

In this video we show you around our garden, but--more specifically--talk about all the evergreens we planted. The locals around here say that you shouldn't plant fir trees near your house because, when the trees surpasses you in height, you will DIE. Honestly, this seems like a hyper local superstition. We see evergreens planted near many people's houses in rural Ukraine. Is this something you've heard from people where you live?? Tell us about it!

Driving safety in Ukraine

Honestly, driving in Ukraine seems worse and more dangerous as a passenger. I was surprised when I got behind the wheel that it wasn't as challenging as I thought.

Still, there's a small percentage of "bad apples" out there, and you should be aware of them. One of the most common and most dangerous problems is when people pass in situations when they shouldn't. It creates the possibility of head on collisions, which are obviously one of the worst kinds of accidents. In this video, I talk about some of the defensive driving techniques I use to stay safe.

Of course, there's a lot more to talk about when it comes to driving in Ukraine (police, importing vehicles, bad roads, etc), but this video's main focus is driving safety (Please stay on topic in the comments section!). We may discuss some of those other aspects about driving in Ukraine in future posts.

Our Ukrainian-American identities

Considering that we are from different continents and have each spent significant time living abroad, you might say that we have trouble identifying exclusively with one culture. Yulia was born in Ukraine, immigrated to the US, and now lives back in Ukraine. Michael was born in the US, but spoke Ukrainian as a first language with his grandparents, who were immigrants. He's been living in Ukraine for the past 6 years.

We feel like our identities are stretched between the US and Ukraine, and neither of us nicely fits into a simple category. In this video we talk about our Ukrainian-American identities.