Kharkiv's Plóshchad' Svobódy

I slept like Lenin in Lenin's tomb last night (there is a monumental statue of Lenin in Площадь Свободы--Ploshchad Svobody--hence the historical reference) and I am up early and ready to go! I was exhausted last night, but am slowly adapting to the jet lag.

I forgot to mention my new best friend--Mamadu--a six foot three African from Senegal who works as a doorman at my hotel, the Hotel Kharkiv. Mamadu is a student at Kharkiv University and has been a delight to visit with. He tells me that early in the morning there are many runners who circle the vast Ploshchad Svobody or Freedom Square. I'll give it a try in a couple of hours (with my orange running vest on, of course--the drivers are crazy--Tetiana told me yesterday that the previous Judge was almost run down by a car last week as they were trying to cross the cobblestoned square). Tetiana also told me that this is reportedly the largest square in Europe.

Not only is the hotel on this square, but also Kharkiv University. Some pictures taken on the square are attached (including this awesome aerial shot, which I obviously didn't take because it is a-from an airplane and b-during the summer). Also shown is my sweet writing desk in my room in the Hotel Kharkiv, a picture of me on the square and one of Tetiana, and finally me on the steps of one of the monumental Soviet-era University campus buildings facing the square, and my friend, the stray dog getting into the pic.

Teaching in Kharkiv

I taught two sessions today in Kharkiv with the able assistance of Tetiana Rogozianska. We were first at Kharkiv University, which has a grand old campus on the main Freedom Square, then later in the evening with students from the National Law Academy of Ukraine (named for Yaroslav the Wise). The students were extraordinarily bright and courageous, and both groups freely volunteered to try their hands at a little direct examination as part of a lecture on witness preparation.

Tetiana is a very fine teacher and has a winning rapport with the students and faculty. She is a great asset to the Leavitt Institute.

It is now early evening on Monday, and I have had only about three hours sleep in the past 36 hours, at the same time traveling probably 10,000 miles by plane and train. I am ready for a long sleep.

Kharkiv--Initial Thoughts

Two days a week I will be lecturing at the Kharkiv National University in Kharkiv (Харківський національний університет) located in northeast Ukraine. Kharhiv is the second largest city in Ukraine with a population of about 1.5 million people. It has a metro system, has been a major center of industry and manufacturing dating back to the early Soviet era and was actually the first Soviet capitol of Ukraine. Below is an aerial picture of the Maidan Svobody, or Freedom Square, where I will be staying one night a week in the Kharkiv Hotel, directly across the street from the University.

Historically, Kharkiv was founded in the 17th century by a cossack named Kharko, and it was the site of four major battles during World War II. Occupied by the German army for much of the war, Kharkiv was the site of a mass genocide of some 30,000 Jewish residents, who were murdered and buried in a mass grave in a ravine outside of the city called the Dobytsky Yar.

In addition to Freedom Square, I hope to see the Dormition Cathedral, the Intercession Cathedral and the Annunciation Cathedral.

I will be traveling to and from Kharkiv by train from Kyiv each week during my visit, accompanied by my teaching assistant, Tetiana Rogozianska. More about her later.