The Ukrainian Countryside

Above, top to bottom: Seminarians and UCU students pray and sing psalms as they walk the 11 km from Rudno Seminary near L'viv to the town of Stradch on October 4th; villagers digging up potatoes stop to watch as the procession passes by, best viewed large; a Ukrainian woman shoos her geese into a shed outside of Stradch; the forest near Rudno was surprisingly lush and colorful despite the cold; this yokel didn't even know I was taking his picture, I'm not sure he knew what my camera was until I asked if I could photograph him. I liked his cows.

While walking to Stradch, we tromped through the muddy Ukrainian countryside, which is quite beautiful. I was particularly struck by the villagers we encountered on the path, from digging up potatoes to moving house siding via horse-drawn carriage, they were a welcome introduction to village life. I've heard good things about the village life in the countryside(where the Ukrainian culture and language has been preserved in the fullest), but you are really going back in time. This feels more ancient than Romanian villages I traveled through in June, but the transportation isn't as bad.