Just back from a week in the Carpathians, where I had an opportunity to visit with some of the key figures in my dissertation on the Hutsul side, attended a rainy festival (Polonynske Lito) and finally carpe diemed up to the top of Pop Ivan on possibly the most ideal day of hiking weather this year. Today, Franz and I bade farewell to Alison Cartwright, who is flying home and then making her way to her new Colorado home.

We’ve decided to stay in L’viv this week so that I can attend a four day singing workshop with Natalka Polovynka (of Майстерня Пісні) and see the Yara Arts Group performance of “Raven” that I managed to miss in NYC. Afterwards, we’ll mosey to Simferopol by way of Odesa.