locals

We: How long have you been living here?

Olga: I've been living here permanently for 2 years now. Before that, we were

building our house, so we lived in the city.

We: What do you do for a living?

Olga: My husband and I work in the city for a large company. Personally, I

recently planted tomatoes and cucumbers, but they needed better care. Overall,

gardening is not my thing. I spend most of my time with the kids. A typical day

consists of getting up in the morning, preparing breakfast. My husband takes

the kids to school in the city and drops us off at work. For variety, in the

evenings we might go cycling to the nearby villages.

We: What would you do here if you didn't work in the city?

Olga: Provocative question. I would probably work online, since we have two

kids to look after. But, frankly, I couldn't live in the village permanently. I need a

social environment.

We: How often do you see your neighbors?

Olga: Actually, rarely. Maybe only in the mornings or when we go to the store.

The only ones we interact with are our neighbors next door. We often meet on

weekends, and besides, they also have kids.

We: What would you improve in the village?

Olga: You know, a village is a village. It's peaceful and serene here. People who

move here usually seek just that. However, I would probably like to see a

playground here. When we bought the plot, the previous owner praised the huge

football field. In the end, it was just an uncut field with goals opposite each other.

Besides that, there's nothing for the kids. They get bored. And the second thing is

the road. We have a low car, and there were times when a wheel hit a pothole and

we scratched the protective coating on the bottom of the car.

We: Which building here do you like the most?

Olga: I lean towards more modern architecture. There is a modern house 3-4

houses down the street, but it's used as a summer house; no one lives there

permanently. There are many both old and new buildings in the village.

We: Do you think your children will stay here or move away?

Olga: That will be their choice. We moved here because we wanted a plot with a

house and fenced territory. Our older son loves going to the city; most of his

friends live in Dnipro. I think he'll return there. It's hard to say about the younger

one; she loves freedom.

We: Please tell me, how do local sights affect life here? I was told there's a kurgan

nearby where excavations took place.

Olga: Not at all, to be honest. I just found out from you that we have a kurgan here.

I've only lived here for a short time and haven't really been interested. I know many

people go to the spring for water, but I've never been there. We buy bottled one. I

don't trust such water.

We: Thank you. Would you recommend someone to move here?

Olga: It depends on what the person is looking for. If they're stressed by the

constant wailing of air-raid sirens in the city, definitely. Besides, sometimes you

can hear explosions in the city. It can greatly affect your psyche. Unlike here, it's

quiet in the village. It might be difficult for an urban person at first, but they will get

used to it. But overall, yes, I would recommend it.

We: Vasyliy Oleksandrovych, how long have you lived here?

Vasyliy: I have lived here almost my entire life. Actually, my family is from

Zaporizhzhia, but when I was 4, we moved here under pressure from the

authorities who were trying to settle this region. At that time, Dnipro was a

closed city since it was the space capital of the USSR, and access to the city

was restricted. So, if we needed to go to a big city, we went to my hometown.

We: Thank you. What do you like and dislike about this village?

Vasyliy: What do I like here? Firstly, it's the nature that surrounds me, the peace and

quiet. In addition, I have health issues, and these factors greatly benefit my

condition. As for specific places, a big advantage is the nearby spring with

natural water. The whole village gets water from there. It’s a 15-minute drive by

car. I am a simple man, so I spend most of my time in the field. Sometimes I go

to the football field to watch the youth play. Among the disadvantages is

definitely the infrastructure because, as you can see, the road here is gravel

and sand.

We: What do you do for a living?

Vasyliy: Well, I have my own plot of land here, which I cultivate. Most often, I plant

wheat and sunflowers there, but now the field is fallow because three years

ago, I just harvested the sunflowers. After that, the land needs to rest for about

4-5 years. In the future, I plan to lease the land. Age is catching up with me.

We: How do you see the future of Dorohe?

Vasyliy: Unfortunately, I think the concept of a village will eventually disappear. The

youth living here all try to leave, especially since there is a big city nearby with

more opportunities and a higher likelihood of finding a well-paying job. I don't

blame them for that because there is nothing for them to do here besides

household chores, and nobody considers physical work like tending to the fields

and looking after cattle anymore. My grandson is also leaving this year; he got into

a university and will leave us in the fall.

We: Oh, good luck to him. What would you like to see in the village?

Vasyliy: What we lack are shops. The nearest shop is in the neighboring village. On the

other hand, most of the residents here are elderly and grow everything in their

gardens. Moreover, almost everyone has a car and can drive to the city. It would

also be good to have a powerful generator because, as you probably also

experience, the electricity situation in the country is very unstable right now. Last

week, we had electricity for only 5 hours a day. A generator would provide at least

some electricity. The village is a bit of a drag.

We: If you had the opportunity to move, would you?

Vasyliy: If I were younger, yes. But I’m almost seventy and starting something new from

scratch is too much for me.

We: And the last question. What would you recommend for a visitor to see?

Vasyliy: Oh, that's a tough question. I would advise leaving. No, seriously, I would

recommend visiting our town hall, where some elements of World War II are still

preserved. Unfortunately, you won't be able to do that because the building is

currently under renovation. What else? Oh, I almost forgot. We had some

excavations nearby. I remember the excavations were quite extensive at the time.

There is a Scythian kurgan here. You can go there.

We: How far is it from here? Can we reach that place on foot?

Vasyliy: If you go straight to the end of the village and turn right, there is the kurgan. It’s

not very noticeable – it looks like an ordinary hill. There are no excavations there

now.

We: Got it, thank you very much for your time. We hope we didn't disturb you too much.

Have a good day.