One Step Up (...and two steps back)

Okay, I don't remember what I wrote last time so forgive me if I repeat myself.

I'm back in Chernihiv from my site visit to Kherson. It's mad hot here now (especially south on the Black Sea) and I've been dripping sweat now for about 5 days straight. In addition, I think I've lost so much weight that I am back to my Jr. high school weight class. Overall, my visit was fun. I got to experience 2 looooong train rides through pretty much the whole country, I met some really nice people, I saw some really cool things, but overall I came back pissed off.
I know in my last post I was happy with my site. However, after that post I had a meeting with my organization's director and she laid down some strict rules including not wanting me to work with other organizations. In a nutshell, I will a librarian for 2 years, edit their website, teach English every Sunday ALL DAY, and that about sums it up. I joined Peace Corps when they told me I could continue to work in my field, work in business development and do some good things for this country based off my resume. This library had a PC volunteer working for them in the past and the guy set the bar too high for me and it will be difficult to fill this golden boy's shoes. Perhaps his dream was to be a librarian, but mine is not. I did not say anything to my director, but complained at my site debriefing in Kyiv yesterday. He pretty much said to just go with it and see if things change. Now I am stuck with a major decision as to whether call it quits and be a dropout and focus on a decent career in the states again taking away 3 months of great experiences, or stick it out, move everything across the country and give it a shot. My head is floating a hundred different directions and right now I am just going to focus on my Chernihiv project and give that my all. When that is done in mid-June, I will know what my move will be.
So, with that said, it wasn't all bad of a trip. My host mom is an awesome cook!!! She took me to this market and we picked out this huge fish fresh from the Black Sea and they chopped up 2 huge steaks for us. She made some amazing salads and we had strawberries like I never had before. I had heard they were good here, but it was ridiculous how sweet they were. I think I dreamt about them last night. I was super allergic to her dog, but it was a sweetie. Monday, my host mom had to work so I hit the town and walked around for miles and miles with a 200 lb. backpack in about 98 degree heat. I walked down to the docking station where boats and crusie ships dock as this is a big tourist port city. Later that day I met up with some volunteers who live in the area and took the bus into town to meet the four of us. We had dinner and many beers and it was cool to hear about their experiences and advice. One of them is about to marry a Ukrainian he met here. We then went to the train station and that was it. Time really flew there. The city itself is rather shady. 75% of it is pure ghetto. We had drunks coming up to us and our neighborhood is very dirty. The other 25% is awesome. There is one street they block off to traffic and now it's nothing but fun bars and restaurants. The Black Sea is about an hour's bus ride, but Kherson sits on a huge river that connects the Black Sea to another huge sea. Therefore, half the city is surrounded by water, beaches, fishing, water skiing, swimming, etc.
I think I could live there no problem for 2 years, the people I met were really cool as well. My host Mom, Tanya, is learining English because her boyfriend and daughter live in Israel and they speak English. She is self-taught over 6 months all from a computer program...I was floored at how much she picked up just from me. In return, I learned more Russian in 2 days there than the entire time in class here. I feel really good about my language skills now. My counterpart, Marina, totally rocks and I really lucked out with her too. We are going to take a cruise down to Crimea in July for free because some friends of hers owns a yacht.
Once we got back to Kyiv Tuesday morning, we stopped into the PC office to debrief and then went site-seeing around the city again with Hung-Chee and Geoffrey. I truly love that city! I tried to pick up some gifts and souvenirs, but couldn't find the place I was at last time. I ended up just buying a Ukrainian soccer jersey. We took the 2 hour bus ride back to Chernihiv and I went home, ate and passed out from exhaustion.
Today was "reflection day" since half the people are not back yet. I had my movk Language Proficiency Interview and scored intermediate mid which is way better than I expected. The real test is the last week of training. These tests are basically sitting down and having a half hour conversation completely in Russian. After that, Brian, Geoffrey and I backpacked across the city to this monestary and we paid to explore these underground caves where monks used to live. It was a trip down there because it was huge and there were human skulls and bones to be stimbled upon. We then hiked to the river to meet up with some friends at a beer tent and relaxed in the shade. Now I am going home to play badmitton. Tomorrow after language class, we have a project meeting and then we are going to the beach to swim and hang out.
This is what my life has become.