The Longest Weekend of My Life

I can't believe it's July already. Today is my first official pay day!!!
Okay so Peace Corps often warned us how bored we would become once we got to our permanent sites and I was able to witness this first hand this last weekend. I had 4 days off of work due to the holiday and since I don't know too many people here and my host mom and counterpart don't like to go out, it made for a long and boring weekend. Luckily I had enough mind-numbing things to do around the house.
First off...Thursday. By far the weirdest thing that has happened to me since my arrival in this country. Remember I thought I was going to be on the Tonight Show? Well, it was quite different than I thought. I met the host around 2pm and we headed to the station. I said, "So I suppose I will talk about the Peace Corps and why I'm here for about 10 minutes and head home". He respnded, "Actually, the show is 3 hours and you will be on for 2 of them. It's a live call-in talk show that airs in 7 regions of Ukraine." I get there and there are 2 hosts. One to ask me Russian questions and the other to translate for me. The show is Ukrainian MTV so it is a laid back atmosphere where we talk live on tv and then watch some music videos and this goes on for 3 hours. So wew start and right away they start pounding me with questions. "What would you change about your consititution?", "What is different about the youth in our country?", "What is the Peace Corps?" "How old are you and why aren't I married?" and my favorite..."If you are a business development volunteer, then why are you working in a childrens' library?" I responed, "Dude, that is the question that lingers in my head all day long with no answer in sight." As for phone calls, one viewer asked me to tell an American joke and another asked me if I was a spy like 007? This led to several questions about James Bond and his films. They made me introduce some wacked-out music videos in English and Russian "This is So and So with their song So and So comin' atcha!". All in all it was a fun time and my few hours of celebrity fame. Afterwards they invited me to Kiev for a festival, but I couldn't go due to PC rules within the first month. Instead they invited me to the premier nite club in Kherson with VIP tickets for later in the week. The club is simply called Chocolat.
Friday I didn't leave the house.
Saturday I met up with Leah, Peter and Marcia (volunteers from my group in Kherson) we walked around, ate lunch and drank beers. Afterwards we met this guy called Patrick who is from Florida and has been living here for several years. This guy was a trip. I still don't quite know why he is living here. He had a coupon business in Florida and sold it. His friend has a mail order bride business here that he helps with. Whatever the case is, this guy is my new idol. He flew his Mercedes here complete with Florida plates. He completely gutted out the entire soviet block trashy apartment and made the most amazing bachelor pad imaginable with a home theater that would knock your socks off. He also had a fresh stock of American food complete with popcorn, Golden Grahams, A1 steak sauce, Tobasco, etc. I hope this guy throws a party at some point in the near future. His flat is right in the center of town too.
Sunday we didn't do anything exciting.
So in all the hours of boringness this weekend, I read half of the DaVinci Code (which although I'm 2 years behind the times, I am really enjoying how brilliant the book is and want someone to mail me his other books :), I played a PC game called The Movies which may be the most addicting game ever made, I studied my butt off learning new Russian vocab words and I even started reading the bible on a daily basis....yes, it's come to that. While out here I plan to do many things I didnt have the time for back home. One of which is to actually read the good book so I can be more educated about my place in this multi-religious world. I am also getting notes together to start my next screenplay. So I guess free time isn't all that bad. There is a lot I have sitting on the back burner.
As my life grows less exciting, my posts will be few and far between. If you really get an itch to hear what I'm doing, shoot me an email otherwise I'll be back when I have something worthwhile to say.