I will try to remember what I wrote last time.
Thursday we visited a school where the kids are taught English. On top of that, they are fluent in Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and German. I can barely handle 2 languages. We met with the principal where she said we could show up at any time to teach a class at her school. I think I would like to try that if I could find some free time. We also broke into groups of 4 and got to sit in on a class. There the students asked us questions about America and American people. It was rather moving when one girl said her dream was just to see the statue of liberty even once. Here we have it at our disposal and we sometimes take things for granted, I think. The best question was what extreme sports do you play. Apparently they know about the X-games and snowboarding.
Friday we had our language class where our project was to come up with a recipe, go to the bazaar and order the ingrediants and then come back and cook it. We ended up doing spaghetti. After language, we went to a social welfare center where part of the group sopke Ukrainian and the others spoke Russian. It was a complete mess and from here on out we realize we need an interpreter at all times. After that meeting a small handful of us were invited to a different school where the students put on an hour-long production entitled "Welcome to Ukraine" ALL IN ENGLISH! It was simply amazing as these kids did traditional dances and songs, played instruments and taught us about their culture.
Earlier in the week I was really down in the dumps, but after these 2 visits, it sorta uplifted my spirits and re-energized me little.
This last weekend was pretty laid back. I got to talk to my folks and my brother and Karen in her birthday. Friday was that insane party, Saturday we just sat around the apartment drinking beer and talking and Sunday I studied a ton, ate a great dinner and Olga and her son came over and we took some hilarious pictures. I think I'm up to 200 pictures now.
Today after language, we visited an NGO that speciaized in collecting data for the economies of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. They want us to work with them on some projects, some of which involve NATO and the Embassy. It was a laid back meeting and most people thought it to be very productive. After that, a small group of us went to get some pizza...now I'm here. Using Rachel's advice, I shrunk down some pictures and will attempt to post them now (kinda nervous). If this works, you will forever be known as a goddess, Rachel.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
More
I posted something this morning, but it's not showing up here. The internet here is really screwy. I just got back from doing some sightseeing with 3 clusters that were in town from small villages. There were about 20 people that came here and the first place they wanted to go was McDonald's. I think everyone is tired of Ukrainian cuisine at this point. It was so great to see them! Those of us that live here in Chernigiv feel so lucky that we live in a big city after hearing the stories these people told us of their peace corps experience so far. Apparently, this guy Adam who I met briefly at prolosok dropped out because he missed his girlfriend too much. Join the club, buddy. Another one bites the dust. It's almost as if I'm on survivo and someone gets voted off the island once/week.
I'm going to wait to see if anything shows up from my earler post before I retype it all, but some things I forgot to mention. Friday the 13th was insane. At 7am, I was in a bus accident. The trolley buses here run on suspended cables. Well, the cable came crashing down throught the ceiling of the bus and we went from going 40 mph to 0 mph instantly. We all went flying and we were covered in dust. A babooshka landed in my lap.
(side note: a babooshka is an old lady in Ukraine. They have been through so much in their lives that everyone respects them beyond belief and they rule the land. We need to always give seats up on buses for them and things of that nature. They are often seen on the streets selling various items.)
Nobody was seriously injured and the driver ran up the ladder and ran around getting us back on the road within 10 minutes.
In my language class, I had to deliver a 5 minute presentation in Russian. I ended up putting together a slide show of pictures taken on Easter and making up a fake story as the Holly Dolly song played in the background. It was a success as I had everyone rolling and my instructor was laughing so hard she was crying. Teri's presentation was about her daughter and she started to ball in the middle of it because she misses her so much. That in turn got everone choked up and we all needed a breather. It is comforting to know that everyone is missing home as much as I am.
I think I'm off to play some soccer here in a bit. Here's to another insane week!
I love you all!!!
and in case it didn't go through...
Happy Birthday, Karen!!!
I'm going to wait to see if anything shows up from my earler post before I retype it all, but some things I forgot to mention. Friday the 13th was insane. At 7am, I was in a bus accident. The trolley buses here run on suspended cables. Well, the cable came crashing down throught the ceiling of the bus and we went from going 40 mph to 0 mph instantly. We all went flying and we were covered in dust. A babooshka landed in my lap.
(side note: a babooshka is an old lady in Ukraine. They have been through so much in their lives that everyone respects them beyond belief and they rule the land. We need to always give seats up on buses for them and things of that nature. They are often seen on the streets selling various items.)
Nobody was seriously injured and the driver ran up the ladder and ran around getting us back on the road within 10 minutes.
In my language class, I had to deliver a 5 minute presentation in Russian. I ended up putting together a slide show of pictures taken on Easter and making up a fake story as the Holly Dolly song played in the background. It was a success as I had everyone rolling and my instructor was laughing so hard she was crying. Teri's presentation was about her daughter and she started to ball in the middle of it because she misses her so much. That in turn got everone choked up and we all needed a breather. It is comforting to know that everyone is missing home as much as I am.
I think I'm off to play some soccer here in a bit. Here's to another insane week!
I love you all!!!
and in case it didn't go through...
Happy Birthday, Karen!!!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
A Quick Update
More clarification: There are 5 or 6 clusters of us in Chernigiv. A cluster is a small group you attend language and technical training with. My cluster consists of Megan who is younger from Denver, Zach who is 23 from southern California, Brian who is from New York and plays the guitar he brought with him. I think he is from Cali as well. Suzi is in her 50's and from San Diego and Teri is in her 40's or 50's and I don't know where she is from.
I have been buried with homework. We get at least an hour or two worth of language homework every night, we have a ton of reading to do, we have techincal home assignments twice a week and we have to give a presentation on Friday in Russian. My presentation is a slide show about what I did Sunday night. I have some hilarious pictures to show my cluster. I just wish I could share them here.
Last night, I got home and started to study, but my host dad was so proud of the fact that he pirated a copy of "300" in Russian with English subtitles that he hooked up his computer to the tv and made me watch all 2 hours worth. I then had to eat dinner (eggs) and as I was going to study, my host mom begged me to play UNO. She said she would do my homework for me if we could play after. I let her help me a little but then studied on my own and fell asleep. Luckily we didnt have to turn in the assignment today.
After class, we met at McDonalds where I had 2 double cheeseburgers and it was everything I remember it to be. We then walked to the main employment center and we had a roundtable discussion with the president and vice president. I was amazed how advanced it was. It is pretty much identical to employment centers in the states. We left there about a half hour ago and after leaving this internet club, I am going to a office supply store to buy some decent pens and paper. They gave us all graphing paper and it drives me insane.
Many of you have been having difficulty calling me. I just got the scoop 2 minutes ago. You need to dial 011 380 and then my complete phone number which starts with 0. Email me if you want it. I'm hoping this actually works.
I have been buried with homework. We get at least an hour or two worth of language homework every night, we have a ton of reading to do, we have techincal home assignments twice a week and we have to give a presentation on Friday in Russian. My presentation is a slide show about what I did Sunday night. I have some hilarious pictures to show my cluster. I just wish I could share them here.
Last night, I got home and started to study, but my host dad was so proud of the fact that he pirated a copy of "300" in Russian with English subtitles that he hooked up his computer to the tv and made me watch all 2 hours worth. I then had to eat dinner (eggs) and as I was going to study, my host mom begged me to play UNO. She said she would do my homework for me if we could play after. I let her help me a little but then studied on my own and fell asleep. Luckily we didnt have to turn in the assignment today.
After class, we met at McDonalds where I had 2 double cheeseburgers and it was everything I remember it to be. We then walked to the main employment center and we had a roundtable discussion with the president and vice president. I was amazed how advanced it was. It is pretty much identical to employment centers in the states. We left there about a half hour ago and after leaving this internet club, I am going to a office supply store to buy some decent pens and paper. They gave us all graphing paper and it drives me insane.
Many of you have been having difficulty calling me. I just got the scoop 2 minutes ago. You need to dial 011 380 and then my complete phone number which starts with 0. Email me if you want it. I'm hoping this actually works.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Easter Weekend
Happy Easter to everyone!
This last weekend was a wild experience. Saturday, I met up with Megan, Zach, Jason and Mike and we walked around the city. We found this huge foot bridge that crossed the river and walked over it to this forest where we just hung out for a bit. At that point I was starving as I thought we were meeting for lunch not to explore Ukraine by foot. We went to another pizzeria and I enjoyed an amazing pie. I cruised home and the rest of the group continued on to do something else. I ate dinner and went to bed early as I knew we had to be up at the crack of dawn.
Easter (or Pasca in Ukraine) is a huge 3-day celebration. We woke up at 5am and got ready for church. As we strepped outside into the freezing air, you could hear choir music echoing throughout the city and hundreds of people (I mean everyone) was outside carrying their Easter baskets to the church. At the church everyone grouped up outside as the pastor blessed everyone and their baskets. From what I understand, in the baskets is the food they were unable to eat during lent. It is also part of Pasca supper. To my surprise there wasn't a church service, that was all there was. We met up with Marina's sister and her family and Marina's mom. We then drove to Andry's family's house for an early meal. At the meal was an endless supply of vodka and wine. I didn't want to even think about drinking at 6am, but didn't want to be the odd man out either so here I am doing shots of vodka with about 15 Ukrainans at breakfast. They asked me what day of the month I was born and I said 12. That opened up a can of worms as my new mission, as is a tradition, was to eat 12 pieces of different Pasca bread which is a sweet bread they eat on this holiday. I only made it to 5 by the end of the night. We came home after dinner and we all took a nap. We woke up and headed out around 6pm to Andrey and Marina's friend's house. She is an English teacher so it was a relief to have a translator finally. We ate another huge dinner and drank another bottle of vodka. We then ventured into the other room where I was forced to karaoke.
(side note: I had heard rumors that Ukrainians love the song "Yesterday" by the Beatles, and I read someone's blog where they made him karaoke it a million times. While I thought it was funny and probably overinflated, sure enough they made me sing "Yesterday". I also found out one of the guys in my cluster was forced to learn that song on the guitar.) Nonetheless, I rocked it out and by the end of the night I was an instant superstar. I have some amazing pictuers of the entire day's events, but once again, can't figure out how to shrink the size down to post them here.
Around 10pm, we took a cab to the local disco where Andrey had reserved a table and a bottle of ....vodka. We stayed there until 2:30 am and danced the night away. For those of you who want a taste of Ukraine, download a song by HollyDolly called "the Dolly Song". That song is huge out here and I was forced into doing the Russian dance in the middle of a circle of Russians at the disco to that song.
I came home, and called my parents to wish them Happy Easter and passed out.
Monday, I woke up late and was a half hour late to my technical language training. I caught a lot of crap for that, but my alarm clock battery popped out...totally not my fault. We were done somewhat early and I went home afterwards, ate dinner, studied for 3 hours and passed out.
Today we had language and technical training prepping us for community visits this week. Tomorrow we visit an employment center, Thursday we visit a school and sit in on a classroom and answer questions, Friday we go to social services. Busy week.
On a horrible note, my friend Travis quit yesterday. He was one of the people I was hanging out with in Philly. I will miss the guy and I am sick of seeing my friends leave so soon even though the thought has crossed my mind on occasion. I am beyond culture-shocked and homesick.
Some clarification: There are 75 of us total in my group. There are other Americans here from previous groups. We are the 32nd group to arrive in Ukraine. 25 of us business/community developers are here in Chernigiv and the rest of the youth developers are in small villages thoughout the country. After our training, we get sent out to our permanent sites where there may be zero Americans around.
That is all I have for right now. The weather has been cold, snowy, rainy and horrible this week so far.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Connie (if she is reading this). I am deeply saddened for your loss.
Another not to JJ: Thanks for sending me my first care package! You rock and I know you can relate to my homesickness.
This last weekend was a wild experience. Saturday, I met up with Megan, Zach, Jason and Mike and we walked around the city. We found this huge foot bridge that crossed the river and walked over it to this forest where we just hung out for a bit. At that point I was starving as I thought we were meeting for lunch not to explore Ukraine by foot. We went to another pizzeria and I enjoyed an amazing pie. I cruised home and the rest of the group continued on to do something else. I ate dinner and went to bed early as I knew we had to be up at the crack of dawn.
Easter (or Pasca in Ukraine) is a huge 3-day celebration. We woke up at 5am and got ready for church. As we strepped outside into the freezing air, you could hear choir music echoing throughout the city and hundreds of people (I mean everyone) was outside carrying their Easter baskets to the church. At the church everyone grouped up outside as the pastor blessed everyone and their baskets. From what I understand, in the baskets is the food they were unable to eat during lent. It is also part of Pasca supper. To my surprise there wasn't a church service, that was all there was. We met up with Marina's sister and her family and Marina's mom. We then drove to Andry's family's house for an early meal. At the meal was an endless supply of vodka and wine. I didn't want to even think about drinking at 6am, but didn't want to be the odd man out either so here I am doing shots of vodka with about 15 Ukrainans at breakfast. They asked me what day of the month I was born and I said 12. That opened up a can of worms as my new mission, as is a tradition, was to eat 12 pieces of different Pasca bread which is a sweet bread they eat on this holiday. I only made it to 5 by the end of the night. We came home after dinner and we all took a nap. We woke up and headed out around 6pm to Andrey and Marina's friend's house. She is an English teacher so it was a relief to have a translator finally. We ate another huge dinner and drank another bottle of vodka. We then ventured into the other room where I was forced to karaoke.
(side note: I had heard rumors that Ukrainians love the song "Yesterday" by the Beatles, and I read someone's blog where they made him karaoke it a million times. While I thought it was funny and probably overinflated, sure enough they made me sing "Yesterday". I also found out one of the guys in my cluster was forced to learn that song on the guitar.) Nonetheless, I rocked it out and by the end of the night I was an instant superstar. I have some amazing pictuers of the entire day's events, but once again, can't figure out how to shrink the size down to post them here.
Around 10pm, we took a cab to the local disco where Andrey had reserved a table and a bottle of ....vodka. We stayed there until 2:30 am and danced the night away. For those of you who want a taste of Ukraine, download a song by HollyDolly called "the Dolly Song". That song is huge out here and I was forced into doing the Russian dance in the middle of a circle of Russians at the disco to that song.
I came home, and called my parents to wish them Happy Easter and passed out.
Monday, I woke up late and was a half hour late to my technical language training. I caught a lot of crap for that, but my alarm clock battery popped out...totally not my fault. We were done somewhat early and I went home afterwards, ate dinner, studied for 3 hours and passed out.
Today we had language and technical training prepping us for community visits this week. Tomorrow we visit an employment center, Thursday we visit a school and sit in on a classroom and answer questions, Friday we go to social services. Busy week.
On a horrible note, my friend Travis quit yesterday. He was one of the people I was hanging out with in Philly. I will miss the guy and I am sick of seeing my friends leave so soon even though the thought has crossed my mind on occasion. I am beyond culture-shocked and homesick.
Some clarification: There are 75 of us total in my group. There are other Americans here from previous groups. We are the 32nd group to arrive in Ukraine. 25 of us business/community developers are here in Chernigiv and the rest of the youth developers are in small villages thoughout the country. After our training, we get sent out to our permanent sites where there may be zero Americans around.
That is all I have for right now. The weather has been cold, snowy, rainy and horrible this week so far.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Connie (if she is reading this). I am deeply saddened for your loss.
Another not to JJ: Thanks for sending me my first care package! You rock and I know you can relate to my homesickness.
Friday, April 6, 2007
One Week Down
As for the pictures, I dont know what to do. The files are too large when I try to upload or email them. I even tried on about 3 different computers. I'll keep working on it but if anyone has any ideas, let me know.
Last night Andrey, Marina and I went out for pizza which was the best meal I've had yet. It was nice to have a taste of home. I didnt think I'd miss good food this much. After that, we picked up Nikita from kindergarten. His teacher gave me her phone number so I can call her daughter. Apparently she is learning English and I am to help her with it....awkward. We then went to the university where they work and I tried to upload pictures on the internet to no avail. I saw Andrey's dad there and he made me do a shot of vodka. One thing I noticed here is that all professionals drink and smoke in their office during the day. Even the teachers drink champagne between classes. One of Andrey's co-workers found out I was not married and tried to set me up with her "beautiful" daughter. Another one insisted I was a spy from the FBI.
We finally went home and cleaned the house together. Apparently Ukrainians can't do any physical work over Easter weekend. They take this holiday pretty seriously and I am to attend a church ceremony on Sunday morning. I have been so tired and am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. I lucked out in the fact that my host family likes to saty up late and sleep till noon. After we finished cleaning, Andrey and I watched Fight Club in Russian. One hasn't lived until he sees Brad Pitt speak dubbed Russian. I went to bed after finally having an early night.
Today after language class, we had our first medical training session where I got 2 more shots. They also spent about 2 hours on STD's and HIV. We all had to put condoms on rubber penises. It was the most embarrasing, awkward yet hilarious moment of my life; I wish I had my camera.
Got news today the so far 2 people have quit. One couldn't hack it anymore and I'm not sure what the other's story is since he is in a different town. That kinda news brings us all down. We are all feeling uneasy and today was the first day I really missed home and asked myself why I am here. Supposedly this is normal. At any right, I was sorry to see these people have to leave.
For those of you that have been watching CNN, everything is cool in my part of Ukraine. Most of the action is in Kyiv. For those that haven't heard, Ukraine is on the edge of a civil war and there is buzz about evacuation if it gets violent. They are calling for a new election for prime minister and people are divided as to which to side with. Their have been hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians rallying in the streets in the larger cities, but so far it is all peaceful. The news is blowing it up far worse than it is.
Tonight I beleive we are just going to play games and maybe drink some beers. I am beyond tired at this point. The Peace Corps is cramming so much into these 3 months it is insane. Between technical and language homework and reading assignments, socializing with my host family and just living life, I am completely drained.
I wish all of you a Happy Easter and I'll write more next week. This internet cafe rules and I dont k,now if I told you but one of the attendents here speaks English.
Last night Andrey, Marina and I went out for pizza which was the best meal I've had yet. It was nice to have a taste of home. I didnt think I'd miss good food this much. After that, we picked up Nikita from kindergarten. His teacher gave me her phone number so I can call her daughter. Apparently she is learning English and I am to help her with it....awkward. We then went to the university where they work and I tried to upload pictures on the internet to no avail. I saw Andrey's dad there and he made me do a shot of vodka. One thing I noticed here is that all professionals drink and smoke in their office during the day. Even the teachers drink champagne between classes. One of Andrey's co-workers found out I was not married and tried to set me up with her "beautiful" daughter. Another one insisted I was a spy from the FBI.
We finally went home and cleaned the house together. Apparently Ukrainians can't do any physical work over Easter weekend. They take this holiday pretty seriously and I am to attend a church ceremony on Sunday morning. I have been so tired and am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. I lucked out in the fact that my host family likes to saty up late and sleep till noon. After we finished cleaning, Andrey and I watched Fight Club in Russian. One hasn't lived until he sees Brad Pitt speak dubbed Russian. I went to bed after finally having an early night.
Today after language class, we had our first medical training session where I got 2 more shots. They also spent about 2 hours on STD's and HIV. We all had to put condoms on rubber penises. It was the most embarrasing, awkward yet hilarious moment of my life; I wish I had my camera.
Got news today the so far 2 people have quit. One couldn't hack it anymore and I'm not sure what the other's story is since he is in a different town. That kinda news brings us all down. We are all feeling uneasy and today was the first day I really missed home and asked myself why I am here. Supposedly this is normal. At any right, I was sorry to see these people have to leave.
For those of you that have been watching CNN, everything is cool in my part of Ukraine. Most of the action is in Kyiv. For those that haven't heard, Ukraine is on the edge of a civil war and there is buzz about evacuation if it gets violent. They are calling for a new election for prime minister and people are divided as to which to side with. Their have been hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians rallying in the streets in the larger cities, but so far it is all peaceful. The news is blowing it up far worse than it is.
Tonight I beleive we are just going to play games and maybe drink some beers. I am beyond tired at this point. The Peace Corps is cramming so much into these 3 months it is insane. Between technical and language homework and reading assignments, socializing with my host family and just living life, I am completely drained.
I wish all of you a Happy Easter and I'll write more next week. This internet cafe rules and I dont k,now if I told you but one of the attendents here speaks English.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
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