29 November
2013 – 04 December 2013
On Friday, 29 November 2013, I the final
tech session of Pre-Service Training, where we went over what we’d learned in
PST. After that, I went with 3 members of Obukhiv 2 to Kyiv. We walked to the
Museum of the Great Patriotic War (World War II). The museum is under a
monument – the mother of Ukraine, built to look like an incredibly tall and
metal Joan d’Arc – and, to get to it, you walk past various stone murals and
Soviet-era tanks. It’s very impressive. The museum itself is… quite something.
It’s 2 stories, and 15 rooms. The rooms have artefacts and pictures and
souvenirs from the war. It is a necessary site to see if you are interested in
military history. Much as Hôtel National des Invalides is in Paris. After that, we walked
and Metroed back to centre Kyiv, where we got lunch. After lunch, we went to
the Roshen store – a chocolate store with a set of kinda-creepy singing puppets
on one level. After that, we walked as close to Independence Square as we
dared, before heading to an amazing bookstore. After that, we Metroed to the
bus stop, and took the Marshrutka back to Obukhiv. I had dinner with and hung
out with my host-family before going to bed.
On Saturday, 30 November 2013, I learned
what PC region I had been placed in, as well as when and where I needed to go
to meet my Regional Manager (RM) and learn exactly where I was Sited. I spent
most of the day doing various open-book PC tests and competencies. As well as
some home task in Russian. There was one on safety and security, one on
medical, and one on the Policies and Procedures handbook (the one where you
have to either have the handbook in front of you while you take the test, or
have the entire book memorized…). There was a host-family recommendation form
(I gave a my host-family a “Strongly recommend” as to whether they should
continue to host PCTs), and a PST review. I also did some home task. I had
dinner with my host-family.
On Sunday, 01 December 2013, I had some
friends over, as they wanted to watch the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special.
We watched the episode, and nerded-out over how awesome it was. I washed some
clothes by hand, and filled out the overly-complicated Volunteer Reporting
Form. I finished my home task, and had dinner with my host-family. I also
updated my blog, downloaded and edited my photos from Kyiv, and video-chatted
with my parents.
On Monday, 02 December 2013, I had 3 hours
of Russian, and close to an hour of individual tutoring. We spent most of the
time talking, as our Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) was the next day. We
practiced asking each other questions, and answering various common LPI
questions. After that, we had a break for lunch, and then we had individual
tutoring, which was more questions and situational practices for the LPI. I had
dinner with my host-family, as usual.
On Tuesday, 03 December 2013, I had my
LPI. I had the middle slot, so my test was at 1045am. I don’t think it lasted
much more than 15 minutes. I talked about my normal day in Obukhiv, my project and
practice, my Ukrainian family, myself, my happiest day in Ukraine, as well as
what I was going to do after my LPI. I didn’t know the Russian work for
“packing” so I tried to get around it with “getting ready for my new city.”
After that, I was given a situation, and I had to ask some questions. I was
given a very easy one – make small talk with you host-mother as dinner finishes
cooking. As I hold a similar conversation everyday, I think I did well on that
part of the exam. On my way out, I suggested to V that we might be able to see
the movie on Tuesday, instead of waiting until Thursday, as we had a lot to do
on Thursday, not including a 2.5 hour movie. A bit later, I got a text from my
cluster, telling me when we were going to watch the movie. The movie was
called, I think, “Moscow doesn’t believe in tears,” and was about the lives of
three young women, who all came to Moscow to try to get a better education,
job, or husband. It was filmed during Soviet times, and was a comedy. It was
very interesting, as it tracked their lives for about 20 years, with several
time-skips. It explored various relationships, and various stereotypes. I had
dinner with my host-family, and got ready to go to Chernigov, again, for my
Site Announcement.
Today, Wednesday, 04 December 2013, a member
of my cluster and 3 from Obukhiv 2 went to Chernigov (PC van), so that we could
learn our Sites. We had to get up early to catch an early marshrutka to Kyiv,
and the PC van to Chernigov (2+ hour drive) I almost fell asleep along the way.
I am in PC Region 7, which included Kirovograds’ka Oblast and Odesas’ka Oblast.
I learned that I am Olexandriya, which is the rayon (county) seat of Olexandriya
Rayon, in Kirovograds’ka Oblast. I am in a one-room flat, living by myself, a
few minutes walk from my school. I have “good, normal, living conditions.” I am
teaching at the local Gymnasium, which is a boarding school. There is another
PCV, M, in my town, just a few minutes walk from my flat. His school is on the
same street as mine, and he’s in my training cluster. I didn’t think that the
PC put cluster-mates in the same city, but, they did here.
After our
sites and housing were announced, we learned how and when we would get to our
sites. I have the 9pm-3am (the next day) train to my town. I get three seats (beds)
in a Coupé wagon (these compartments have doors; platzcartné is cheaper, but
doesn’t have doors) – one for me, one for my counterpart, and one for my stuff. We were also given some
information about our Swearing-In Retreat, as we get to meet our Counterparts
on Sunday. Wow! Sunday! We were given some forms and important documents, and
let out early. Which was good, as we now had 45 minutes for lunch, instead of
15.
6 of us
ended up at a small café called “The Golden Keys,” which serves coffee, juice,
and sweets. M and myself, plus 4 members of the 3 various Chernigov clusters.
We talked about our Site placements (3 of the Chernigov group have their
announcement tomorrow…), and our lives at training. We talked about what we
would do at Site (sleep, shop, etc), and when we wanted to visit our friends. After
that, we walked back to the PC van, and piled in for the ride back to Kyiv.
We shared
around some of the food we had – sweet and savoury – and talked excitedly about
our Sites. I put on some music, and tried to zone. It worked a bit. Couldn’t
nap, but still got some rest. Instead of dropping us at the Metro station
closest to the motorway to Chernigov, our nice driver dropped us at the bus
stop where he picked us up. We took the Marshrutka back to Obukhiv, where I got
to hang-out with my host-family. I had a quick video-chat with my parents,
telling them where I had been sited. Tomorrow, I’m going to School #5, to thank
my training-counterpart again.
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