Peace Corps Round Two: 31 May – 02 June

May 31 – 01 June

My day started very well – I got up, I had breakfast with my family, and I finished packing for Ukraine. I weighed my bags, and I sat down to have a brief breather to charge my mp3 player for my flights. By happenstance, Dad checked my flight status, and we found out that my flight to Newark (the first leg) had be canceled. No notification, no rebooking info, nor where I should look to find that info.

I called the Peace Corps (PC) duty officer, who told me to call the travel agency, where I sat on hold for almost half an hour. I talked with the travel agency, and the person there was able to book me on a Lufthansa flight (direct) from Charlotte to Munich. Which meant that we had to leave right then to drive to Charlotte, as my original flight had been scheduled to depart from Greensboro!

So we drove to Charlotte and got me checked in. A hug and kiss later, and I waited for more than a half-hour in the TSA line, before getting through to my gate for my flight. I waited at the gate, and enjoyed the free Charlotte wifi to contact family and post a Facebook status update (which had become OBE when my flight was canceled).

After a while, the flight boarded, and we got underway to Munich. We had a tale-wind, so we landed about a half an hour earlier than planned. I had an aisle seat and no one sitting next to me, as the flight was not full. Unfortunately, the woman sitting in my row had her screen on full brightness for the entire flight, which made it even harder to sleep.

We landed in Munich, and I took advantage of the free wifi to let my parents know that, yes, the plane had landed safely. Originally, I was supposed to go through German passport control, but I just followed the signs to my gate and didn’t have to. You have to love Lufthansa – when I checked my email in Munich, I had an email telling me that my gate had changed, and that I needed to go directly to my new gate. I had checked the departures board, so I was sitting at the right gate. But, hey, notification, even if minor (the gate was the same terminal, just a different number), is very important. United 0, Lufthansa 1.

On my flight to Kyiv, I sat next to a woman from Kyiv, who had spent the last 10 years teaching Russian to uni students in Texas. Small world, huh? Upon arrival in Kyiv, we disembarqued and made our way through passport control, and on to the baggage claim. The term used in Ukraine is “oversized luggage.” Both of my bags made it, and nothing appears to have been broken or removed.

From there, it was a quick walk passed customs, and to the main arrivals area, where Peace Corps Ukraine was waiting for me. I met my PST training manager, who I hadn’t seen in 15 months, as well as other PC Ukraine people. We took a PC van to the hotel (PC policy means no more hostels in Kyiv), which is very nice. I would recommend it to anyone in staying in Kyiv. I don’t know what a room costs, though. Thanks to T-Mobile, I was able to send a text upon arrival, which I did as I didn’t know if there would be internet at the hotel or PC post.

The PC gave us a snack (a bottle of water, a candy bar, a pack of peanuts, a juice box, and a banana. I was so tired I ate the banana for dinner. The hotel has wifi, so I was able to let everyone else know that I was safely in Ukraine. A few hours later, PCV 4 of 5 arrived, and we all crashed out early. Except PCV5 – who arrived around midnight local time.

We (my roommates and I) all crashed out early, as we were really tired.



02 June

The hotel offers breakfast, as part of the room price. It was basically inedible. I hope for better tomorrow.

Today was the start of training. The 5 of us spent the day in training. We got to the meet the new Country Director, and talk to the Medical Officers. We learned all about admin, and our stipends while in-country. We got new phones instead of cash to buy them. It looks like it wouldn’t stand a sharp look, but it seems to work. I simply put the SIM in another phone, and will be using that. I might not even have to buy another SIM, as the plan they started us with has unlimited free MTC to MTC calls.

After lunch (an expensive, but good Italian place – I was able to get dinner out of it as well), we met with our “Lead Specialists” (the lovely people who are in charge of us from a professional perspective), who gave us details as to what we would be doing. As I am an English teacher, my summer role is a bit different than my usual teaching. I was also able to meet with my Regional Manager, who gave me information about my site, and what I would have to do to get officially registered in Ukraine.

After our busy day, we went back to the hotel, where I was able to call my counterpart at my school, and we were able to talk for a bit. She seems to be really happy that I’m returning.