Hotel California and Bazaars and Tchaikovsky

11 June 2015

Music

I’d forgotten just how much my students love to sing (and dance, when not required). I’m sitting and watching the final dress of the Summer Camp final presentation, and I’m kicking myself for not bringing along the Tom Chapin or Raffi CDs. Or at least ripping them. Any chance you can DropBox them to me? [kidding!] :)

Hotel California

Each act gets musical clips (“Timber,” the Captain America Theme, etc). The fifth formers are singing along to Hotel California – as they are talking about how they want to go to California. Side note, the 8th formers were kinda-sorta line dancing (they were from the Cowboy day) to “Timber.” Wow. Just. Wow. Easy to dance to, yes...

After-party

The English department had a lot of help putting on the summer camp, from a lot of teachers, most of whom don’t speak English. They did an amazing job, as the camp went beautifully. The teachers who helped were given certificates as thanks.

After the program, the teachers gathered in A’s classroom for a party. Champagne was passed around, and we toasted to the team. After a few minutes and several toasts, the teachers had to go back to their classrooms. In Ukraine, you can’t leave poured alcohol. An extra glass of champagne had been poured, so one of the English teachers had to drink it. He joked that he was going to “end up dead drunk” because of the extra champagne (granted, it was 11am).

Birthday Party

After lunch, one of the teachers passed around ice cream and coffee because the day before (Thursday) had been her birthday. The coffee was the standard 3b1 that is ubiquitous around Ukraine (3b1 means that the package has instant coffee, powdered milk, and sugar; it comes in basically every single combination of how much of what, and how much caffeine). The ice cream was… tasty. No, really. The ice cream was strawberry and vanilla. It was in a heart-shaped pie-tin, and the top was decorated in roses. Strawberry ice cream roses. There was a thick layer of strawberry over a thin layer of vanilla. You slice it like a cake. I haven’t had ice cream in Ukraine. No, that’s not quite true. At the end of the Transition to Service Conference, the PC gave us ice cream (in mid-December) and coffee. Our CPs put their ice cream in their coffee (as long as the ice cream is vanilla and the coffee espresso). It’s very good.

Secondary Project

I got a few minutes to talk to A about next school year, and she said that there was some interest in the students for reading English language materials, but no materials for them to read. She also said that the teachers are hoping that I will restart my English club for teachers, as they are eager to learn. They are also interested in reading in English.

15 June 2015

Instant Oatmeal

I was at one of the stores near my flat, and I made a discovery – packets of instant oatmeal. I had always assumed that instant oatmeal was a very American thing. It tastes pretty good, and has dried fruit in it. It comes in the standard flavors of strawberry, mixed berries, raspberry, and apple, as well as pineapple and… mushroom! There’s a fungus among us. But, hey, all I’ll need is a packet of this, a bowl (and spoon) and some hot water for the next few weeks – they are doing repairs to the school kitchen and they aren’t going to be feeding the teachers. Or I can bring a few packets along when I travel to camps.

Bazaar

On Sunday, I went to the bazaar with A, where I was looking primarily for shorts. I wasn’t successful, as the only options were distressed, or over-the-knee, or Daisy Dukes. Or some combination thereof. I should have packed mine, but I didn’t see anyone wearing shorts in Paris in summer, so I assumed that shorts were a no-go in Europe, like other parts of the world. Big mistake.

While I struck out on the shorts, I was able to find cherries and strawberries. The bazaar has two main sections, the market and the village. Most of the market section are pretty well established, and sell everything not food, from wallpaper to lightbulbs to watch battries, to French presses (but no Le Monde) to mobile phones to…. you get the idea. After wandering through that section, one ends up at the bus station, where the villagers sell their products.

The villagers, the home gardeners, the farmers have set up shop here. You can find various types of fresh meat, raw milk, in season fruits and vegetables, cheese, beans, etc… If it is in season, or can be cold-stored, you can buy it from a villager at the bazaar. Last year, I helped A buy a rooster. A dead and plucked rooster. A was saying that her mother wanted her to buy the rooster, but that she was horrible at choosing them, so I got to choose. I chose well, as she told me that her mother thought I’d found a great rooster. Not bad for a city girl. There were babushkas selling milk in water bottles, so I think it was very fresh, non-homogenized, raw milk.

We wandered around, A asking prices. We saw someone selling cherries, and I was able to get about 200 grams. The cherries looked like someone crossed a sour cherry and a Bing cherry, and taste like neither. Small, and perfect color mixture of sour and Bing, they really don’t look like much. They are really good, though. They are ubiquitous around Ukraine at this time of year, as the babushkas sell them near the stores, which don’t sell them. Yeah, the grocery stores don't seem to sell strawberries or cherries... They are sweet, but not super-sweet.

The strawberries are much the same. They look like the Quebecois torpedoes: small, light red, and not “American” sweet. They are sweet, but not in the too much so way that the huge dark red ones can be. They also aren’t watery. I got 200 grams of them and ate the whole bag in one sitting, as soon as I got back from the bazaar. Tasty.

The babushkas sell them near ATB. I’ll have to remember that the next time I walk up there.

Transliteration

How many possible variants of Tchaïkovsky are there? I’ll give you a hint: that’s the French one (the English one takes the umlaut off the ‘i’). Because the Cyrillic letters have different sounds than the English ones (the French variant is closer phonetically), a name can and will be transliterated in to many possible versions, all being right. The same issue arrives when going in the other direction.

I have two type D visitors visas for Ukraine. They were issued to the same person. They were issued by the same government. My middle name was transliterated differently on them. On the first one, they simply translated it, and gave me the Ukrainian equivalent. The new visa transliterated it. Now I know how Tchaïkovsky feels every time someone writes his name…

Aladdin, Fish Soup, and Alcohol.

07 June

Sunday barely gets a footnote. I did go to the little tiny “prodyucti” in the apartment complex, but no where else. I spent the day going over the materials I brought from the US, and thinking about ideas for lessons. As I didn’t have a copy of the text book, most of my ideas are for clubs.

08 June

My first day at the summer camp. I didn’t really do much, just sat and watched the 10th formers create their Aladdin costumes, and then watch the final production. The theme of the day was Walt Disney, and all of the forms put together some sort of little skit, based on one of the films or cartoons. I was able to get lunch at the school, and I stopped to get dinner on the way home. As I’m still without a refrigerator, I have to buy cheese and apples, as they will stay good between lunch and dinner.

09 June

I learned that I would be getting internet at my flat on Wednesday, and that I needed to stay there – not come to school – so that I would be there when the internet person came.

Tuesday started when I read the morning presentation to the school. It was about fairy tales, and had lots of information about them. It talked about what fairy tales were, and how they came to be. Tuesday was a bit less hectic than Monday, so the English teachers and I were able to have a coffee break while the students were preparing their final presentation. After their presentation, we had lunch, and I watched as the teachers wrote up the day in Ukrainian.

10 June: A day in anecdotes. 

Internet

Apparently, Macs and Ukraine’s PPPoE internet just do not get along with each other. At least, that’s the conclusion the internet guy came up with after 75min of trying. He even plugged my baby in to the main router for the building! Nothing.

He gave me two options:

            1. He takes my computer to his work, and his boss fixes (tries to fix) whatever the problem is. He’d bring it back by 7pm.

            2. The school tech facilitator (who came by to make sure the guy didn’t try to rip me off or something) and I go and I buy a wifi router.

While the router had a higher upfront cost (but no more per month), I’d have internet in about 30min, and I would be able to use wifi for the year.

As I’d wanted wifi to begin with (the school techfac wanted to find one online for cheaper than in the stores), I went with the router. We went and I bought it, they got it plugged in, named the network, password protected it, and I was logged in in under 10min. He even showed me how to hard reset it (hint: you unplug it).

I was given a ride to the school in time for lunch. The camp was over for the day, but I got to help a bit with the writing up of the day.

Fish Soup.
Yes. you read that right: fish soup.

For 20g a week, I can get lunch at the canteen. It’s two courses (soup and meat, and a drink), 6 days a week.

The main course is a meat of some sort (cutlet (it’s ground meat reshaped in to a ballish shape, but not a meatball; no sauce), a meatball (which has rice in it), or chicken), with a starch (mashed potatoes, plain noodles, rice, or kasha (buckwheat porridge)), and a salad of some sort (Wednesday’s was sliced cucumber, Thursday’s was sliced pickles). Everything varies by day.

Tuesday, I had fish soup. But not the way you’re thinking. In Ukraine, they make soup from canned fish. Think bone-in sardines. Chop some potatoes, grate some carrots, add some (chicken) bouillon, add a can of sardines, and boom, soup! It was a bit salty, but otherwise quite good, if one can get over the texture of sardines in one’s soup.

The meat Tuesday was… well, it was as if the chef had heard of fried chicken and waffles, but had assumed it was one thing. There were two, thin, waffle-like crusts, with some ground chicken stuffed in the middle. It tasted like fried chicken…

Pickle Soup

Yep. Pickles in the soup. Those tasty Ukrainian pickles, cooked in a soup. Chop some potatoes, grate some carrots, add some (chicken) bouillon, add some pickles, and boom, soup!

11 June 2015: A day in anecdotes. 

Laundry

Ukraine is called the “Posh Corps” by other volunteers, because we really are posh. We are issued heaters, fire extinguishers, CO and CO2 detectors, and we have to have electricity. We do not have to have running water, or central heating. Most of us do, as only the farthest villages lack central heating. Some volunteers have ‘dry’ sinks, and have to get water from wells. Some have to burn wood in the winter. Volunteers like myself, those in flats, have electricity and running water (I have a hot water heater and a washing machine).

Now, my Director is incredibly well traveled, to many countries. She has been to the US many times, and each time adjusts her flat and/or the school to what she saw in the US, such as grounded power outlets, and a mounted showerhead. At the school, there is a washing machine and a dryer, that any teacher/employee can use (you just have to supply your own detergent).

I carried a small load of clothes down to school, and got them started before the morning presentation. I set a mental timer, and headed back to the presentation. Due to the fact that I was helping some students, I lost track of time. My laundry was moved to the dryer (someone else needed the machine), and that is where the story starts.

My laundry didn’t dry. It got nice and hot, but it was still soaking wet, after a go round. One of the cleaning crew unplugged and replugged the dryer, just to check, then restarted it for half an hour. Still soaking wet. I emptied the water out (while most American dryers vent to the outside, this one collects the water in a reservoir), restarted it and it was still damp. But, hey, my clothes were mostly dry when I took them back to the flat, instead of soaking wet and needing to be line dried.

Birthday party

I’ve been in Ukraine 11 days and I’ve already been pressured to drink. Well, pressured is too strong a word. Cajoled to drink. Encouraged to drink. And told that, culturally, Ukrainians “eat, sleep, work hard, and drink a lot.”

It was one of the English teacher’s birthdays, and Ukrainians, like the Irish, will... you can finish that one. A small group of us (the English department, the director, and a friend) went to her classroom and took turns toasting her on her birthday. A bottle of champagne and cognac were part of this celebration. My minor victory was that I managed to keep my glass from getting refilled. Which is easier said than done, as you have to keep an eye on it and on who is pouring. You don’t have to worry about anything other than what you are drinking, though, but just that you might have an endlessly full glass. The “never put down your drink” rule is in effect, but only in order to not get refilled.

During the celebration, I was politely chinking plastic cups and smiling, the director started wondering why I was sipping my drink. I replied that I like to savour my drinks – which is true. Her answer was that I didn’t have to, as there was a lot to drink. Which led to the cultural note. My director added that she had once brought a bottle of that specific brand of Ukrainian cognac to the US, and it had gone over quite well, so… Which it should have - if it is the same cognac I had during the New Year's party when I was here earlier, it is quite good cognac. 

Coffee

Side note: I learned that it is possible to get and make real coffee (non-instant), as one of the teachers mentioned that he doesn’t drink the instant stuff any more. I am going to look into this. I wonder if he was talking about a French press?

(note: he was talking about Turkish-style coffee - where the grounds are spooned into the cup and hot/boiling water added to them)

Onboarding, Language Refreshers, Swearing In, and TGVs. Oh my!

03 June – Training

Roommate number 2 and I decided to skip breakfast, as the day before’s had been inedible. We stopped at the café across the street from PCHQ, and got a French-style breakfast of coffee and croissants. We then had a two hour safety and security refresher, where our SSM (Safety and Security Manager) went over all of the vitally important rules and regs. Our SSM is very good, with over 50 years of military and law enforcement experience. He’s the reason why we don’t worry.

After that, we had a brief break, before we were “onboarded.” It was an elaborate ceremony, involving the Ukrainian National Anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner, a Ukrainian tradition of greeting visitors with bread and salt, and speeches about why we are so important to Ukraine. Our new CD (Country Director) then told us that we couldn’t be sworn-in as PCVs, but that we could be “onboarded.” He gave us “airline tickets” to our “destination” (site) in Peace Corps Ukraine. When you scan the barcode, it says “WelcometoPCUkraine.” The staff of PC Ukraine is all Ukrainian (except for the top three positions), and they had a lot of amazing things to say to us. One staff member told us about how we, PCVs, are a symbol hope for Ukraine. He said that, when we were evacuated, the Ukrainian people were wondering what America knew. Then Crimea happened. Then over a year happens. And now, here we are. There are 15 PCVs in Ukraine right now, a 50% increase from 31 May, when there had been 10.

After that, we had lunch – we walked across the street to that café and got sandwiches – and met with the PCR Coordinator, who told us what was different for PCRVs. Then we broke into smaller groups and met with our RMs about even more policies and procedures, specifically what we have to and who we have to notify when we are going to be away from our sites after midnight. We learned a bit about grants, as PCRV have less time in country, they don’t have much opportunity to find and create grants. After that, we all had warden training. Wardens are part of the “phone tree” – their job is to keep tabs on PCVs in country and to make sure that correct information is given to PCVs. As there are so few PCVs in country, we all have to have some preliminary training, in case we become wardens in the future.

Then, a bit early, we were done for the day. We trooped into the PC Lounge, where we decided what we were going to do for dinner. We asked an RM, and he was able to direct us to a very small market, where we were able to buy things for dinner. I found out that there was a refrigerator in the room, so I was able to buy enough food for more than one dinner. We ate dinner and all hung out for several hours, talking about everything and nothing.

04 June – Language Refresher and Field Trip

I decided to try breakfast at the hotel, because my group was saying that they managed to get edible food from the restaurant for breakfast. Roommate number 2 and I wandered into the restaurant and found the boys already there, being ignored by the hostess/chef. We all ordered coffee, and decided not to tempt fate with the awful breakfast, planning to stop at the café. After a few minutes, the hostess/chef leaned over my shoulder and asked if he could make the girls omelettes. We nodded and he eventually brought us omelettes. As he was completely ignoring the boys, we shared our breakfast.

At the PC, we had our context update, where we learned all about the changes to Ukraine since Maiden. There have been a lot of good changes to Ukraine. We learned about Ukraine from the Ukrainian perspective and the American perspective.

After that, we had a brief break and had a language refresher. I was able to pull a lot of vocabulary into the session that I thought I had forgotten. After that session, the group went to lunch with our language teachers. We walked over to a small restaurant, which had a “biznes lunch” – a plat/prix fixée lunch. We had to order in our language, and ask some questions. We all got the same thing – borshch and cutlet. We got three courses – salad, soup, and main – and they were all very good. The chef decided to give us a treat – dessert – which was very nice of him.

After lunch, we went to the downtown ticket office, where you can order train tickets. It is a lot more convenient than the station itself. After that, we wandered back to the office, and waited to learn about the afternoon meeting – who was supposed to be in it. The TEFL volunteers didn’t have to go to it, so we wandered back to our hotel, to get ready to go for a long walk downtown.

After a nice break, three of us went for a walk. We walked downtown, down to Maiden. We got to see the changes to the square, and the proposed monument. We went to the Roshen store, bought some candy, and went back to the hotel. We stopped at a small food market, where we got dinner, and then hung out for the rest of the night.

05 June – RMs and Travel

Friday was another breakfast at the café across the street, I hung out in the lounge with the rest of the group, taking advantage of the wifi. After a while, we went to our language resource meeting, where we talked about the resources available to us. After that, we met with our RMs, to go over how we were going to get to our sites the next day. We were given important documents, policies and procedures. After that, we went to the small grocery store and bought lunch, before wandering back to the lounge to eat it. After lunch, we waited for our ‘surprise.’ We had been told that the office had a surprise for us, and to bring a jacket. Our surprise was a boat trip on the Dnieper.

(above picture copyright: Peace Corps Ukraine)

The whole staff was on the boat with us, and we were told that the CD was going to give a short speech, and the we would be able to eat snacks. The CD started with a joke – “if you get seasick, raise your left hand” – before adding “and if you want to stay in Peace Corps, raise your right hand” as we had been cleared to be sworn in. Just like last time, I was sworn in by the CD. After our small ceremony, we had our boat trip up the Dnieper. It was really cool, and I got lots of pictures of riverbank Kyiv.

After the boat trip, we decided to go on another long walk through Kyiv. 4 of us walked down to a museum in downtown Kyiv, which was showing Boarderline art (Boarderline. Ukrainian Art 1985-2004"). It was very edgy and, in fairness, creepy. It was fascinating as it showed the art processes of around the fall of communism in Ukraine. It was a very unique museum. After that, we split up into small groups, and I went back to the hotel for dinner. The other PCV and I stopped at a small market to pick up what we needed for dinner. We had dinner at the hotel, talking about everything and nothing, before decided that we had to get ready to leave in the morning.

06 June – Olexandryia

There is TGV service to Olexandriya. Ukraine is in the process of investing in high-speed rail between cities. While Olexandriya is not a large city, it sits along the route of several much larger cities. Therefore, TGV service.

I had the 7.15am train from Kyiv Saturday morning, so the PC driver met me and my roommate (who had the 6.44am train to her town) at 6am to take us to the Vokzal (that’s Russian or Ukrainian for train station). The driver put my bags on the train, wished me a pleasant journey, and I was alone. The hotel had given us a takeaway breakfast, but no coffee. No coffee and a 5.15am wake up call are not a good combination.

The train ride was long and boring, if a bit scary, as I wasn’t sure where exactly where my stop was. I got a text from one of the volunteers the hotel had put omelettes on the menu, which is really good, as they are the only edible things coming out of the kitchen. The good news about the 7.15am train was that I arrived in Olexandriya before 11am.

I had my two large and heavy bags with me, and I was having trouble with the one that doesn’t stand upright on its own. I dragged it down off the train, and just before I could panic about not being able to get my second bag, a familiar face popped out, grabbed my big, red bag, and hauled it off the train as if it weighed nothing. A second later my counterpart (CP) was giving me a hug and we were waiting for the train to leave so we could cross the tracks and go to the flat. My director met us at the car, as I am living in her apartment. It is a beautiful apartment. I have a lot of American-style amenities, and it is a very short walk to the school.

After dropping my stuff off, we went to the school, where we had lunch, and went over the lesson from the day. My school is midway through an English summer camp, and they make plans and go over everything at the end of the lessons. All instruction is given in Ukrainian, so occasionally one of the teachers would pause, and ask me how to say something in English, as they needed to use English on parts of the form.

After that, my CP and I went back to my flat, and made plans for the late afternoon to go shopping. We were planning to go to a wifi café and then shopping, but I decided to go to the café early. I’m glad I did, as I was able to chat with my parents, and let them know that I was safely in Olexandriya. After that, I spent sometime online, before calling my CP and making plans to go shopping. I needed some basic supplies, and food for dinner.

After dinner, I got a shower, and then watched a movie while writing up my week.

I am thinking about changing the format a bit, and instead of writing down my day long-form, to instead have little anecdotes about my day - the odd (yet tasty) soup at my school, my troubles getting internet, that sort of thing - probably several per day. 

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.

Well, what do you say we get started?

There is a Ukrainian tradition that states that a person will return to wherever they have left things. While this is usually physical objects, this can also mean unfinished business. As I left Ukraine in late February 2014, my counterpart (A), told me that I had to return, as I had left a lot of things in my apartment. That weekend, the official evacuation order was given, and I was home before the next week was out. Home, in this case, being Winston-Salem.

I started talks with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where I had been accepted into the Library and Information Studies (LIS) program in 2013. I turned them down after I received my invitation to go to Ukraine. I called my contact, the amazing Lee Shiflett, and he got me the forms needed to become a student for Fall 2014. I spent the end of the 2013-2014 academic year substitute teaching off and on for WS/FCS. I spent a few weeks in July with my grandparents, and then started school in the fall.

I was offered a Graduate Assistantship from the LIS Department, and I started work in August. I started classes a week after I started my GA work. I took six classes over the two semesters. If anyone is interested in what I did in my first year of Grad School, please see http://meganpbennett.blogspot.com/ which documents what I did for assignments.

After the Peace Corps evacuated us, we were given a window, during which we would be able to go straight back to Ukraine. That window passed before Ukraine settled down enough, and the Peace Corps post closed. Everyone hoped that the post would reopen in time for the Volunteers to return before the 2014-2015 school year began, but the post did not reopen until November, a year-to-the-day that the EuroMaiden protests broke out.

We were asked if we wanted to return, and when we could leave, but everything was nebulous, with nothing concrete. In April, just shy of two years after my original, life-changing Invitation email and about a year from the ending of our holding window, the Peace Corps announced that Volunteers could go back, starting in late May.

After careful thought, and talking to many people, I asked to return to Ukraine, as of June 01. I learned that I would be going back to my school, the one I left in 2014. I will be helping with a summer camp, the first my school has done, during at least some of the summer. I will be teaching English, and hoping to run an English club for the students and instructors. I will be remaining a continuing student at UNCG, by taking online classes during the school year. I look forward to returning to my city, my region, and my school, and to reconnect with people I met while I was there.

Situation Update

For those of you who are not following the situation in Ukraine:
http://www.kyivpost.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ukraine-opposition-urges-continued-cease-fire/2014/01/23/dee9c4e6-848b-11e3-a273-6ffd9cf9f4ba_story.html
http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/visuel/2014/01/23/la-semaine-ou-kiev-s-est-embrasee_4353592_3214.html (in French, but the photos are very informative)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25905031 (and other BBC stories)

As a PCV, I am not allowed to publicly express my opinion on matters of government. Especially, on the "situation." Due to the increase in violence in Kyiv and major cities in Ukraine, the PC have upped our alert status. We are not allowed to leave our sites until, a) the alert is lifted, or b) we are told to gather in preparation for evacuation. I would like for option a to be chosen, as would every single PCV I am in contact with. None of us want to leave. We all want to be here. We all want to teach here.

I find it very interesting to be in Ukraine, as this country takes her steps. Ukraine is a very young country, with several very powerful countries wanting it to ally with them. Ukraine is a crossroads country - a former USSR country, tucked in between the EU and Russia. I find it even more interesting, as I have always had a fascination with the Irish Uprising and the "Troubles." There are similarities between Ireland and Ukraine. They are both countries that earn their "friendly and hospitable" reputation. Countries that are very young countries as far as independence goes (I am older than Ukraine, by a few months), yet both with histories that stretch back to pre-Greco-Roman times. They are both countries that have suffered famines, yet come out even stronger. The further similarities will remain unsaid on a public forum.

I hope that anyone following this event keeps Ukraine and her amazing people in your thoughts throughout this troubling time.

One Massively Long Update; or, January in Olexandriya.

One massively long update; or, what I did for most of January.
My last update was on 30 December, so I’m going to try to cover what I learned and did in a quick format.

On New Year’s Eve, I had a meeting at school, to celebrate. In Ukraine, New Year’s is a much larger celebration, spent with family and friends. It was a lunch party, my meeting, complete with cognac. There were toasts (a shot equaled a toast), and lots of traditions going around. When you clink glasses in a toast, you are supposed to clink lastly with a man, as that will give you good luck and prosperity in the New Year. The entire staff was given a bottle of champagne and a large bag of chocolates. It was an amazing look into traditions and life in Ukraine.

Just after midnight, here, the fireworks, gunshots, and other explosives rang in the New Year.

Very early the next morning I was able to converse with a group of good friends at a New Year’s party in WS. I think most of you read this blog. It was really nice to see and talk with you at the annual New Year’s Party. Wish I could have been there.

On Orthodox Christmas (07 January), I watched a Nativity play put on by the Pentecostal church. It was a very interesting take on the traditional play – it involved time travel. I was invited by a friend of A’s, who always invites her to events. After the play, there was an after-party in the Sunday School room. Sodas, tea, and biscuits, and talking to friends and people you know.

My primary assignment – TEFL – started the next day, when I met with the three students competing in the English Olympiad. They have speaking, reading, listening, and writing components.

That Friday, 10 January, I got up at a very early hour in order to catch a 6.40 bus to Kirovograd, the capital city in Kirovograd Oblast. In Kirovograd, the group of teachers and I met the director of a gymnasium with which we are being merged. We watched some of the auditions for the school – dancing, multiplication tables, violin, singing – and met with some of the English teachers. We watched a written entrance test for English. After a bit, A and I left to go get some coffee and meet with the head of English teacher’s licences. If you want to be legally allowed to teach English in the Oblast (equivalent to the state), you need to talk to her. She wanted to meet me. A and I talked with her for about half an hour, before we needed to head back to the gymnasium. Special note, pizza restaurants in Ukraine have really good espresso drinks.

That weekend, I met up with another PCV, and we talked for a while. While we were chatting, a young man walked up to us and asked for our help. He was taking a test in English, and had a few questions about his review material. That’s Goal 3 of the TEFL plan – helping the community in which you are sited. I made more borshch over the weekend. Still really need to look for spices.

Classes started back up on Monday, 13 January 2014. I’m teaching forms 6-11, not including 7th. I’m trying to wrangle the new choreography schedule (the Kirovograd Gymnasium specializes in dance) to have many clubs. I want a conversation/culture class for the 9th -11th forms, and a regular English club for the lower forms. The teachers and admin want me to teach them to speak English. I want to try to get a Russian tutor, and I might have someone for that. I’ve been planning each lesson the night before, as A and I try to co-plan the best we can. Also, I only have a few lessons’ worth of copied textbook.

On Tuesday, 14 January 2014, it was Old New Year. There was wheat sprinkled all over the floor of the Gymnasium, as it is for a happy and prosperous New Year. In some parts of Ukraine, a man needs to “first-foot” (be the first person to enter your house/flat in the New Year), and sprinkle wheat on everything, as that a good sign that you will have a happy and prosperous New Year. The wheat can not be cleaned up until more than 24 hours have passed, or it is bad luck for the forthcoming year.

The students are very interesting. In each class, there are very high level students (one of the 6th formers can translate for me), and some very low level students (in the same class, some of my students have trouble telling me their names). As the Gymnasium is a mixture of town and village students, they have had differing amounts of English at their previous school.

The students are also very happy to be in class. I am reminded that they have hometask that I haven’t collected, and they seem to be trying to out-compete each other in every one of the four skills – reading, writing, speaking, and listening.


After my first official week teaching, I went to the bazaar on Sunday, where I bought a chef’s knife, and a drying rack, so I can do laundry in the flat. I spent the afternoon cooking borshch, which was much better after I found and bought spices at ATB. A went with me, and helped me identify ground pepper, bay leaves, etc, which really help when cooking. Today was a day of hugs, so I was randomly hugged by students and staff. I think it has something to do with good karma.

Christmas in Olexandriya

December in Ukraine

I’ve been busy, so I haven’t updated my blog lately. As I haven’t updated it since the entry about my first day here, I’m going to hit the highlights.

I went to the bazaar for the first time on Sunday, December 15, 2013. I didn’t buy that much that day. I bought a pair of really cool black leather gloves, and a mobile with MTC (the service my colleagues use).

The next week (Monday, 16 December through Friday, 20 December) I was at school. I got to meet the students and see what they were looking for in an English Club. On Thursday, 19 December, I watched the New Year’s play. The whole school watched. It’s about the traditions of Christmas/New Year’s in Ukraine. Christmas in Ukraine is celebrated on Orthodox Christmas, in January. The whole town is decorated for New Year’s, with trees, lights, and presents for all. It is very beautiful. There is a huge tree in main square, with blow-up Santa and Frosty, and a nativity scene. The, um, unusual, part is that Vladimir Lenin overlooks the whole thing.

On Friday, 20 December, my counterpart (A) called and told me that a friend of a friend had found me a new flat. And could I be packed and ready in 30 minutes? I said that I wanted to see the flat first, so A and her friend and I went to the new flat. It’s awesome. After going over the PC guidelines, I decided that it was perfect. So, we decided that I would move in the next day. The friend, A, and I had dinner together at a pizza place, to celebrate my new flat, and new friendships. Only drawback – no silverware, flatware, pots, or pans.

 

So, on Saturday, 21 December, the Solstice, I moved into my new flat at 5 or so in the evening. As I didn’t have Internet, I made plans with my counterpart to meet at a local wifi-café for lunch on Sunday.

The next week was complicated, as I had Wednesday off. I had Wednesday, 25 December (Merry Christmas) off because I was waiting for the Internet guy to set up my Internet. A great Christmas present – wifi in the flat. I was able to FaceTime with my parents and family on Christmas! The rest of the school week, I was at school. On Thursday, 26 December, I watched a play put on by the ninth forms. It was very interesting, and was about the Snow Maiden being kidnapped. Had a full cast of gypsy fortune tellers and army officers.

 I was also given a large number of Christmas presents, as my students wanted to “Congratulate [me] on Christmas, and to feel at home in our town.” These gifts included a New Year tree (my director insisted that I get one), a kitty-bank (a piggy-bank, only a cat), Christmas tree decorations, lots of chocolate, 2 really cool magnets, a Winter scene (made in crafts class), a pair of Christmas slipper socks, a box of candy from my director, a Christmas decoration, and a hand-made jewellery-box.

(not pictured, a box of truffles).

On Friday, 27 December, I talked to A about my schedule for next semester, and what forms I’m teaching. I got copies of the first unit of the textbooks, so I can start planning my own lessons, and creating games. I’m going to be team-teaching the 6th formers, and one set of the 11th formers. A and I decided that we are going to pull-out some students from the 9th and 11th form, and I’m going to teach them, and once a week, we are going to put everyone together, and learn about grammar.

On Sunday, 29 December, I went with A to the bazaar, where I bought forks, knives, spoons, a cooking pot, a frying pan, and some other kitchen necessities. I was thinking about cooking a dinner, but remember that I had no ingredients. I didn’t have salt, or butter. Got both at the bazaar. Had the odd experience of being given a taste of the butter – like of ice cream. Need to ask A the word for “unsalted” as that was the butter I got. Awesome, now I don’t have to figure out the salt ratio when I bake. Now, I can have a dinner that doesn’t come from a packet.

Today, Monday, 30 December 2013, I slept in. After a small breakfast, I went to the grocery store, ATB, where I proceeded to buy the ingredients to borshch. I spent the afternoon cooking. While my borshch was cooking, I made myself scrambled eggs. I didn’t have any mozzarella or shredded cheese, so I used the sweet curd cheese. It’s a larger-curd, more cow-wy and more bitter cheese than ricotta. It’s really good mixed with sour cream and a either a spoonful of sugar or a spoonful of jam. It is also very good scrambled into eggs, with a pinch of salt. My borshch turned out pretty good. I need to see if I can find some chicken broth – boiling the chicken just doesn’t create a strong flavour – as well as get some spices. Bay leaves, cinnamon, ground pepper.

10 - 11 December 2013: Olexandriya

10 December and 11 December 2013

On Tuesday, 10 December, I got up early, got dressed, and went down for a hasty breakfast before getting on busses to go to the US Embassy. It took over an hour to get to the Embassy, because of traffic in Kyiv. Once there, we had to wait for 20 minutes in the cold, as we were the last few on the bus, and therefore the last few off the bus. We had to have our passports, we had to let our bags be inspected (no cameras, bummer), and we had to go through a metal detector as well as be wanded down. That was before we were even on Embassy grounds itself. Which actually makes sense – according to international law, the US Embassy is US territory. Once inside the Embassy, we checked our coats, and went into the main room, where the ceremony would be taking place.

There, we learned that it would be close to an hour before the ceremony began. We were told that we could get pictures (there was a PC person and an Embassy photographer covering the event) in front of the sign. When the CD arrived, we could get pictures with him. I bought some coffee (the real deal, not instant), which was very nice. After that, I had a chat with a lot of my fellow PCVs, as we waited for the ceremony to start.

Once it started, everyone was introduced. The ceremony was translated in to Ukrainian by a member of PC Admin, who grew up wanting to be a translator. Various PCVs who brought instruments played the dual national anthems. The Ukrainian anthem was played as a sax solo; the American anthem as guitar and choral ensemble. The CD gave a long talk about what it means to be a PCV (he was one of the first PCVs – 1961 – in Morocco), and why what we do is important. Then, we were officially sworn in as Volunteers, by the deputy head of the mission in Ukraine. He gave a long speech about what we, as American Volunteers, represent to the people of Ukraine. There were also important people in the Ukrainian Education system, who are responsible for the TEFL programme being in Ukraine. They gave long speeches welcoming us to Ukraine. Three PCVs gave speeches about what it means to them to be PCVs – one gave the in Ukrainian and one in Russian, while another PCV (a native Russian speaker) gave the English variant. It was a very nice ceremony, and very impressive.

After the ceremony, we had a small time to hang out (about 10 minutes), before we had to get back on the buses to head back to the hotel. There, we had lunch, before we had to leave for our sites. I had several hours before I needed to leave for the train station, so I spent some time online (got to chat with both of my parents) before packing. After I was packed, I dragged my stuff down to the lobby, where there was both friends and wifi. Several hours later, we had dinner (those of us leaving after 6pm got dinner), and got on the marshruktas (PC rented the van) to go to the central train station.

Once at the station, we unloaded the van, and went to McD’s to wait. Our luggage was watched by various members of PC security staff and the porters, who had it loaded on a trolley, and ready to go. After we waited for over an hour in McD’s, we followed the porters to our train car, where they loaded our bags for us. We had to show our tickets and our passports to get on the train. We had 6 beds in Kupenie class (a sleeper coupé style car), so we had one whole compartment and 2 beds in another. Our stuff got loaded into one (the upper bunks, below one of the lower bunks, and on the lower bunks), so we split up. M and I took the lower bunks in one coupé, and our counterparts took the bed in the other. We all had dinner (we were given a bag with a bottle of water, a Capri Sun, a Kit-Kat, an apple, and a sandwich) and tea (comes free with the ticket) together, before we got our beds ready and tried to sleep. Our counterparts asked for a wake-up call, so they could wake us up and we could sleep. I put my music on, and managed to zone and rest, but not to sleep.

At about 230am on Wednesday, 11 December, our counterparts woke us up, and told us that we had to get our stuff out of the compartment and get ready to get off. Once we got into Olexandriya, we got our stuff off the train, and were helped to our new flats by colleagues of our counterparts (my helper was my landlord). I was given my keys, shown around the flat, and told that my counterpart would pick me up at about 10am, to take me to the school. She told me that my boss was worried that the cold lunch/dinner that was left for me wouldn’t be enough, and I needed a real lunch. My counterpart left, and I was able to get to bed, at around 4am, only I needed to be back awake by 930am. I did manage to get a few hours of sleep.

I was woken up by my counterpart phoning me, telling me when she would be in my building. Then, I got treated to a 30-minute explicit rap concert, as one of my close neighbours was playing his/her music loud enough for the baseline to rattle my windows and walls. I took a few audio-recordings to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Once she arrived, my counterpart and I walked our school. It’s about a 30 minute walk (which sounds much better than it should), and we walked down the main street in Olexandriya. I got to see all the main stores in town, as well as the main square (Lenin Square). We walked past several school, as there are many schools with many different specialities (music, English, Russian, math, science, etc) in Olexandriya.

At school, I met many people (everybody who works at the school, I think), and had a very nice lunch. Then, I got a tour of the building, and got to talk to even more people. Everyone seemed excited to meet me. I helped my counterpart set up our room (making more room for the activities used by the Communicative method), before I got to help with my first class.

I got to talk with the class, and asked them a lot of questions. They told me that they were very interested in as many clubs as I could offer for them. After that, my counterpart and I got my schedule at least mostly decided. I am teaching mostly older students, as they are talking their national and/or independent English exams and would like to work with a native speaker before the tests. I will also have 6th and 7th forms, as they are very interested in meeting with me. I am hoping to observe until the end of the semester (Dec 27ish) and then start teaching with the next semester (Jan 15ish). After that, we went back to our respective flats. My counterpart has called me several times, to make sure that I am okay and that I am not hungry. I had dinner (bread, sausage, and cheese), and am going to try to relax and maybe go to bed early today.

05 - 09 December 2013: Transition to Service Conference

05 December – 09 December 2013

On Thursday, 05 December, I went with my cluster to thank the teachers who had worked with us at School #5 in Obukhiv. The Peace Corps gave us certificates to give to our teachers as thanks. After we thanked them, we were given gifts (chocolate) and talked to them about where we were going. After not long enough, we had to go to our last Russian class. We had a 2 hour class, where we learned several new sets of phrases – how to call for a taxi, how to talk to the landlord, and how to talk to our school. We practiced our phrases. After that, we had lunch, and had a short X/C session, where we went over how to deal with/communicate with our landlords, and how to continue on our own self-directed learning. After that, we cleaned the flat, and were free until Sunday at 9am. I walked back to the flat, did some more organizing, and had dinner with my host-family.

On Friday, 06 December, I was able to sleep in, as I didn’t have any classes. I ended up completely reorganizing how I had my things packed, but I was able to get even more things into Big Red, my large, red, rolling suitcase. That evening, I had dinner with my host-family. My host-mother went to watch the younger grandchild, so it was a very quiet evening.

On Saturday, 07 December, I also slept in late. I finished all of the packing that I could  (the things that I wasn’t going to use in the next 12 hours) and almost packed my smaller bags. I had several long video-chats with my parents, and was able to video-chat with my grandparents. After that, I had dinner with the whole family: borshch and noodles. As it was a special night, we all had a small amount of vodka and a very good torte. I hung-out with the family for a while. I read for a while before going to bed.

On Sunday, 08 December, I got up early, as I needed to be at my LCF’s flat at 9am, with all of my stuff. I finished packing my things, get dressed, had breakfast (scrambled eggs with sausage), and went to my LCF’s flat by car (my host-uncle drove me, my host-sister, and my stuff). There, we were picked up by a bus, which we loaded up with our stuff and went to Kyiv. In Kyiv, we drove to a university, as we were staying in their dorms. The transition to service conference was held in conference rooms in the building. First, we got the information-filled flash drive that we were promised will be amazing, got signed into our rooms, and signed two very important documents – the release of information (we can take your picture, and use what you create for TELF as  PCV) and the Oath itself – before we met our counterparts and had lunch.

My counterpart is very enthusiastic. She is about my parents age, and has lived in Olexandriya most of her life. I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. We listened to our CD talk about the Transition to service conference, and then we got to learn about Small Project Assistance Civic Program (SPA) and Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) Grants. We learned what they were, what the difference is, where they get their money, what they can do for us, and how to apply for them.

After that, we split into groups, our counterparts going to talk to our regional managers, while we listened to the final administrative details. We went over our registration details – what we need to do to get registered in Ukraine – with the person in charge of registering us. He has helped many cohorts of PCTs and PCVs get registered in Ukraine . We also went over our various stipends and money.

After that, we broke into regions, and met with our regional manager, to get specifics on our registration, among other stuff. We went over things like the cantina: Eat at or bring? Tickets: who and where? Peace Corps money: when and where? and banking: Who do we give the money for things to, and when? Then, our counterparts joined us, and we got to know all the counterparts. Then, the TEFL Lead Specialist (Russian) came in and talked to us. She explained that we need to teach a certain number of hours, and have a certain number of extra-curricular. She told us HOW to get those extra hours. After that, it was dinner time, and then we were free. I had dinner with my counterpart, and then went back to the room, where I got ready for the next day, and read before going to bed.

On Monday, 09 December, I got up early, had breakfast with everybody (LCFs, PCTs, and Counterparts), and went to the next training. We were divided by region, for our HIV/AIDS/PEPFAR training. Over three hours, we had many activities that helped us understand what HIV is, how it becomes AIDS, how it is transmitted, and why it is an issue in Ukraine. We also talked about how it is treated, as it can not be cured, only treated. Before lunch, we got our passports back (with a stamp that means that we are registered in the country, even if we don’t have the document to back it up (our Posvidka; which we get once we finish the registration process). During lunch, there was a book/English teacher supply sale. There is an organization that sells English-language books/supplies to English teachers in Ukraine. They have some really cool things. I saw several things that I wanted to buy (and likely will once I have the space to carry them), and I bought some back-issue journals with interesting articles and activities, as well as a guide to idioms. After lunch, we had an hour and a half of activities on what stigma and discrimination are and how to overcome them.

After that, the whole group got together to learn about the Free Kick Programme - a programme that combines HIV/AIDS awareness, HIV testing, and football; supported by the Elton John Foundation – and PEPFAR (US President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief), which is grant programme that puts on programmes to train people in talking about HIV/AIDS and discrimination. There’s a training programme in February, and my counterpart was thinking about doing it. After PEPFAR, we learned about the VAST small funds programme – money for grants for PEPFAR and trainings that help with the most-at-risk-populations for HIV/AIDS. We then had a coffee break, before learning about the partner organizations: Bibliomist, FLEX, Open World Programs, Education USA, Windows on America, and the Regional English Language Office (US Embassy).

After that, we had the CD’s meeting, where our CD talked about how important we are to the future of all the countries we serve, and how we are in Ukraine during an interesting time for the country. He went over the rules, the important rules, the ones that could mean immediate administrative separation from the Peace Corps if you do them: leaving the country without the CD’s approval, engaging in espionage of any sort, and doing illegal drugs. He also went over why we are important to Ukraine – we made a commitment to serve Ukraine, to help to build the future of Ukraine, and we bring with us hope and possibility to Ukraine. Then, we had a bit of a surprise. Because of the possibility of something happening overnight in Kyiv, we wore sworn in by our CD. I think that, while the pomp of the ceremony at the Embassy was very cool, being sworn in by the CD was more moving.

After the impromptu-swearing-in ceremony, we voted for our TAG and VAC reps, who will be responsible for collating what we PCVs think about PST and being a Volunteer in-country and letting PC-U admin know about what we think. We then picked up our requested medications, learned the schedule for the Embassy (as long as we were still going), and went to have dinner.

After dinner, I got ready for the next day, and left packing until then, as I would have several hours to get ready before we would depart for the central train station. I got a shower and read for a while before going to bed.