Holidays

Thanksgiving for me was well spent with about 15 other volunteers in a city in south/central Ukraine. We actually celebrated on Saturday instead of Thursday, and there were few differences from the holiday at home. We watched football, played football, went shopping, cooked tons of food, then became catatonic afterwards. Of course there were differences. We went shopping at thrift stores, played football in a sketchy paved lot behind a school at dusk (3pm), watched a recorded Jets vs. Patriots game, cooked chicken instead of turkey, and nearly passed out at a sauna instead of on the couch. I loved the Ukrainian flavor it had, and had great company. Sure did miss home though. At least I got to Skype with the whole family on Thanksgiving Day.

Christmas is going to be weird. Ukraine celebrates Christmas on the Orthodox 'Old Calendar' which means they will celebrate actual Christmas on Jan. 7. Thanks to Soviet influence, they will do the whole Santa Claus thing on New Years Eve, which is their big celebration. Which means Dec. 25 is just another day here. It was weird enough forgetting about Thanksgiving on it's actual day, but missing Christmas is a different story. My family, friends, and country are going to be celebrating and I'll be working at school, with nobody acknowledging there is anything special about the day. Going to do my best to make sure I'm around friends who understand at least for a bit on Christmas day.

For New Years I'm going to be in Prague, living it up with my bro Austin Foster, giving him some much needed respite from Catholic seminary. I'll arrive in Prague on Dec. 29, meet up with Foster, then head down to Munich on Jan. 2, parting ways on the 5th. The goal is to be in a different city for New Years Eve every year. We've done New Orleans, New York, and now Prague. It will be interesting to see where we end up next.

It's gonna stink not celebrating Christmas like usual, but the upside is I will get back to Ukraine in time to celebrate Christmas with my friends on Jan. 7. There are already some plans in the works for that. So at least there's the potential to celebrate Christmas twice!

Quarantine

So, once again, I've delayed writing due to lack of a positive perspective. Emotionally it's been a rough past few weeks. But somehow, I got the flu this week and my mood has lifted and the world is bright again, at least in my mind (the forecast for the next 8 days predicts about 8hrs of sunlight TOTAL). This post chronicles life post pleasant bike ride recorded in previous post.

So, as you saw in the previous post it was as if God sent me a rainbow of peace in the form of a cemetery, a babbling brook, and amazing fall colors. I was all set to travel the next week for fall break, regroup, have fun, come back and get going on the schedule we finally pounded out but had yet to actually realize. So I set out for my host family the last week in October. It was a great time. They were happy to see me, I got fattened up by my host mom, got to play with my 4yo host nephew, got to spend quality time with one of my training facilitators, got to harass the new trainees, and chill with my buddy Dave. It felt so great to go back. I felt like an 8th grader strutting through the middle school on the last day of class. I'll always have a home in Baryshivka, and that's something I never expected, especially at the beginning of training.

Then we met up with some friends and all got on a train to Kharkiv to meet up with even more volunteers to celebrate Halloween. We partied on the train. We partied at the pre-party on Friday. We partied all day and night on Halloween. It was a blast. Luckily I picked the costume of Sherlock Holmes cause it gave me an excuse to wear an overcoat and a hat as the temperature dramatically dropped from its pleasant 70 degree loftiness. Got to catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and speak a ton of non-broken English. But the event was punctuated by a startling announcement by the Ukrainian Prime Minister: UKRAINE IS COVERED IN SWINE FLU SO SCHOOL IS CANCELLED FOR 3 WEEKS.

Most volunteers looked at this news with glee as it meant a spontaneous 4 week vacation for most, as the week before the quarantine had been fall break. I, however, viewed the quarantine with trepidation, knowing all my momentum was about to be destroyed, and I had absolutely nothing to do for 3 weeks. Furthermore, I had a sneaking suspicion that since, at that point, the flu had only just started in the west, by the time quarantine was over, it would move to the east and wreak havoc. So we all set off for home, each contemplating ways to entertain ourselves, giggling a little at all the people wearing white masks.

The first week was marked by a cold for me. I went to school to make sure I wasn't supposed to be there, then stayed in bed for the rest of the week just to make sure I didn't invite swine flu into my body. The second week was marked by the breakdown of my computer. My wonderful, trusty college laptop finally gave up the ghost at the worst possible time. Without it I couldn't even listen to music. Well, I could listen to my iPod until it ran out of battery, seeing as I charge my iPod with my computer. But I actually began playing solitaire with REAL cards. I was that bored. I finally broke down after trying for a week to fix it and called home to beg for a new computer. My parents consented and I went a bought a new netbook. Not my favorite computer, but gets the job done for now. And easy to travel with. The third week just sucked. I was soooo bored it finally got to me and I just couldn't get anything done. Thankfully it went by quickly cause I slept through most of it. I learned undeniably throughout that 3 week period that I don't do bored very well. It's crippling for me. Everyone tells me I need to relax and let myself get bored every now and then. Well, all of you who said that, I did it, and it almost killed me!

I was able to see friends on the weekends, and even went on a day trip to visit another nearby volunteer who made me pancakes. But the weeks were made even more difficult as most of the activity I take part in during the week is related to schools, meaning zero activity during quarantine. No running, no basketball, no weight room. And starting the week before Halloween, the sun decided to show its face only in hour long intervals once a week, and rarely a day went by without rain. So that made cycling very unappealing, and sleep super appealing. It was a very depressing time.

So the inactivity finally came to an end and I went back to school, and slowly dug myself out of my depressive hole. We've been back for two weeks now, and I'm glad to be rid of my neurotic frustrations with boredom. Of course, I have traded them for problems at school, but at least that has something to do with my purpose in being here. I'll go deeper into those problems as they get resolved cause I intend to be objective on such a topic.

At the moment I am in my own secluded self quarantine. I was supposed to go to Kiev this weekend but canceled the trip. I'm doped up on Tamiflu and Advil, but seeing light at the end of the tunnel, and for once enjoying my few days off. Got a lot done so far. Just has me wondering, if quarantine for the east had been 3 weeks later, when it would be predicted the flu would get here, would a third of my school be sick, including me? I love panic as political capital.

Places Find You

So on my way home from school on Friday, after getting out of school early because of the start of fall break, I decided to take a little detour down a road that hat been begging at me for weeks. It was a steep downhill which apparently led to nowhere. What I found blew my mind.

I'd been looking for a place like this, but the industrial mecca that is the Donbas region really made it hard, much harder than when I lived in a small city during training. I just bought a new mountain bike off a volunteer who's finishing up his service. It was awesome branching out from the little dirt road down some trails and bumbling my way around.

That's right, I now have two bikes, but they have their purposes. Belo is for heavy lifting and commuting, and Artie is for fun and exploring. And if you know me, I need both. Turns out I stumbled upon the somewhat hidden city cemetery. It was absolutely massive. It stretches for acres and acres. And on checking the dates on the headstones, it's relatively new. Now I'm wondering where the old cemetery is and how big it must be. Take note of the picnic tables next to the graves. It's tradition to eat meals with your dead loved ones, especially on a certain religious holiday, of which the name escapes me.

It was especially poignant since the fading fall sunlight and golden leaves really made the place glow. It's one of those places that leaves it's impression. Even if I never return, it will influence my memories of fall forever. I wasn't there long, but it didn't take much.

Not sure if I would have ever found this most perfect place if it hadn't called me to it. I had no plans to take the trip, and nobody tipped me off about it. And the great thing was, while I was taking photos, sometimes the sun would disappear, making for unfortunately gloomy photos. So I would give up and go a little further, and the sun would pop back out, and the spot I would find myself in would be a better shot. It was like the place was controlling how it wanted to be represented.

Then of course I had to ride one of the steepest hills I've ever been on. Wasn't too long but it was a heart breaker. Can't wait to go back for picnics and just to disappear. So happy it found me.

Americanski Kozak

So the other day I officially became a card carrying member of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Basically, my school's director is a proud Cossack and works hard to instill Cossack heritage into the children at our school. There has been a Cossack representative speak or give gifts at every event I've attended, and there's even a small museum with Cossack artifacts at our school. Every 'homeroom' is named after a Cossack 'hetman' or general.

The occasion for my induction was the Ukrainian holiday for the Day of the Cossacks. My school prepared for almost two weeks for this holiday. Each homeroom had to learn how to march and chant their motto, name, and song. At the ceremony, each class paraded in front of Cossack representatives carrying their flags and reciting their chants. There was singing, competitions, speeches, and so forth, as usual. The difference at this ceremony was the induction of new Cossacks.

In the Ukrainian school system, after the 9th grade, students are allowed to choose whether to go to a college prep school or head off to a technical school. Seeing as this year could be the last year many of the 9th graders are at our school, it only made sense that their class be inducted into the Cossacks. They were made to kneel on the blacktop, repeat an oath, kiss a sword and cross, and get sprayed with holy water by an Orthodox priest. After the students' induction, it was my director's wish to have the new teachers get initiated as well. So we did pretty much the same thing, minus the oath but having to kiss the Cossack flag as well. I did so to resounding applause from the students. I was given my id card and certificate proving that I am now somehow a Cossack. The treat they gave the students after the ceremony? Porridge. It was really good.

So what is a Cossack you might ask? Basically, Cossacks were bands of 'warriors' who protected the villages of Ukraine in the middle ages. They eventually pledged their loyalty to the Tsar and became his personal protectors. They fought alongside the Russian army in several wars. They have passed into folklore and constitute a major part of the beauty of Ukrainian culture and art. They were disallowed during much of the Soviet Union, but since have resurrected. In some places that act as a parallel police force, or an army reserve. I've seen them guarding churches as they not only protect citizens, but tradition and religion as well.

I've been trying to find some analogy to help place the Cossacks in your mind. The closest I've come is a sort of Ukrainian samurai, though maybe a little more friendly and not so hardcore. They simply enjoy vodka and laughing too much to match the samurai in ferocity, though I wouldn't want to be caught dismounted when the Cossack calvary came across me. The state they are in at present is a little weird though. I would somewhat compare them to a rotary or kiwanis club honestly, if those organizations had a military connection. It would kind of be like if the confederates had willingly submitted to and fought alongside the United States Army, then the U.S. Army doublecrossed them, then the U.S. fell apart, and there was no war to fight, and the confederates values were legitimate, that organization would probably be similar to the Cossacks today. Hope you enjoyed that thought experiment, which will not offend you only if you are from the deep South.

So my life continues to be interesting, to say the least. My only concern is that I think I might be registered with a legitimate military reserve. If Ukraine, or even just the Cossacks, go to war, not sure where that leaves me. We've been joking that if the Cossacks go to war with America, I'd have to fight against my motherland. Kind of a 'Last Samurai' kind of thing. If they give me a sword I'm down.

Underqualified and Over-zealous

So I've been putting off posting the past few weeks cause I honestly haven't had anything very interesting to report. I was put in a holding pattern because the school didn't set it's official schedule for four weeks. And then there's the matter of my personal schedule, which is a mystery to everybody. For the past six weeks I have been going to school almost everyday filled with uncertainty as to what I'm supposed to do, and what to do to make that uncertainty go away.

The original plan was for me to go to school every-other-day and work a full day. I would observe different classes to get an idea of how Ukrainian schools work, help English teachers in their lessons, plan sports and English clubs, and most importantly, plan games for the kids during the breaks. Later on it was added that I would open the weight room a few times a week for the older kids. Sounds pretty good, but it's all just a theory.

I've more or less accomplished all of the above tasks, but all a little bit different than I imagined, of course. I observed several different subjects, which was very interesting, except my school strictly teaches in Ukrainian. I barely speak Russian and still can't make heads or tails out of Ukrainian, so unfortunately I fell asleep a couple of times during my observations, despite bringing my own work to do. I tried to help the English teachers, and this went more or less to plan, except they also teach the majority of the class in Ukrainian and when given the reins for the class, the teachers often steal them back in Ukrainian as soon as I get started. Then there are my clubs.

I started out by putting up posters announcing my English and American Sports clubs with places to sign up. Of course, over 50 kids signed up for each one. Oh well, I thought, at least they know about it, though I only expected a few kids to show up at each. I planned my first English club on a Wednesday. I watched as all the kids streamed past me out of school while I frantically searched for the key to the room I'd been assigned. When I finally got it together, all that was left were three 5th grade girls and a 5th grade boy. So we had English club. I went over introductions and we practiced with each other, and in my opinion, it was pretty successful for 5th graders.

After reflecting on who came to the club and how to get others involved, it came to my attention that my school's erratic schedule creates major problems for after school clubs. Looking at the schedule I realized that all the older students still had class while I was holding my club. And all the other kids were flying out of school to catch the bus back to town. I was working hard to remedy this when my assistant director informed me that I would no longer lead clubs after school, but instead would be assigned classes that were free throughout the day. Now, this is not ideal to me, since I feel this will lead to a lack of consistency as the free classes will change throughout the year. And it feels a lot less like a club when students are required to come. And it seriously limits who I get to work with. But the upside is I have a definite time and place to lead my club unaffected by the confusing end of day schedule. And I can still treat it like a club despite the fact it screams 'lesson'. Furthermore, I should have more than four at each club, though 4 is honestly a better number than 25.

Sports club has been treated the same way. I now have assigned classes as opposed to willing students after school. But I've been held up by my bike wreck and the Ukrainian postal system. I wanted to first teach kids the wonders of cycling. Unfortunately, the week before my first club I wrecked my bike. I held club anyway but it was rather pointless since I didn't have a bike to demonstrate on or even just ride with the kids. It lasted a whopping 5 minutes. But I was determined to at least make a showing. My next idea was to teach the kids American football with the footballs that had been sent from the States recently. Well, despite being pestered everyday by kids wanting to play, I still have no package after 5 weeks. Luckily, my mom and Diane came to visit bearing frisbees from Half Moon Outfitters. Diane and I taught a group of 6th graders ultimate frisbee which went over rather well. So until I can get a few footballs, the plan is to keep teaching ultimate. And my bike is somewhat fixed so I'm still going to go for rides with the kids after school, though I'm not going to call it club.

The games during breaks have been a blast, though they are complete chaos. I have kids screaming and laughing for a blazing 15 minutes. I just teach them camp style games I've learned and play with them. If it's an older group I'll do team building stuff like the 'lap sit' and 'human knot'. Sometimes I'll go to our 'game room' and all the kids will be there, and other times they don't show. So I'm learning to check the schedule first and go grab the right class as soon as the bell rings. Not sure how much these games fit in with Peace Corps goals but I'm sure having fun doing it. Somebody help me rationalize it!

Just last week I was told to open the weight room for 9th-11th graders. I took Diane down with me (it's in the basement) and it was hilarious. Immediately shirts came off and new maxes were reached on every apparatus. I didn't realize it but most of the kids down there shouldn't have been, as they were supposed to be in class. A teacher came down yelling at them and drove the delinquent boys out. Luckily I didn't get in trouble.

Now, they've changed my whole schedule so that I work everyday, but only the second half. This is a little better honestly, as it provides more consistency, especially since the schedule is set to repeat every week, a phenomenon which didn't exist with the previous one. There are two major downsides to this schedule though. First, I have been spending the days I had free working with other schools and organizations, which will be greatly marginalized since I only have a few hours in the morning to do such work now. Second, I will be dependent on my bike to get to school since the last bus going to school leaves at 7:30 am. My bike has proven itself rather untrustworthy. Otherwise I'll have to take a taxi which will get expensive if I have to do it everyday, which is possible in the depths of winter. We'll see how this works for now.

Unfortunately I often find myself improvising in situations I'm not so qualified to be in. I wish I knew better how to teach English, how to organize a workout, the finer points of healthy lifestyles. Instead I'm making it all up as I go, which makes me question my effectiveness. And it's hard enough to gain credibility without speaking the language. It kicks up a notch when you look like you have no idea what your doing, because you don't.

But I'm still idealistic and uncompromising like always. I'm taking the cards that are continually being dealt and doing the best I can with them. And like in poker, bluffing can be the road to success.

Meet Belo!

So Belo wins! Alright, the name comes from a shortened form of the street I live on named Belousova. Basically it's a mean hill with trolley tracks and tons of potholes which make it impossible to get any momentum going. And I have to ride some portion of this hill to go anywhere. Luckily I live halfway up it. I like the name too because Belo means handsome man I believe in Portuguese, and it's close to 'Velo' or French for bicycle, and also the beginning of the word for bike in Russian, 'velosiped'. And the Russian letter for 'V' is a B, so an ignorant American would pronounce it Belo instead of Velo if written in Russian. So the name hits many different levels, if you use a lot of imagination. Plus, it was the name of the emcee at the last circus I went to, and that can't help but bring back good memories (Steph, I belobrate a little everyday!) Furthermore, Belousova Street has claimed Belo for the time being as I had a crash going down the hill trying to cross the trolley tracks. After I myself am repaired I will set to fixing up my beloved though hateful Belo.

The other name in question was after my favorite street to ride in town which follows a ridgeline, and is named after the local communist hero, Artyom. So there was good reason for that name as well, though I think Belo fits more perfectly. For those of you interested, here is the list of names of my other bikes you may have met:

Ginny- the handpainted green single-speed Kmart bike

Lump- the goofy frankenstein blue and silver Del Sol

Cliff- the new black carbon fiber Jamis

Comment with your guesses as to the origins of these names!

The story of (insert bike's name here)

I had the initial tune up done on my bike by my counterpart’s father. Of course he did all the work and I didn’t get to touch it. Then on my way to the train station one day my rear wheel fell apart to the point that I melted the hub from the friction of the disjointed parts. Then I drug my bike back to my apartment and wore a hole in the tire since the back wheel wouldn’t role.

So I bought a new wheel without a coaster brake hub, an 8 speed freewheel since I couldn’t find a single at the time, a set of caliper brakes, and new pedals. Of course to start with I didn’t even have a screwdriver to take off the original wheel. Then I needed to drill holes to attach the new brakes, but didn’t have a drill. Then I couldn’t get the new pedals to fit. Well, I got the left one to fit, but the right one wouldn’t budge.

So I called the handicrafts teacher at school who has already done a ton of work on my apartment, and the next day he brought over a drill and some other tools. Tried out the new wheel but the axle was too wide. So we took off a spacer, manhandled the frame and got it to fit. Then we drilled the frame and got the brakes installed. So far so good, except I still couldn’t get the right pedal on.

So he told me to come to his parents’ house the next day and we would try to rethread the crank. I went over and we worked on it with no luck. In the meantime, he handed me a tin of grease and told me if I didn’t grease and adjust all the bearings we would just have to go through all of this again. Didn’t have to tell me twice.

So I spent the next several hours figuring out how to take apart my bike without a stand or the proper tools. At one point we technically made a tool. And I used several odd combinations of tools to get the job done, including a chisel and ball peen hammer to tighten a lock ring. Mike Goodman’s words repeated in my head, “any mechanic can work on a good bike. The poor bikes separate the men from the boys.” I know I’m not there yet, but this bike is putting me on the fast track to being able to fix anything.

It felt so good to have blackened hands and busted knuckles again. I know my bike now; every bearing has been inspected, packed with grease, and adjusted by my hands; I found the new nut to tighten the seat back to the springs; I tied the brake housing to the frame with a cut up rubber band; I decided where I wanted the brake levers; I know how we rethreaded the bolt on the right pedal so it would fit; I chose the drop bars and angled them perfectly. All this to Ukrainians’ dismay, as it just really isn’t proper to do what I’ve done to a bike.

I feel like I don’t have to fight my bike anymore. I wanted my own bike; a little piece of me. I have that now, and relish the independence it brings. If it breaks, I know it’s my fault, and I welcome the challenge to fix it. Here’s me asserting my control. It’s really kind of sad that I place so much significance on two wheels. But if I can keep control over this one thing, then maybe I can deal with the lack of control on the rest of my life. So now I’m off to tighten the bottom bracket that comes loose every couple of days since I don’t have the right tools to tighten it, and I’ll probably have to tighten the headset again at some point this weekend…