Settling In

Alright, so much to say. Sorry for radio silence the past couple weeks. Got to Kiev for Swearing In Conference and was nowhere near internet. Then got to my site and the internet club is constantly swamped with little hooligans playing WOW and Counter Strike. And then I can't help from indulging myself with some gchat and cnn. So I finally write. That said, email me and I'll give you my new address so you can send me letters and now packages!

So Swearing In Conference was where Peace Corps Ukraine wrapped up training with a ton of seminars on how to be the perfect volunteer and I met my counterpart. Now, a counterpart is a person involved in an organization which invites you to serve as volunteer for two years. They are Ukrainian and work with the volunteer to plan projects and serve effectively. Mine just happens to be a woman near my age who teaches English at the school which will be my primary site. Yes, this means she speaks English! She is super helpful and we are already good friends. Plus she is getting married this fall which means that's just one more party I get to go to. After the conference we loaded my stuff into a train car and embarked on a 19 hour journey to my new city.

My site is a rather large city in southeastern Ukraine. It's a Russian speaking industrial city with something like 100,000 people. I would probably compare it to Dalton, but without the carpet. Unfortunately there is a cookie factory near where I live which makes the place smell like chocolate chip cookies all the time. And there are none to be found in stores. Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink. My school is called a lycaeum, which to the best of what I can figure out means it is partly funded by the city and partly funded by sponsors, aka huge factories. So it is a pretty nice school. It is actually outside my city in a very small village. Less than 300 people live in my school's village, which means there are way more spots at the school than there are children. That means children from throughout the big city can apply to come to my school. And if they don't perform well enough they can be kicked out. So it's kind of like a private school in that way.

I'm living in a private, one room apartment, meaning I have a kitchen, bathroom, and living room/bedroom. The coolest part is the balcony. It feels great to be living on my own again, but I miss the good life with my host family. I have to cook constantly and don't have half the conveniences their apartment had. Plus, it's really quiet. So what have I been doing to stay busy?

Well, I've been around the school alot, attending meetings and graduations and helping teachers clean their rooms. Several people have been checking in on me, even cooking for me and doing my laundry. There is a mindset here that a bachelor living on his own will surely starve. But I made sure that nobody has cooked "for" me, but has taught me to cook. Hopefully I will prove myself to them eventually. Graduation was nuts. It's like a combination of American prom and graduation that lasts until sunrise. I'd go into details but that's a whole nother post. There was also a graduation for 9th grade since they have the opportunity to pursue other educational opportunities at this point at other institutions. Of course I had to give speeches at both. Luckily my English teacher translated for me. I was also taken to an awesome lake (or pond, depending on your standards for stagnant bodies of water) where we had a picnic and drank out of a natural spring. I went with the head of my school's equivalent of the PTA and her sons, so it was actually productive in terms of my project. I've been able to meet quite a few students, including the one who is my neighbor. My neighbors are great and I see them everywhere, so it feels good to have them looking out for me. Otherwise I've been exploring my new city and watching a ton of movies.

I can't believe I've only been here a week. I have to keep pinching myself and remind myself Rome wasn't built in two years, much less a week. There are lots of cool things to tell but I think they will each have their opportunity to appear in a post soon. Alright, I know there's not many details, but that's pretty much the past two weeks. If there's something you really want to know comment or email me and I'll indulge you. Here's to hoping my tv will pick up the Tour de France!

Peace,
Ben