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.