Long time coming.

Hello!

Once again, I have gone too long without posting.  I guess things that were once new and exciting are not commonplace and thus not blog worthy.  Since I last posted, I have visited another neighboring town (Zoogress – named after the huge power plant that is located in the center of the small town – zoning laws anyone?) and spoke to a group of students there.  It was fun – I always enjoy talking to the English students.  They are always so excited to speak what little English they know.  I especially like going to the smaller towns because the culture seems to be stronger and the kids are more excited to meet a foreigner.  My class in Zoogress is a perfect example of this.  I spoke to a group of around 35 kids for a couple hours.  They had an endless supply of questions about America and about me and were super excited to hear what I have to say.  Everything they know about Americans is based on the movies or TV shows they have seen.  lol  I am constantly asked what famous people I know and when I respond that I don't know any famous people they tend not to believe me.  After the class was over, the kids gave me a medieval mace as a thank you for visiting them.  Then I proceeded to sign autographs for 20 min.  lol  It was cute and hilarious at the same time.  I also spoke to a group of about 100 kids at a tech school in my town.  The questions are always so random that there is no way to prepare.   What music do you listen to? Did you own a dog? What kind of car did you drive?  How did you become so awesome?   Ok maybe they didn't ask that last question but I am sure they were thinking it  ;–).  Just kidding, it is kinda hard not to feel like a superstar sometime.  Most people don't understand why some random tall bearded American is in their community especially since volunteerism is a foreign concept.  It is an excellent opportunity to open some minds, explain a little about the American culture/views, and dispel some of the incorrect stereotypes about America.  Other than the visits with schools and institutes, I have been working on my project (to start a volunteer center) and I have started a website in my city to organize all of the activities, clubs, and events that are available to the community.  Nobody seems to know what is available in the community so I am going to organize the information on a central location.  Hopefully this will make people more active in their community.  Wish me luck.  I am no webmaster so we shall see. 

My trip to Egypt starts tomorrow!  Check out where I will be staying: http://www.pyramisaegypt.com/pyramisabluelaguna/location.asp.  I can't wait to lay out on the beach, explore some cities/towns, and check out some of the sites.  This is going to be awesome.  We will also be spending a couple days in Cairo to check out some of the famous sites and I will take an overnight train to get back to the hotel in Hurgada.  I will take tons of photos so stay tuned. 

I got a new site mate!  That means that I will no longer be the only American in my city!  My new site mate (Danielle) will be an English teacher in on the the high schools in town.  She is cool and laid back just like all Peace Corps volunteers.  We will get along just fine.  I have been trying to show her around a bit and introduce her to some of my friends to help her adjust.  It is interesting to have another American's perspective on my city.  Not to mention the ability to speak ENGLISH!  I love Russian but there is nothing quite like one's native tongue.  I would have killed for someone to show me around and introduce me to people when I arrived.  When I got here, I did not know anyone, I spoke horrible Russian, and had to learn everything through trial and error (tons of errors) lol  Some funny errors too.  I am better off because of it though. 

Last week, I went to a Donetsk Football Game "Shakhtar" – it was very interesting.  Shakhtar plays in a new stadium (Donbass Arena) with according to some of the Football magazine, it is the nicest stadium in Europe.  I believe it.  The stadium was beautiful and was filled with over 50,000 screaming fans.  That was one hell of a cultural experience.  I was surprised with how well organized everything was and how passionate the Ukrainians were about the game.  Shakhtar won 2-0 and will go on to play Italy in February which is a game I plan on attending.  I will post some photos from that evening.  It was great fun. 

Today was St Nicholas day so I decided to go to church.  I know, not what you expected – I am not the churchy type.  It is an important part of the culture here so I figured it was important for me to observe it, and I am glad that I did.  So I woke up early today to catch the trolleybus which went off without a hitch until the bus broke down in the middle of an intersection.  I could not help but laugh because it broke down at the exact time I thought, "Damn, things are going smoothly and I will get there early".  So, I had to trek through slushy snow and deep puddles and ask people how to get to the church.  I got there eventually though a bit late and entered the church as quietly as possible.  It is almost impossible to enter any kind of gathering unnoticed when you are as tall as I am, have a beard, and look foreign.  :–)  Sometimes I get the double take.  Always cracks me up.  The church was fun.  My friend is the Priest (I met him on the Crim camping trip) and his wife is my Russian tutor.  Their son dressed up as St Nicholas and handed out some presents.  Everyone had to sing in front of everyone in order to receive a present.  lol  This included me.  I sang "Jingle Bells" in front of everyone.  I warned them but they didn't listen.  Lets just say it is a Christmas miracle that nobody's ears bled.  Anywho, my friends are such good people.  I have dinner with their family at least once a week and have become friends with their sons.  I took lots of photos which I will post later.  Very pleasant experience. 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  Egypt.  Need I say more?

2.  Meeting more and more people.  It is sooo difficult to remember all the names and faces. 

3.  Observed an English Olympiad. Interesting stuff

4.  Went to a huge concert at the "Pioneer House"  - Dancing, music, singing etc...   Very interesting.

5.  Got some letters from the states.  Thanks all.  That was very nice. 

  Well, I am tired.  Goodnight.  I hope all is well in the States.  I will post again when I get back from Egypt.  Happy holidays everyone!!!

Some of the kids from Zoogress

Dombass Arena

View from my seat at Dombass Arena

Town Concert

Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Some of my friends/coworkers

Thanksgiving: Kiev, Konotop, & Lugansk

Hello again,

Once again I have gone too long without posting on the ole Blog.  I have been traveling quite a bit and have not had access to internet long enough to post.  I am back and a lot has happened since my last post.  Since my last post, I have had numerous sessions with my Russian tutor, Amy came to visit, I have visited numerous English classes as a guest speaker, I visited a University in a neighboring town to speak to the students about the cultural differences between the US and Ukraine, I attended a "Warden" training in Kiev, visited my friend Kim in Konotop, and had Thanksgiving in Lugansk.  So you see, not much time to blog. 

I have been trying to devote more time and energy on studying Russian but with the traveling and constant things that seem to come out of nowhere – it has been difficult.  I am not sure if my Russian is getting better or worse.  My Russian tutors have been great though.  They are very nice people and genuinely care about their crazy American.  One of them has been teaching me how to prepare various Ukrainian/Russian meals while we converse in Russian.  I have made Verinnakey, Permini, and have made dough by hand.  Fun stuff.  She an awesome person and is constantly surprised how little I know about cooking which usually makes us laugh.  My problem is not that I can't figure out how to cook, it is simply that I do not think cooking a meal for 3 hours is worth the 5 min it takes to eat the meal.  Not to mention the cleanup time.  Who knows, maybe I will change and embrace my inner culinary self.  I am sick of eating eggs, cereal, and sandwiches every day.  I will add some photos of me cooking just in case you can't picture it mentally  lol  

My week of traveling was awesome.  I started with an overnight train to Kiev.  I am more cautious with my stuff now because my friend had his pants stolen while he was sleeping.  That would make for an awkward morning  lol.  I attended a "warden" training because I am now the security contact in my region in case of a disaster where all volunteers need to be evacuated from the country.  It was interesting – they had someone that worked for the Israel Special Forces for 15 years come speak to us about conflict avoidance/warning signs.  After the training, I went out with a couple volunteers and had a fun evening in Kiev then stayed at a hostel downtown.  It rained the entire time I was in Kiev but I still had a good time.  I enjoy staying at hostels -   15 beds in one big room is not all that comfortable but you meet many cool and interesting travelers so it is worth it.  Not to mention the fact that the bed costs only $16 and the hostel is located downtown next to many cool places.  The next day I went to get on the train to Konotop but alas the ticket I bought the day before was for a train that did not exist.  lol  Nobody knew what the hell kind of ticket I had.  Oh Ukraine.  So I had to buy another ticket and wait around for 3 hours.  When I arrived in Konotop, I waited around in a café for my cluster mate Kim.  Konotop is a nice city – bigger than my site and pretty clean.  We walked around the city and met up with a few other volunteers to attend Kim's English club where they had a surprise Thanksgiving dinner waiting for us.  It was very nice.  We had a good meal, met some good people, then made our way to the train station heading to Lugansk.  It was another overnight train but there were 4 of us so we crowded around a table and chatted the night away over wine and snacks.  Train travel is a lot of fun with good friends.  When we arrived in Lugansk, we were met by two of the volunteers that live in the city.  They walked us back to one of their apartments until our hotel room was ready.  Thanksgiving was a blast.  There was a total of 14 people there with varied backgrounds and ages (22 – 70 years old).  It was awesome – we hung out all day and night Friday and Saturday then I took a train home Sunday evening.  One of the older volunteers orchestrated the whole meal and managed to find a huge Turkey, bake pies, find good wine, and provide a great atmosphere for everyone to be together.  I tried to pitch in with a salad but I accidentally bought cabbage instead of lettuce.  lol  She saved the day by making a coleslaw with the ingredients I purchased.  It was great to have the whole cluster back together and see the other volunteers that I had not seen for a long time.  It was rainy in Lugansk too but it was still fun.  Peace Corps Volunteers know what's important and can always have a good time. 

Last week I visited a few English classes in my community.  I enjoy doing that and meeting the kids (10 – 20 years old).  Some of them speak English very well.  I am always s a bit of a spectacle when I visit these classes because most of the students have never spoken to a native English speaker or met an American.  It is kind of a confidence booster when people are so amazed when I speak my native language lol    The questions about America and the American culture are also quite entertaining.  Without fail, I am always asked if I have a wife and when I say that I don't have a wife and that I am not sure if I want to get married – it never ceased to blow a few minds.  I just see "cannot compute" on everyone's foreheads.  I explain that I don't really want kids, the world is overpopulated/polluted/finite resources etc..., and that I enjoy traveling.  Many of the questions I receive from the students are with regards to what kind of food Americans eat.  I try to explain that every state is different and that my family usually prefers Mexican food though it varies.  Obviously, the American culture is just a melting pot of many different cultures so it is almost impossible to answer some of their questions.  However, when I explain that individuality is very highly valued in American culture, (it is considered negative in Ukraine) that seems to get the students to start thinking about their own culture and we end up having a good discussion.  Many students are very shy and reserved – I think that being the first American they have ever met, being very tall, and the only person in my city of 65,000 people that has a beard can be intimidating for them at first but they come around eventually. 

Yesterday, I went to a neighboring city to talk with some University students about the American education system and culture.  I though it would be a very casual conversation with a few students that would probably last 15-30 min.  I should have know better – nothing ever goes down how you think it would in Ukraine.  I woke up early that day to get ready and catch the bus a little after 8:00.  I arrive at the University an hour later and the director gave me a tour of all of their classrooms which was interesting.  We then go into a huge auditorium with over 100 teachers and students and one of the teachers tells me, "ok, go ahead a start.  You will be speaking to them for 1 hour."  I just think.  ok.  I should have seen this coming.  The Conor 8 months ago would be pretty nervous at this point but I am pretty used to this kind of craziness now.  I said what I could in Russian but soon had to switch to English.  They provided me with a translator though she did not translate everything I said and would not translate what the students said – very frustrating.  It was not the smoothest or most comfortable presentation I have ever made but I think everyone enjoyed it.  After the presentation, I met with the director for some champagne, meat, cheese, and bread.  It was nice and everyone was every friendly.  Overall I had a good time.  I also me a director from a youth organization in the neighboring city which I might be able to work with in the future. 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  I ate 5 raw quail eggs at my Russian tutor's house.  Pretty good, kinda sweet, but I had some crazy dreams that night.  Not sure if I will be eating those again. 

2.  My Kindle arrived!  Awesome.  Now I have an endless supply of books to read which is important since the sun sets around 3:30 now.  Yikes.

3.  Egypt – 3 weeks and counting. 

4.  Bathroom flooded.  Lucky for me, the person that lives below me was very nice and there was little to no damage.  Apparently this is a common in old Soviet housing. 

5.  Read "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" on the train.  Very good book.  The new Kindle is awesome. 

6.  A package arrived from the states.  Thanks parents!  Kinda weird that 2 packages were sent at the exact same time from the same location but they arrived over a week apart.  The post office has the 2nd package but I have not been able to pick it up yet.  Thank again!  If anyone wants to send me some love, shoot me an email and I will send my address.  ;–)

7.  Cooked a couple different Ukrainian dishes with my new friend/tutor.  Always fun. 

8.  I have been starting conversations with random Ukrainians on the street.  Sometimes they have patience with my Russian and sometimes they don't.  It is interesting either way. 

9.  The new Peace Corps Trainees will be sworn in soon which means I will have a site mate within the next month!  I hope he or she is cool. 

*Click on the photo to see the large version*

Cooking Varinikee

Good ole fashoned meat grinding

Me & my friends

Chef Con

Amy and I

Preparing T-Giving

The T-Giving Gang

MMMMMmmm Turkey!

Dinner is served!

Cafe in Lugansk

Well, I am going to bed.  I hope all is well back home.  Peace

As the Weeks Go By

Hello everyone,

Sorry I did not post last week.  I don't really have an excuse other than I just didn't get around to it.  After getting back to my site from the Halloween party, I was feeling a bit drained.   Anywho, since my last post, I have finalized the grant for my project.  It is now official – we have won the grant and will receive funding to start a volunteer center in my city.  Very cool.  Now I just have to find a way to motivate my coworkers to work on the lesson plans.  This is another time where I have to work really hard on not letting the American in me get out.  I want to have a solid plan and prepare the PowerPoint presentations for our trainings ASAP but my Ukrainian colleagues don't seem to think it is necessary and will probably wait tell the last minute.  Breath deep Conor – it will work out Conor.  I have also been working with 2 Russian tutors.  It is a lot of work and my Russian is at the point where it is hard to determine if it is getting better or not because I am now concentrating on learning words that you might only hear once a month or so.  I feel I know most of the extremely popular words but as soon as the conversation goes into more detail, it can be tough to understand.  For example, if I talk about Universities in general – I am fine but once we start talking about specific subjects – it is difficult.  Because of this, the learning curve is damn near flat at this point and without hearing my new words regularly, they are easy to forget.  Oh well.  Nobody said this would be easy. 

I have also been busy working with a few of the English teachers in the community.  I am not a teacher and I have little teaching experience so developing lesson plans can be difficult but I am already much better at it than I was a few months ago.  Ideally, the Ukrainian English teacher will develop the lesson plan and then I will execute it.  I had a class at the local museum that was very fun, everyone was participating in the activities, and I met some good people.  One of the students invited me to go see a soccer game in Donetsk.  Donetsk just built a new soccer stadium for the Euro 2012 games and has a very good team called Shakhtar.  This stadium is huge and will host some of the World Cup games.  Should be a crazy time.  There is also a Foreign languages organization that I have been visiting from time to time and speaking to the students.  It is kinda funny to get praise for simply speaking your native language.  lol  It is fun and it is a great way to meet people.  I even have a class for little kids ages 4-7.  The little kid class took some getting used to but it is also a good time.  I have been working on some fun games for them to play and I bribe them with candy to keep them focused.  My lesson plans have gotten better and I am happy to say that my last class was very well done.  Everyone leaned a few things, the students were involved and asking questions, and we are all getting to know each other. 

This last weekend was the collaborative meeting for all the volunteers in the Donetsk region.  I made my way to the main Donetsk Library and met up with 7 other volunteers that live within a few hours of Donetsk.  We talked about everyone's sites, what projects people are working on, and discussed a variety of issues and best practices.  It was a lot of fun and I met some awesome PCVs.  After the meeting we all went out for dinner at a Turkish restaurant.  It is always interesting to hear about how other volunteers are doing because we all have such different experiences.  No 2 peace corps experiences are the same.  After dinner we went to a bar that was off the beaten track and listened to some live music.  One of the volunteers that I met will be COSing (Close of Service – going home) in a month – it was interesting to hear what he has done over the last 2 years and his impressions of Ukraine.  The organization he worked with was a English Languages school so he was surrounded by people that speak a good amount of English and  because of that, after 2 years, he still does not know Russian.  At times it would be nice to have an English speaker in my community but overall, I am happy that I do not have English speakers in my community because I really want to be fluent in Russian by the time I leave Ukraine.  After the live music, we went to a bowling ally / night club / karaoke bar.  Lets just say, PCVs know how to have a good time.  We bowled, sang a few songs, and danced the night away. 

My cluster has now fully paid and reserved our trip to Egypt for X-Mas.  I can't wait.  Egypt is going to be EPIC!  Our hotel is right next to the beach.  We are going to see the pyramids, celebrate Xmas together, and relax on the beach.  It is very common for Ukrainians to go to Egypt for vacation because there are my cheap travel packages.  We will be there 8 days / 7 nights and I might stay a bit longer by myself depending on the flight arrangements.  I figure that I don't know when I will be in Egypt again so I might as well stay a bit longer and take it all in.  After my cluster flies back to Ukraine, I plan on traveling to a small village/town that is off the beaten path to try and get a feel for the culture.  You really need to stay in a foreign country for a number of months to experience the culture but that is out of the question.   We shall see.  The plane tickets might be expensive so I might decide to come back with my cluster. 

Next week I will be traveling to Kiev for warden training (I will be the security warden in my area).  So I leave for Kiev Monday night and will stay there for a night or two then I will be heading to Konotop in the Sumi Oblast to visit my cluster mate for a day or two then it is off to Lugansk for Thanksgiving.  I am excited.  I love traveling and overnight trains make it so easy because you just go to sleep and wake up in a new city with a new adventure waiting for you.  Awesome.  When I first arrived in Ukraine I thought it was a bit silly to have to travel overnight when you are only going 200 miles or so but now I enjoy it.  It is pretty cheap as well.  It is only $15 to travel to Kiev from Donetsk (300 miles or so). 

Overall, life in general is going pretty good.  I keep busy with my projects, Russian studies, English clubs, traveling, and all the random events that seem to come out of nowhere.  It is hard to keep a routine because everything is always subject to change though I enjoy the variety of the things I do.  When I reflect to my time working as a broker at Fidelity Investment, it makes me realize how lucky I am to be here.  I enjoyed my time at Fidelity but I was at a desk all day every day and every min of every day was planned.  Now I never know what the day has in store for me, I am constantly traveling to new cities, meeting new people, experiencing new things, helping people, and doing things I never thought I would be able to do.  The downside is that I miss my family & friends, I miss everything familiar, and  I don't get paid - in fact I spend some of my own money every month but that is a small price to pay for the experiences I am having.  The culture is just so different here. 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  Meeting up with the volunteers in my region for an unforgettable night.  Awesome

2.  Hand washing more clothing.  God,  I miss a washing machine.  I find myself pushing my clothing to the limit.  It is amazing how many times you ware the same clothing if you know you have to hand wash everything.  Not to mention that I only have running water for a few hours a day. 

3.  Traveling to Egypt, Konotop, Kiev, Lugansk, etc..   Keeps thing exciting

4.  Skyping with my peeps from the states. 

5.  I have a Kindle on the way.  Awesome -  now I will have an endless supply of English books to read.

6.  Meeting people and learning more about the former USSR.  Very interesting. 

7.  Getting pretty creative with my meals here.  Oh Costco.  Where are you?

8.  Trying Holodets.  Animal fat that was liquefied then put in the refrigerator to solidify then eaten.  I don't know if I will ever get used to that particular dish though I have started to enjoy Salo. 

The following photos are from a hike I went on last Sunday around my city. 

I will post photos in a few hours. 

Halloween!

Hello everyone,


I write this from Balaklea (Amy’s town). We just got back from Kharkiv (the region center and former capital of Ukraine). It was awesome. Let me start from the beginning. I took a taxi late Friday night to a neighboring town (Markeevka) and boarded an overnight train to Balaklea. Arrived at 3 in the AM and waited at the train station for 45 min because Amy was arriving from Kiev on a different train. We then made our way to Kharkiv where we checked in at the hotel all the PCVs will be staying at. Let’s just say customer service is still a foreign concept here. When I was talking to a group of PCVs, I jokingly referred to the lady at the front desk as “a big bucket of sunshine” and everyone knew who I was talking about. This constant lack of customer service can probably be attributed to the old days of the USSR when everyone was assigned work, everyone knew their place/role, and there was little opportunity for change – if someone did not like the service they were receiving, there was little to be done. Everything was government owned so there is only one option and if you didn’t like that option - tough. Nowadays, though things have gotten better, private property rights and free enterprise are not fully developed or understood. It is interesting to me to see this transition first hand. It is apparent that those that understand the concepts of Supply and Demand have a huge opportunity here in Ukraine though they first have to get around an extremely difficult legal system before they can start any viable businesses. Not to mention the business mentality that exists. It is difficult to explain and I am by no means an expert on the subject but I think a good example is the old films from the USSR. When I was hanging out with some of my Ukrainian friends in my community, we watched a couple old films from the USSR. In one of these films, a man brought cases of oranges from Moscow to the Crimean Peninsula to sell them for a profit (USSR controlled the supply of everything). It was interesting because he was the bad guy in the movie. Why? It is because he is taking initiative and trying to buy and sell things for personal gain. It is a common mindset that everyone should get an equal share, the government knows what’s best, and it is bad to question authority or to take any initiative. Anywho, the slow transition to a free market system is very interesting to me and the businessmen in Ukraine that have identified inefficiencies in the market have huge opportunities though the rules and regulations (or lack thereof) that govern markets and businesses is a huge obstacle to overcome for any businessman or entrepreneur.



Sorry, kinda went off on a tangent. Back to Kharkiv – After checking in at the hotel Amy and I took the metro to the city center and walked around for a while. Kharkiv has lots of history – we walked around the “red square”, saw the sites, and ate at McDonalds. The day was nice however the Halloween party that evening was Legendary! Since Halloween is not celebrated here, costumes are difficult to come by. Lucky for me, Amy let me use her “dead-face gorilla mask”, and we found some black wings so I was a flying monkey from the Wizard of Oz. It was awesome. We had over 100 PCVs - young men women from 100 different communities all over Ukraine that have been deprived of all things American, that have not seen there fellow Peace Corps friends for long periods of time, and that have not been able use/speak English for long periods of time. It was a recipe for an unforgettable night. We had a nightclub rented out only for PCVs that was right next door from the hotel. It was so nice to see everyone again, to hear about everyone’s crazy experiences, and to simply relax with people that speak your language and know your culture. Well, I need to get going. I am helping Amy with her English club before heading back to my site later today via overnight train.



Conor’s Noteworthy Noteables:

1. Best Halloween party ever! PCVs are the most friendly, carefree, open minded people I have ever met. Makes for awesome times.

2. Exploring Kharkiv. Good times – I will have to go back.

3. Seeing my fellow volunteers and cluster mates that I have not seen for a long time.

4. 7 months in Ukraine.

5. We booked our trips to Egypt. My cluster and I will be going to Egypt for 8 days over Christmas! Whoohoo! It is very cheap to travel to Egypt from Ukraine and all meals, hotels, and drinks are included.

6. Got a nice letter from my sister with some great photos. Thanks Erin-o!
7. Submitted my final draft for my project. Cross your fingers for me.

***Click on photo to see large version. 

 Electreechka from Balaklea to Kharkiv

Kharkiv

Mountain Man

Hello everyone,

I am back from my camping trip!  It was awesome.  We hiked all day every day around the beautiful Crimean Peninsula mountains then spent a day and a half camped on the Black Sea.  Lots of exercise and lots-o-Russian.  Thankfully, there was a great guy named Igor there that spoke some English which really helped.  Igor, if you are reading this, thanks again.  The trip started at someone's house where we finished packing up our backpacks and organizing 10 days worth of food (probably around 50 pounds with water) then made our way on foot to the train station in my city.  It was raining and a bit cold which was not a good sign for the start of a 10 day camping trip but Igor assured me that he always has great luck with weather - thankfully his luck ran true.   We took the 90 min electreechka  (slow, cheap, low range passenger trains to and from major hubs) to Donetsk.   We arrived in Donetsk in the early evening and chatted outside the Вокзал (train station) until it was time to get on the overnight train to Simferopol.  We were in platzcart (3rd class) and everyone thought it was hilarious that I did not fit in the tiny little bunks.  lol  Many photos were taken with my feet hanging off the end of the bed.  Then, in typical Ukrainian fashion, we proceeded to crowd around one of the small tables and have a nice meal.  I brought a small amount of cognac as a thanks for allowing Amy and I to go on this trip so we all toasted to the start of our adventure. 

There were 9 people in total all with varying backgrounds and ages.  Everyone got along fine and we all had a great time.   We had a priest with an extensive military background, a blacksmith/karate instructor also with strong military background and his wife, a computer programmer, an industry/factory safety coordinator, 2 blacksmith apprentices, and 2 crazy Americans (Amy and I).  At times, it was difficult to communicate with my limited Russian skillz but we made it work out just fine and when we couldn't communicate, we would sit back and absorb the absolutely beautiful scenery (I took over 300 photos).  It was nice to be away from all modern amenities/electronics/stresses and just be out in nature doin our thang.  At times, it was tough:  hiking at night down steep and slippery terrain (I didn't have a flashlight cuz it broke), hiking without any trails through thick forests, hiking with little water to drink (we had to find our water), hiking for over 12 hours (usually only 8 hours), sleeping in below freezing weather (turns out my sleeping bag is not that great and when we woke up our water was frozen), sleeping with 3 people in what seemed to be a 2 man tent and me being extremely tall, Amy got sick and I had to carry some of her stuff in my already heavy bag, etc...  It was well worth it though - many great memories, awesome times, and I got to know some very cool people. 

Towards the end of the trip, we hiked down from the mountains though a small town on the way to the sea (Black Sea = 10 km away).  It was around 10:00 pm, pitch black, cold, tired, and we had been looking unsuccessfully for hours for flat enough terrain to make camp for the night. To my astonishment, the group sent the girls to go up to a random house and knock on the door for directions.  I guess they would be less threatening than the guys.  I was surprised once again by the Ukrainian hospitality we received.  We woke someone up late at night and they were nice enough to spend time with us and explain were we could find a suitable camping place.  It was great and just in time.  I didn't feel like I could hike another inch.  And the next morning, when it was light out and we could actually see, we awoke on a hill next to a beautiful little lake/reservoir nestled between sheer cliffs with the small quiet little village down a short distance from where we camped.  I bathed in the stream then took off with my camera to explore the small town.  I walked around the village greeted only by stray dogs, grazing goats, and the occasional sleepy villager.  After walking for a while, by pure coincidence, I ran into a few other people from our group at the local магазин  (store).  it was 11:00 am and the only store in town still had not opened for the day so the people from my group were waiting patiently outside.  Supplies were purchased and we made our way to a little house that had a garden and some grape vines in order to buy some veggies and wine.  Once again, I was surprised to see that the owner of this house gave us (random strangers) wine and veggies without payment and said it would be fine if we paid latter (guess nobody brought money).  Trust and honor go a long way here.  We then packed our backpacks and made our way to the sea.  On the way we pass dozens of vineyards until we arrived at our campsite surrounded by the black sea on one side and a vineyard with an old Turkish watchtower on the other.  Beautiful.  We proceeded to pitch our tents one last time, barbeque some chicken, cook some borsch, drink some wine, relax on the coast, and swim in the sea sometime after midnight.  The next morning we walked down the coast 6 km to the town of Marskova and explored another small town.  It was one hell of a way to end a fantastic trip. 

I arrived back in my town on Wednesday.  Since then, I have been working on finalizing some of the details of my project to start a volunteer center in my city.  We will find out early November if it will be funded or not.  I really hope it gets funded - it could really help my community.  I spent most of the weekend in Donetsk with Amy and other volunteers.  My cluster mate Kim was in Donetsk to meet with people about starting a computer lab for the blind in her community. Very cool project.  It is exciting to hear about other people's projects and to see what they are up to.  We found an Irish pub in Donetsk and caught up on life then went to a Turkish restaurant for some fantastic food (though I felt a little sick afterwards).  Very pleasant weekend and after sleeping in a tent for ten days, my tiny little bed is that much more comfortable.   Earlier today, I met up with some of the people from the camping trip and someone's wife gave me a Russian lesson.  Very helpful.  I need to devote more of my time on my Russian skillz.  Anywho, I hope everything is going great back in the states.  Miss you all. 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  Ten day camping trip in Crim   -  unforgettable. 

2.  I now have 2 Russian tutors.  Now I just need to find time to use them and study.  lol

3.  Still learning how to work with the ever-present extreme cultural difference. 

4.  My new friend from the camping trip is helping me find faster internet in my apartment!  Awesome.  I might actually be able to skype with people soon.  Cross your fingers. 

5.  Found a couple old coworkers from Fidelity on Facebook.  Shout out to Tanner and John F**^ing Carlquist.  lol  (inside joke).  Tell everyone hi for me. 

6.  Halloween party next week in Karkiv!  Over 100 volunteers!  Private club and hotel.  Awesome~!

It is late and I have to get up early tomorrow.  Peace!

***Like always - click on the photo to see the full version***

Camping for 10 days. - No new posts for a while.

Hello all!

Right now I am sitting in the only place in my city with WIFI while I wait to depart on the camping trip.  I will be going to the Crimean Peninsula with an NGO from my community that consists of "veterans of the USSR Airborne, Special Forces, the KGB, the Interior Ministry, Afghans, combatants and other arms." Should be awesome! Wish me luck.  I just wanted to let people know that I won't be posting  until I get back (probably almost 2 weeks). 

I hope all is well in the US.

-Conor

Just an everyday thing.

Hello everyone,

Well, this week was more low-key than normal which has been nice.  Now that I have submitted the first draft of our project, some of the pressure is off.  I still have a lot to do in order make this a successful project but at least the overall project plan is more or less complete.  Now we are concentrating on getting all the lesson plans organized and finishing up as much paperwork as possible before I go on my 10 day camping trip.  It has been interesting trying to work together with my Ukrainian counterparts.  The culture is just so different.  I feel obsessive compulsive for always trying to organize everything.  How do things get done without a clear-cut plan with specific details and due dates?  I guess we will find out.  lol   I am constantly trying to keep the "American" in me from getting out.  I need to learn to do things how Ukrainians do things because after all, I live in Ukraine now.  I have also been warned by some of the PCVs that have been here for over a year and from PC staff that if you try and do things like you would in the US, you will probably fail.  So, this is me going with the flow with faith that things will get done eventually ...gulp...

I have also been teaching a couple different English clubs in my community.  It has been a lot of fun.  My adult class now knows most basic greetings and some basic words so next week we will start to put things together into sentences and attempt to have some simple dialog.  It is fun to see everyone learn and attempt to speak.  I have over 20 people in my adult class varying in age from 13 - 55 and 7 kids in my young class with ages ranging from 5 -10 years.  I think I do a pretty good job of keeping everyone entertained and learning though it really helps to have a Ukrainian friend there with me to help when people don't understand my Russian.  This friend has been great and I really appreciate the help.  I have also been going to Karate 2 or 3 times per week.  It is fun, I get some exercise, practice my Russian, and I have made a few friends.  I try to accept all invitations to do anything at this point in order to meet as many people as possible. 

Other than work, I have been doing a lot of thinking about life, relationships, and the decisions we make.  You never know which decisions you will look back on many years down the road and think - That decision shaped my future.  Because of that decision, I am now doing this or I became that or whatever.  Obviously, joining the PC was one of those decisions and it was obvious from the beginning that it would be one of the important "forks in the road" of my life but there are many decisions that seem insignificant at the time that end up becoming a defining moment in one's life.  I guess I have been thinking about this because of all the different roads my old friends have taken in their lives, my bro thinking about getting married, my sister giving birth to a beautiful baby girl that I have yet to meet, and me a million miles away from everything in a small city close to Russia.  Who knows how everything is going to play out in the long run.  Life is an adventure, the least we can do is enjoy the ride. 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  It is starting to get cold here.  As I type this, I have my winter coat on and a couple blankets  lol.  The weird thing is that when I lived in Wyoming, it was probably colder.  The difference is that in Wyoming and other cold places in the US, you are usually only cold in transit and once you are inside you are relatively warm.  Here, there is no escape.  It is usually just about as cold inside as it is outside. 

2.  I need a new bed.  My back hurts.  Why do I feel like I sleep in a tiny crib instead of a bed....oh yeah...Peace Corps...right, I signed up for this. 

3.  I can now comfortable speak to most people about basic things.  It is hard to gage how much Russian I am learning at this point - I kinda have to have faith that I am learning through being surrounded by Russian 24-7

4.  I need faster internet.  I can only skype from a bar in town because it is the only place in town with free WIFI. 

5.  I finally feel like I am somewhat in a routine (as much as possible in Ukraine).  Only took 6 months.  lol  I still don't know what the day will bring until it is already here but now not knowing is expected.  : -)

6.  I have not been taking very many photos lately but will try and change that by next post.  At the very least, I will have tons of photos to post after the camping trip. 

Donetsk

Found someone my height!

Gas Mask Con

Khartsizsk Day

Blast from the Past.  Guatemala 2006

Ukrainian Countryside

Grants, humor clubs, and camping trips.

Hello Everyone,

Well, not too much to report this time because I just posted on Wednesday.  Since I last posted, I have completed the first draft of a SPA grant (Small Projects Assistance).  If the grant gets approved, we will be starting a volunteer center in our city.  Pretty exciting stuff.  I have been working a ton trying to get all the details organized and everything written up.  Wish us luck.  Other than that, I was in both newspapers this week from the interview last week.  Pretty cool stuff.  People have come up to me in the street to say, "Hello" in English to which I reply, "Hello, how are you?" - most of the time I get a blank stare in response but it is still cool to be greeted like that.  I am still waiting to get a copy of the TV interview - I will post it when I get a copy.  That will be pretty cool.  On Friday, I went to a KBH competition.  This is a humor competition where teams from neighboring towns and cities come to compete.  It was a lot of fun though I did not understand many of the jokes.  Good atmosphere and lots of laughs.  Maybe next year I will understand more of the jokes.  After KBH, a group of 12 of us went to a restaurant for the evening.  It was a lot of fun.  We had some traditional drinks then I took a taxi home around midnight.  My organization is great - full of good people that want to help however they can. 

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I will be going on a 10 day backpacking/camping trip in the Crimea peninsula with an organization in town from Oct 10 - 20.  It is going to be awesome.  We will pack all the food we are going to eat for ten days in our backpacks.  We will hike all day every day in the mountains.  I can't wait.  And at the end of the trip, we will spend 2 days on the beach before taking the long train ride back to our city.  Well everyone, not much more to report.  I hope everything is going great back in the US.  Until next week. 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  First SPA draft submitted!

2.  Getting ready for the camping trip.  Lots of little purchases. 

3.  I have been attending a Karate group 3 times a week at the local school.  Good times - it is nice to have a good workout. 

4.  I now have another Club.  That makes 2 on Wed and now 1 on Sat.  The new one will be for intermediate speaks so that should be fun.

5.  It was Nate "old man" McBride's birthday on the 24th.  Happy birthday!  The McBrides are Awesome! 

6.  Found a place that sells frozen chicken nuggets.  I never thought I would be so excited about something so simple but after eating eggs every day for months, it is nice to have some variety.  lol

*Click to view large version*

KBH (Humor Competition)

Birthday Party

Newspaper Article 1 

Newspaper Article 2

Week of Surprises.

Hello again.

Well, I am starting to sound like a broken record but....this has been another crazy week.  It is hard to get into a routine when nothing ever goes as planned and things tend to pop up out of nowhere.  Sorry I did not post on my regular day (Sunday).  Lots of crazy personal crap...So....lets catch up. 

 

 

The week started as they all do.  Me alone in a small city in Ukraine - just trying to figure things out, learn the language, and help however I can.  I have been working on a grant to start a volunteer center in my community.  It is coming along slowly but surely.  With the language barrier, it can be tricky to work out some of the finer details but I am used to that at this point.  We have worked out most the details so I know what the plan is however how we are going to execute the plan is not clear at this point.  Come-on Russian skills!  Get better already!    I had my first English club this week.  It was supposed to be for around 10 kids around the age of 10.  Things never go as planned - I had probably 25 people show up with ages ranging from 4 years old all the way up to 55.  I couldn't help but chuckle at this.  It went fine - we just went over simple greetings and introductions and I gave the little kids some candy at the end.  Needless to say, I now have 2 groups.  lol  It will be interesting to see who shows up tonight.  Word may have spread like wildfire and I may have even more people.  yikes.  It will be fun tho. 

 

 

So, between working on the grant and the English club, I have also been going to a Karate club 3 times per week.  It is fun and I get some much needed exercise.  Every Sat, Mon, and Wed at 7 pm.  Good stuff.  It is organized by someone I met the night I met all the army guys (previous blog). 

 

 

Since the title of this blog is named "week of surprises"  -  let me explain:  The English club was surprise #1 then the next day I was sitting in my office working on the grant when the head of the education dept walks in my office to inform me that i will be giving a 30 min presentation to 30 teachers from 30 different schools in the area and that I will be giving this presentation in 2 hours.  It turns out that the English teachers from 30 schools in the area are all meeting today and they want me to discuss the differences in education systems of the US & Ukraine.  Crazy.  So I frantically grab my friend Google and start searching for any and all relevant information.  I knew many cultural differences and some educational differences but it is difficult because I don't know the Ukrainian education system.  I am a Community Development volunteer and do not work in a school.  The presentation went great and I will be traveling to many different villages in the area over the next 4 months to visit English classes, help students prepare for the English Olympiad, and be a judge at English competitions.  That will be really fun.  I gave all the teachers my phone # so I might be very busy soon.  I said I would be happy to visit their classrooms or just meet with them individually to practice their English over a cup of tea.  I also found someone that is willing to be my Russian tutor - Awesome!   I need all the help I can get. 

 

 

So that was surprise # 2.   Surprise # 3 happened the very next day (Friday).  I was in the office working on the grant when the vice mayor called me and said, "Conor, the town newspapers will be interviewing you in 1 hour - good luck"  Lol  Just kidding.  He did not say good luck.  He assured me that it was only for information about me, Peace Corps, and my current activities in the community.  Lucky for me, I had someone that spoke some English to help me out.  I think it went ok.  I will try and get a copy of the article and post it on the ole' Blog.  The next surprise happened in Kiev but that one is personal.  Lets just say that I now know how the people of Hiroshima felt when they saw a large bomb fall out of the sky.  Surprise # 5 happened yesterday (Tuesday 9/21).  I was again sitting in my office trying to catch up on work on the grant because due to all the surprises, I felt I was behind.  Again, the vice mayor calls me up and says, "The media is here and they want to interview you"  I think to myself Dejavoo - was the last interview a dream?  What gives?  So I ask him, "is it a different newspaper?"  He replies, "it is the local TV station"  I think...Wow...ok...what?...5 min....ok.   Lucky for me, I was dressed nicer than usual.  This particular interview was all in Russian.  I think I did alright.  I will hopefully get a disk with the footage on it.  I will post it if I can.  I thought it was great that the camera guy was someone that I met over a month ago and have had tea with him a couple times.  We will play backgammon one of these days. 

 

 

Well, I need to get going.  Unless there are any unforeseen surprises, my next post will be on Sunday (like usual).  Stay classy America

 

 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  Trip to Kiev.  Found an Irish Pub - no Guinness but they did have Murphy's Irish Stout.  Good enough.  Huge surprises in Kiev - it was good to kick back with an old Irish friend. 

2.  Random media interviews with no time to prepare.  I am getting used to it.  They went alright.  Hopefully I can put the video and the articles on the blog.   

3.  Met some really cool Ukrainians on the train ride to Kiev.  Very nice people and they spoke some English. 

4.  The grant is coming along just fine.  I really hope the grant gets approved.  It could really help my new counterpart, org, and the community.  Cross your fingers.

5.  It was my Dad's B-day on the 14th.  Happy Birthday Dad!  I wish I could have been there with you guys. 

6.  I was invited by the PC head of security to become a warden.  Meaning I will be the contact point / go-to-guy in my region if there is a countrywide emergency. 

7.  I keep trying to skype friends and family back home.  Erin!  I will keep trying.  Josh, you are next.  I can skype cell phones for cheap but I have to call from a WIFI café in town and can only be there around 5 pm my time which is 8 am your time. 

 

I will try to post photos when I have more time. 

 

 

Shoes, birthday parties, and working together.

Hello. 

 

This week was a pretty good week.  I am getting to know the community more and more as the weeks pass by.  I like what I see.  The older generation in the community have a very interesting perspective on how the world works where as the younger generation is very progressive.  The contrast is startling.  The older generation came from a mindset which can be summed up from a famous quote from the days of the USSR, "any initiative will be punished" (this definitely does not apply to everyone).  Contrast this to the youth in the community that are really starting to fly and embrace the freedom that an independent Ukraine has to offer.  I have seen the youth organize themselves in many different activities and clubs with little or no outside assistance.  It is inspiring to see.  When I was in high school, I don't remember ever seeing any student organized clubs that did not have some sort of assistance from the adults in the community or from the local school and I certainly never organized anything like what I have seen here.  For example,  there is a pop dance group in town that practices multiple times per week with little assistance and was organized by the youth themselves.  It is fun to see the youth take charge and I will help them however I can. 

 

 

On Friday, I had the opportunity to attend the birthday party of one of my friends that works for the local government.  It was a great time.  In Ukraine, birthday parties are organized and thrown by the birthday boy/girl instead of by friends and family (like in the US).  My counterpart, a couple coworkers, and I all pitched in and purchased a painting from one of the local artists in town for the occasion (just so happened to be my counterpart's friend so we got a discount).  We also purchased some flowers which continues to amuse me because the flower business in Ukraine is huge!  There seems to be more flower shops than any other type of store in town.  People buy flowers for everything - birthdays, funerals, weddings, first day of school, tea with friends, anniversaries, and every single holiday (there are probably twice as many holidays here than in the US).  I realize that people buy flowers for these occasions in the US but the extent to which flowers are purchased here is enormous.  I went to someone's house the night before the first day of school and I noticed that the streets were flooded with people holding flowers.  I explained to my counterpart that I can count on one hand how many times I have purchased flowers and he gave me a look of empathy.  I tried to explain that it is simply not as common where I am from but I could tell the message was not received.  lol  I could tell he felt bad for me no matter how many times I tried to explain.  Anyways, we made our way to the government building for the birthday party and I wished my friend happy birthday.  The party was held in her office and all of her coworkers came over to her office with flowers and gifts then proceeded to start giving toasts.  I thought it was interesting that the birthday boy or girl gets to call on anyone at any time to give a toast about the birthday boy/girl followed by a stiff drink.  After numerous toasts given by various people, the birthday girl looks at me and says, "give a toast" so everyone stops talking and stares at me with a lingering anticipation to hear the American speak.  I think to myself, "here we go,"  and gave my toast all the while praying that I would not get my Russian mixed up and end up insulting everyone in the room.  My toast went ok though there were many comments that I did not understand - then everyone took another drink.  I ended up giving 4 toasts for this particular birthday party and as far as I know, everyone had a great time and nobody was insulted by my broken Russian.  There was one gentleman at the party that told me he had a bad experience with Americans at his factory some 10 years ago and accused me of knowing more Russian than I let on.  He was obviously not a fan of yours truly though after many toasts and drinks, we seemed to get along just fine and he even shook my hand before he left.  I love that part of my job - when you meet someone with preconceived notions of Americans or simply negative views of Americans, and you get them to realize that not all Americans are greedy capitalist pigs or war hungry or rich etc etc... 

 

 

This weekend I traveled to Donetsk with my counterpart to do some shopping.  Since I have to walk everywhere, my shoes are already a bit worn out (even though I just bought them before I left for Ukraine...sigh).  We started at the Bazaar without any luck because of my enormous size 51 shoes (15 US).  My counterpart was determined to find me some shoes so he called his brother that lives in Donetsk for help.  We me up with his brother and went to 12 different shoe stores.  Those of you that know me, know that I can't shop.  I get exhausted after 5 min of shopping.  I tried to explain that it is ok, I don't need to find shoes right away but no dice.  My counterpart is a very nice guy and was determined to find shoes that fit so 4 hours later...we finally stop.  I don't know what it is about shopping that gets me so exhausted but damn!  I think I will have to order some shoes from the US and have them shipped. 

 

 

On the work front, I have an English club setup for about 10 kids at the local library.  This will be fun - my first lesson is this Wednesday.  I am not a teacher so I will have to do some major planning to make sure my club is both entertaining and educational.  Wish me luck.  I will definitely buy some candy for the first class to help grease the wheels while I get the whole teaching thing down.  This should help my Russian and help me meet people.  I have also been discussing a project plan with my counterpart which I will be writing a grant for this month.  It is difficult to discuss details when you don't know the language so hopefully we can find a translator for some of the more complex stuff (scope, budget, action plan, time frames, etc).  I hope to start writing tomorrow.  Again, wish me luck.  Well, I need to get some sleep.  I hope everything is going great in the good ole US of A!   Drop me a comment so that I know people still read this thing. 

 

 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  Getting to know my new NGO.  Good people.  I hope we have a successful project. 

2.  Ukrainian birthday party.  Awesome

3.  Trip to Donetsk - always fun to explore big cities. 

4.  Bought my train tickets to Kiev for this Friday.  I joined the Peace Corps Tech group - we will meet in Kiev to discuss technology related needs/issues/etc...

5.  Still may or may not go on a 10 day backpacking/camping trip in Crem. 

6.  Found my first sandwich place in Ukraine!  Whoohoo.  Who would have thought I would be so excited about something like that.  lol  Donetsk!

7.  Just hand washed my jeans.  I would not recommend it. 

8.  It is starting to get cold.  I gotta admit, I am a bit nervous about my first Ukrainian winter. 

 

 

 

Almost 6 months in Ukraine!

Hello all,

I have been in Ukraine for almost 6 months!  Thinking back about all the experiences I have had since I arrived in March, it seems more like a year or two but at the same time it seems like the time has flown by.  I remember having butterflies in my stomach constantly at staging in DC and for the first week or so in training.  I remember when I first met my host family and not being able to speak hardly any Russian yet living in a complete stranger's house.  I have fond memories of my first day of language class and meeting my cluster mates.  We have all come a long way but sometimes it still feels like I don't speak any Russian and am new to Ukraine.  I wonder what it will feel like when I can speak and understand everything that is going on around me.  Will it still be exciting or will life start to become mundane and repetitive?  Probably not considering my job description and the fact that Ukraine can be extremely random even for the locals.  Sometimes it seems like my Russian skillz are improving drastically earlier this week when I had a 30 min conversation with someone from the Kazak org in my city yet at other times, I feel like it is a struggle to simply talk about the weather.  Go figure.  We will have a large group of new volunteers arriving in Ukraine in a couple weeks and in 3 months (after their training) one of them will be living in my city which will really put things into perspective as far as how much I have learned etc...  It will also be nice to have a site mate (a fellow volunteer living in the same city). 

Since returning from Krivoy Rog late Sunday night (1:00 am) I have yet again had a crazy week.  I often find myself in situations where I have to be somewhere at a certain time but have no idea why and what I will be doing.  It is a funny situation because Peace Corps Training taught us that it is important to integrate into our communities and a good way to do this is to say "Yes" to every invitation to do something but with my Russian skillz the way they are, I don't always know what I am saying yes to.  I have talked to numerous other volunteers about this and they seem to get themselves into similar situations which means it is not just me.  It is not longer weird tho and is kinda exciting.  I did not even realize how comfortable I have gotten with this "not knowing" until I was on the phone with Amy and she asked me if I had any plans that evening to which I replied, "Yes, I have to meet someone dressed in camo behind the government building tonight at 7:00 then he will drive me somewhere and we will do something."  Amy then asked who I will be meeting, where I will be going, what I will doing?  I replied, "Dunno, I forgot the guys name but I think he has an NGO and I don't know where I will be going or what I will be doing or when I will be back"   Then it struck me - Why is this comfortable?  In the states, I would never do anything like this!  I only met this guy for one minute earlier that day after talking with the vice Mayor of our city and I did not understand what he said only that I should meet some guy at 7:00.  This has happened so many times that I guess I have grown comfortable with it.  lol  I just bring my backpack with me at all times complete with water, peanuts, an umbrella, Russian dictionary, a camera, and an open mind;  you never know what you will be doing or for how long so you have to plan for everything. 

Anywho, back to this particular night (Monday), as I am waiting in the parking lot of the government building, I ponder about how even the most uncomfortable things can eventually become comfortable, a car rolls up and a large man dressed in soviet camo gets out and enthusiastically shakes my hand. He then proceeds to speak quickly about something that I can only assume is in Russian but did not manage to pick out even a single word so I smile politely and explain that I no speaka da rooskie very well so he simply smiles and shakes my hand again and gestures for me to get in the car.  I think, ok...here comes another adventure ready or not.  I sit down in his Russian-made car and make small talk and we are off to god knows where.  I knew it was going to be an interesting night because when the car started going, my seat (passenger seat) rolled back into the back seats because it was not attached to the car.  lol  We both chuckle a bit as I prop the seat back upright.  We arrive at this old soviet block housing unit where there is a group of people all dressed in old Soviet uniforms chatting outside.  We get out of the car and immediately their conversation stops and everyone stares at me without saying a word.  I am pretty used to this response at this point but notice that these are not your typical Ukrainians.  Not only are they all in old army uniforms but they are all built like weightlifters and seem to all be in their late 40s early 50s.  We all proceed inside the old soviet building and as we are walking, the man that drove me there explains that they are all part of the old Soviet mobile army unit and have stayed very close after the fall of the Soviet Union and that they have been remodeling this building for over a year now.  We walk through a few dark hallways and up a few flights of stairs to a room full of old gym equipment.   Ten of the army clad gentlemen sit in a circle around me and proceed to ask me a series of questions.  I had to stop them a few times and explain that I am studying Russian right now and that I don't speak very well yet.  Some were amused but most had the usual "brick face" while they questioned me.  At this point I am thinking, oh shit...this is going to be interesting.  I go through the usual Peace Corps explanation - I am a volunteer from the US and am non-political, non-religious, and just want to help.  Still brick faces all around...then a long pause...then one of the older gentlemen asks, "why are you here and what do you want?".   I noticed that my mouth was suddenly very dry as I explain that I work for their city, a youth org, the library, and have been meeting with the Kazak org in town (I noticed that the Kazak org seemed to have military ties so I thought that would ease their minds).  Another long pause....the group then starts to loudly discuss things and I notice (maybe it was only in my head) that the guy that drove me there was suddenly very sweaty but they were also joking around and laughing.  I heard them mention the gov building and the vice mayor's name which was good to hear.  Then they asked if I was there to gather information probably because I mentioned that I want to learn Ukrainian culture to which I explained that I simply like traveling, meeting new people, experience different cultures, etc... etc...  A few of them leave the room for a bit and come back 10 min later.  They brought with them a 18 year old kid that spoke some English which was awesome.  We chatted for a while and people started laughing and joking around.  We discussed their organization and how they are almost done remodeling the building which will be a place for the youth of the city to go (instead of drink vodka).  They all ended up being very nice people and I ended up having a beverage with them at the local hot dog joint and they even invited me to a 10 day camping trip in Crem.  Awesome. 

Since that meeting, I have spent two evenings with them at different houses - for dinner one night and tea another night.  Turned out to be pretty awesome and I look forward to working with their organization which is a fully registered NGO. 

This weekend was the anniversary of my city so there were plenty of festivities and a big celebration/concert last night.  Amy visited this weekend so we went to all the major activities together.  It was awesome.  There was a celebration for everyone in the city that got married this year, horse racing, wrestling, sword fighting, knife throwing, dancing, carnival games, cotton candy, fireworks, traditional cooking, and the entire town participated.  Very interesting - I took ton's of photos which I will give to various parties on DVD.  The Ukrainian culture has many different roots and is very rich.  It was a good weekend though I am exhausted now.  Well, I need to get going so I leave you with some noteables and some photos.  I hope everyone has an awesome week!

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  Amy came to visit!  We were busy with all the town activities but it was awesome. 

2.  Just about at the 6 month mark!  Time flies!

3.  Met more organizations and made a few friends.

4.  Starting to get cold here.  Hard to believe that just a few weeks ago it was in the 100s

5.  Met with the library a few times.  Hopefully I will have an English club started within the next week. 

6.  Might be going to Crem for a 10 day camping trip starting Oct 10!  Maybe

7.  Took tons of good photos of the festivals this weekend.  Will burn a disk of the photos for the gov people. 

8.  Dropping in on orgs that I met with a box of chocolate.  People are more patient with my Russian skillz when they are eating chocolate. 

***Click on the photo for the large version***

Cassie, Amy, and I in Krivoy Rog

The kids at camp made a cutout of me...Enough said.

Traditional Kazak uniform

Honey at the festival

Concert to celebrate Khartsizsk Day