Training is Winding Down

Hello Hello,

All is still well in Ukraine. 

Training is starting to wind down.  We have finished the majority of our project and have come a long way with the Russian language but  now in only 2 weeks training will be over.  Exciting and sad at the same time.  Our cluster has grown very close over the last couple months.  After we officially swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers - we will find out where we will be living, who we will be working with, and later that same day we will take the long trip (could be a 30 hour train ride) to our permanent sites.  I just hope we live relatively close to each other once we get to site. Site will consist of me and my counterpart.  No fellow volunteers. No English speakers.  Zero familiarity.  Simply "Go Time".  There is also a chance that housing will not be available at our respective sites which would mean that we would have to live with a host family in our new village/town/city for possibly the entire 2 years (gulp...).   I am sure I will do fine but I realize it will be rough for the first couple months while I get to know people and become familiar with the community.  I can now speak my mind for the most part but only if the person I am talking to has patience and is willing to listen to me slaughter their beautiful language.  lol.    But you don't get better if you don't try and I will have plenty of opportunities to try.  It is exhausting though - and after long periods of speaking Russian, my mind craves English conversations.  Well,  now it is time to work on some Russian homework, finish some paperwork, and get some much needed sleep.  I will try to have an more informative post next week.  : - )

Conor's Noteworthy noteables:

1.  My friend decided to leave.  Major bummer.  He will be missed though I respect his reasons and I respect him as a person.  Hopefully we will chill again one day.  It never ceases to amaze me how different people's paths of life intertwine with one another.   

2.  My cluster mates got me a cake for my birthday!  They rock! no doubt.  First birthday in Ukraine!  Here's to two more!

3.  Had my first haircut in Ukraine.  I am happy to report that I am still mullet free!

4.  Played more soccer in our little village.  This time we had a few more kids and some adults join us.  Good times.  Hopefully next week we will have even more. 

5.  I went to the graduation ceremony at the local school.  Interesting.  After all the high school kids graduated, they all got together outside the school and danced tell the sun came up. 

6.  The weather here is awesome and starting to get pretty hot.  I love summer. 

7.  People know me in town.  It is crazy.  I wish I was better at putting names to faces. 

Soccer

My B-Day w/ cluster

 Yes...a flower.  What?

Keep it real.

Whoohoo!  Hello again!

    We are now done with the majority of our project!  We conducted a healthy lifestyles seminar for the teachers and students in our little village and and for a few people from a youth organization in Chernigiv.  We had over 50 people show up and it went off perfectly.  I covered the dangers of drugs and alcohol complete with a skit on how to say no to peer pressure.  Pretty funny - I had a hat on all crooked, sunglasses, and an oversized smoke for the "drug".  The kids got a kick out of it and I think they learned a thing or two.  John covered some of the facts and statistics specific to Ukraine which were downright startling.  Drugs and alcohol are definitely a big problem in Ukraine.  Now for the second part of out project we are going to put together some English learning resources for the local school, Chernigiv library, and a Chernigiv youth organization.  This will include a manual on English materials development that I am working on now.  There are tons of free resources out there now if you know were to look so I am compiling these resources into a usable format. 

    We also had our site placement interviews with a few of the PC staff.  Friday was definitely a big day.  I am very curious as to where I will be working and living for the next 2 years.  Since I am learning Russian and not Ukrainian chances are that I will be far east near Russia though you never know.  I met a current volunteer that learned Russian in training and now lives near the boarder of Hungary.  Whatever - It is out of my control - I just hope I have an awesome counterpart/organization to work with.  Cross your fingers for me and we will find out in a few weeks. 

    With the hard part of out project over with, we decided to get together with some fellow volunteers and have a relaxing English speaking evening.  The other volunteers are good people - most of us quit good jobs, sold houses, said goodbye to loved ones, etc..etc.. to be able to do this - it takes a special type of person.  I find myself constantly intrigued and honored to be around such a genuinely awesome group of people.  We sat & talked at a little café/pizza place with a covered patio near the center of Chernigiv and had a great time.  We then got up early yesterday (Sat) and went to Kiev for the day.  Kiev is huge and very interesting.  I think we have the transportation down now.  We went to the Chernobyl museum, walked around the city, and observed everything over some ice cream in Independence square.  Nice day.  Today we played soccer at the local school with some school kids.  It was nice to get some exercise and not have to worry about our project or anything else for that matter.  Now I am at a little Café in Chernigiv drinkin an amazing cup of coffee.  Life is good.   [Break for skype]  I just finished chatting with my sister and parents on skype so now I have to update the blog with 5% battery remaining.  lol  I hope I make it.  Things are going great and in 3 weeks we will all move to Kiev for a few days for the swearing in ceremony then it is off with our new counterparts (business partner/coworker)   to our new sites (wherever that may be) for the next 2 years.  Wow,  I could use some luck right now.  I hope everything is going great back in the good ole USA!

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  Successfully finishing my first project in Ukraine!  Whoohoo!

2.  Meeting more current volunteers - awesome people - makes me excited to start working solo. 

3.  Had an onion salad for breakfast 3 days ago.  Bowl full of onions and mayo - mmmmmmmm.  Lucky for me I love onions.  Though my breath in language class may have been a bit rough for my clustermates.  lol  I told them later and they all agreed to smelling something during class.  hahaha  what can I say?  I ate a bowl full of onions?  What?

4.  Skyped with my sister, nephew, and step bro.  Awesome.  We will have to do it again. 

5.  After our project we went out for a night on the town with fellow volunteers.  Fun evening full of good conversation and awesome pizza. 

6.  Played soccer with some kids from the local school.  Fun time.  I have not played soccer for years. 

7.  Walked around Kiev and relaxed in the Independence Square.  Good times.  People watching is especially interesting here. 

8.  A friend had a birthday so we all went out for pastries.  good stuff

9.  Had a chicken sandwich in Kiev.  Beautiful.  A tear ran down my cheek.

10.  Gave a presentation to a large group of people about drugs and alcohol in Ukraine.  People seemed involved in the presentation and I think they all learned a thing or two.  Mission accomplished.  Now on to part two.

***Like always, click on the photo to see the large version***

Soccer at the local school in our village

The crew after the seminar (good job team!)

Cluster at the office

Me, Amy, and Cassie in Kiev

 Independence Square

Week of deadlines

Hello again,

    I have a lot of work to do and I am sick as a (insert metaphor here cuz I am too busy to think of one) so I will have to keep this post brief :-(    But on the plus side, I have a PC issued med kit so I have been able to make it to most of my obligations.  Since I last posted, I have visited Kiev which was awesome.  Kiev is the largest city in Ukraine with around 5.6 million people.  Huge contrast to my quiet little village.  At 7:20 AM on a cloudy morning we took a bus from the village to Chernigiv then on to Kiev.  Including a coffee break, it took about 2:40 min.  First impressions:  Huge, neat, spread out, and very interesting.  We arrived in the outskirts of Kiev and took a metro the the city center.  The metro warrants a post of its own but unfortunately I don't have time.  Lets just say...you know the game they used to pay to see how many people can fit in a VW bug or a phone booth - well that sums up the Metro and the Mashootkas for that matter.  It is that game being played over and over again.  lol  I may or may not have accidentally gotten to third base with at least a dozen people.  This impression seems to be mine alone which may be a result of me being from Utah where nobody uses public transportation and the rest of my cluster being from big cities in the East.  Anywho, after the metro we went to the train station to familiarize ourselves with the whole train travel process.  Cool stuff.  To travel from eastern Ukraine to western Ukraine can take over 30 hours lol.  Mental note - get a sleeper car.  After the train station we walked to PC headquarters and talked with some of the staff.  I am constantly amazed at how friendly, energetic, and motivated the PC staff can be.  Makes me want to start building schools, hospitals, or anything Ukraine may need with my bare hands.  Good people.  We then went to a Ukrainian Restaurant and had a delicious meal before doing the whole touristy thing.  We saw most of the main sites - Churches, Independence Square, Monuments, Bell Tower, Gov buildings, etc.  The churches here are absolutely beautiful - I have seen churches all over Europe and can say that the churches here are unique.  We proceeded to walk around a bit, have some ice cream, take some cool photos, then make our way back to our village by a little after 8.  Long day - awesome.  My PC friends are awesome and definitely make the whole experience more enjoyable. 

    I thought it might be interesting to write a bit about the cost of things here in Ukraine.  1 buck = roughly 8 Ukrainian Hryvnia.  You can travel by bus around the city for around 1 - 2 UAH (Hryvnia).  The 2 hour trip to Kiev cost 30 UAH.  A beer at the local store cost 4 -6 UAH.  A modest meal at a decent restaurant in Kiev is around 40 - 50 UAH and in Chernigiv probably around 25 - 45.  Inflation is a cool 15%.  My walking around $ during training is around 700 UAH per month. Food can be expensive at Restaurants but if you buy food at the local stores it is very reasonable.  Restaurants are for the most part non-existent outside the cities - I spoke to one lady that was probably in her late 50s that said she had only eaten in a restaurant once in her entire life.  When I told my HM (host mom incase you forgot) that a fellow volunteer and I ate at a restaurant she proceeded to explain that all restaurants are bad and should be avoided.  That explains why restaurants and coffee shops are so rare - not to mention that they are considered expensive and most cannot afford them.  It is difficult for us volunteers because the Café in Chernigiv is one of the only places we can meet to do work and have access to internet but at the same time we would like to avoid these places.  I jokingly call it my office.  What's a volunteer to do?  We need a place where we can all meet.

    One of the many funny situations I have encountered here happened a few weeks ago but I feel it is worth mentioning.  So...my cluster consists of 2 guys(including me) and 3 girls.  We spend a lot of time together.  Walking around the village, studying Russian, and working on our respective projects.  So I have walked all the girls home at one point or another and we have all gone on numerous walks together.  I have also visited their houses and they have visited mine.  Well...in Ukraine, if you are seen alone with a member of the opposite sex too much word will spread fast and you will suddenly be "together" before you even realize it yourself.  For example, a couple weeks ago, my HM (host mom) informed me that I am "with" one of the other volunteers and was confused that I was spending time alone with another.  I attempted to explain that we are all just friends but she insisted that NO we are in fact an "item" if you will, and she crossed her fingers in gesture to show what she meant.  She then started to lecture me on not being with too many girls at the same time and basically accusing me of being a player.  lol  I immediately started laughing uncontrollably which definitely did not help the situation but I could not help myself.  I never though that I would ever be considered a player.  Those of you that know me, know that I am anything but - so I immediately got the urge to try and explain to her, "Don't hate the player,  hate the game!"  lol   I am sure that would have been lost in translation.   

    Well, I gotta go.  We are conducting a seminar at the local school on Friday and I just found out today that we could have around 80 people attending.  Need to prepare. 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  Kiev.  I love exploring new cities.

2.  Being harassed by a random guy on a bus for being American.  I need remind myself not to feel too comfortable and keep my wits about me.  

3.  Doing certain things easily that only a month ago I found to be challenging.  We really have come a long way with both the language and the culture.

4.  Climbed to the top of a really old bell tower overlooking downtown Kiev.  Very cool.

5.  Still having "wholly shit!  I am in Ukraine" moments.  With all the stuff going on, it can be easy to get absorbed in the moment and forget to see the big picture. 
6.  Lots of random power outages that last for decent chunks of time.  Always have a plan B

****Click on the photo to see the full version****

The Crew

Awesome church

View from Belltower

View from Bell Tower

Inside of St Andrew's

Independence Square

Я Живу!!!

    So...I have been here for a while now.  I suppose I should do a recap.  I have learned a ton since we originally arrived though I feel like there is definitely a ton more to go.   I think my host mom is used to having me around because we joke around with each other a lot more now than we did when I first got there.  I now am familiar with my little village and have walked just about everywhere. The neighboring city also feels familiar.  I feel like I have seen all the major sights that Chernigiv has to offer.  I can't wait to explore more of Ukraine.  I should have some time on Wednesday to visit Kiev so that should be awesome.  Kiev is a major city complete with some western amenities - should be nice.  I will probably explore the city, visit a museum, and try to take it all in.  Hopefully I will have a few good photos to post. 

    Language skillz are coming along just fine though never fast enough.  Sometimes I feel like I am starting to get a feel for it and others I questions what the hell I have been doing with my time.  Previous volunteers have told me that this is normal and that it will come with time.  In the meantime, I have to communicate with members of the community enough to pull off a successful project so....what's a guy to do?   I will heed the current volunteers advice and try not to fret the language too much and just enjoy getting to know the culture and get used to a different way of life.  The rest will come after countless hours of trial and error language learning.  As long as you have a good attitude about it and can laugh at yourself - it will work out. 

    I had a picnic the other day with my cluster mates and a school teacher from the local school and her boyfriend.  Good time.  We setup next to a river and cooked Шашлик (shish kabobs) marinated with mayo and had a well deserved beer & some homemade wine.   Delicious.  It was nice to relax and enjoy the scenery.  We have all be extremely stressed out lately because we have so many deadlines coming up and little time to work on our projects.  Training is definitely a stressful time.  We need to learn enough to function on some sort of a proficient level in a business environment.  This not only means learning the language but also to have an understanding of the culture so that you know how to operate effectively  (i.e.. the proper way to schedule meetings, how networking works in Ukraine, the hierarchy system that they use, and acceptable ways to communicate with different groups of people).  This is all very different to how things are done is the US and will take time to adjust but we only have 3 months of training (11 weeks) so we are busy sun up to sundown all week.  It is hard to believe that we are over half way through training.  Wow!  Time flies.  Over the next couple weeks, we will complete our project, go through numerous language tests / placement interviews, and find out where we will be living/doing for the next 2 years.  Yeah - bit stressful.  They call it Peace Corps boot camp for a reason.  Well, I need to get back to working on stuff.  Let me know if there is anything particular you would like to see in this blog. 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  The town water dries up from time to time in the summer so I have had to get used to now running water and to using an outhouse.  I have never seen so many spiders in one place in all my life.  I have had some interesting late night trips to the outhouse - lol.  Lesson learned:  Appreciate your running water. 

2.  Did some laundry and hung it up on the line.  Always an interesting experience - I think I may have a decent strategy down now. 

3.  Don't shake someone's hand with a glove on or you will insult every fiber of his being and probably get punched in the face. 

4.  Don't whistle inside or you will piss off all the spirits.  (Opening an umbrella inside is fine)

5.  Don't sit on a cold surface if you are a girl because you will freeze you ovaries/eggs and not be able to have kids.   A babushka scolded my friend when she sat on a cold surface.  lol

6.  http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/ - Great site to view PC blogs around the world. 

7.  Attended my first Ukrainian birthday party.  Good times.  Amy I were thrown into the middle of a circle so that everyone can watch us dance.  lol  I busted out the "running man" and "the shuffle"  Funny night. 

8.  We had our first English club on Friday - good time.  We had over 20 kids show up so we split-up into groups and played Uno to get to know the kids and find out what topics they would like to cover. Ages 10-16.  They all spoke some English.

9.  I found a restaurant that makes burritos!  It was not your typical burrito but it was fantastic. 

10.  As a side project, I have decided to learn to read and write in Russian Cursive.  Crazy.  But after a long day of studying, it is nice to plug in the ole iPod and write the same letters over and over again. 

Comrad Con

Our Cluster + Link

BBQ Ukraine Style

1200 AD Church

We finally had a night out with some neighboring clusters.  Awesome time - awesome people.  Much needed.  Thank you all!

A moment in Ukraine

    It is 11:00 pm on a breezy Ukrainian night as I lie in bed slowly falling asleep in my little house in my little village.  While drifting to sleep, I hear the soft thuds of a horse's hooves as it pulls a cart by my bedroom window.  I feel the breeze through my open window and with it the smell of the countryside and the ever-present hint of burning garbage that I have strangely grown accustomed to.  I hear a pack of dogs in a nearby field fighting violently with loud growls and ferocious barks.  The sounds come to an abrupt end followed by a series of loud yelps which slowly get softer and softer until the circle of life for that particular dog is completed.  I think to myself, "Goodnight Ukraine." Ukraine is beautiful in it's simplicity yet complex at the same time due to the unfamiliarity of it all.  I am 25 years old living in a small village in Ukraine - I couldn't be happier.  Life is a trip - the destination is unimportant.  I finally fall asleep while random Russian words swim around in my head to the tune of the techno beat that was playing on the crowded Mashootka ride home from the city.  This is my life. 

Helpin the Helpers

Greetings from Ukraine,

    A lot has changed since my last update.  We have gotten the results back from the survey that we sent out to the community - I was happy to see a 85% response rate.  We now have a basic idea of what we can start working on though with all the other stuff going on it will be hard to devote too much time.  It is nice to finally have some goals in place in a culture that is not so goal oriented.  In Ukraine, the process is more important than the results.  We are trying to adapt to the differences but it has proven more difficult than we thought.  For example,  meetings are generally conducted over tea and coffee and sometimes the meeting can last for long periods of time without ever discussing the business at hand - resulting in yet another meeting being scheduled.  Americans get to the point/business immediately but if you do that here, you might find yourself without any business partners/cooperation.  Numerous current volunteers have told us that we better start liking tea because we will be drinking a TON of it.   Which is cool with me because I love tea and I think I will enjoy a more casual business environment though if I ever have a time sensitive issue - that might be frustrating. 

    Other than the project, I have obviously been studying Russian every day like a madman.  It is an extremely difficult language.  Я нужна изучать прусский   Did you get that?  It is fun to study though and hopefully one day I will have a clue as to what is going on around here.  lol    Hanging with my HM, HB, and their Ukrainian friends makes me want to study 24/7 because I have almost no idea what they are talking about.  They are very friendly but I may or may not be the butt of some jokes that I am completely oblivious to.  Its all good, I can take a joke especially when I don't know the details.  The diet here is a ton of carbs and some fatty meats like well umm...raw fat.  lol   so for lunch (the only meal I have control over) - I try to eat light like a banana and yogurt for example.  Apparently, only kids eat bananas and yogurt is bad for you.  Go figure.  So that makes me a 6'7" kid that eats bad food.  I think they find that hilarious and disturbing at the same time.  What can I say, I am the weird American.  When I had an upset stomach the other day, it was immediately blamed on the banana and yogurt.  I had some other thoughts as to what caused the upset stomach. 

    I went on a tour of Chernigiv yesterday with some fellow volunteers and some kids from the local school.  It was really neat talking to some of the kids - their English is way better than my Russian.  We went to some of the historic buildings and monuments in the city and toured some caves that were beneath a 1000+ year old Monastery.  Monks lived in the caves at one point and there were some skeletons - cool stuff though tall people were not meant to be in caves.  After the caves, we had a picnic with the kids then split up.  I ended up walking around the city for quite some time with a fellow volunteer - simply walking around a foreign city is one of my favorite traveling activities.  You never know what you are going to see or what cultural gem you are going to uncover.  The bazaar for example never ceases to amaze me.  You can buy anything from fruit, eggs, meat, garden tools, to computers, motorcycles, pizza, electronics.  It is crazy however, at one point someone was following a bit too close and eyeing my backpack - it pays to be careful. 

    This coming week, we will be traveling to Kiev and seeing some of the sights.  That will be awesome - I have heard nothing but good stuff about Kiev.  So much history, culture, diversity, events, things to do, and everything else - awesome.  I like living in a small village but it will be nice to be in a large city for a while.  I wish I could post all my photos but unfortunately that would take forever.  Well,  I need to start working on the mass amount of work I have to do so take care all and keep me updated on what's going on.

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

1.  Chipped my tooth on a piece of bone and filed the tooth smooth with the metal file in my Leatherman. 

2.  The name of the street I live on is similar to the Russian word for ice cream so I may have told some people that I live on Ice Cream Street.  lol

3.  Found a Pizza Joint aka  a little slice of heaven.  Fantastic

4.  Going to see the Clash of the Titans in Ukrainian - it is an action flick so you don't really need to know what they are saying right?

5.  Running our first English club on Friday - curious to see how many people show up. 

6.  Went to a restaurant/bar/nightclub in Chernigiv and took a taxi back to my village.  Fun evening

7.  Took a ton of awesome photos.

8.  A few volunteers have already gone home.  Statistics show that we will lose 10% by the end of training and then another 20% will leave before the end of the 27 months.

*Click on the photo to see the large version*