First Week at Site

Hello Everyone,
So, I have been at site for a little over a week.  I have gotten lost, walked around the entire city, had 2 BBQs, watched a movie at the movie theater, met tons of different organization, and have been thinking about possible projects to work on.  It will be difficult to find ways that I can help and what projects I can work on but I am sure with time - it will work out.  It is difficult to manage expectations though because my organization wants results yesterday but they don't know exactly what they want.  Managing my own expectations and those of my counterparts/partner organizations will be first on my list of things to do.  They expect soooo much from me and I don't even know the language yet.  Yikes.  I also desperately want to help with anything and everything that I can help with but don't know what is needed and what I can help with.  Everyone has be extremely welcoming and nice - it makes me want to help with everything but right now I simply don't know how I can help - very frustrating.  I want to repay everyone's kindness by pulling of an amazing project but I just don't know what project yet.  Things simply operate differently here - all my business knowledge does not seem to apply here so I will have to be creative.

Then I will need to figure out how to communicate effectively.  My Russian has gotten much better over the last week due to not being able to speak any English but I have a long way to go before I feel comfortable with everyday conversations.  The main project that I will be working on right now is setting up a business center.  I will be conducting a variety of trainings among other things.  It will be interesting to say the least.  During the summer, it may be difficult to attract interested community members.  I also want to start an English club for anyone that is interested as a way to meet people, find out the needs of the community, learn the culture, and network.  So far I have found 5 adults that are interested.  That will be a good start considering that I am not a teacher but I have spent the last 11 weeks in Russian language classes so I can use those methods and resources to teach.  It will be fun.  I will also be creating a website for the community probably to promote tourism and to provide news and info on what is going on in the community.  The exact details are yet to be determined.  It is extremely difficult to pin down exact details - part because of the communication barrier and part because of me not knowing how things work here.  I keep explaining that I simply need time to learn the community, people, and way of life but that message never seems to be understood.

Anyways, other than work - I have been spending a lot of time with my counterpart going to different businesses, gov buildings, museum, meeting tons of people, having BBQs, etc..etc..  It has been extremely interesting if not a bit overwhelming.  This weekend is a holiday weekend so we have Monday off - I am sure I will be doing something I have never done before but I won't know what I will be doing until 5 min before I am doing it.  Thats just how things go here.  For example, I will be working when my counterpart calls and tells me to go outside and get in a car and then bam - I am off on another unknown adventure.  lol  Or I will be meeting a high gov official and suddenly a piece of furniture will open up to reveal a large bottle of something where it is tradition to take 3 consecutive shots.  lol  Or I will be having a cup of coffee outside the Palace of Culture (where my office is located) and suddenly find myself touring a truck and tractor factory 15 min outside of town.  I never know what the day has in store for me.  Lucky for me, Amy is visiting for the weekend - it has been awesome.  Friday at 4 in the morning I took a 30 min taxi to a neighboring city (Markeevka) to pick her up at the train station.  That was an adventure - I am glad we made it safe and sound.  We had to navigate an unknown city and find the bus station then take the correct bus back to my city.  It is nice to have her around to help digest some of the random stuff that happens.  The culture is just so different - I thought I had an idea of how things worked when i was in training but turns out, I have only scratched the surface.

We are planning on taking a bus to Donetsk tomorrow to explore the city.  Donetsk is the Oblast (Similar to a state) capital w/ a couple million people.  That will be fun and yet another adventure.  I hear there may or may not be a Mexican food restaurant somewhere in the city.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I hear it is pretty good too.  Then we will see the sites and walk the city.  I am looking forward to it.  Something may or may not come up between now and then which will take up our time but I am sure whatever we do will be fun.

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables: (no particular order)
1.  Amy is here!  Awesome
2.  Survived my first week at site.  It will take time to learn how to live and work here - I am excited, still a bit nervous, and overwhelmed at the same time.
3.  Met tons of important people in the City.  Very interesting.  They all seem to wonder what an American is doing way out here.
4.  My sister will be having a daughter within the next month!  Super excited to finally see photos of her.
5.  Still trying to find out how I will be contributing to my organization here.  Extremely stressful - I desperately want to help but I don't know how yet.
6.  Millions of awkward situations.  It is starting to feel awkward to feel comfortable.  lol
7.   Trying out all the different places in my community.  People seem to be perplexed that there is an American living in their community.  Makes me laugh.
8.  Havin a coffee in the morning on my balcony that overlooks the bazaar.  Always interesting people-watching.
9.  Hand washing my cloths.  Is it clean?  Who knows.  But it doesn't smell so it is good enough.

I hope all is well in the US -  I will try to post photos when I have time.