Two Weeks at Site

It feels like I have been on a roller coaster for the last 2 weeks.  Lots of dramatic ups and downs and unseen twists and turns.  Wow,  I can't wait for things to flatten out.  The biggest issues are still expectations - both my expectations and the expectations of my counterpart.  I don't yet know what we will be doing and how I will help other than the fact that they want me to start a business center.  I am looking into it and have been working on some possible business trainings that I can give or possibly writing a grant to setup a computer lab though these are my ideas and I am not sure if they will fly or not.  It is difficult to get any details from my coworker and since I don't know the community I am forced to assume a lot.  That can be dangerous so I am going to observe for a while until I figure stuff out. 

Other than the stressful work situation, I  had a good weekend with Amy and a nice weekend in Dobropillya with some fellow volunteers to celebrate July 4th.  I took a taxi at 4 in the morning to a neighboring city (Markeevka) to pick her up at the train station.  Everything went smoothly though the taxi driver thought I said bus station so I almost got off at the wrong place.  lol  Things went smoothly from there.  We ate Pizza for breakfast (only place open at that time) then made our way back to my city.  We had a great weekend hanging out, cooking delicious meals, and watched a movie (Hot Tub Time Machine) lol understood only 20 percent but it was fun.  We also took a trip to Donetsk to explore the Oblast capital.  It is a nice city.  We went to their amusement park and rode the Farris wheel which was interesting because when we were at the top I realized that there is a TON of rust all over this thing.  I was happy we managed to get off without incident.  We then went to a Mexican food restaurant "Taquila Boom" - it was good though not your typical Mexican food.  I showed Amy the office and we had a BBQ with my counterpart and his wife.  It was a very nice weekend and it was awesome to have another American's prospective on my situation.  I dropped Amy off at the train station and made it back to my site via taxi.  This taxi driver ripped me off a little because I am American and do not know the language very well.  This was discouraging but lesson learned - reaffirm the price over and over again.  He wanted an extra 15 Grev - I argued with him a bit but I was not going to get into a fight over roughly $2.00 USD.  Still, that's messed up. 

This last weekend I woke up early and took the hour long bus ride to Donetsk where I met up with a volunteer and had breakfast.  We then made our way to a bus station on the other side of the city where we took another bus to Doborpillia (1:30).  We had our own little 4th of July party complete with BBQ, fireworks, and we even found some Miller Light.  lol  It was a good time.  8 American's showed up - 7 volunteers and 1 Fulbright scholar.  It was nice to be able to understand an entire conversation and just relax.  I think the Ukrainians were a bit confused about the fireworks though we did explain it was our independence day.  It was good to meet some of the other volunteers in our region.  They were all YD (youth development) and TEFL (English Teachers) so they had very different situations (they have some structure)  than I do.  Good people - good times. 

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables: 

1.  Amy visited.  Good times.  Very nice. 

2.  Numerous intense discussions via google translator with my Counterpart.

3.  First overnight solo travel.  Always an adventure

4.  Sleeping on the floor at a fellow volunteers Apt for the 4th of July.  I woke up with 30 bug bites.  yikes

5.  Slowly figuring out different meal options and how to properly handwash my clothing.  I would kill for something as easy as a hotpocket right now. 

6.  Talked via skype with my sister in an Internet club.  Headphones did not work so I had to use the speakers.  People were very intrigued with our English conversation.   

7.  Mexican food in Ukraine.  Different but a nice change of pace. 

8.  Explaining to Ukrainians why I am here.  Some of them find it hilarious that an American is way out here in Eastern Ukraine.  Usually a pretty funny conversation. 

9.  Tomatos.  Deeeeelish.  taste like home grown tomatos. 

My Office Building

Park in Donetsk