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