Conor's Corner: December 2010

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

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*