Conor's Corner: December 2011

Hello all!

Ok...Today I am updating the blog. Finally. I should have done this a month ago but to be honest, it has been a bit difficult here lately and I just have not been in the mood to update anything. It has been a number of things that are causing this; the weather has been overcast for almost 2 months, it is always difficult to be away from family during the holidays, I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to plan what I want to do after Peace Corps, and most importantly my Grandma will be passing away soon and I am a million miles away and unable to be there for my Mom and my family. Brutal to say the least. Skype just is not enough sometimes. I want to go home but I simply can't afford it and the only other alternative is to end my Peace Corps service early so that Peace Corps will pay for my plane ticket but I have come so far here and so many people are relying on me that that would be devastating. My family insists that it is not necessary but (no offense) I don't believe that they would tell me that they want me to come home even if they did because they know I have come a long way here and they don't want to stop me from doing anything. It is probably a combination of all the things I stated earlier that makes me think this but I can't help but worry.

Anywho, what have I been up to over the last two months? I will try to keep things positive because I have had many great experience since I last posted even though things are a bit difficult now so let me explain. After my last post, I went on an amazing trip with my Uncle. It was great to spend time with my uncle and to catchup. The adventure started at 4:00 AM in my sleepy, cold, little town in Eastern Ukraine. I got up early to catch the first bus to Donetsk so that I would have plenty of time to catch my flight to Kiev and then to Athens. Given that public transportation is not always the most reliable thing in Ukraine, I wanted to make sure I had plenty so that I wouldn't be Ukrained (A term used by peace corps volunteers when unexpected events occur in Ukraine that stops our plans – it happens often). So, I catch a bus at 5:00 am and am surprised with how packed the bus was and was delighted to have found a seat on the bus. There was probably 50 people on a bus that was built for only 30 so I got a few stern looks for having my big suitcase with me. Lol When I arrived in Donetsk, I called a taxi only to find out that the first 3 out of 4 taxi numbers I have were not working. Lol Nice try Ukraine but I came prepared with 4 different taxi numbers. I got to the airport 3 hours early and proceeded to wait. Everything went pretty smooth from here. The flight to Kiev was a bit late but I still had a comfortable amount to time to catch my flight to Athens however they tried to make me pay extra money because my bag was overweight but thankfully, I could see how disorganized they were so when they demanded that I go to a specific person to pay a fee, I simply got on the plane. Lol I don't think my bag was overweight anyway. When I arrived in Athens, the person that was supposed to be waiting for me was nowhere in sight. No big deal, if I can get around Ukraine, Greece will be easy. I eventually found someone else that was working for the same company and insisted that they take me to where I would meet my uncle. It was great to see him again and after a brief greeting, we headed off to eat some sushi with some other people that will be our dinner mates for the rest of the trip. It was amazing! My palate has been so deprived lately, I felt like I was in heaven eating ambrosia and chasing it down with angel tears. Fantastic. I am pretty sure I gained 15 pounds on my vacation with Bob. We had a nice conversation with our table mates who were a group of ladies from Maine - married, friendly, and fun to talk to. We departed from Athens that night and headed to Santorini Greece. I remember being here many years ago but it was still breath taking. Beautiful little town on the cliffs, whitewashed, and picturesque in every direction. Bob and I took a tram up the cliff and into town though I remember walking up last time though there was lots of Donkey dropping in the path. We walked around the town, had some delicious coffee overlooking the sea, and took many beautiful photos. At around lunch time, Bob headed back to the boat so I decided to walk out of the town and into the less touristy areas. I tried to do this at every port we visited because the touristy areas are definitely beautiful and interesting but it can be difficult to get a feel for the culture and what life is really like if you don't venture out of these areas though I did get lost a few times.

After Santorini and many large and delicious meals later, we arrived at Ashdod, Israel. Israel was definitely one of the highlight of our trip. Israel has so much history, conflict, and energy that it was amazing to simply walk around, see the sights, and see everything in person. Israel has been in the news a lot so it was great to be able to see it first hand. We were in Israel for only two days but they were full days and we tried to get the most out of every minute. We toured around Jerusalem, swam in the Dead Sea, and went to the Holocaust museum. We saw many young soldiers at the museum holding large assault rifles which was weird to see because they looked like mere children but there service in the army is definitely a big part of the culture. Their training in the service not only includes extensive army training but it is also mandatory to go to the museums and learn about the history of the country and about the many different cultures and religions that reside in Israel. The Dead sea was amazing. It is the lowest land point on the planet being over 1,300 feel below sea level. It has the appearance of a desert climate and you can see Jordan from across the sea. Very beautiful but the best part was swimming in the sea. It was a very strange sensation. I would lay down on my stomach in the sea with my feet, head, and arms above the water and I wouldn't sink. You could just push off and float on your stomach, it was incredible and almost felt like flying. You could also just stand in the water without touching the ground and just float with your hands above your head with the water only coming up to your waist. It was really funny because sometime people would roll on the stomach and they would not be able to right themselves. Lol Good times.

After Israel, we headed to Limassol, Cyprus. This was another beautiful town. Followed by Iraklion Greece, Mykonos Greece, Kusadasi Turkey, and then Istanbul Turkey. Bob and I went on a quad excursion in Iraklion that was incredible (small 4 wheel individual vehicles). There was a large group of us (15 people) that went and I am sure we all had a great time. It was really fun to see the sight while doing doughnuts in a quad. Lol Good stuff. I almost tipped the quad at one point but thankfully, I am quite tall and was able to push with one leg to right myself before I tipped. Bob was hauling ass in the quad as well. I tried to follow him but he was zipping around too fast. It was great. We even stopped at a small waterfall to swim and relax for min. The waterfall was probably about 25 feet high and for some reason or another, I decided to jump off the waterfall. Probably not the smartest thing I have ever done but definitely worth it. When I hit the water, my feet touched the bottom – that could have been bad. It was weird to be back in Kusadasi and Istanbul because I was there only a few months earlier with some Peace Corps friends traveling via public transport and staying in hostels which was just a little bit different than the five star accommodations my uncle and I were staying in. lol Overall, the trip with Bob was wonderful. Some of my favolite times were when Bob and I would simply lay back in a cocktail lounge sipping on martinis or eating sushi together at the sushi bar while talking about love, life, politics, family, memories, and the meaning of the universe. Bob, if you are reading this, thank you so much for the wonderful experiences, memories, and adventures that you have been so kind to take me on over the years. I hope to someday be able to return the favor.

Upon returning from the trip with Bob,it was a bit of a shock adjusting back to my life in Ukraine. I love my life here but going from amazing trips, food, sights, and experiences with family to coming back to Ukraine where the winters are cold & dark (sun sets at 3:30) - it took some time to readjust but obviously it was well worth it. There was some good news to help with the adjustment when I returned – the grants I had writing were approved! :-) We will now be starting a newspaper for the youth in my community and we will implement an extensive HIV/AIDS project in Ukraine that will involve many different organizations, schools, and people throughout the community. I am really looking forward to starting these projects but I am a little nervous that something will go wrong because we are relying on so many different people and organizations to come together to accomplish these projects and schedules, appointments, and being on time is not a cultural strong point in Ukraine though things do tend to workout fantastically here somehow so I probably shouldn't worry. I have also been selected to be a volunteer manager for the Euro 2012 football championship in Donetsk in June! This is huge news because they had over 10,000 people apply. This will be a great experience and I really hope to include the organization I work with in my community to assist with the championship somehow. We shall see.

Thanksgiving was nice a quiet. There was a big gathering of PC volunteers in Donetsk but Danielle and I are kind of over big PC gatherings. The volunteers are great but every 6 months a group goes home to the US so every gathering has new volunteers which makes these gatherings seem a bit impersonal. I decided to take Danielle out for a nice meal at one of the few restaurants in town. We had a very nice evening and we even danced a little. It was nice and there were no other customers at the restaurant so we had the entire place to ourselves.

On December 1^{st (World AIDS day)}, my organization and I organized a HIV/AIDS awareness concert complete with a mobile testing unit from an organization in Makeevka. It was great and we attracted a lot of people. There was not as many statistics mention at the concert as I would have liked but it was still good and there was a good turnout and we were featured in the local newspaper again.

Last week I was a guest speaker at a Globalization conference at a University in Donetsk. They asked me to prepare a presentation for the conference so I decided to talk about Globalization and how it affects cultures. I gave many examples from my travels around Costa Rica, Guatamala, and South America. When I arrived at the University, I found a large banner saying “Globalization and Culture” which was comforting because I was worried that I may not have understood everything that was said over the phone. There was over 150 college students at the conference including many professors and a few deans. I was the first to give my presentation which was fine – I am now more or less comfortable in these situation so I proceeded to give my presentation (15 – 20 min) and I felt it went very well and then I got Ukrained. All of the other presentation made by other people was only about culture. People gave presentation about the American culture, some people from Nigeria gave a presentation about their culture and nobody talked at all about globalization which was the main topic of my presentation. Lol So I checked again and indeed the large banner hanging over the podium definitely said Globalization and Culture so I asked one of the professors and she confirmed that the presentation is only about different cultures. Lol Not a big deal – my presentation did have a lot of information about different cultures, everyone still enjoyed my presentation, and they thought it was interesting - I was even invited back this Saturday but I can't help but laugh about the whole situation. Current score: Ukraine 4,258 – Conor 2

This Christmas will be more laid back than last Christmas (I was in Cairo). Danielle, Johanna, Gene, Charlie, and I will meet in my community for a quiet Christmas amongst friends. It will be nice and Danielle is doing everything she can to get everyone in the Christmas spirit which includes Christmas lights, traditional X-mas food, stockings, and a makeshift Christmas tree. My Ukrainian friends will celebrate Christmas on January 7^th so while I won't be able to celebrate with the fam this year, I will have 2 Christmases! :-) We are also planning a celebration for New Years (which is bigger than X-mas in Ukraine) with the kids in my community (btw...I keep referring to my city as “my community” because I am not supposed to write the name of the city in my blog).

Conor's Noteworthy Noteables:

I received a care package from my sister and parents and I have one on the way from my loving aunt Kelly. Thank you so much!
Two of my Ukrainian friends had babies recently which mean huge celebrations. I am still recovering from one of them now. :-) Good times.
I bought Danielle a toilet seat for X-mas. Lol her's has been broken for months and she has not had the money to fix it. I will also get her something else too so don't worry. :-)
I sent a bunch of X-mas cards so hopefully it won't take 3 months to get there this time.
I have a few cards and presents from family back in the US which I will wait to open until Christmas. Thank you for your support and love. You all rock!
We have started to train a group of 50 new kids in my community at the volunteer center. They are good kids hopefully we will start a new project with them soon.
I am trying to start something with the kids from the orphanage but there seems to but a lot of red tape to get through first. It seems like we have to convince people to let us help. We already took the kids to the planitarium in Donetsk a few weeks ago and I thought it went very well. These kids have had some tough lives so I really hope we can help somehow. We are looking into starting a “Big Brothers Big Sisters” like program. Bob, I may call you soon to discuss this Idea with you.
My idea to start a woman’s rights project might be a no-go. Nobody seems to think it is an issue and I don't want to try to start a project that will push my cultural values on someone else's culture.