My first blog post in over a month, so needless to say, we have a lot of catching up to do. I am currently without internet and that is why this post has been such a long time coming. Bare with me folks. It’s going to be a long one.
In my last post, I was still living in Radaynska Sloboda and I was still a Peace Corps trainee. Not only is this post coming from my new home on the other side of the country, but I am also writing it as an official Peace Corps volunteer! Let me back up a bit though.
My last few weeks of training were not nearly as intense as I thought they would be. We had a very successful project that raised a lot of money for the school we were training at. I would have to say that the scariest part of it all was during my last week when all trainees took their Language Proficiency Interview. I will be the first to admit that I am not the quickest learner when it comes to languages. I only have a little bit of language experience that includes one year of Spanish in high school and one year of Arabic in college. I think in this case the saying “If you don’t use it, you lose it” definitely applies. So, learning Russian was a challenging, and sometimes frustrating, ordeal for me. The Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) is given by a Ukrainian Peace Corps staff member. Basically, it is a tool they use to gage how much you learned during the 3 months of training. I am one of those people who gets text anxiety, so needless to say I was a little nervous. The interview went fine, but definitely not as well as my overachieving self would have liked.
The days after my LPI were spent packing (again) and spending time with my host family. On the night before I left for swearing in, my sweet host family cooked a big delicious dinner and toasted me off to the next part of the journey. They also gifted me with some Ukrainian clothing that can be described with the word glittery. The next morning, my host papa loaded up my bags (which had multiplied by 1 due to the massive amounts of training materials the Peace Corps gives you), and took me to the bus stop where my group and I were getting picked up. It was harder than I ever imagined it would be to leave my host family. Not only had they become like another family to me, but their home had also become my home away from home during those 3 months. There were definitely tears shed by my host family and myself, but we all knew that I would be back soon for a visit. My cluster mates and I all had a hard time leaving the village we had come to know and love, but we were also very excited to be going to Kyiv. There we would find out where we would be living for the next two years, who we would be working with, what we would be doing, and we would officially be sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers!
We arrived pretty early that morning and were welcomed by the chaos that only 105 Peace Corps trainees and over 30 Peace Corps staff members could bring forth. I was immediately greeted by smiling faces and hugs from trainees that I hadn’t seen since arriving in Ukraine. Once we were all registered and settled in, we were taken into a big assembly hall. Every one of us was like a kid on Christmas morning. We were all so excited about FINALLY finding out where we would be living and working! After several technical announcements, the process finally began. The way they announced our sites was by putting a big map of Ukraine on the projector. The Peace Corps breaks Ukraine up into 10 regions. They started with region 1 and announced all of the people who were going to be living in that region. As several of my friends were called out, I couldn’t help but to get more and more anxious. I should state here that I had no preference as to where they would send me. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know enough about Ukraine to really have a preference at that point in time. All I wanted was an apartment with indoor plumbing (It’s the simple things for me). By the time they got past Region 5, my anxiety started to grow more and more. Finally, my name was called out for Region 8; the Donetska Oblast.
At that time, the only think I knew about the Donetska Oblast was that it was home to Donetsk, one of the biggest cities in Ukraine. Other than that, I was pretty clueless about my new oblast. Later, we were broken up into our regions, given our official sites, and also our assignments. We must have all still been in Chritmas morning phase as we tore through our envelopes as if they were going to disclose hot wheels and barbies. In that envelope was one piece of paper that told me the following things: 1. I was moving to a town called Novoazovsk 2. I was going to be working at a school and 3. That the school wanted me to run after-school clubs for the students. I also found out that I was going to have a site-mate in my town! I was so excited to learn this because the next nearest volunteer is about 2 hours away, so it was such a huge comfort to know that I would have another American who could show me the ropes of our town. After the initial meeting with our regional manager, we all went outside for a break. As soon as we walked outside, we saw people gathering around a map of Ukraine that had all of our names placed on our sites. When it was my finally my turn, I started at the top of my oblast and started looking for my name. After I reached about halfway down, I started thinking that maybe I had missed my name in the all of the excitement, but then I finally found my town… on the coast of the Azov Sea! That’s right everybody. This little lady is now living at the beach :) More on that in a minute.
The rest of swearing in was a mixture of long conferences and fun-filled nights. I got to see a bit more of Kiev and I even got to eat at a Mexican restauraunt (of course it was more like the T.G.I Friday’s of Mexican food, but beggars can’t be choosers). I hung out with people I hadn’t seen in awhile, and I even became pal’s with some people I hadn’t really gotten to know until then.
Me and Lydia
The Dnipro River
Just me and some pals. We kind of look like the Spice Girls here.
Me and Joe. And his finger mustache.
Me with my TCF, Vica
I left with one my counterparts the day after swearing in. She’s the director (principal) of the school that I’ll be working at. She’s wonderful and very funny. Oh and did I mention she doesn’t speak a word of English? Oh and did I also mention that we had a 17 hour train ride to get to my site? The big guy upstairs must have been looking out for me though, because their just so happened to be a woman who spoke English on the train who was more than happy to translate for us. The train ride was extremely hot, but my exhaustion from the swearing in festivities won in the end and I slept a good majority of the way. We arrived in Mariupol at 8 a.m. the next day and were taken by a taxi the rest of the way. Words can’t even describe what a hot mess I was by that point. Although I slept, I was still exhausted and the amount of sweating on the train from me and the fellow passengers could have won a record of some gross sort. I was so anxious for the ride to be quick, until I saw the sea. I have always loved the water no matter if it’s an ocean, lake, or even a small fishing pond. When I saw the water it took my breath away. It lies beyond fields of wheat and sunflowers. There were also valleys of trees and wild flowers in certain spots. I don’t know if I’ll ever see a more beautiful landscape than that. Looking at that eased most of my nerves, and I knew without a doubt that I was going to be happy here.
We arrived at my apartment, and I was immediately greeted by one of the English teachers from the school who also happens to live in my apartment building. Natasha was so welcoming and I was so relieved to have someone who spoke English to greet me. They took me up the two flights of stairs to my apartment. I should state here that I was not expecting much in the apartment area. I had heard that a majority of Peace Corps volunteers ended up in one story flats that were dreary and cold. Boy was I surprised when I walked through the door. It was huge and looked and brand new! It has a large living room (that also serves as my bedroom), a decent size kitchen, and a more than decent sized bathroom. It has a few con’s such as no hot water (Yep, you heard me), almost zero storage space, and the water has a tendency not to work some day’s during the summer, but considering some of the other places I’ve seen, these things were definitely not deal breakers. Here’s what it looks like now that I’ve been here for a few weeks.
I left with one my counterparts the day after swearing in. She’s the director (principal) of the school that I’ll be working at. She’s wonderful and very funny. Oh and did I mention she doesn’t speak a word of English? Oh and did I also mention that we had a 17 hour train ride to get to my site? The big guy upstairs must have been looking out for me though, because their just so happened to be a woman who spoke English on the train who was more than happy to translate for us. The train ride was extremely hot, but my exhaustion from the swearing in festivities won in the end and I slept a good majority of the way. We arrived in Mariupol at 8 a.m. the next day and were taken by a taxi the rest of the way. Words can’t even describe what a hot mess I was by that point. Although I slept, I was still exhausted and the amount of sweating on the train from me and the fellow passengers could have won a record of some gross sort. I was so anxious for the ride to be quick, until I saw the sea. I have always loved the water no matter if it’s an ocean, lake, or even a small fishing pond. When I saw the water it took my breath away. It lies beyond fields of wheat and sunflowers. There were also valleys of trees and wild flowers in certain spots. I don’t know if I’ll ever see a more beautiful landscape than that. Looking at that eased most of my nerves, and I knew without a doubt that I was going to be happy here.
We arrived at my apartment, and I was immediately greeted by one of the English teachers from the school who also happens to live in my apartment building. Natasha was so welcoming and I was so relieved to have someone who spoke English to greet me. They took me up the two flights of stairs to my apartment. I should state here that I was not expecting much in the apartment area. I had heard that a majority of Peace Corps volunteers ended up in one story flats that were dreary and cold. Boy was I surprised when I walked through the door. It was huge and looked and brand new! It has a large living room (that also serves as my bedroom), a decent size kitchen, and a more than decent sized bathroom. It has a few con’s such as no hot water (Yep, you heard me), almost zero storage space, and the water has a tendency not to work some day’s during the summer, but considering some of the other places I’ve seen, these things were definitely not deal breakers. Here’s what it looks like now that I’ve been here for a few weeks.
Ukrainians are big fans of couch beds
Yes, my apartment came with a piano and it just so happens that I've always wanted to learn how to play the piano.
Ukrainian's aren't big fans of counter space either it seems.
Bath friends
After settling in a bit, I was taken to the school where I will be working which also happens to be right across the street along with the sea. That’s right. I live directly across the street from the Sea of Azov! The school itself is large and has almost 700 students from first through eleventh form. The school is also celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Recently, the school was turned into a lyceum (kind of like a magnate school in the states) which is a huge honor for a school. I had an early breakfast with the director, Natasha, and Olah who is my actual counterpart. She is an English teacher who has been working at the school for a year. She is absolutely wonderful and has been such a help to me in getting a lot of things situated. They then gave me a letter from site-mate, Jessica who was away at a camp. That little sweetheart had taken the time to write me a letter and to draw me a map of our very small town! She’s a TEFL volunteer who will be done with her service in November. She’s also my age and from Tennessee (I took her being a southerner as a sign of good things). I couldn’t wait to meet her, but unfortunately I had to wait a week until she got back from camp.
I spent the rest of the day unpacking and settling into my new place. It was a great feeling knowing that I was not going to have to pack again for another 2 years. Natasha then took me on a tour of the town and to the supermarket, the bazaar, and to a couple of stores so I could buy some things I would need for my apartment. Novoazovsk definitely has that small town vibe that I am use too and it was a huge comfort to me since I grew up in a very small town myself. Novoazovsk doesn’t have much, but it has all of the basic necessities, and anything it doesn’t have is available in Mariupol (which is a big city about an hour from my town) and in Donetsk (an even bigger city that is 2 hours away).
I spent the rest of the day unpacking and settling into my new place. It was a great feeling knowing that I was not going to have to pack again for another 2 years. Natasha then took me on a tour of the town and to the supermarket, the bazaar, and to a couple of stores so I could buy some things I would need for my apartment. Novoazovsk definitely has that small town vibe that I am use too and it was a huge comfort to me since I grew up in a very small town myself. Novoazovsk doesn’t have much, but it has all of the basic necessities, and anything it doesn’t have is available in Mariupol (which is a big city about an hour from my town) and in Donetsk (an even bigger city that is 2 hours away).
Later that evening, after I had gotten as settled in as I could, I decided to walk down to the sea. All of my life, I have wanted to live by the sea or the ocean and I still can’t believe that this wish has come true. Our town is situated up on a large hill of sorts so getting down to the sea requires you to go down really long flights of steps (going down is not nearly as bad as coming up). I made it down and immediately noticed that this was different than any beach I’ve ever seen. First thing I noticed was that there wasn’t any sand. I reminded myself that just because it’s the sea doesn’t mean there are beaches everywhere. Then, I noticed the mud and concrete planks. Don’t let these observations full you. It is still a beautiful site. The water is very calm and a green color that reminds me of a lake. The sun was setting and it only made the water look even more beautiful to me. I decided I wanted to stick my toes in to see how cold it was. I go to step into the water and the next thing I know I’m knee deep in mud. I’m sure the look on my face at that moment was priceless. I was able to get out of the mud and back on to the cement plank but my poor legs and feet looked like mud monsters. There wasn’t anywhere to rinse off so I had to walk back to my apartment looking like swamp thing. It also happened that the water in my apartment was off that day. I know. What a pickle. Thankfully I had bought a jug of water at the supermarket and was able to get cleaned up. The situation definitely wasn’t funny to me at that time, but now looking back I definitely have to giggle. I learned later that the sea where I’m at is more like the coast and doesn’t really have any beaches. Also, the water only comes up to your middle unless you walk almost a mile out. The good news is that there are really nice beaches in a small town called Cedova that is only 6 miles away from me. There, the beaches are actual beaches and the water is a lot deeper. So my dream of living at the beach isn’t perfect, but it’s not crushed either.
I spent the next few days getting to know the town and in meetings with different people and organizations. I had a lot of free time on my hands so I did a lot of reading, took a lot of walks, and even tried to do some cooking in my Ukrainian kitchen. I got to meet with some of the students and talk with them about what they would like to do next year. They were all so excited to meet me and talk with me. It definitely made me excited about working with them in the fall.
After a week of not doing a lot, Jessica made it back. She came over as soon as she got back and we talked for a good 3 hours. She is so sweet and has been so helpful to me. I knew after meeting her that we were going to be good pals. I’m really excited about working with her and learning from her for the next few months. I got to work at a camp she was running last week, but I’ll have to talk about that in another post since this one is already entirely too lengthy.
Not having access to the internet has made things a little tough. I haven’t been able to keep up with a lot of people, except for some of my family, and this has caused me to feel really disconnected from my friends. Hopefully, this will all be fixed by the beginning of the month when I am supposed to finally get my internet hooked up. Having internet and being able to skype with friends and family will make things a lot better. Other than that, I really can’t complain. My schedule for the fall is still a little up in the air, but it will become more concrete after school starts. My summer is halfway over and I plan on devoting an entire post to detail what I’ve been doing with it. But for now, I just wanted you to know that I’m alive and well. Most importantly, I wanted you all to know how happy I am over here. Things have been crazy and I miss the heck out of you guys, but everything is going great. Thanks to those of you who stayed with me on this post. I promise to try and not wait so long for the next post!
By the way, I am now able to receive letters and packages at my own P.O. box in my town! I’m going to post my address in my contact info! I’m a big fan of letters, so write me J
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