First trip to Kiev

Okay, first off, before I start talking about my day in Kiev, I'd like to share what my friends and I found in Chirnigiv- a Singing Fountain.

That's right. . . it's a singing fountain! Singing Enya! AND, it lights up at night, and the water spouts to the rhythm of the music. How fantastic! Granted, the city's in a bit of a budget crunch, but really, who doesn't want a singing fountain? I sure do!

Onwards to Kiev. Yesterday out cluster went to Kiev. It was a day that began at 6 in the morning and ended late that night. Chirnigiv is about and hour and a half away from Kiev by bus and 30 hryvnas each way (about $4). Granted, on the salary we're making, 30 is a huge number, but it was totally worth it. We arrived in Kiev and Olya gave us a scavenger hunt to get around the city. I was responsible for getting us from the bus stop to the metro stop we needed to get off at. I figured since I can navigate my way around the New York City subway system, 3 lines should be a piece of cake, right? Well, what I didn't take into account is that everything's written in Cyrillic (duh). It really didn't take that long to figure everything out, and we got to the metro stop near the Peace Corps office just fine. This office, for the record, is amazing! It's 4 floors, the top being dedicated to the volunteers, with a TV and DVD player, couches, a book lending library, a "give and take" box (full of clothes and stuff from people who have left or don't want something anymore), and an internet room with 6 or 7 computers. The building is also where all the staff is, and the Peace Corps cars (all 8 of them). I tell you, if I could live in the office, I would. It even has a shower. We showed up and a bunch of people from the group that just completed their service were chilling there, waiting to get on their travel road or whatever, so we got to chat with them.

And then, our group was off. I actually had to stay because I had to go to the US Consulate to get some paperwork notarized (damn student loans). THAT was an experience as well! Never have I ever gone through such a microscope to get into an Embassy before. I literally had to drink a sip of my water, give the security guards my electronic devices, which I wouldn't see again until I was leaving, and go through 2 metal detectors, as well as be searched. But it didn't take that long because I was an American so could skip the line of people waiting to get into the Consulate. Proud to be an American, baby! Anyways, I get to the American Citizens Office, where, of course, no one is on line, so I think I'm golden. WRONG! I have to find witnesses to sign my power of attorney! Not easy to do when no one's around. Finally, I convince this guy and his soon to be Ukrainian wife to sign the paper and then have to pay. Well, wouldn't you know, the woman who's collecting the money is on a 15 min break. . . . for a half an hour! Shocker. So it takes longer than I expected. All the while, my poor Peace Corps driver is waiting outside (the Peace Corps wouldn't let me walk to the Embassy so I got a driver). Finally, I'm done, everything's signed, paid for, and ready to roll, and I'm about to be dropped off at the closest metro stop to try and navigate my way around the city back to my cluster when the driver starts talking really fast in Russian, saying that he's going to drive me to where I need to go because he doesn't think I'll be able to figure out the metro system. I was kinda bummed about that, but whatevs. No biggie.

The rest of the day was spent walking around Independence Square, going to St. Michaels and St. Sohpia Cathedrals (where I'm already convinced my parents are going to want to stay when they visit. Super cool hotel right next to the cathedrals), and walking around the park right behind the St. Michael's cathedral. I have a lot to learn about Russian Orthodoxy. I'm determined to come back not only knowing all the Catholic Saints on the walls of a church, but the Russian Orthodox ones as well.

Moral of the story was, by the time I got back, I was pooped! What a successful day of sightseeing!

To see my pics of Kiev, check out my Picasa site.

Russian Conversation

Just wanted to share my excitement in the fact that I actually carried on a conversation in Russian with my taxi driver last night! It was amazing! Pretty soon I'm going to be like these guys (one can only dream)

It's Easter! Put on Your Fat Pants!

Today was Ukrainian Easter, which was so fascinating! It started last night when 4 of Galya's previous Peace Corps Volunteers came into town to stay the weekend. So we were all hanging out in the kitchen, helping Galya cook. She looked so happy to have everyone back! It was so nice! I went to bed early to prepare for today, even though I had no idea what was going on. I was told to be ready and dressed by 9am, so I was, and went down to help Galya finish the cooking. I was supposed to put this amazing garlic/cottage cheese concoction on bread, and then "lightly" spread butter on some other bread. The first went off without a hitch. The latter- well, let's just say that "a little" in Ukraine really means a slab. It took me 10 minutes to butter one piece of bread because every time I thought I was done, I was told that I needed more!

The spread for meal number 1 (brunch)

Anyways, then, around 10am, began the drinking. Now, let me just say upfront that in comparison to the other volunteers' stories that I heard, 10am is late. One girl, Catherine, started drinking cognac at 7am. They love their cognac here! So we were all sitting around the table, me not understanding a blessed word of what's going on, and so I just kept eating the amazing Easter bread that was brought/baked. Oh, and drank, because with every meal you're supposed to toast 3 times. Which means that over the course of the day I had 9 glasses of wine (thank god it wasn't vodka), and a beer in the afternoon, but I digress.

Easter Bread (really sweet, tastes like babka)

Wait wait. . . there's more. That was only meal one. Afterwards, we went into the garden and the men took shots of cognac while the women watched on. . . a very interesting and old fashion tradition. Then came tea. And 3 more toasts. Olya, my language teacher, came over for that. . . but then had to bail. And then more Easter bread. After that, when we were exhausted from eating, we all went for a long walk, as is tradition. Right near my house there's a forest that's not as big as Prospect Park, but big enough that you could definately get lost. And it's literally just a natural forest in the middle of the city. The best part is that there are no bar-b-quing laws here, so everyone and their mother goes into the forest on Easter to make kabobs (what they call shashlik). I've never seen so many people in a park before. And it's a beautiful forest! Complete with old graveyard in the middle! When everyone (including the grandparents) were tired from walking, they went home to nap and I went to meet up with some volunteers and drink in the park. Oh, did I mention that you can carry open bottles and containers of anything anywhere? How great is this country?!

And then the last meal, which was just as good. This is the point in my story when I should recieve mad props for trying salo (salted lard) and meat jello, which I'm pretty sure is called Haladeitz, both of which are Ukrainian national dishes, both of which I will not be having again. But I tried. And then I felt my heart curse under its breath. I was told today that everyone should eat a little bit of butter or salo a day because it keeps your energy level up. Of course, I don't think I believe that, but I DO believe that being here and eating only organic food had tremendously helped my stomach. It hasn't hurt since I've been here, which is seriously amazing and surprising (apparently the more unprocessed the food, the better for the tum-tum!

All in all it was a great day! It ended with Grandpa lecturing me on how I need to learn Russian so that he and I can communicate and that's why I have to go upstairs and study. So I went upstairs, but clearly am not studying. Good end to the day. At least I didn't end up like Rachel, who called me and goes, "I'm drunk with my family in a village that's not Chirnigiv, and don't really know what's going on". At least I was in Chirnigiv.

The family (left to right: Karen, Don, Me, Sergei, Galya, Nastya, Grandpa, Grandma, Megan) Karen, Don and Megan are all previous volunteers who stayed with Galya

The men drinking in the garden

Viva la Futbol!

Today was a real experience. First off, it was "cooking day" during language class, so the whole cluster was supposed to cook something Ukrainian and speak Russian while cooking to practice verbs and stuff. Our group, being the hippies that we are, decided to go to the nearest park, start a fire, and bar-b-q. I felt like I was camping in the woods somewhere! You'd all be proud-my girl scout skills came out in full force. There are pictures that I'm sure will one day end up on Facebook with a witty caption of some sort. So, after the picnic and realizing that we wreaked of smoke, we had to go visit a local non-profit organization. This one was seriously a good one. It deals with disabled kids in the city and advocates for disabled rights (because there are none). So after wanting to cry because I felt for this organization and felt their passion, Rachel and I decided it was time to drink. We were supposed to meet the other young cluster, as well as my language teacher at the soccer stadium because we were going to see a game, but had about and hour to mess around. So we took the bus to the stadium, bought 2 beers off the street, plopped down on the grass in the park next to the stadium, and drank. Ps. there's no open bottle law here. You can drink wherever out of whatever you want. New Orleans has got nothing on Ukraine! And then it was time for the soccer match. This team was actually the second level league in Ukraine. Kiev Dynamo, who plays in the European League, is in the premier league, and then these guys. No joke, I felt like I was at a high school school game. The level of play was okay. Not great. But the fans were amazing! There was a whole section who cheered the entire game with their shirts off, and there was even a cowbell coming from somewhere! AND, to make things even more "culturally interesting", all the women were wearing heels.

Linsday, Me, Rachel, Sasha and Elizabeth at the game

Sidenote- whoever thought that men ruled the world are sorely mistaken. Not only do women rule in terms of the house (seriously, ladies, matriarchy is the way of life. Fear the babuska.), but they rule the cities too- in heels. These ladies can walk around in 3 inch high super think heels and never trip. Even on cobblestone! Olya (my language teacher) says that she can't walk in non-heels. Which means that us switching shoes for the fun of it would leave us both in wheelchairs. But this is coming from someone who's indoor shoes (everyone takes off their shoes when entering a house and puts on indoor shoes or slippers) are heels. It's very impressive all around.


Back to my evening- the game was awesome. And then me and the crew when to a local bar to drink and chat for a while. The only downfall was that by the time we all had to go home, none of the buses were running, so I had to get a taxi to drive me 10 mins, which was pretty expensive by Ukrainian standards. The only good point about that was they played lovely Eurotechno in the car (blasted it really), so it all turned out okay.

Ukraine is to vodka as Germany is to lederhosen

Last night, Rachel’s host sister was turning 21, so she invited us over to pre-game and then go to a disco. First, off, let me say this (and believe me. . I never thought this could be more true)- once people start drinking, it doesn’t matter what language you speak. . . you’re going to understand each other. There were 4 Americans there, all from my cluster (language group), and we were those awkward people hanging out in the corner while everyone was getting ready. I swear, they were about 20 times WORSE than anyone I've ever met when it came to the amount of time it took them to prep to go out. AND, they get twice as made up than anyone I've ever known. . . . . Maybe that's why it takes them twice as long? Who knows. Moral of the story is this- you step outside here, you better be made up from head to toe and look presentable. Because if not, you're a shlub. And I, my friends, am totally a shlub- I'm cool with that.

Anyways, back to the story. . . . then the vodka shots began. Sidenote: For those of you who remember me from high school, you remember the last time I took vodka shots. For those of you who didn’t know me, let’s just say that vodka isn’t my strong suit. Ok, back to the story- vodka shots. I got up to 4, and then stopped. There was one kid in my cluster who got up to 6 or something. I think I asked at one point to one of the Ukrainians how many shots he’s had, and he goes, “we don’t count. We just drink.” Oh, and while the party started with no adults around, it ended with the host mom coming home and hanging out with us, drinking a few shots, finding one of the couples doing bad stuff on her bed, and kicking some people out. This was all before 12:30am, mind you. By the time that happened, it was only me and Rachel representing the Americans, and everyone wanted to talk to us and was very impressed that we were still there. By the time I left, we were still hanging out at the apartment, 2 shot glasses has been broken, there had been about 5-10 party fouls (shockingly, none of them were by me), and people were checking out my new rad “going out” sneaks that I had purchased that day at the bizarre for $20. They’re pretty.

Here are some pics (I don't have my own because while I own a camera, apparently I refuse to use it. . . it doesn't fit in my pants. So I stole Rachel's pics- hope she doesn't mind!)

Cheersing the birthday girl

Me, Jason and Elizabeth (my cluster mates)

Rachel (on the left), Alona (the hairstylist who will be cutting my hair and who I desperately want to be my friend), and Sasha, the guy that Rachel's host mom is trying to set her up with- matchmakers aren't just a Jew thing, apparently

Random pic and the only one I took: My host family's dog. I'm obsessed.

Highlights from the Party
-My name being “Jessee-ka”, because apparently Jessie is not a name here.
-The birthday girl’s mom coming in and smoking hukah with us
-Me trading English lessons for free haircuts with the birthday girl’s sister (who, for all intensive purposes, could be a Williamsburg hipster transported to Ukraine)
-Me actually remembering all the night’s events and not getting sick from the vodka (yay me! MAJOR feat!)
-Rachel and I finding out that “cake” in Ukraine is really more of a big cookie, and kind of tastes like astronaut food.
-Rachel and I making a lot of Ukrainian friends- which just goes to show you what drunk people can accomplish.
-Me making the best analogy ever about Ukraine and vodka. That is the title of this blog. Enough said.

Week One- DONE!

Whew! What a rough week! I'm not used to waking up at 6:45 in the morning for anything, nonetheless class. I feel like I'm in high school again! For those of you who totally skipped reading previous entries, I live about an hour's walk from Russian class. Class starts at 8:30. Meaning I leave the house at 7:30, because I want to walk as many places as possible (get some exercise, you know?). That means that I probably walk about 4 miles a day. Which also means that those "when I was your age, I had to walk 4 miles every day in the snow to school" stuff won't work on me anymore, because I've been there, done that.

Anyways, so the first week of training is done. It's interesting, to say the least. First off, out of the 50 Community Development volunteers, there are about 10 that are under 35. Which in and of itself is a little bit of an issue, because the rest of the people are older and retired and can't hear very well and need things repeated about 20 times. AND, aren't catching on. . . to anything. I try to cut them some slack because honestly, I think it's very admirable and great that they're doing the Peace Corps at their age, but sometimes I just want to go up and make sure they understand what exactly is going on and what they (and we) are doing here. It's a generational gap, I know, and I know I'm not being as tolerant as I should be, but I just wanted to share my frustration.

That's number one. Number two- Politics of the Peace Corps Ukraine and training. So the trainings are run by Ukrainians. I get why (because they know Ukrainians better than anyone), but at the same time, there are no American counterparts whatsoever helping facilitate trainings. Which means that when one of the trainers says, "I know how you feel to be a volunteer in a foreign place", and of course they don't, it leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth. Not to mention that the entire time that they are trying to tell us to keep an open mind about Ukrainian culture and not to judge or compare to American culture, they sure do a lot of judging and comparing. They have these awesome preconceptions that all Americans are a certain way, and are often surprised if you're not, in fact, that way. And, to make things even more frustrating, they talk to us like we're idiots. I feel very conceded for saying this, but the training part of this week (language class excluded) is seeming very elementary. Granted it's only the first week, but still. There's a lost of "what is a community, and how do we organize it" discussion, which I'm sure is helpful to some people who have never done this sort of work before, but actually kills brain cells for others. I'm tempted to speak up and suggest maybe splitting the class into two groups (and advanced and less advanced group), but I'm scared of getting red flagged on the first week. My friend Rachel and I keep joking about how one or both of us are going to get kicked out pretty quick for speaking our mind.

And somehow, in lieu of all of these frustrations with the trainings, I'm still loving being here. Chirnigiv itself is a pretty cool town. Rachel's host sister's 21st birthday is tomorrow night so she invited all of our cluster (5 of us in total) to go out with her and her friends tomorrow night. That should be super fun. Plus I think I'm going to explore the caves that are underneath the city on Sunday. AND, I still heart my language teacher, who is so Western in thought that she could almost be American. I've definately found people to hang out with and be comfortable and myself around, and am starting to not only learn my way around the city, but learn Russian as well. I can read and even say some sentences! In only the first week! Eat that Spanish (for those of you who remember my 5 year battle with Spanish that ended in me getting kicked out of class and never coming back, this is going much, much better).

One more note: I've been told by many people, Ukrainian and American, so just keep my mouth shut about my constructive criticism towards the program, get through training, and all will be well. Any takers on starting a pool to see how long the "shutting my mouth" thing will last? Anyone? Anyone?

My host mother was so cute today. I got home from my lessons and training and walked into the kitchen, and look what I saw!

That’s right. . . not only were there pumpkin pancakes waiting, but there were also study guides with all the foods necessary to get around the market on the wall! She had created this little study area for me in the kitchen, since she noticed that I like to hang out in there and do my homework (apparently that’s what my desk is for, but who needs a desk when you’ve got a kitchen table? I was always told that the kitchen is where the action is. Couldn’t agree more!) So now whenever I’m in there eating, drinking tea, or whatever, I can blank stare at the wall and actually learn something! SO EXCITED!

Next blog conversation. . . . mullets. . . and how they never get old. Especially here! You think I'm kidding.

Water main break! Oh boy!

So today I was concerned because a water main had broken about 2 blocks from where I live. The pipes in this city are 60 years old. Before then, most people didn't have running water and had to go to wells to get their water. But since then, the government hasn't had money to replace the pipes as needed, which means that the pipes burst or have issues all the time. So I spent all morning scrambling to collect every large container we had in order to fill them up, just in case they turned off our water to fix it, and who knows when the water would come back on. Luckily it was a false alarm, and it was our block that's affected, so we're in the clear. . . for now.

A little more about my day. Today, Galya, my host mother, took me on a long walk into town. I have to be able to get to my language teacher's on my own tomorrow, so she wanted to show me how to walk there. It was actually a nice walk. Then on the way home we stopped in a few supermarkets so I could try to find some food for lunch this week. We actually found everything at the bizarre near our house. The bizarre is great. It's all local products, all organic and no chemicals added, and Galya knows the places to go to get the best deals. So I got a half a kilo of rice, a loaf of fresh bread, a chunk of cheese, and 5 apples for about 20 hryvnas (about 2 dollars). Amazing! I think I'm Galya's little project, and she's determined to get me to learn Russian. Galya was making me order all my own food too, so I had to learn the numbers today. It's nice to have someone who was a teacher who will push you (I've been studying for the past 2 days), but also help you out. She also tells me about the history and culture of Ukraine and Chirnigiv in particular during our walks, and since you all know that I'm a history buff, I find every little detail fascinating.

Nastya, the daughter and I finally bonded. I was afraid that I would be able to relate to an 11 year old girl, but it turns out that she's this hyper little kid who can't sit still and needs to constantly be moving. Sound familiar? We finally bonded over soccer, when I heard her playing inside the house. So, naturally, I started playing along. We actually went to the park (which is about 5 mins away and is really a forest) with Galya and their dog Don to play soccer this afternoon. That girl has so much energy! Galya says that Nastya can keep herself busy all the time with close to nothing, so I gave her a Slinky I had brought. She never puts it down! We also played Uno last night in an attempt to get me to learn the colors. I failed at that, but won anyways, so it's okay :)

Anyways, time to go eat (again). Better to be full than hungry, as they say here.

I made it!

Hey all!

Just wanted to let everyone know that after 24 hours of travelling (from the time we left Philly to the time we got to our training site) consisting of 2 bus rides and 2 planes, I finally got to the training site 2 days ago.   The people on the trip seem super cool for the most part.  There are people from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii, although most of the people are from either the Mid-West or the DC area.  What's with everyone I know originally being from DC?!  Craziness. Anyways, for orientation we stayed in this old Communist spa that they called a sanatorium, where rich people would go back in the 80's to drink herbal teas and get remedies that would make them feel more relaxed.  Of course, it hasn't been a really nice spa in over 20 years, so it was super run down and dingy, but that's okay.  It was a good intro to the country and what to possibly expect.  And yes, lots of soup and potatoes.  And chicken. And, of course, cabbage.  But really, it reminds me a lot of all the Jewish foods I grew up eating, except more bland.  Which honestly, I kinda like.

Okay, so remember when I said that I don't know much about what's going on?  I'm starting to find out more.  So here's what I know.  . . after a few months of trying to teach myself Ukrainian, I was informed yesterday that I will instead be learning Russian.  Which means I'm going East in 3 months.  Still don't know where, but it's a start.  I just got to my host family's house, where, I have to say, I am totally hooked up!  The house is on the outskirts of the Region Capital or Chirnigiv.  My host mother took me on a walking tour of the area they live in, and it looks kinda like it's own little village.  She speaks English, which is great for me (I totally lucked out), although in a way I'm a little disappointed because I would have loved to learn Russian super quick by not understanding my host family.  They also have hosted 5 volunteers before me, so the excitement was less than I anticipated.  Still, they're super nice and are treating me well, and my host mother promised to help me with my Russian, so I'm happy.  The town itself is pretty nice!  There's a river a few blocks away, and a market where you can get fresh produce.  It's about an hour walk to the center of the city, which I will have to do every day in order to get to my language classes, which are at my teacher's house.  But, for all the modern amenities (including wireless internet), I'm totally not complaining.  It's interesting, because if you walk down the street they live on (which is a dirt road), you'd totally not think that when you walk inside there's this cute little world.  It kind of reminds me of a larger sized Manhattan apartment with an upstairs, which I have entirely to myself.  No joke.  I told you I was hooked up!  It's pretty sweet!  Check it out (the bottom one is the view from my room)!