I just arrived home after having three quarters of a scilian style pizza made by none other than Jud! I haven't eaten like that in a few weeks and it was delicious!

Tomorrow it is time to do some real work. September is here, school is back in and that means everyone returns from vacation and rest and starts working. I was so gung ho about getting to work when I got here, however, I have adapted quickly to the laid back lifestyle and if September 1st never got here that would be ok with me!

Last night I saw my first Konotop soccer game. Apparently, the cities in our oblast play against each other and last night we played Romni. We won 1 / 0. We took the girls (Lana, Vikka and Mosha). They are leaving for University to Kiev and we will only see them on weekends now. Very sad!

I visited a new center last week. I went to the Center for the Blind and Disabled and met with Evgenny again. He is such a wonderful man. He is blind and just so full of joy and compassion and he really wants to help people like him. And he wants my help and I want to find a way quickly to help him. I met a few other people while I was there and a man named Vladimir was there. He just finished publishing a book of his own poetry and after knowing me for 5 minutes he autographed his last copy over to me. Publishing books in this country isn't cheap and for him to give that to me as a gift was just amazing. All of his poems are in Russian so I can practice reading with it. I am truly thankful for such a gift.

I visited Alla last week and she has so many plans for me. I think I have been adopted by the Unemployment Center to do a lot of things. I may not be doing much with my host organization. I will pretty much go there to do research which is difficult because the internet doesn't work often but besides that I am pulled in a 100 different directions right now so I will need to focus my efforts if I want to get anything done. Alla is just a really great woman and she likes me a lot. We are hanging every monday night at her house too for Russian/English language exchange. I will be teaching English at her center for a few weeks and I am doing a Resume Writing workshop in September at her office. I have work to do!

The Ride of My Life

So today is Ukrainian Independence Day. Everyone was off from work and my counterpart's son just returned from Russia so we went to the River to celebrate his birthday. No one really does much for Independence Day this side of Kiev. You have to be West of Kiev like Kiev or Lviv to enjoy Independence Day. They are really big into it. I will be there next year I guess.

So anyway I met Jud at his home this afternoon and Oksana picked us up from there to head to the river. It has cooled off quite a bit in Ukraine since the last few weeks were so hot so I didn't take my bathing suit. Actually I didn't even know where we were going until I met Jud at his home. I was prepared to go to Oksana's home but I was wrong yet again! It happens alot.

So we hop in the van. Now this van is a car that I have been in quite a few times so far. It is quite bumpy and there is no where to sit inside because we usually have a whole bunch of people we are transporting to and from. Well people in America pay for this kind of amusement let me tell ya! Now the roads in Ukraine are not very good. The main roads are normally paved but not maintained but a few miles from any kind of city and you are pretty much riding on dirt. And the road to the river is basically tire tracks in the middle of an uneven field. So we are bumping along as usual and we get to the spot where we want to set up our picnic and Toleg (Oksana's husband) is trying to park the vehicle in a good spot but we catch a hill from the back and he can't seem to get out of it. Well Jud is sitting on the only back seat that we have in this vehicle with Oksana's father who is also well into his 60s. All of a sudden after one of the many attempts to get up the hill the seat falls back onto the floor and Jud and Mikail go with it. I didn't have time to take my camera out and I was laughing so hard that I wouldn't have been able to function the camera anyway. The look on their faces was priceless and the laughing ensued for quite some time after. AWESOME!

We had a nice chat with Oksana's father. He lives in Russian and was in the Soviet Army during the cold war. He actually helped with the production of rockets which was just really intersting. Can you say you know someone from the Soviet Army during the Cold War that helped build rockets? It is pretty cool. There is so much history here it is just amazing to be in the middle of it. So we tried our Russlish with him for a while but that is what we got out of it.

We went fishing for rock after that which is crab aka crawfish or lobsters. I am not sure because some of them are small and some are big. There was also muscles in the river which I didn't know they had. We had lots of food as always and shashlik. Yum but I am so full. Jud made a blueberry cake for Maxim's bday which was amazing. It is hard to get real cake here. They like this crunchy stuff in their cakes and it isnt moist. Jud made a real cake and it was delicious. And of course we didn't forget the vodka and the cognac.

The ride back was like another roller coaster ride only no one fell over this time. It will be a full moon tomorrow!

The Red Sweater

The last week most of PCV 38 and a few others spent a week in Kiev for IST training. We learned about volunteerism and how to incorporate it into our projects. It was very interesting and helpful. I got a lot of ideas from the training. It was really good to see everyone that we hadn't seen in a few weeks but it was almost as if we had never left.

Some of us stuck around for the weekend to hang out in Kiev. I have been there a few times but never really saw the city. We were all so tired from the week of drinking that we stayed in and watched movies. We had a few birthdays we had to celebrate this week so it was a rough one.

The red sweater comes in because the temperature dropped so much in 24 hours. We had all packed shorts and tank tops because we have been experiencing a heat wave for the last few months and the temperature literally dropped 30 degrees in a few hours. So when we stopped off at the PC office on Friday I went fishing in the box of clothes from other PCVs and found a big, warm, very red sweater. It was just hideous but it was warm and I wore that thing all weekend. And I brought it home as a memory of the weekend.

We went to the WWII memorial in Kiev but we didn't get there in time to go into the museum or the caves under the church but now I know where to find them. They aren't very close to a subway stop so it took quite a long time to get there. The memorial is situated along side of the Dniper so it was a beautiful place to just sit and start out into the landscape.

I had a visitor this week. Andrea came to visit me so we could talk with the Jewish ladies on Thursday, my favorite past time. It was fun having her here. But when she left it was sad. I am always sad when someone leaves. The Jewish ladies dont want me to sit there anymore they want me to read or do something in Russian so I can practice and they don't feel bad for haivng me sit there and stare at the wall.

I visited the kids at the center on Thursday and Koala was there. I found out that he is a gypsy. He has been with me twice now so he is warming up to me. I like visiting the kids. Dima was there too and we sung some karaoke together. It was fun. It will get better when the kids come back from vacation.

Thursday I also met with Evgenny. He is the director of the organization for the blind and disabled. I will be working with them too. I think somehow my counterpart wants me to work with every organization that is in Konotop. Which is quite fine with me if I can just figure out what to do with all of these people. TIME..TIME...PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE. I still have not learned this!

Friday night I met up with my tutor for some tutoring! She invited me to hang out with her friends after which was super fun. We hung out in the woods by her house and had some piva (beer). It was fun to hang out and feel like I have a social life. I even do pretty good at conversing with them. My Russian will be excellent in a few months if I keep this up! I went home in a cab and the cab driver spoke a few words of English too. He was funny. I got home about midnight...

Saturday I woke up at the ripe ol time of 445am!!! My counterpart invited me to a "fair" today in Myropilia which is about 3 1/2 hours away. I had no idea what i was getting into as is most situations here. So I arrive at her work at 6am and there is a passenger bus there with oh about 25ish people on it. Apparently, this little excursion was put on by the mayors office and some of them are going as well. So we head to Myropilia and its not a fair but a big bazaar. It did have a stage for concerts and it reminded me of the Italian Festival only in a large grassy area. It was very intersting. There wasn' t anything intersting to buy but it was fun. On the way back some of the guys dragged me to the back of the bus and we began to do what you must do in Ukraine no matter what "thing" you are doing...and that is you must drink VODKA. So we did some shots of vodka in the back of the bus. We played poker and other card games, took photos, exchanged numbers and had some Russlish convos. It was a good ol time. However, I think I might have an interested lad. When you tell Ukrainians you don't have a boyfriend they are hard to get rid of. Anatoli wants to take me for coffee but if I go we will be tagged as "in a relationship" in Ukraine standards so I will have to avoid that until I can no longer avoid it.

Sunday I headed off to Nedrahyliv to visit Christie and some other fellow Sumi Oblast volunteers. They are doing a camp there and I wanted to see everyone. I only stayed for the day but now I know how to get to her. I have to go through Romy where John lives. It is interesting the transportation in Ukraine but it is such an amazing accomplishment when you can get places successfully! The bus home was quite interesting. There were quite a few men in nice suits really drunk and singing Ukrainian songs. It is always a party in Ukraine!

I am off to Kiev for a seminar. I will tell you about that when I return next Sunday.

This week was a week of firsts. I went to the river on Sunday with Luda my Ukrainian friend who speaks good English. We hung out there for a few hours to get cool from the heat. Next week I want to try to get there by train. The marshrutka only takes you to the part of the river that is like a lake but if you drive or take the electrichka then you can get to the really good part of the river where everyone goes and it has a stream. It is much more fun there. I could walk it but I am not sure where it is.

On Tuesday I visited the WWII memorial that they have here. I had found it last week when I was walking home with Alla. I went there with Rose and her two American friends that came to visit her. It was interesting. There is a wall with a list of names of those who were in the war and from Konotop. It is really amazing living around all this history. Her Amerian friends were really cool and I found out they live in Brooklyn. What a small world! They came here to visit Rose and they went to Budapest, Hungary. Rose said it was really amazing there. I am supposed to go in September but I am not sure we are all still planning to do that. But at some point I will definitely go there.

I finally got my haircut in Ukraine. Luda's friend works at the salon by my house so she hooked me up with Sveta who is 35. She has a son and a husband and she seems really nice. She was telling me about things that she does in Konotop which is going to the river and haning out with her family. She would like to see some things change here. She was really nice and an excellent hairdresser. I forgot that I was in Ukraine. It was like being somewhere in NY. Their salon is really cute inside. I also got my eyebrows done. They don't wax at too many places in Ukraine. I think I could probably get it done in Kiev or some big city but in the little places they just use old fashioned tweezers. However, she did a great job and it looks as if they were waxed. For only 10 UAH she will see me A LOT. Her name was Ina. Also, really sweet.

Wednesday night I went over to my counterparts home and we made dinner. I hadn't hung out with her in a while and I was feeling bummed about that so I asked her what was going on and she invited me over. I wasn't around for a while so that might have been it. We made beef with vegetables and put it into a clay pot with some sour cream and baked it for 2 hours. It was really good. The meat here is a little fatty though and I can't eat that part but it adds flavor to the food. It was me, Toleg (her husband) and me. It was nice to have a little family dinner.

After that I picked up Andrea. She is another volunteer living in Bilopillia. She is only two hours away. She stayed for two days to visit the ladies at the Jewish Center with me. I need some material when I go in there so I can practice my Russian instead of staring at them while they talk having almost no idea what they are talking about.

I will go to the river today by electrichka with Lana. Her English is excellen but she will leave in September for University. Which is excellent for her. She is going to the University she really wants to go to and it is apparently the best one in Kiev. Good for her!

Tomorrow I am headed to the fair! I am going with my counterpart to Mirolpillia. We have to leave at some crazy hour in the morning though and it will be an all day event but it sounds super fun!

Then Sunday I am off to Nedryhaliv to visit Christi and several other volunteers. I will stay until Monday and then I am off to Kiev for IST. A lot of my fellow group 38ers will be there and it will be cool to see everyone. Some of us are hanging in Kiev for the weekend too.

Well it is beyond HOT here. The rain just keeps passing by Konotop. It starts to get cloudy and we are all thinking "Yes it si going to rain...." but it doesn't. The clouds just blow over us and it is HOT and sunny again. I am sure I will appreciate this when it is cold and gloomy outside in a few months but it is just so HOT right now.

Stay cool.

The sweetest thing...

So I spent my usual Tuesday morning at the children's center. I had four kids today! Whoohooo. Two of them played, one colored and Volva who always enjoys talking with me in English sat with me for a while and we talked about weight lifting and fun things to do in America. We played UNO today as well. He didn't understand exactly how to play during the first round so I found myself taking so many cards in order not to win. I basically had the whole deck in my hand. I am thinking next time I will pring the rules in Russian and take them with me. He really enjoys playing chess so I told him we would play that next time I saw him. It really is amazing what these kids have to overcome in their lives and how much passion they have to keep going. I couldn't help thinking about that today when we were talking. And he knows English on top of it. He is such a joy to talk to. He is so patient with my Russian. He helps me sometimes but at this point he knows what I am saying before I finish.

I am so glad that I have settled into my site. I am finally seeing everything for what it is. And when I get homesick I can pop on over to the "Beverly Hills" Cafe! (pic to be added later) I went to see the WWII memorial that we have here. I am supposed to go there with the ladies at the Jewish Center at some point but I had to go see it. I recently found out where it was and it is not far from my work. I had originally thought I would have to take a long marshrutka ride there but in fact it is right around the corner. It looks like they are doing some repairs to it. In fact they are doing repairs to most things right now. Hmmm. Anyway it really is something else to be living in a country with so much history. I know I mentioned this before but it really is very powerful. All the stuff that I used to read about never prepared me to be engrossed in it. It really feels good to live here and be a part of this even if only for a short time. I had such a passion for this time in history. Read so many books and saw so many movies about WWII and now I am here in Ukraine living life where most of that history took place. Who would have thought.

I will post some photos later.

Update...

Not much to report on this week but I did have a very productive week after my last post. I met a guy who started a really cool project in Konotop several years ago with special needs children and I think I want to continue conversations with him to start that project up again or some version of it. The guy seemed so interested in helping this city he grew up in it was quite an inspiring meeting. To see someone have that much passion about the people in his town. I think we could make a great team. He has great ideas and I am a Peace Corps volunteer willing to make them happen.

I read in the Kiev Post today about the numerous stray animals that the city of Kiev has and how there was a program that was funded with serveral millions of dollars for animal shelters that went bust. The worst part is the reason for the shelters in the first place was not only to get the stray animals off the street that that people were actually being ridiculously cruel to the animals. The article was a little graphic and I just wanted to cry thinking about what human beings did to some of those animals and since the shelters are useless this kind of animal cruelty still exists. I feel like there has to be a way to help in that situation with all the animal lovers I know in the states and I happen to be one. Smells like a project in the making!

So I have had a few days to think about my life here. It seems that the big bad culture shock is gone for now. I think I hit the bottom of the valley the last few weeks and I am now climbing back up the hardest of the mountains but I am on the up and up! I think losing the excess weight helped a lot. It was really nice having someone in my life even if it was for a short time. It definitely helped with the lonliness. I have started to put things in perspective and I have realized what the relationship was for me and that I am better for not being in it any longer. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be and that happens.

Tomorrow starts a brand new week. After which I will be in Kiev for a week and I will see some old friends from training. It will be nice to see them and some of us will hang out for the weekend too. I will post something new soon but now I am off to the river with some friends.

I hope you are all well and try to stay cool!

Catch up...

Much has gone on since my last post. Last week was rather busy. I had just gotten back from camp and then I was heading to Odesa last weekend. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Not much was getting accomplished but I was definitely meeting with people. Two nights before I was leaving for Odesa I couldn't get into my apartment. The key just decided not to work anymore. After messing with it for several minutes I called my counterpart and her husband came over and basically broke my door apart to get into it. Thank goodness! The next day someone came and gave me a brand new lock...whewww.

I finally got to ride the train long distance. I was very much looking forward to 16 hours on the train...weird! That is life in Ukraine. So I headed down to Odesa with three other volunteers from my oblast. We got on the train at 8am from Konotop. Now in order to get to Odesa this weekend we had to buy tickets from another train station so we were essentially heading North to go South. This probably won't make a lot of sense for you so let me try to explain. It was like me driving to Boston from NYC to get to Delaware. So we hop on the train headed North the train is 45 minutes late and we are pretty certain we are missing our connection. So we are trying to devise a plan in the event we do miss our connecting train that we will take a taxi to the next stop and try to beat the train. Which is entirely possible because their trains don't go that fast! We talk to the conductor in our poor Russian and he is looking at us like we have eight heads and we don't know why but he helps us and we are off.

So we take off. We make it to our next stop in time to jump on our connection. And hour later guess where we end up....that is right back in Konotop! All that and we could have just got on the train in Konotop at 11am instead of 8am! And we wouldn't have had to worry about missing our connection. Not sure if you understood that but when you don't understand the language these are the kinds of things you encounter. No wonder the conductor thought we were crazy. He couldn't figure out why we would take one train to Tereshenska (north) to hop on another train that was coming right back here. Well lesson learned. Go home and study Russian. If we could understand the language we would have known that the train would eventually come back to Konotop and we could just go on there. And we couldnt get tickets from Konotop in the first place because they were too expensive. Oy!

Odesa is like a mini version of Miami or Vegas and kind of reminded me of the Greek Islands too. It has clubs that are really cool and not hard to get into at all! So without the velvet rope crap. Lots of energy in the bars and clubs and in the center it is very live with all the cafes and such. It was a cute town. Had fun getting around there too. Again...language barrier. But it all worked out. It only took us three hours to get to Arkadia Beach...but we found it!!

Unfortunately, our last night I lost my phone at the bar and dropped my camera so many times it doesn't work anymore! We met a lot of fun foreigners though and all in all it was a great experience.

Back to work and reality of site... So with all the things I have to deal with in my new life I didn't think a break up would be one of them. So for those who are curious it is over. That's ok but I might have lost a friend in the process and right now friends are really important.