Bye group 36!

It's May 2011 and this week is the first round of COSers from group 36. That means that their group is starting to leave the country of Ukraine for good! Some will vacation somewhere else in the world on their way home to the states and others will just go straight home. We are losing two people here in Konotop. Not that we don't have plenty to spare with 6 volunteers in one town of only 100k but it was nice having that many volunteers here for the last few months. I've gotten used to it and now two of them will leave with one on her way out in only 6 months! Of course after that I am leaving 6 months later. The good thing when a group leaves is that another group comes in. We lose the people we just spent a year with, or a few months, and we meet those we will spend the next few months with.

So I have spent the last few weeks hanging out with those who are leaving and now I am back at site for a while. The other day I had a graduation ceremony for my participants at the unemployment center. I only had three people make it through the program but that is more than I thought and that is pretty good. They were my strongest in English so I thought I might lose some people along the way. I made them a "congratulations" banner, brought in some cookies and tea and made them colorful diplomas with their names on them. They really enjoyed it and we took lots of photos.

All of a sudden there is this commotion amongst the group and I don't understand what is going on. There is a lot of whispering and moving around and then they present me with some gifts. Now these women are graduating so I am not expecting anything but in Ukraine this is just what they do! So I am being presented with a diploma of my own for "Best Teacher" and a beach towel of Ukraine. The diploma is in Russian and my friend and translator begins to tell me what the words mean in English. They have given me marks on different things like "warms hearts with kindness", etc. I got a 12 for everything which in this country a 12 is perfect! They bought this in the bazaar along with the towel and I love it! I almost cried because they said such nice things to me. It was awesome because I woke up that morning, like I have several other times, feeling that I am not making a damn bit of difference here and I should just go home! So when I got there and was showered with gifts and pleasantries it all starts to make sense. Funny thing every time I feel that way Ukraine proves to me that I am here for a reason and that I should focus more on the little things because that is what really counts. Why do we have to be told this over and over and over again? When exactly will we believe it?

So that was my week.

I have many camps coming up this summer so I will spend my time not at these camps preparing for these camps!

Blessed...

I must say that I have been truly blessed with my family and friends. I just got the best news a few minutes ago. I am doing a camp this summer for youth teaching them about healthy lifestyles and strengthening their English language. Well someone near and dear to me funded the remaining amount of my grant! I am so happy. This person is so generous and I am grateful to have this person in my life. The feelings I have right now there are hardly words for. When things like this happen I feel like I can accomplish anything. That I can't believe I doubt myself along the way. There really is something to be said about the way things happen in one's life. The steps that it takes to get to the next part of your life are there for a reason.

I just spent the last two weeks traveling around Ukraine and Prague. I spent some time with my host family while meeting the new group of volunteers. Then I went to Beregova and ran a relay in the half marathon. While there I spent some time with numerous volunteers. Meeting some new people and just generally having a good ol time! Then off to Vinnitsa which wasn't a scheduled trip but I got to spend some time with some old friends I haven't seen in a while. Then back to Kiev and off to Prague.

Prague was absolutely beautiful! The city was amazing. And let's talk a minute about the food! Oh yeah...real food....black angus beef, bagels, fish, salads! Yum!!! Its funny what you take for granted when you live in the states. Now that I have been in Ukraine I take much joy in the little things this is for certain. Taking pictures of bagels and drueling over the menu we must have looked like crazy people to the other patrons. We were even "singing" the menu!

The energy at the marathon was something I hadn't felt since I raced cars with my BFF in 2008! I love that feeling. There were so many people gearing up to run their asses off! They had skydivers swoop down to the starting area and there were bands playing it was awesome. They had a band every other kilometer on the run. It was so cool to run with all those people.

Now I am back at site and we had an awesome day! Today we did a 527 campaign today with some kids from 4 of the schools in my town. My sitemates helped me work this project out thank goodness! In collaboration with IOM (International Organization of Migration) we are doing 527 campaigns all over Ukraine to keep the project going. It is a great project. If someone goes for a work or study program abroad they can call this number to find out more info about the organization for the work or study program and make sure that the organization is legit. Considering that this is one of the easiest ways to be trafficked it is a great idea. And the hotline number is free from any cell phone service in Ukraine. We did like a discussion club and then after the club we had all the kids stand around and say all these different things like "we stand to end slavery", "In Konotop, people are not for sale". The kids loved it. We took lots of pics and video of the event. It was so awesome I almost cried. The kids were so into it!

Now I will turn into bed. I must get up early and run since my new hobby is running in international marathons!