Camp Extravaganza

I just returned from almost 3 weeks away at camps...again. The first camp of this month started on July 11th and ran until July 15th. This camp, Camp SLAM, I directed and fundraised for so it was very special to me. It took place in Konstantinovka a city in Donetsk Oblast in the East of Ukraine. We have a blog which says it all.. http://campslam.blogspot.com/ check it out! The camp was a great success. Just like anything else there were some schedule issues in the beginning and our Ukrainian counterparts didn't necessarily agree with all the content of our lesson plans so we made some changes there but all in all it was a success. Everyone enjoyed themselves, campers, counselors and our Ukrainian counterparts. We even changed the minds of our Ukrainian counterparts on some things which is nice. At each camp I have worked we always put the kids in groups randomly so they don't hang out with their friends. Initially our counterparts are always against this process but after a few days when they realize that the world won't end because they can't hang with their friends they meet new friends and they have so much fun that they don't want to leave camp. My counterpart actually said to us as we were leaving camp that she understand now why we do that and it is a great method! Success! They will have this camp again next year too which again is Success...sustainable success!

We played a lot of sports. Not enough some of the counselors might say but we introduced a new sport to the kids each day for an hour and then we had them play each other in a volley ball tournament. We had two lessons a day on healthy lifestyles topics, teambuilding activities and night time activities which usually consisted of a talent show based event and of course a disco!

Directing the camp was a lot of fun and I felt right at home in my responsibilities. This is what I like to do. I had an opportunity to teach at this last camp and it made me realize that I don't particularly like that side of the coin. I am much better and happier in the chaos of organizing than trying to get students to listen to me. At Camp Excite I was a teacher and in my group I actually had a student from last year. Her name was Nadia. I can't remember my blog post from last year but my guess would be that I talked about how one of my students had a bad case of ADD and I couldn't get her to stop disrupting class by talking ALL the time. Well I had her again and not much has changed but her English which is AWESOME. And I just found out that she is only 14 and going into the eighth form. That is pretty impressive. She can be a BIG pain in my butt, however, she has come such a long way in some respects since last year and it is truly amazing to see that in her. She also knows that I can't stand that she always disrupts class and promises me that she will try to control it. It is actually pretty hilarious how she just gets up and walks away while you are teaching or turns to her classmate and starts having a conversation as if you are not there. This is why I could not be a teacher! Oy vey. Kudos to the teachers.

The last night and the last day at camp is always special to me. It is the end and you have finally gotten to know the kids and then it is time to leave. Kind of like Peace Corps. You finally have friends and family you really care about and you have to leave. It is always sad to leave the kids and the chaos from the week. Camp Excite was interesting too because we taught lessons on gender, environment and leadership. We did talent shows and discos, chants and sports. My team won the variety show which is like a skit show. Our theme was "riding the train 3rd class to Crimea" and the kids showed all the pain in the butt things that happen on trains and it was so funny!! It is what Americans go through everytime we get on a train so it is funny that the youth here in Ukraine feel the same way. For example, drunkards on the train, the fact that older people don't like the windows open EVEN when it is hot as hell, the people who sell things up and down the aisles on the train and the conductor who constantly asks you if you want tea. It was great and they worked hard to do it. After being in last place all week it was nice to see them win something!

Well...off to language refresher. I haven't been speaking much Russian in the last few months besides travel language so this ought to be interesting. Then I am traveling the west again to conquer the cities I haven't been to and then another camp, and then Crimea for the rest of the summer. To return on Aug 22nd!

Russia

So we just got back from Russia, me, Emily, Rose, John and Kevin. Well Kevin is still there due to return shortly. It was a wonderful week. It started out in Moscow and then we made our way to St. Petersburg. We all went by train from my site in Konotop which is between Kiev and Moscow. We are close enough to the border so we left from here. It was a pretty familiar experience. The trains to Russia are the same that make their way around Ukraine so I have been on them several times. I had an opportunity to go through border control by train when I went to Hungary and this was far better and easier I must say. There were however many more patrol people than last time but apparently they aren't used to seeing 5 American's in one car! But after we advised them we were not bringing in narcotics it was smooth sailing.

We only spent two days in Moscow but that was probably enough. We headed straight for Red Square after dropping our bags at the hostel. We took the metro which looked awfully scary at first glance. It is one big circle with 15 different lines sprouting everywhere. It isn't nearly as complicated as it looks. I am pretty sure Manhattan's metro was scarier for me. But Rose and I did a fine job of getting us where we needed to be the first time around.

Once in Red Square we took some photos of the surroundings (St. Basilics Church, Lenin's tomb and the History Museum). The church was quite candylandesque but very pretty. Apparently, there are many of those churches in Russia. Lenin's tomb was interesting but we couldn't take photos inside. He was laying in a glass case for all to see. I am sure that was not him as he is in perfect condition but he must be in there somewhere.

We walked the streets of Moscow for several hours since the sun shines on Russia for most of the entire day during the summer. There are only really 2 hours of darkness and it is more like a twilight. It was difficult figuring out how to sleep or what to do with yourself when you have sun light for so many hours in the day. Everything is just off. We checked out a bazaar and stayed there for several hours, had some shashlick and looked at old antiques and books. Monday it was off to St. Petersburg.

We walked around the streets here too. Hanging out in coffee shops, checking out bazaars, took a walking tour around the city, saw the Fortress of Peter and Paul and the Great Palace of Peter Hof. I forgot to mention the mall! There is something to be said when PCVs travel they spend quite some time in malls. Checking out stores that they haven't seen since they left America or their last trip somewhere out of Ukraine. There was a dunkin donuts in one mall which I haven't seen since February 2010! We had lunch a few times at subway also a rarity. Before Peace Corps I used to travel and I couldn't wait to try the food of the country but now I travel and I end up eating things that I miss in America. However, most of the countries I have visited since I have been here haven't really had the international cuisine that I would travel half around the world to eat. I love Ukrainian food and after a lot of traveling and eating whatever I can get my hands on I miss grechka and cutlets but I don't want to go to Russia and eat that! Apparently, they have a very similar cuisine.

We spent our last night on a pub crawl because why not! Have to see the bars too. During this crawl we were told that June 23rd was one of the longest days during the white nights and that at 125am the drawbridge would open up and it is a beautiful scene. We were told to take a boat tour in order to see it and I assume you go under it as well but since we were low on funds we decided it would be just as beautiful to see it from the side of the river. So we walked to the Hermitage to see the bridge and it was in fact pretty amazing. There was only twilight at this time so it was pretty light out and the lights on the bridge and around the city were gorgeous. It was also nice to share that moment with some good friends and some strangers we just met at the hostel!

It was a good trip to Russia. It feels as though we never left Ukraine. There are places in Ukraine that take longer to get to than Moscow and St. Pete combined. I am glad I paid the $250 for the VISA there. And for those who joined me thanks for the great memories!

Khotyn Camp 2011

This week I helped out with a camp in the west and I helped teach wiffle ball and the basics of baseball. It was a three week camp but I only helped out for a week. We have had such a blast! I am working this camp with a fellow PCV group 38er. Her name is Janet. We are also with Jim, Laura, Bernie and Megan. They are part of what we call the “older volunteers”. I can say this because they say this so I know that I am not offending them. We were supposed to have a reporter come down from Kiev to document this event that is being put on by the "older volunteers" which before now was apparently unheard of but the reporter couldn't make it.

Anyway, this is a great group. We have just been having tons of laughs amongst each other but the kids have been awesome. Jim, Janet and myself are responsible for coaching baseball which at this stage is wiffle ball and the kids have been so much fun to work with. In the morning we start out at Mother School and work with two groups for almost an hour. The kids vary in ages but we are working with 3^rd through 5^th form or grade. Since it is the summer time and school is essentially bare bones so we’ve had some really young kids that belong to the teachers so they are as young as 3 years.

The first two hours are slightly difficult only because the kids are so young they can’t easily grasp the concept of baseball and I don’t blame them it is difficult when you haven’t ever seen the game or played it. We do a lot of throwing drills with the kids. We would have them throw the balls in the air and catch them and then we would have them partner up and throw the ball back and forth to each other. That got old so after a little research into “how to coach little league” I decided to play some different games, but they were still along the lines of boring however, these kids had never done this before so for them they were having a blast and that was all that mattered to me. It made it all worth it to know that they were having fun.

The second half of the day we go to School number 5 and work with kids in the 4^th through 10^th grades. We have two groups in the afternoon as well. These kids, even though they aren’t much older, seem to understand a little more and they catch on much quicker. By today (the third day) we already have them running to second base which in our world right now that is a big deal. However, yesterday they seemed to have the concept down a little more than today because today we actually had one of our runners grab the ball that was being thrown to first base and he threw it away so that he could get to the base. He did this because he knew that if the ball got to the base before he did he would be OUT. Then when the next batter came up to the plate and hit the ball the same runner that was on first ran to second and again the ball came in his direction so he caught it and threw it away again so he could get to second base. It was like watching baseball bloopers! It was the funniest thing we have seen in ages. We all got a big kick out of that! Also, today before this incident we actually had a batter run with the bat. And if that wasn’t enough three people right after him ran with the bat as well. I have never coached baseball and probably never thought I would even though I always thought it would be a fun job and it is so I don’t know what kids do when they are learning a new sport and I certainly don’t remember what I did when I learned to play so this could all be normal. Either way it was super funny and ridiculous FUN! So I will say it again…this is why I joined the Peace Corps!

The second day was a little easier with the younger kids because they were now used to how to throw the balls and how to catch them. We almost had them playing the games we were playing with the big kids. They learned to hit and they learned to catch in the outfield. So we have got them in position…kind of. The little guys came into center field like a crowd waiting for the bouquet at a wedding. They didn’t understand “spread out” or you can’t all catch it at once! Again, the cutest thing to witness is little kids learning how to play baseball.

I have to say though the best part of our days are the warm ups. Jim does the commentary and he has taught the kids the “Airbourne” chant. For those of you who are Rangers or Army men (sorry if I have this wrong) you probably know this chant. He does it a little differently because it is not a song nor does it have words that start with F and from what I understand they could start with any letter of the alphabet. Service men know how to be creative! (please see my facebook page for video footage) Each time we got a new group out we started them with a warm up so we did this four times a day. The kids were in love with it and they really got a kick out of it.

The fourth day of camp was a little different. We had the little guys in the morning and we introduced them to batting off the tee and running just to first base. They seemed to get it and they were having fun with it. They have trouble catching the ball so it was really cute to see them try. After the first round we were invited to a performance. They all dressed up in feathers and painted their faces so they looked like little chiefs and Indians. They danced around a little and then they grabbed us for a dance and that was pretty much the end of the performance. Oh wait…it ended with an American xmas song…Jingle Bells!

The afternoon was trying for us. It looked as if it was going to rain and it was incredibly muggy. The bigger kids weren’t interested in listening today and they were fighting a lot. We introduced pitching to them and they seemed to really like it but the kids in the outfield that were supposed to be catching were sitting there and hanging out. They’ve been at this for 6 days so I can imagine they are as tired as I am. They are getting it though and they seem to be having fun.

The last day was something special. The little guys in the morning put a concert on for us. They sang, they played guitar and they danced. It was great. They gave us certificates, pencil holders and a mug. I was trying to keep the tears back. I get so emotional when they give me things because we are here to do this for them and they are so appreciative. And everything is so dramatic here! So in the end each of us stood up and sang for them. We sang "You are my sunshine". They really enjoyed it and they were not expecting it.

We had the same kind of deal at the other school. Not a concert but they gave us gifts and thanked us for coming out. All of the kids asked us if we would come back next year and bless their little souls I wanted to say yes but unfortunately, I won't be staying. You really get attached to the kids when you work with them all week. You start to get to know them and they know you. They wait for you to arrive! It is so cute.

It was difficult to say goodbye to the kids but we had to do it. I am off to Kiev again for a week of fun and games with the newbies. And then off to Russia!

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!

Easter

Another Easter in Ukraine. This time last year I had just been here a month. However, we arrived on Easter since it was earlier last year. That was our first encounter with our new family and our new lives. I decided this year now that I know more Russian and I understand more about what this holiday means to Ukrainians I would do the Ukrainian thing which is to color eggs and make Easter bread and then head to the church at 330am, listen to the service or singing, depending on the church, and then get ourselves and our food blessed! I didn't go to the church with my host mom last year and it seems I was missing out. Although one of my cluster mates did go to church with his host family and I am not sure he had the ultimate experience. You don't just go there you get yourself and your food blessed. If that is what happened to him he left a big detail out of his story.

It wasn't a complete Ukrainian experience, however, I colored eggs with my American site mates. We made burritos for dinner and we never actually made the Easter bread although we were given it by many different people. One of my sitemates is pretty lucky. She moved in next door to an old couple whose son is in Russia so they treat her like a daughter. It is nice to have that much attention as a new volunteer. She gets to do everything Ukrainian and they live right next door to her. Everyone has a different experience in the Peace Corps. No one is better or worse just different. Although I am sure some of us wonder...what if?

After the service and the blessed food we all went to our prospective houses and went to sleep. At least I did! I woke up around 10am and started my day all over again. My counterpart invited me to her house around 1pm to celebrate. I had my eggs ready from the night before and I went on over. It was just her, her husband and son and her husbands mother. I've met her before. I think she might have been having a celebration before she came. She is a sweet woman but she likes to drink and I am never really sure where she comes up with the things she talks about. She did finally get to "where is your boyfriend honey"...I have that exact same question. I am pretty sure she asked me that last time but in a different context.

Last week was a good week with my career development program. We discussed interviewing and we had a mock interview day which the participants really enjoyed. I invited my sitemates to help me do interviews but only one was around. That is ok because only 2 of my participants showed up. Funny thing about my students they were coming every week until I started making them do their homework. I have to give it to the teachers out there. It is tough keeping students interested. It is really difficult to get them to do what you want them to do. This isn't even for me. I want them to understand this stuff because it can help them out but you can only show them the way! They tell me this is interesting for them. They really enjoyed the mock interview day but I only got 2 out of the 4 there and I started with 9!

Well this is going to be a busy week. I am back on the road to Kiev for a meeting with IOM and then to Chernigiv to introduce our Career Development Program to the new recruits! I am excited to me the new volunteers. Then we head to the south of Ukraine for a 5K and then off to Prague!! I am however, going to do a mini project about human trafficking with my sitemates pupils. I am very excited about it. I am trying to land us on CNN through their Freedom Project which is focusing on anti-slavery this year. I have been proding volunteers to help me and now we have a grand idea. We are doing a discussion club with 4 schools about different topics surrounding human trafficking and then I am going to video tape the students discussing what it is and what they can do to raise awareness. We are introducing a 527 campaign across Ukraine for IOM. 527 is a number you can call (much like 311 in NY) to get information about things related to human trafficking. It is free from any cell service in Ukraine. I am very excited about this project and really happy that my sitemates are interested in it because without them and their pupils (students) I wouldn't be able to make this happen. And this to me is the reason I am a volunteer in Ukraine.

Happy Easter.

Update....Turkey & My BFF comes to Ukraine

Currently I am in Kiev for the fourth straight week. I am not here on medical so this has become ridiculous. I still have a week here and then finally a REST. But here is a little update of what I have been doing while I was not updating my blog.

2 weeks ago I was in Istanbul with a few other PCVs. We had a great time. We stayed in an awesome hostel right in the middle of everything. We were right next to the Aya Sofia, the Blue Masque and the Topkapi Palace which made it easier to knock them all out at once. We were also very close to the metro and only about 45 minutes from the airport. We met a lot of people at the hostel and around Turkey. We even ran into a few other PCVs on their vacations too. We took a boat tour around the Bosphorus (sp?) and took a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul. I didn't know that Turkey is split and that part of the country is on the Asian continent. We couldn't get a stamp in our passports though.

Shortly after I returned to Kiev from Istanbul Allison arrived in Kiev. She was coming for the week to hang with me in my new world. She arrived after an all night flight and layover in Frankfurt and then I had her rolling her big, heavy suitcase around Kiev to finally get it on a 3 1/2 hour electrichka to Konotop. Needless to say there was nothing to do after we got home but SLEEP!

On Sunday I showed her my town and where all the magic happens. She wanted to try authentic Ukrainian dishes and I took her to the best cafes in my town so she could try some borscht, chicken kiev, varenicky and pelmeni. Monday night I invited the KTop gang over to my house for some "breakfast for dinner". Allison brought some bacon over from the states and we had bacon, pancakes with maple syrup and derruny! A little American/Ukrainian mix.

Wednesday am we are back on the electrichka to Kiev! We walked around and I showed her all that Kiev has to offer in two days! The last night we thought it would be a good idea to stay up all night so she wouldn't miss her 530am flight! Which she had to leave at 330am to get to the airport. Well that might not have been a good idea. Of course we had to have some wine to celebrate her last night in Ukraine. So everything was fine I got her in the cab and she was off! But at 630am she called to let me know that she missed her flight! Oops. 8 hours later she took off on a different flight back to America. What a day! It was so awesome having her here though. I really missed her but the weird things is no matter how much time passes between our hang outs it is as if I just saw her last week. No time seems to pass. That is how I know she is my best friend! Love you for coming to see me.

Immediately after that I spent the weekend in Kiev doing some awesome healthy lifestyles workout videos for the Healthy Lifestyles Working Group. I was in charge of the cardio kickboxing video (obviously). I had no idea I was doing it until the night before but me and my fellow PCV Kevin hooked it up. We made it so much fun. Everyone in the group working really hard on the videos and it was such a great and fun idea.

Then I went back to site for a few days to catch up with my fellow Ukrainians and to conduct my career development session. Which is going really well! In fact, I can do it in English now because I found out that my four participants speak great English! So that makes life a whole lot easier and I feel like I might be able to teach them something. They are really great girls and they are very grateful that I am teaching this stuff to them which is really rewarding.

I had a great meeting recently with an organization in Ukraine called IOM (International Organization of Migration) they deal with counter trafficking. In this meeting I introduced the idea of our career development program because I know this is something that they want to do with their trafficked victims to get them back in the workforce and they were really excited about the potential to join forces. I hope this works out.

In addition to that I am directing a camp for our Healthy Lifestyles Working Group and this is where you might be able to help me. So I am the director of this camp in a city called Konstantinovka in the Donetska Oblast. A fellow PCV works there currently and his counterparts that work at the Konstantinovka Agricultural Technical Institute wanted him to have a camp about healthy lifestyles. We will be conducting the camp in English and we will be teaching the kids about the dangers of smoking, drinking and drugs, stress management, body image, etc. We will also be playing lots of sports to keep the kids active and introduce some American sports to them that they might not have played. The camp is really going to be lots of fun. We are trying to raise money for this camp so if you could help us out so that we can send some kids to this camp please donate using the following link:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=343-228

We only need to raise $3500! Please help us.