Hello,
This weekend I am in Xmelnetsky with two of my friends (Alei and Emily from training). Yesterday was quite a big day. I caught the 10:00 elecktrechka (commuter train). I knew I was headed to the First School, but I had never been there before and neglected to write down the directions. I got into the city and took a marshrutka (small bus type deal) to the center. One thing about Ukraine is that people LOVE to give directions and are really helpful if you stop them to ask a question. One of their national sayings is "your tongue will lead you to Kyiv" (ie if you ask people for directions you will get where you need to go). I asked the marshrutka driver if he would pass the first school and this started a riotous conversation among the whole bus about how to get me to where I needed to go. Needless to say I got there. At the school we had our "Meet Your Neighbors" meeting. Eleven volunteers and our regional manager got together to chat about life in our oblast. It was your typical meeting, ice breakers, new and old business.
After we ended up going out to lunch at a pizza place. One of us accidentally ordered a pizza with tuna on it which is pretty popular here. A few of the other volunteers had planned a taco night (Mexican/spicy food is pretty much non-exictent here). After a lot of himming and hawing Emily and I decided to go along instead of heading to her apartment as we had planned. In fact, everyone had the same idea. 9 people ended up going. We started off cooking the tacos together and talking. 9 Americans in a small apartment makes for a loud environment. It was great to get to know everyone a little better. After some DELICIOUS and very spicy tacos we decided to go to the disco. There was much dancing and more talking and lots of laughing. After the first disco four of us decided to head out to another club. This one had an excellent ambience and a light up dance floor. We finally made it back home pretty late and made ourselves cozy little beds on the floor. By which I mean I slept on the floor using my coat as a blanket. Haha good ol' Peace Corps. Anyway. Now I have 7 new friends.
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hurry up and get internet! i love that that boy drew a bart simpson forever flag, is that where he's learned his english? if so, he must be one cool dude. i had no idea you had posted twice since i last read... i need to check in more often. I'm so happy for you that you made 7 new friends, that's more than I make here in Seattle! Will you move in with me when you come back to the states? I missss yyyooouuuuuuuu
ReplyDeleteLove your blog and your insight. I am being interviewed for the Peace Corps next week, and would love to be accepted and placed in the Ukraine. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're settling in so nicely...sadly, I'm on my way out. Got ONE MORE MONTH in blessed Romania. The feelings, as you can rightly imagine, are mixed. The biggest thing is that I'm not ready to be an American again and I'm really going to miss me being such a novelty. Take care and keep in touch. If you happen to get internet someday, hit me up on Skype and we'll compare some stories. I'm sure there are huge differences but I'm really interested to hear some commonalities between our Peace Corps experiences...keep on keepin' on.
ReplyDeletePS: I think the last time I saw you, me you and Eric were huggin' trees in a forest of fireflies. My how things change :)