Cherkasi
I apologize for all the parenthises in the beginning; this is not my best writing. I am trying to catch up. I learned that we don't have to have our posts approved, they just need to know that we have a site. And thanks for everyones comments. I love reading them and feel free to ask more questions...
Saturday was the first day we were aloud to travel away form our small training communities (they didn�t want us going to Kiev before we could handle ourselves) so our group (of 4 - Kate from Illinois, Gloria from Delaware and Chris from LA) decided to visit the home city of our LCF (remember Laguage Cross Cultural Facilitator) Katia. Katia is from Cherkasi (300,000) which is about 60 KM away. We got permission to go (even though it is in another state than Kiev. States are called Oblasts. There are 24. Kiev is the capital of its oblast. Cherkasi is the capital of another). Cherkasi is what I would call a major city, and it is on the Dniper (Ukraine�s largest river which has served geographically in much of Ukraine�s history � By the way, Ukraine is now officially without the �the� which implies it is a region � which therefore implies its subjugation to Russia; Ukraine means borderland but it commanded much of the USSR�s economy with its factories, natural resources and farmland. Moscow considered it key to Soviet success, so it is only a short time until Ukraine learns to use all these resources (plus its large well educated labor force) in a market economy.
Anyway, back on topic, we had a technical session in the morning in my town and then our group rented a car and driver (who drove like mad over generally straight, uncongested, but ICY roads) and dropped us off in front of the �Western� a theme bar of the America West (complete with cowboy hat-ed waitresses and swinging doors where Katia�s husband and twin brother play guitar (mostly Spanish classical, but some western stuff plus Eric Clapton and other American artists). We would end there that evening and the driver would pick us up for the ride of our lives back home (never again will I go with such a driver).
In between, we walked around town and did some small shopping. Chris bought a guitar (this was one of the reason we had come). Kate started talking to some Mormon boys at an intersection where they were canvassing (she wanted to see if they were the group that had come over with us from Chicago � did I write about that?) While she was talking to them, an older woman stopped and asked if we were Peace Corps � imagine that in a town of 300,000! She is a volunteer from Delaware (again the chances) that got here about 6 months ago. Gloria and her chatted and then one of the many sudden snowstorms of the day chased us into an art museum. We saw a nice exhibit that was on Traditional Ukrainian Art and there was a really neat statue in the foyer of a babusya (grandma or older woman � babushka in Russian) holding her son or grandson�s arm as he marched off to defend his country. It was really cool and I asked (in Ukrainian) to take a picture and the ticket agents said yes but when I started to, a security guard came out of nowhere and yelled at me. I was stunned and honestly a bit hurt. The ticket agents apologized and we left, so I can�t share the look in their faces with all of you but I wanted to because I think some of you could have realated to those feelings. Many current volunteers have said you will get yelled at all the time by older community members but in this case I really thought that I had reduced the chance. Oh well, the first but certainly not the last. So then we went down by the river which is very big and pretty, another sudden storm blew in and we hid behind some trees for 10 minutes (picture to come) and then we walked up to a WWII memorial that overlooks the city.
We were then ready to eat so we went back to the Western but our table wasn�t quite ready, so the girls went into a ladies shop next door and I was just watching people go by (I saw a guy my age pass with sneakers, glasses, facial hair and a backpack � all of which are very uncommon on Ukrainians � and I wondered if I had seen another of Cherkasi�s Peace Corps volunteers?) All of a sudden, I was watching an older gentleman walk across the icey street and a car turned heading towards him; the car honked and slid past him, but he jumped back and slipped. He came down hard and hit his head � hat flying one way and the sausage he was carrying, sliding the other ... then he didn�t move.
I and a couple ran towards him before the light changed; I was afraid he was dead. When we got to him, he was staring straight up and taking short breaths but he still wasn�t moving even when the other man asked him questions. Several others gathered around (as cars continued to squeeze by) and the group decided to drag him out of the street which I thought was a terrible idea in case of a neck injury (one of my employees in Yosemite had slipped in the kitchen and hit her head. She had gotten up on her own and they still took her in for x-rays). Then on the sidewalk they pulled him to his feet which he could barely find under him. Everyone thought he was drunk (which is a rather normal occurrence and which his behavior now implied), but I had seen him before he had slipped and I didn�t think he had seemed drunk. The group dusted him off and dispersed. I was really nervous and then Katia came over. I explained to her what had happened. The man was just standing nearby, seeming to try to regain his senses. She also thought he was drunk but then went over to see if we could do anything. He said he was fine and lived close by, but she didn�t think he was drunk anymore, and was a bit nervous herself. He eventually hobbled off, and I watched him go as we went into the restaurant. It scared me pretty good. I couldn�t call for help, I couldn�t input into the situation really at all, and I didn�t think the group was handling it well, but that is part of integrating into the community, I guess. Nothing to really be scared of, but to be aware of. It was a very interesting occurence.
Dinner at the Western was very nice, though; and Katia's husband plays really well, so it was a nice end to the day. Next week we will try Kyiv.
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Opening Dinner
We Had our opening night dinner tonight - with all our host families together (4 of them). In our cluster they all work together at one school (2 teachers and 2 administrators) adn the dinner was at the principals house. It was true Ukranian style and I did FSU proud. I drank with the best of them and the other volunteers were surprised. Ukraine is a toasting culture, which means they only really drink when the toast and that is how they start the meal. They toast a lot though, and always in threes. The third toast is always to women or to love. I was very nervous about how much of a drinking culture Ukraine is - very nervous. But if that is the best they got, FSU trained me well...especially in making people think you are drinking more than you are.
PS. We had Salo, which is a regular drinking treat here, it can be raw or fried or soft and it is basically pig lard. It wasn't so bad; volunteers talk about it a lot. The one this night was like raw, very fatty bacon that they eat on bread with pepper. I also had a soft kind mixed with garlic. It is commonly referred to by Ukrainians as "Ukrainian Snickers." Bon appetit.
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The Ugly American
If you haven't read it, you really should. It is a great book, and it really tells you what Peace Corps is all about.
And if you have, than I can tell you that we have those reed brooms that they talk about. And the babusya's are all hunched over. I want to go out and find some taller reeds.
PS. It is a bit difficult to post and my posts have to be approved, so everything is dated about a week later than it happens after this post.
First days in my Training Cluster
Ok, I've been here 3 days and it seems like two weeks. First, I know almost as much Ukrainian as I did Italian after a semester of Dr. Hillary's classes.
Second, Ukrainian Spring. My brother, Paul, wished me a true winter someday and he got his wish. Yesterday and the day before was very grey, below freezing, strong winds, and constant snow. I have seen so many different types of snow. And ICE!! Then it rained at night and left and incredible quantity of ice in the morning. It made for quite and interesting walk to class today. All the sidewalks are covered with a whole winter's accumulation of uneven ice (at least 3 inches). I even saw Ukrainians slipping, though it doesn't stop them from wearing high heels. Their perseverance is amazing.
Tomorrow is Internatinal Women's Day: celebrated only here to the best of my knowledge but quite a day. Monday and Tuesday are holidays and chocolates and flowers are a must for all women in your life in a combination of Valentine's and Mother's Day. We are headed to babusya's house (grandma) with my host family (Mom, Dad, 16-yr old brother and 20 yr old brother who is home from university in Kiev for this holiday.) I am looking forward to it. The food is good- homemade parogi's, mashed potatos, and of course Borshch being the best.
But I am also looking forward to when the ice breaks up on the river that runs outside my window. My host mom says spring is her favorite holiday. I think, Mom, that you two would get along very well.
PS. In my training cluster (where I and 3 other trainees live in a community with host families and a Language and Culture Facilitator) we have classes Monday - Friday for 6 hours to work on learning the Language. Our LCF (PC is big on acronyms) is named Katia and she is lovely and married and speaks wonderful English. She is a very good and enthusiastic teacher. On Saturdays we go to a neighboring town to meet with another Cluster (who is learning Russian instead of Ukrainian like me), where we have technical (how to teach) and cultural classes. In my town there is internet and my home not only has indoor plumbing (which means we don't have to pull water from many of the neighborhood wells, and that we can throw our toilet paper in the toilet [remember Athens, Sando?] which is much like the brown paper you used to have in grade school for drying your hands, but we also have hot water, and can control the heat (many soviet apartment buildings had one heat setting for the whole building, or town!) Not all the trainees can say all these things. I feel quite lucky and I even made a list the other night of all the things I am thankful for here. But I miss all of you. Hope all is well. Feel free to ask questions...
Orientation Retreat in Prolisok
So we have finished our Orientation Retreat and are on our way to our host families. Basically what happened is when we arrived in Kiev (which doesn't have a terribly large airport) we were greeted on the inside of customs and immigration by Ukrainian officials that work for Peace Corps. They shepherded us through and onto a bus, where we headed to Prolisok (which means snowdrop, or the first flowers of spring for all you Floridians like me who didn't know). Prolisok was a Soviet resort on a spur river from the Dniper. I think it would have been beautiful, but it is bit rundown now, and the food is not so good. They rent it to groups such as us. This is were we spent our first two days. Basically, in Chicago they want us to talk about our experiences and cultural adaptation and in Prolisok they talk about our experiences and cultural adaptation and it is all much more specific. Here are some interesting highlights (I am still working on how to get pictures up on the site).
The river is frozen and we could walk out and play frisbee on it, which was very cool. You could see wholes where people had fished. Ukrainians have no problem with being out in the cold. It has been right close to freezing all the time but the buildings are kept very comfortable.
My program (Youth Development) was created to fulfill a request by the Ministry of Economics and the Ministry of Education, who wanted healthy lifestyles and computers and technology to be a better part of curriculum in rural areas. We are here to help design a curriculum that the Ministry of Education could then train and institute in all schools. It is designed to be flexible and real, since they recognize that curricula designed in the capital doesn't work everywhere. Ukraine's education systems are very advanced and some of the oldest in Europe. The literacy rate here is 99 %.
There are three Ministries that have contracts with Peace Corps, but the environmental program is being abandoned by Peace Corps because it has been determined that there is not enough support for environmental stewardship in Ukraine at this point. We have adopted environmental education into the general plan for Youth Development to help create this support.
The Country Director for Peace Corps is a very well respected man. His name is Karl Beck and when asked what his three priorities for the next 5 years were he said: to move all volunteers out of cities to rural and economically depressed areas, to increase to 350 volunteers (which they are at about 300 now), and to work principally on training people, or piloting programs that the Ukrainian Government could use. He also joked about the State Department official that gives him a hard time about “running a marriage service” because so many male volunteers to Ukraine get married. It really is an incredible number.
Some interesting language facts: Ukrainian has only 3 tenses!! (Italian has 10) The Training Manager (who is a lovely person and speaks excellent English) often speaks of something “depending on the situation (but it really sounds like sedation)” and the Language Manager gave a great quote:
Your mind is like a parachute. If it is not open, it's useless.
