Perpetual Change

The Road Ahead

Well as our time here in Ukraine comes to an end, we all begin to look for new lines of work - not more developing youth. I happened to be lucky enough to have already found one. I thought many would have already located a job but I realized at our closing conference that I am one of the few. I will begin my new work as a Backroads Trip Leader in Italy for the next 6 months on April 30.

Backroads is a great company that promotes active travel and environmental and cultural preservation trips by hiking or biking all over the world. There main locations are North America, France, and Italy. The participants are almost exclusively North American and the guides here in Europe are mixed because you must speak the local language to a conversational level to lead trips there. That’s right; I took a language test, and after all these years and never really expecting to achieve tri-lingual status, I have, just not with the languages I would have expected.

Check out more on Backroads at www.Backroads.com, and particularly these pages:. http://www.backroads.com/why/our_team/culture.htm http://www.backroads.com/why/responsible/principles.htm
Based on these pages, I think I may continue my blog. We will see. I am unresolved on this point and your comments are welcome.

So if you are still interested, I want to tell you a little bit about how it all happened. I had a serious loss in my family in December, and at that point, I seriously contemplated leaving Peace Corps. I felt as if I had distanced myself from the people I cared about, and the people I was working with really didn’t need me, and had only a passing interest socially. So I began looking for ways to leave. I didn’t want to just quit my commitment and then sit on a couch somewhere while I hunted for the next step. Backroads was a company I had been interested in since a case study at FSU but I thought I would try for it next year. The application deadline was imminent, and I got all the recommendations and documents together before I left for Zagreb. After that trip, most of my departure feelings had passed, and I didn’t think I would be able to travel to the hiring event - an all day interview which is the last step, but no guarentee, of your employment - without formally quitting Peace Corps.

I passed the first review and then passed a 30 minute interview on my cell phone from their California office. They offered me a slot at the hiring event in Florence, Italy. So I got a less than cheap ticket, direct from Lviv (near me) to Florence. It was worth the convenience, plus I got to see my town from the air, all the Carpathian mountains, fly over the Aegean see (which takes about 15 minutes, and you can see the Alps rising hugely in the distance), and then over Venice. It was wonderful and smooth. They even served crab cakes on the way home.

I was also impressed by the fact that the small Lviv Aiport speaks good English, as its first language. It is little and has the typical (and I think cool and inspiring) soviet statues of hard working men and women guarding the terminal. It is amazing to speculate what the airport will look like one day.

I got to Florence the day before the event. I had been reviewing my Italian for a month and had even found a Ukrainian conversation partner, but I wanted some practice on home turf. I spent the day in museums and shops, asking questions to start conversations, and then buying more than I should have because of the answers. Many people said that I speak Italian with an Eastern European accent; I hope that will pass. The fruit vender that I always frequented while I studied in Florence now is a different operator, not the cute young couple that I knew, and they sell leather. I did get to see some of my other favorite places, and where I used to live. This was my first trip back to Florence since I studied there 6 years ago. I stumbled upon Michealangelo, while looking for Gianbologna in one of my favorite museums, The Bargello. I litterally thought, “That is nice. I wonder who did it?... OH!” I also saw my first Segway, Peoplemover in action. They are cool.

For you Florence folks reading - Lochness is still there, but La Ribbota is not. There is a take out Mexican place. The FSU campus looks the same, but the Carrabini’s are gone. Sue is the director. The students seemed like adults, but so young, all at the same time. There is SO many English-speaking tourists in the city. I stumbled upon Alfredo’s new restaurant. He was the boyfriend of a fellow student (Jen). I had forgotten about him, but he was there, working when I stopped in for lunch. I re-introduced myself, and he was very friendly. He had me help with fax in English from a tour group. He does lunches for lots of Russian tours too. He mentioned that Jen was still in town, and I asked if he knew where. He told me the store she works, and I found here there, rather surprised, and extremely helpful. We had dinner that night and the next. It was nice to find a friend. I was pretty nervous about the Hiring Event, the next day.

But that's a story for next time…

posted by jjs @ 11:56 AM