This is what I am doing now
31-10-06
Oh, I see from the date inscribed above that it's Halloween. It was about to pass unnoticed (Halloween lessons done and over with at school!). Anyways, since I've been here a month now, I feel it safe to walk you through A Day in the Life Of…me. Or, any Peace Corps Trainee here in Kalynivka, Ukraine. This number now stands at four. The other ~100 volunteers are training in other towns around Kyiv, but despite the fact that we are the biggest Peace Corps program in the world (PC Ukraine) and also the biggest Peace Corps project (we're all TEFL volunteers [Teaching English as a Foreign Language]), training is a relatively isolated experience. The nearest training group is about an hour away by train. However, we maintain our sanity by meeting our other volunteer friends in Kyiv most Sundays and exploring the ancient cave monasteries and not-so-ancient internet cafes of the capital city.. oh yeah, my day..
-Get up. Wash face with glacially cold water (hot water heater is turned on a few times a week for baths only). But I have finally found something to wake me up in the morning.
-Break fast. Breakfast in Ukraine is what was not eaten at dinner the night before. The first time you come down the stairs and see that plateful of mashed potatoes (with mayonnaise on top) waiting for you on the table, it does register as a shock. I already knew I liked breakfast for dinner, but I didn't think I might warm up to the idea of dinner for breakfast (I certainly have). So my favorite breakfast is borscht. My favorite dinner is also borscht. If you've never tried a decent bowl of borscht, go find one. Don't forget the commemorative dollop of high-quality sour cream. You won't be disappointed. I always thought I had a weak stomach in the morning (early consumption of coffee has proven that to me in the past), but now I actually look forward to my bowl of soup at 8:00AM. Or my veal cutlets or whatever. However, I also have a least-favorite breakfast: a plateful of cheese with 3 teaspoons of sugar sprinkled on top, those mashed potatoes with mayonnaise, slices of pure pig fat wrapped around cloves of raw garlic and…vodka to wash it down. It happens. Vodka is appropriate for many occasions throughout the day, but I will draw the line at breakfast.
-Walk to school. It's likely gray and very foggy outside. It it's windy, more fog is blown in. If it's been snowing, you better watch it. Snow is not removed from the streets and sidewalks, it is pounded into something much more solid in the hopes that it might disappear altogether. Within a day or two, that pristine layer of snow on the road will resemble pack ice, so seriously, watch it. Especially on the bridge over the train tracks, which must be crossed on the way to school. This bridge might have been built in the '40s, and is composed of slippery, rickety, wooden steps of all shapes and sizes. As you cross it you have many opportunities to look through the cracks and gaps at the ground 40 ft. (~13m) below. If you make it across the bridge, the worst of your day is over.
-Walk into school. Students of all sizes will inundate you with 'hullo!'s and then run away giggling. You are nothing short of a celebrity and will occasionally be required to sign autographs, although the novelty is going to wear very quickly. Go to class and teach. Usually a very exciting and fulfilling experience. Hopefully the heat will be on.
-Leave school, go to intensive Russian language class. Four hours of фцшнеупи and зйёрюбцщрпнкщ, which are not real words, but most of the time you can't tell that. Work on community projects, language projects, assessment forms, mandatory journals, language tutoring, technical tutoring, homework…
-Finally go home to your host family. By then it is 5:00 or so, and close to pitch black outside. The color/shade is really very close to that of pitch, because there are no streetlights in this town, and it is likely still overcast. So if you can find your way home then this is will be a really really good time of the day, because you love your host family. At least I do. But that's not hard to do that in Ukraine. Ukrainians, from an American perspective, are overwhelmingly hospitable. One would expect an initial awkwardness in a situation such as this- I am in a new country and new culture with very limited language ability (hopefully not so limited anymore), but I am part of this family and will be so forever. Home is a much-needed respite when training becomes tedious and irksome, or maybe that's just me becoming irksome... anyways it melts at our front door. So then I eat a spectacular dinner (hopefully starts with borscht [it did tonight!]), play with the kitties (sadly, this little kitty is about to go to market), plan lessons, make flashcards, read book, fall asleep and repeat.
I think I could have done better on my Day in the Life Of, but I gotta get this up on the site. Next edition: where I am going to live for the next two years!
Oh, I see from the date inscribed above that it's Halloween. It was about to pass unnoticed (Halloween lessons done and over with at school!). Anyways, since I've been here a month now, I feel it safe to walk you through A Day in the Life Of…me. Or, any Peace Corps Trainee here in Kalynivka, Ukraine. This number now stands at four. The other ~100 volunteers are training in other towns around Kyiv, but despite the fact that we are the biggest Peace Corps program in the world (PC Ukraine) and also the biggest Peace Corps project (we're all TEFL volunteers [Teaching English as a Foreign Language]), training is a relatively isolated experience. The nearest training group is about an hour away by train. However, we maintain our sanity by meeting our other volunteer friends in Kyiv most Sundays and exploring the ancient cave monasteries and not-so-ancient internet cafes of the capital city.. oh yeah, my day..
-Get up. Wash face with glacially cold water (hot water heater is turned on a few times a week for baths only). But I have finally found something to wake me up in the morning.
-Break fast. Breakfast in Ukraine is what was not eaten at dinner the night before. The first time you come down the stairs and see that plateful of mashed potatoes (with mayonnaise on top) waiting for you on the table, it does register as a shock. I already knew I liked breakfast for dinner, but I didn't think I might warm up to the idea of dinner for breakfast (I certainly have). So my favorite breakfast is borscht. My favorite dinner is also borscht. If you've never tried a decent bowl of borscht, go find one. Don't forget the commemorative dollop of high-quality sour cream. You won't be disappointed. I always thought I had a weak stomach in the morning (early consumption of coffee has proven that to me in the past), but now I actually look forward to my bowl of soup at 8:00AM. Or my veal cutlets or whatever. However, I also have a least-favorite breakfast: a plateful of cheese with 3 teaspoons of sugar sprinkled on top, those mashed potatoes with mayonnaise, slices of pure pig fat wrapped around cloves of raw garlic and…vodka to wash it down. It happens. Vodka is appropriate for many occasions throughout the day, but I will draw the line at breakfast.
-Walk to school. It's likely gray and very foggy outside. It it's windy, more fog is blown in. If it's been snowing, you better watch it. Snow is not removed from the streets and sidewalks, it is pounded into something much more solid in the hopes that it might disappear altogether. Within a day or two, that pristine layer of snow on the road will resemble pack ice, so seriously, watch it. Especially on the bridge over the train tracks, which must be crossed on the way to school. This bridge might have been built in the '40s, and is composed of slippery, rickety, wooden steps of all shapes and sizes. As you cross it you have many opportunities to look through the cracks and gaps at the ground 40 ft. (~13m) below. If you make it across the bridge, the worst of your day is over.
-Walk into school. Students of all sizes will inundate you with 'hullo!'s and then run away giggling. You are nothing short of a celebrity and will occasionally be required to sign autographs, although the novelty is going to wear very quickly. Go to class and teach. Usually a very exciting and fulfilling experience. Hopefully the heat will be on.
-Leave school, go to intensive Russian language class. Four hours of фцшнеупи and зйёрюбцщрпнкщ, which are not real words, but most of the time you can't tell that. Work on community projects, language projects, assessment forms, mandatory journals, language tutoring, technical tutoring, homework…
-Finally go home to your host family. By then it is 5:00 or so, and close to pitch black outside. The color/shade is really very close to that of pitch, because there are no streetlights in this town, and it is likely still overcast. So if you can find your way home then this is will be a really really good time of the day, because you love your host family. At least I do. But that's not hard to do that in Ukraine. Ukrainians, from an American perspective, are overwhelmingly hospitable. One would expect an initial awkwardness in a situation such as this- I am in a new country and new culture with very limited language ability (hopefully not so limited anymore), but I am part of this family and will be so forever. Home is a much-needed respite when training becomes tedious and irksome, or maybe that's just me becoming irksome... anyways it melts at our front door. So then I eat a spectacular dinner (hopefully starts with borscht [it did tonight!]), play with the kitties (sadly, this little kitty is about to go to market), plan lessons, make flashcards, read book, fall asleep and repeat.
I think I could have done better on my Day in the Life Of, but I gotta get this up on the site. Next edition: where I am going to live for the next two years!
posted by jdinuk31 at 12:25 PM
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