Dec 23
Hello everyone! Greetings from Ukraine. I had hoped that this would be Danny and my first white Christmas but, alas, it looks like it's not to be. It's rather rainy and warm here, but this is a massive improvement on last week which was somewhere between freezing and melty. For a couple of days, the sidewalks were coated in ice AND running water which, if you've ever experienced this you'll understand, makes going anywhere a life and death experience. My first time at the Izium bazaar I very nearly took out a babushka when I slipped and did a ghoulish, arm-spinny dance to try to catch myself. Luckily, I did not fall and have not fallen....yet. Danny fell once in Chernigov (went down on a knee) and also slipped going up a hill and went down on his hands but I guess we're playing football rules so hands don't count but knees do which makes it 1-0 so far this winter. This doesn't mean that I haven't come close several times. In fact on Monday, on my way to school, (which happens to be 10 minutes downhill), I slipped 5 times in total. The forth time was an all-out arm flailing slip and the last was right in the last 2 steps into the building. By the time I was inside I was sweating just from the effort of keeping upright. Despite all of this, I still hope it snows tonight or tomorrow but this looks unlikely.
It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve and not just because of the weather. I think this is half that I can't believe we've been in Ukraine this long (it's gone by so quickly) and half that, technically, it's only Christmas Eve for Danny, David, and me. For everyone else in Izium, Saturday is just Saturday. Everyone else will be celebrating Christmas on January 7th. Regardless, after our girl's empowerment camp on Saturday, Danny, David, Megan, (two other PCVs) and I will have Christmas dinner. I'm making borscht, deruny (sort of like potato pancakes), coleslaw, and deviled eggs. I'm thinking about making eggnog but I don't know if Danny or I like it so it seems like an expensive risk to take. Danny and I have decided that instead of Christmas 'presents' we're just going to continue our ornament tradition and get each other a Christmas ornament this year. Economical yet fun.
This week has been full of fun and silliness. Last Friday I went with my tenth graders to play futbol at the sports complex (before this, I unexpectedly helped judge an English competition but that's a story for another time). I was not very surprised to see that I was the only woman there but it's always a little strange. I played with the guys for awhile until another, older, group came in and wanted to play, too. So, we played them 6 on 6. The funny thing was that before we started, one of the men on the other team looked at me and asked my team "devocthka?" which means "a woman?". My team said, "yep, she's on our team" and so we played and at the end, when the other team of men were leaving, they each gave me a nod and a "dasvidanya". It was alot of fun, and I hope to do it again soon even though for the next two days I couldn't move without a decent amount of pain! :-)
The next day, my seventh grade class took Danny and me on a tour of the city which was fun but painful. We trudged though the snow all the way up to the top of the mountain (Kreemenits) in Izium to see the WWII monument (it's beautiful). Then we crossed the highway and went up the back way to the memorial for the massive starvation in Ukraine that happened in 1933. This was a little scary mainly because it was icy and there was a highway (and a 40 foot drop) to my right and a snowy, steep drop to my left. To be fair, there was about a meter to walk so it only seemed sketchy, and my kids took care of me. It was awesome, beautiful, and humbling. If you haven't heard about this massive tragedy, you should look it up. We then went to the beach along the river, where you can swim in the summer, stopping at a beautiful church along the way. It was a lot of fun: the kids got to practice their English on the weekend, and I got to practice my Russian!
Finally, the last thing I'll tell about before I let Danny take over, is about our bedding. Last week, Danny and I bought awesome sheets that are zebra striped with big red roses on them, and after a couple of days I noticed that the lines on my knuckles had a bit of a purplish tinge to them. I thought that this was due to the borscht I had made (the beet juice tends to stain), so I didn't give it much thought. Then, a couple of nights ago, Danny and I were taking a bath (ECONOMY) and I noticed that the water running off his head was a purplish-black color. After having myself a good laugh and making fun of him for not washing his hair, we realized that this was from the sheets. Now, we bought the least expensive sheets we could find and didn't wash them first so this wasn't unreasonable, and I know, I know but if you've ever hand-washed a set of sheets you'll understand why we put this off. Regardless, they are currently soaking and I am hopeful that they will be back to non-bleeding awesomeness in no time and that our days of slightly purplish tinge are over.
Well kids, I have to go. I can't spend ALL of my time talking to you people. I have to go to school to help prep a young woman for English Olympiad. Goodbye for now. Remember that I love you all, am thinking of you, and I hope you guys have at least as wonderful a Christmas as I'm going to have!!!!
-Shannon
Hello folks...
Shannon pretty much covered everything this week. We are out of school until Jan 10 or so starting tomorrow. Shannon forgot to mention the 1000 year old sculptures and amazing WWII memorial we saw on Saturday. You can see pics on Facebook.
Meanwhile, our town is cold, wet and full of gunpowder smells since New Year's is close and all the kids are buying fireworks. When I got out of school today the kids were setting off one after the other and it sounded like a gun battle. I think we might go to Chernigov for New Year but I need to check the prices of trains.
I discovered that hiking boots plus running water on ice makes for an adventure when walking to the grocery store. I slipped and almost went down nearly every 5th step or so. The sidewalks froze then thawed a little and then refroze then it rained like crazy so there was a torrent of water running on top of the ice on the sidewalk. I found that Converse All-Star shoes have great traction but very little waterproof qualities. It's a catch 22. Do I want to break a hip or catch pneumonia? Sigh. There's definitely a learning curve in walking here that one cannot learn in Tennessee and I am getting better at choosing my paths and footsteps carefully.
Alright, I will end this novelette now by saying Happy Christmas and Merry New Year. We will be on Skype tomorrow at about 4PM our time (-7 hrs Eastern, -8 Central) so if you'd like to chat look us up. Sadly, video chat at the moment is not an option as it eats up our bandwidth and costs us a lot of money. So, talk to you tomorrow and if I don't have a good holiday and we'll be back in a week. We love you!
-Danny
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Greetings from Izium (our new home!)
Hello from the East of Ukraine, town of Izium. We landed a very nice apartment right near the center of the town. My school is literally across the street and is 150+ years old and huge and beautiful. It is in the middle of the city park and there are trees everywhere. I'll get pictures soon. Shannon's school is only about a 7 minute walk away so it's nice for everyone. Our apartment has two rooms, central heating, and hot water so we're extremely lucky and grateful to all the people who set it up.
We arrived in Izium a couple of days ago after the swearing in retreat in Kiev, and before we even got here, people knew about us. Mainly because we were interviewed by two Ukrainian national news organizations in Russian and English. It was really interesting! Our host families saw it, and were very excited. They even played a clip of Danny playing and singing a Russian song!
Our town kind of reminds me of a large college town. But I'll post pics and more info later as we have more chances to explore it.
We are happy and healthy and excited to finally be in our permanent site here in Ukraine. We miss and love you guys and we'll talk to you soon. By the way, we have access to the internet now as it is on the bottom floor of our apartment building. It's an internet club but it is very cheap and fast. So if you want to Skype let us know.
We arrived in Izium a couple of days ago after the swearing in retreat in Kiev, and before we even got here, people knew about us. Mainly because we were interviewed by two Ukrainian national news organizations in Russian and English. It was really interesting! Our host families saw it, and were very excited. They even played a clip of Danny playing and singing a Russian song!
Our town kind of reminds me of a large college town. But I'll post pics and more info later as we have more chances to explore it.
We are happy and healthy and excited to finally be in our permanent site here in Ukraine. We miss and love you guys and we'll talk to you soon. By the way, we have access to the internet now as it is on the bottom floor of our apartment building. It's an internet club but it is very cheap and fast. So if you want to Skype let us know.
Friday, December 3, 2010
The Beginning of the End of the Beginning.
So...that's it. We're done with training. We finished up today and we are in Chernigev briefly to buy gifts for our host families. The first snow came to Ukraine on Monday. We got just over a foot. Yesterday the temperature dropped to -20 Celsius which is around -3 Fahrenheit. Needless to say: It...was...cold. We did our Language Proficiency Interviews yesterday and they went well for Shannon and I. I'm certain that we passed but we'll find out for sure on Monday in Kiev. The interviews were a blur. The interview was only supposed to last 20 minutes, which it did, but it seemed like 2 minutes flat.
Funny side story (and so typically me): So during my interview I said that I liked vareneky which is a pastry filled with sour cherries and super delicious. So the interviewer asked me to tell him how to make it which luckily Alona told me the recipe the night before. Funny. So, I said (in Russian) "First, you need 1 kilogram of "MOOSA" and then..." The interviewer stops me and says (in Russian) "Wait, wait...MOOSA?" And I say, "Yeah, moosa. So, then..." He stops me again and says, "I don't understand...you said moosa? Did you mean miasa (meat)?" "No, not miasa. 1 kilogram of moosa." I said. "What does moosa look like?" he says. "It's white and comes in a big jar." I said. He says, "Oh, you mean MOOKA!" Then I realized my mistake: You see, MOOKA is Russian for flour which you need to make vareneky. MOOSA is Russian for trash. So, I said "To make vareneky I you need 1 kilogram of trash and then..." Classic.
Today we did our Self-Directed Learning project which, for me, meant that I had to learn and sing a song in Russian. So I sang "If You Don't Have an Aunt". It's a famous Russian folk song and it was fun to play and sing. I also learned to write in cursive in Cyrillic.
Shannon drew all the places she liked or frequented (her host family's house, LCF's house, school, post office, and a church in Chernigev. She talked about them all in Russian and she did a very good job. The drawings were beautiful. We'll get pics soon.
So, we go to Kiev on Monday and we should know where we will be living for two years on Monday too. We should be able to blog next week in Kiev and let everyone know where we're heading. Extra exciting. I have a few more pics so I'll post those soon too.
Til then. We love and miss you!
Danny and Shannon
Funny side story (and so typically me): So during my interview I said that I liked vareneky which is a pastry filled with sour cherries and super delicious. So the interviewer asked me to tell him how to make it which luckily Alona told me the recipe the night before. Funny. So, I said (in Russian) "First, you need 1 kilogram of "MOOSA" and then..." The interviewer stops me and says (in Russian) "Wait, wait...MOOSA?" And I say, "Yeah, moosa. So, then..." He stops me again and says, "I don't understand...you said moosa? Did you mean miasa (meat)?" "No, not miasa. 1 kilogram of moosa." I said. "What does moosa look like?" he says. "It's white and comes in a big jar." I said. He says, "Oh, you mean MOOKA!" Then I realized my mistake: You see, MOOKA is Russian for flour which you need to make vareneky. MOOSA is Russian for trash. So, I said "To make vareneky I you need 1 kilogram of trash and then..." Classic.
Today we did our Self-Directed Learning project which, for me, meant that I had to learn and sing a song in Russian. So I sang "If You Don't Have an Aunt". It's a famous Russian folk song and it was fun to play and sing. I also learned to write in cursive in Cyrillic.
Shannon drew all the places she liked or frequented (her host family's house, LCF's house, school, post office, and a church in Chernigev. She talked about them all in Russian and she did a very good job. The drawings were beautiful. We'll get pics soon.
So, we go to Kiev on Monday and we should know where we will be living for two years on Monday too. We should be able to blog next week in Kiev and let everyone know where we're heading. Extra exciting. I have a few more pics so I'll post those soon too.
Til then. We love and miss you!
Danny and Shannon
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Wrapping Up PST
I can't believe that next Monday we'll be on our way to Kiev to participate in our swearing in ceremony and become true PCVs!!! We are so excited to learn our new site, and get our new classes. I hope that as soon as we find out, we'll be able to post a blog letting everyone know where we're headed. Next week is an insanely busy week for us as we have our VERY important language proficiency interview, our community project workshop, and our SDL presentations. Also, we have two more field trips we have to report on, so we're pretty swamped. As soon as we're able to, we'll let you guys know how everything went and where we're headed. Love you all!!!!!!!
Danny and Shannon
Danny and Shannon
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Bad Things Happen In 3's...guitars too.
Ok. So. This week has been a bit cursed, and I must say that I'm not too sad to see it end. First bad thing: Saturday night my cluster was walking home from a movie and knitting night at our TCF's house when we witnessed a dog get hit by a car. It didn't kill it either; it just sat on the side on the road looking at us as we passed but there was nothing we could do. There are no vets in Kyinka. It was terribly sad.
Second bad thing: The next day Dave was on the bus and witnessed a man die of a heart attack. He left the bus and got onto another and passed a wreck in our community that had some people splayed about. Heavy.
Third bad thing: Monday night I contracted a severe stomach virus and was briefly hospitalized. I threw up so badly that I tore my stomach. I did get to experience a Ukrainian hospital, and you will all be happy to know that they took excellent care of me. They had to give me 6 liters of IV fluid, so I felt pretty bad. I've gotten back to solid foods now so that is awesome. I'm now a celebrity.
Anyway, next week is our language proficiency interview is next week so I'm very excited, along with my TEFL demo lesson!!! Training is winding to the end!
Hey guys this is Danny! Let me tell you my perspective. So, I was washing clothes on Monday night and...actually before all of this I remember Shannon telling me that her stomach hurt and I told her to lay down and relax so I feel bad a bit now. But I was washing clothes on Monday night and I left my phone in my bedroom. I always have it on me but I took it out of my pocket to wash clothes (by hand). So, when I got done washing, I went to my room and had six missed calls from Shannon. When I called her back she said, and I quote, "I need you to come over. I think I'm dying." So, I told her to call the Peace Corps doctor. She did and he told her to wait an hour. Meanwhile, I was hitching a ride with a bus to Shannon's. I got there and she was throwing up almost every three minutes.
At some point, as she was throwing up so hard, she apparently tore something in her esophagus or stomach and there was a bit of blood so I called the doctor in Kiev and he told me to call an ambulance. Now, an ambulance here is not as scary or urgent as one in the States. By that I mean that if you are deathly ill, it is exactly the same. If you are throwing up every three minutes then it is helpful because, in our community, there are not a lot of cars and the only option for us was either take public transit with a vomiting woman or take an ambulance which is paid for by Peace Corps.
The ambulance came and Shannon was cared for as good or better than she would have been in the States. She was taken to the hospital in Chernigev and the doctor from Kiev was here that night (it's a two hour drive). So, Shannon was given fluids and a mild sedative and her condition improved and was better by morning with the exception of a bit of soreness and tiredness.
She left the hospital on Wednesday. The hospital staff wanted to keep her overnight on Tuesday to make sure she was truly ok which she was.
This experience has made me very confident in the hospitals here in Ukraine. The staff at the hospital was extremely knowledgeable and caring. They fixed Shannon right up with speed and efficiency. You simply could not ask for better care. The Peace Corps also was extremely efficient and helpful. They made sure that we had a contact with a doctor and sent their own from Kiev to make sure that Shannon was given the exact care she needed and nothing she didn't.
Today, Shannon is sitting in a pizza place eating pizza and feeling great and it's because of the care of the Ukrainian physicians and nurses and the Peace Corps personnel. She wasn't near death or anything but she recovered so quickly simply because of the great care she received.
Also, I bought a guitar today too!
Until next time...we love you guys and have a extra HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Danny and Shannon
Second bad thing: The next day Dave was on the bus and witnessed a man die of a heart attack. He left the bus and got onto another and passed a wreck in our community that had some people splayed about. Heavy.
Third bad thing: Monday night I contracted a severe stomach virus and was briefly hospitalized. I threw up so badly that I tore my stomach. I did get to experience a Ukrainian hospital, and you will all be happy to know that they took excellent care of me. They had to give me 6 liters of IV fluid, so I felt pretty bad. I've gotten back to solid foods now so that is awesome. I'm now a celebrity.
Anyway, next week is our language proficiency interview is next week so I'm very excited, along with my TEFL demo lesson!!! Training is winding to the end!
Hey guys this is Danny! Let me tell you my perspective. So, I was washing clothes on Monday night and...actually before all of this I remember Shannon telling me that her stomach hurt and I told her to lay down and relax so I feel bad a bit now. But I was washing clothes on Monday night and I left my phone in my bedroom. I always have it on me but I took it out of my pocket to wash clothes (by hand). So, when I got done washing, I went to my room and had six missed calls from Shannon. When I called her back she said, and I quote, "I need you to come over. I think I'm dying." So, I told her to call the Peace Corps doctor. She did and he told her to wait an hour. Meanwhile, I was hitching a ride with a bus to Shannon's. I got there and she was throwing up almost every three minutes.
At some point, as she was throwing up so hard, she apparently tore something in her esophagus or stomach and there was a bit of blood so I called the doctor in Kiev and he told me to call an ambulance. Now, an ambulance here is not as scary or urgent as one in the States. By that I mean that if you are deathly ill, it is exactly the same. If you are throwing up every three minutes then it is helpful because, in our community, there are not a lot of cars and the only option for us was either take public transit with a vomiting woman or take an ambulance which is paid for by Peace Corps.
The ambulance came and Shannon was cared for as good or better than she would have been in the States. She was taken to the hospital in Chernigev and the doctor from Kiev was here that night (it's a two hour drive). So, Shannon was given fluids and a mild sedative and her condition improved and was better by morning with the exception of a bit of soreness and tiredness.
She left the hospital on Wednesday. The hospital staff wanted to keep her overnight on Tuesday to make sure she was truly ok which she was.
This experience has made me very confident in the hospitals here in Ukraine. The staff at the hospital was extremely knowledgeable and caring. They fixed Shannon right up with speed and efficiency. You simply could not ask for better care. The Peace Corps also was extremely efficient and helpful. They made sure that we had a contact with a doctor and sent their own from Kiev to make sure that Shannon was given the exact care she needed and nothing she didn't.
Today, Shannon is sitting in a pizza place eating pizza and feeling great and it's because of the care of the Ukrainian physicians and nurses and the Peace Corps personnel. She wasn't near death or anything but she recovered so quickly simply because of the great care she received.
Also, I bought a guitar today too!
Until next time...we love you guys and have a extra HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Danny and Shannon
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Shannon's post for Nanners
Hello all! I want you all to know I am posting this at the request of Nanners who said Danny does too much of the posting. This is true but it is also my fault, mainly because I hate typing on this computer (I think that my fingers are too fat). This is the one time I wish I had Danny's pointy princess fingers. Case in point, I'm already super frustrated at this thing, and I'm sure it will erase my writing in a moment. Anyways, we had our site placement interviews yesterday and, no worries, Danny and I will be placed together in our own apartment most likely. Hooray! I believe that we were offered a site in Crimea (a.k.a. paradise) but it was a site in a huge city. I think Danny and I would prefer a medium-sized town where we can form community bonds a little easier. Plus our interviewer said that she has a place in mind that will be a great fit which is great.
Many of our fellow trainees have expressed extreme disbelief that we wouldn't jump at the chance to be in Crimea but oh well. It's hard to believe that we're only a couple weeks away from our placement. I'm extremely excited but I hope that I can improve my Russian a great deal more soon. On that note, the Russian word for brother is brat (braht); chew on that Jon. Ooh burned from Ukraine! Let's see, I've learned how to knit, though, I usually don't have time to. Mama Maria has knitted the bulk of my scarf so far. Also, Danny created a shoe-valanche today at the bazaar which was super funny. Danny apologizing in English to a very annoyed prodavierts while he picked up random shoes.
Anyway, if anyone wants to Skype send me an e-mail at shannon.anderson0@gmail.com and I'll try to set it up (at the very least at site). And one final point, if anyone corrects my grammar or spelling on this stupid thing, I'll laser beam you from Ukraine.
Many of our fellow trainees have expressed extreme disbelief that we wouldn't jump at the chance to be in Crimea but oh well. It's hard to believe that we're only a couple weeks away from our placement. I'm extremely excited but I hope that I can improve my Russian a great deal more soon. On that note, the Russian word for brother is brat (braht); chew on that Jon. Ooh burned from Ukraine! Let's see, I've learned how to knit, though, I usually don't have time to. Mama Maria has knitted the bulk of my scarf so far. Also, Danny created a shoe-valanche today at the bazaar which was super funny. Danny apologizing in English to a very annoyed prodavierts while he picked up random shoes.
Anyway, if anyone wants to Skype send me an e-mail at shannon.anderson0@gmail.com and I'll try to set it up (at the very least at site). And one final point, if anyone corrects my grammar or spelling on this stupid thing, I'll laser beam you from Ukraine.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Week...who's counting?
This week we went to a very very very old church in Chernigev. I forget the name of it but I'll post pics on Facebook. It is an active, working church compound with several buildings. It was built in 1000AD. We went to the top of a very tall tower and overlooked the city which was very beautiful. We then went into the main sanctuary which was very quiet and very ornate. People walked around and looked at the icons on the walls, made the sign of the cross and bowed. It was very solemn. There were priests and worshipers singing and we just walked around semi-unnoticed with our guides and observed.
Afterward, we went to the catacombs. The catacombs is an underground church that was built in 1100AD when Chernigev was attacked by the Mongols. It is a very vast network of tunnels and rooms dedicated to worship. Monks lived in there all their lives in these caves and there are still bones in nooks where they were buried almost 1000 years ago. It's very interesting and claustrophobic. It's also pretty amazing that it was ever built in the first place.
We are really starting to pick up the language here by the way.
On Tuesday we will travel to the capitol city of Kiev. So, look for those pics next week. Alright, well, until next week: We love you and miss you.
Danny
Friday, October 22, 2010
No-no words among other things
Hello all, Shannon here! My last couple of weeks here have been eventful, if not as gruesome as Danny's. I have taught 3 English lessons, the last of which was observed by our technical training coordinator. She was extremely pleased with my lesson, and even said that she didn't expect this caliber of teaching. I was extremely flattered but won't let this go to my head lest I get overconfident and attacked by raptor 7th graders. Most of our days are filled with 5 hours of language lessons, tutoring, and TCF sessions or teaching, which can be very wearing but our group is awesome. We usually have a lot of fun in our class. On that note, one of our group mates taught a 5th grade class last week, and his class went really well. However, no one let us know that a shortened form of the English word "yes" apparently is the Russian equivalent to the F bomb. He said this in class 8 times. :0 Just another cultural difference! Also, the name Peter, said like it usually is in English, is a horrible insult, and if a man shakes another man's hand without taking off his gloves, he might get punched. And one more for the road: if I sit on a cold surface (like concrete) my ovaries will freeze, and I will never have children.
I miss you all and love you. More on this front later!!!!!
I miss you all and love you. More on this front later!!!!!
Bore-a-Hole Stick a Pig
10/22
So, ever since the second week here in Ukraine, Bogdan has said, weekly, "Danny, on Saturday, we *makes throat cutting motion* pig of my father." So, I just say "Ok" and move on. Saturdays come and go and no pig. Literally every weekend this happens. So, when we were over at Alla's uncle's house last weekend, Bogdan received a very long, rusty knife and I went, "Uh oh". So, this past Saturday at six in the morning, before school, we got up and went to his father's house. The pig was enormous. It was easily the biggest pig I have ever been near and one of the biggest I've ever seen. The offer was made to me to do the killing stroke but I respectfully declined. So, Bogdan's brother-in-law and I held the ropes and held it down with our feet while Bogdan did the deed. It was loud and intense. Enough said.
Every group's language teacher swapped with another group for three weeks. It gives each group a different method of teaching and learning and gives the teachers more experience with different students. We are progressing right along with our Russian and learning a lot as usual. Life is good.
I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we are starting to understand a very good deal of what people are saying around us. This is good. This is very good.
Ok. I posted a huge amount of pics on Facebook with captions so head over there and check those out. Also, if one wanted to call me, one could dial: +380635344240. I think you can buy an International phone card and call on your cell phone. It is definitely cheaper to call from the US than for me to call there. It's basically the equivalent of $3.00/minute. The phones ring differently here so you will not here a dial that you are accustomed to. It will be a series of tones.
That's all for this week. More later. Love you guys!
So, ever since the second week here in Ukraine, Bogdan has said, weekly, "Danny, on Saturday, we *makes throat cutting motion* pig of my father." So, I just say "Ok" and move on. Saturdays come and go and no pig. Literally every weekend this happens. So, when we were over at Alla's uncle's house last weekend, Bogdan received a very long, rusty knife and I went, "Uh oh". So, this past Saturday at six in the morning, before school, we got up and went to his father's house. The pig was enormous. It was easily the biggest pig I have ever been near and one of the biggest I've ever seen. The offer was made to me to do the killing stroke but I respectfully declined. So, Bogdan's brother-in-law and I held the ropes and held it down with our feet while Bogdan did the deed. It was loud and intense. Enough said.
Every group's language teacher swapped with another group for three weeks. It gives each group a different method of teaching and learning and gives the teachers more experience with different students. We are progressing right along with our Russian and learning a lot as usual. Life is good.
I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we are starting to understand a very good deal of what people are saying around us. This is good. This is very good.
Ok. I posted a huge amount of pics on Facebook with captions so head over there and check those out. Also, if one wanted to call me, one could dial: +380635344240. I think you can buy an International phone card and call on your cell phone. It is definitely cheaper to call from the US than for me to call there. It's basically the equivalent of $3.00/minute. The phones ring differently here so you will not here a dial that you are accustomed to. It will be a series of tones.
That's all for this week. More later. Love you guys!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Sobacka So Sue Me
10/12/10
I thought I would tell a story that happened three weeks ago:
So, I was feeling a bit confident after about a week in country and I decided to go to the local store (in Russian it's pronounced magazine). I went in with my appropriate phrases in hand. The plan was to buy my family some coffee since they were out and I had consumed much of it. Coffee in Russian if basically pronounced like coffee so I could at least point at it and say coffee and it would work itself out even if I forgot my phrases.
So, I went in and I walked up to the counter and I asked, in pretty good Russian, if I could have some coffee. The clerk reaches back and gets it for me and tells me how much it was which I sort of understood-sort of didn't and I just handed her a big bill and she gave me what I assumed to be the correct change. In my head, I am riding pretty high at this point. I pretty much rocked this whole exchange and I'm feeling really good now. I take my coffee and I turn to walk away. I raise my coffee can and I say "SOBACKA!" For just a second I think, "Wait...is that right?" And while I'm pondering and looking at the clerk -whose face suddenly becomes puzzled- she kind of half raises her hand and says, "SPASIBA?" At this point I realize my error:
You see, SPASIBA in Russian means THANK YOU. SOBACKA which is what I said means DOG. So, in review, I bought some coffee and then, very politely, I said DOG instead of THANK YOU to the clerk as I walked away. I went from being very confident to feeling like a total moron. My host family found this hilarious and have told every person they know. I have since gotten over my embarrassment and have decided to do the same apparently.
That's all for tonight. Love you guys!
-Danny
I thought I would tell a story that happened three weeks ago:
So, I was feeling a bit confident after about a week in country and I decided to go to the local store (in Russian it's pronounced magazine). I went in with my appropriate phrases in hand. The plan was to buy my family some coffee since they were out and I had consumed much of it. Coffee in Russian if basically pronounced like coffee so I could at least point at it and say coffee and it would work itself out even if I forgot my phrases.
So, I went in and I walked up to the counter and I asked, in pretty good Russian, if I could have some coffee. The clerk reaches back and gets it for me and tells me how much it was which I sort of understood-sort of didn't and I just handed her a big bill and she gave me what I assumed to be the correct change. In my head, I am riding pretty high at this point. I pretty much rocked this whole exchange and I'm feeling really good now. I take my coffee and I turn to walk away. I raise my coffee can and I say "SOBACKA!" For just a second I think, "Wait...is that right?" And while I'm pondering and looking at the clerk -whose face suddenly becomes puzzled- she kind of half raises her hand and says, "SPASIBA?" At this point I realize my error:
You see, SPASIBA in Russian means THANK YOU. SOBACKA which is what I said means DOG. So, in review, I bought some coffee and then, very politely, I said DOG instead of THANK YOU to the clerk as I walked away. I went from being very confident to feeling like a total moron. My host family found this hilarious and have told every person they know. I have since gotten over my embarrassment and have decided to do the same apparently.
That's all for tonight. Love you guys!
-Danny
Brazil Made Me Poorer
10/11/10
So, today was our second anniversary. We were so busy today with teaching lessons and learning Russian later that we had little time to do anything. We stopped by the store and bought a K-Bueno bar which is a candy bar that Shannon likes. We shared it on the way home and it kind of symbolized a gift to each other since we had no time to get anything for each other.
I walked Shannon home and Mama Maria and Papa Koli (Shannon's Host Parents) had prepared a meal for us complete with champagne. They made a toast to us and our marriage and it was very kind and sweet. I got home pretty late -around 8PM- and I had to do homework while I watched Ukraine play Brazil in soccer. Brazil won 2-0 so I lost my bet with Bogdan. I stuck my money on the fridge with a note that said "Ya ne loobloo Brasilia" in Cyrillic. He'll find it in the morning.
I'll keep it short and sweet tonight. So, goodnight!
-Danny
So, today was our second anniversary. We were so busy today with teaching lessons and learning Russian later that we had little time to do anything. We stopped by the store and bought a K-Bueno bar which is a candy bar that Shannon likes. We shared it on the way home and it kind of symbolized a gift to each other since we had no time to get anything for each other.
I walked Shannon home and Mama Maria and Papa Koli (Shannon's Host Parents) had prepared a meal for us complete with champagne. They made a toast to us and our marriage and it was very kind and sweet. I got home pretty late -around 8PM- and I had to do homework while I watched Ukraine play Brazil in soccer. Brazil won 2-0 so I lost my bet with Bogdan. I stuck my money on the fridge with a note that said "Ya ne loobloo Brasilia" in Cyrillic. He'll find it in the morning.
I'll keep it short and sweet tonight. So, goodnight!
-Danny
Chernigev, Picnics, and Phones OH MY!
9/26/2010
Yesterday, Shannon finally got to come over for an overnight visit. It was amazing. Bogdan, Elena, Veronica, Sascha, Alla (Elena's sister and godmother to Veronica), and Roma (a friend of everyone) went on a night picnic close to my dom. We ate a bunch of food, shot a gun and Sascha brought me a guitar and I played songs for everyone. Shannon sang a song as did our Ukrainian friends (they sang several actually). Today, we went into town and played soccer at the school with some other PCVs, some local Ukrainians, and one of our language teachers. We split into two teams: Kyinka, where Shannon and I are from, and Slobodon, where the other group of PCVs are from. Slobodon won but we'll get them next week. Bogdan and our picnic friends came and watched as did our language teacher and technical teacher. I asked Bogdan if he wanted to play but he said he was too old (he's five years younger than me). Today he wore blue jeans, a dress shirt and black leather shoes to watch us play but after the half he decided he wasn't too old to play. So, he took off his shoes and shirt and rolled his jeans up past his knees and played for our side. One of our PCVs accidentally tripped him while he was at a full sprint and he slid across the field and skint his back up a bit. Then later he kicked the ball and drove his bare foot into the dirt and injured his toes. He walks with a limp now. Shannon tweeked her knee and I"m just sore all over but we had a lot of fun and I have pictures and video which I'll load up.
Also, yesterday our group of PCVs went to Chernigev, which is a fairly large Nashville-sized city. The best part about this part of the story is that we bought cell phones and Shannon's phone has been unlocked for international calls. I wanted so much to call home tonight but there are no international codes that I can find in the book that came with my phone and my host family doesn't know how to call the US. I will find this info tomorrow and call someone.
After the game, Shannon, Elona, Bogdan, Veronica, Roma, Alla and her eight year old son Nikita went over to Shannon's host family's house for dinner. It was fun. I was showered, teeth brushed, and shut up in my room tonight by 8:30. I've studied all of my teaching material and now I have to go study my language material. I told you about the first night when I couldn't speak Russian at all? Well, last night, Sascha was at the picnic and he hadn't seen me since my first day in Kyinka. He was amazed at how much Russian I could speak. Frankly, so am I.
Well, goodnight America! Goodnight Mom and Dad. Goodnight Lisa, Greg, Tyler and Brody. Goodnight Karen, Robert and Ryan! Goodnight Jeff, Lisa, Alex and Alison! Goodnight Lynne! Goodnight Shawn! Goodnight Jonathan! Goodnight Jessica and Beck! I love you and miss you! And now that I have a phone, I will talk to you soon!
Yesterday, Shannon finally got to come over for an overnight visit. It was amazing. Bogdan, Elena, Veronica, Sascha, Alla (Elena's sister and godmother to Veronica), and Roma (a friend of everyone) went on a night picnic close to my dom. We ate a bunch of food, shot a gun and Sascha brought me a guitar and I played songs for everyone. Shannon sang a song as did our Ukrainian friends (they sang several actually). Today, we went into town and played soccer at the school with some other PCVs, some local Ukrainians, and one of our language teachers. We split into two teams: Kyinka, where Shannon and I are from, and Slobodon, where the other group of PCVs are from. Slobodon won but we'll get them next week. Bogdan and our picnic friends came and watched as did our language teacher and technical teacher. I asked Bogdan if he wanted to play but he said he was too old (he's five years younger than me). Today he wore blue jeans, a dress shirt and black leather shoes to watch us play but after the half he decided he wasn't too old to play. So, he took off his shoes and shirt and rolled his jeans up past his knees and played for our side. One of our PCVs accidentally tripped him while he was at a full sprint and he slid across the field and skint his back up a bit. Then later he kicked the ball and drove his bare foot into the dirt and injured his toes. He walks with a limp now. Shannon tweeked her knee and I"m just sore all over but we had a lot of fun and I have pictures and video which I'll load up.
Also, yesterday our group of PCVs went to Chernigev, which is a fairly large Nashville-sized city. The best part about this part of the story is that we bought cell phones and Shannon's phone has been unlocked for international calls. I wanted so much to call home tonight but there are no international codes that I can find in the book that came with my phone and my host family doesn't know how to call the US. I will find this info tomorrow and call someone.
After the game, Shannon, Elona, Bogdan, Veronica, Roma, Alla and her eight year old son Nikita went over to Shannon's host family's house for dinner. It was fun. I was showered, teeth brushed, and shut up in my room tonight by 8:30. I've studied all of my teaching material and now I have to go study my language material. I told you about the first night when I couldn't speak Russian at all? Well, last night, Sascha was at the picnic and he hadn't seen me since my first day in Kyinka. He was amazed at how much Russian I could speak. Frankly, so am I.
Well, goodnight America! Goodnight Mom and Dad. Goodnight Lisa, Greg, Tyler and Brody. Goodnight Karen, Robert and Ryan! Goodnight Jeff, Lisa, Alex and Alison! Goodnight Lynne! Goodnight Shawn! Goodnight Jonathan! Goodnight Jessica and Beck! I love you and miss you! And now that I have a phone, I will talk to you soon!
Anniversaries and other such Goodness
10/10/10
Hello again friends! I know that it has been a while since I last wrote but things have normalized and nothing strange or wonderful has happened since last we spoke. During this down time I have decided to add a new feature to my posts. I will call it "Our Russian Phrase of the Moment". Today's Russian phrase is:
STRA-svootchya - Hello
We say it alot here especially to older people and in formal situations.
Since this is a new feature on the blog I will give you another:
MENYAY ZAVOOT, DANNY - My name is Danny
Of course, I am spelling these words how you say them and not how they appear in writing. You wouldn't recognize them if I spelled them correctly as everything is written in cyrillic. That means that Z looks like 3, H is pronounced N, and other letters neither sound or look like letters in English.
Moving on- The Champions League soccer tournament -which is like a mini-world cup- began a couple of nights ago. I"m not sure is the US team is in it or not but I watched Canada tie Ukraine night before last. Tomorrow, Ukraine plays Brazil. Bogdan and I have a bet over who will win. He says Brazil will destroy Ukraine and I say Ukraine will win. There's $20 american riding on it so I hope Ukraine wins. They didn't look very good against Canada so I worry a bit about my chances.
Tomorrow is our two year anniversary. I'm not sure what we'll do to celebrate but I'm sure we'll think of something. Shannon got to stay the night this weekend as usual so that's always nice to have annd look forward to. Our families are very understanding and accomodating. My family wanted Shannon to live here for a month and then I'd live at Shannon's for a month but we had to explain that A) it's against the rules and B) Peace Corps says we'll learn Russian faster apart. That's the way Ukrainian people are though: Whatever you need they will get it. My first night here they asked what was a food I ate in America and I said PIZZA. In ten minutes there was pizza in front of me.
Tomorrow is not only our anniversary but also our first day where we are allowed to travel to the city by ourselves. Up until now we have been escorted everywhere like ducklings. We wnet to Chernigev yesterday to buy school supplies and a heated discussion broke out between our handlers about how much money we owed each other...like we can't do math!
Speaking of school: Last week we taught our first lesson at school. Shannon and I taught 7th grade and our lesson was on the words ALLOW and LET as well as active and passive sentences i.e. "She milked the cow" (active) "The cow was milked by her" (passive). The students were very well behaved and seemed a bit nervous to finally be in front of the Americans. The lesson went well and they seemend to grasp the material pretty well. I am teaching a lesson tomorrow entitled" Problems of Teenagers" which brings us to our final Russian phrase of the moment:
OODACHEE - Good Luck!
Almost one month down and two to go. We are learning so much Russian that I can't adequately explain it all in one post but I understand more and more daily and I study constantly. After only three weeks I can express wants and needs, name food, tell time, describe people and things and conjugate verbs in Russian which is a lot of information. It's amazing how much room the human brain has. Sometimes I think that there is no way I will rememeber some of the words we study but in a day or so I know the words and can use them in conversation. It's crazy.
Well, like I said, things are moving right along here in northern Ukraine. We're healthy, happy, and well-treated. Maybe in a week or so I can start calling folks via Skype since we can go to the city without an escort now. That will make things easier. So, until next time, we love you, we miss you and we'll talk to you soon. Goodnight!
-Danny
Hello again friends! I know that it has been a while since I last wrote but things have normalized and nothing strange or wonderful has happened since last we spoke. During this down time I have decided to add a new feature to my posts. I will call it "Our Russian Phrase of the Moment". Today's Russian phrase is:
STRA-svootchya - Hello
We say it alot here especially to older people and in formal situations.
Since this is a new feature on the blog I will give you another:
MENYAY ZAVOOT, DANNY - My name is Danny
Of course, I am spelling these words how you say them and not how they appear in writing. You wouldn't recognize them if I spelled them correctly as everything is written in cyrillic. That means that Z looks like 3, H is pronounced N, and other letters neither sound or look like letters in English.
Moving on- The Champions League soccer tournament -which is like a mini-world cup- began a couple of nights ago. I"m not sure is the US team is in it or not but I watched Canada tie Ukraine night before last. Tomorrow, Ukraine plays Brazil. Bogdan and I have a bet over who will win. He says Brazil will destroy Ukraine and I say Ukraine will win. There's $20 american riding on it so I hope Ukraine wins. They didn't look very good against Canada so I worry a bit about my chances.
Tomorrow is our two year anniversary. I'm not sure what we'll do to celebrate but I'm sure we'll think of something. Shannon got to stay the night this weekend as usual so that's always nice to have annd look forward to. Our families are very understanding and accomodating. My family wanted Shannon to live here for a month and then I'd live at Shannon's for a month but we had to explain that A) it's against the rules and B) Peace Corps says we'll learn Russian faster apart. That's the way Ukrainian people are though: Whatever you need they will get it. My first night here they asked what was a food I ate in America and I said PIZZA. In ten minutes there was pizza in front of me.
Tomorrow is not only our anniversary but also our first day where we are allowed to travel to the city by ourselves. Up until now we have been escorted everywhere like ducklings. We wnet to Chernigev yesterday to buy school supplies and a heated discussion broke out between our handlers about how much money we owed each other...like we can't do math!
Speaking of school: Last week we taught our first lesson at school. Shannon and I taught 7th grade and our lesson was on the words ALLOW and LET as well as active and passive sentences i.e. "She milked the cow" (active) "The cow was milked by her" (passive). The students were very well behaved and seemed a bit nervous to finally be in front of the Americans. The lesson went well and they seemend to grasp the material pretty well. I am teaching a lesson tomorrow entitled" Problems of Teenagers" which brings us to our final Russian phrase of the moment:
OODACHEE - Good Luck!
Almost one month down and two to go. We are learning so much Russian that I can't adequately explain it all in one post but I understand more and more daily and I study constantly. After only three weeks I can express wants and needs, name food, tell time, describe people and things and conjugate verbs in Russian which is a lot of information. It's amazing how much room the human brain has. Sometimes I think that there is no way I will rememeber some of the words we study but in a day or so I know the words and can use them in conversation. It's crazy.
Well, like I said, things are moving right along here in northern Ukraine. We're healthy, happy, and well-treated. Maybe in a week or so I can start calling folks via Skype since we can go to the city without an escort now. That will make things easier. So, until next time, we love you, we miss you and we'll talk to you soon. Goodnight!
-Danny
My Brain is a Sponge
10/1/10
Our week was a good one. We learned more Russian than I thought possible. Everytime our LCF sets out a huge amount of words I think, "There's no way I'm going to be able to remember half of this but, sure enough, by the end of the day I have it memorized and in use with my host family to some basic extent. We have learned a great deal of foods as well as all types of pronouns and verb conjugations. I can actually put sentences together in Russian and understand what it is I am saying. Bogdan and I watch a police drama called Gluhar-3 everynight and, though I still have very little idea about what is going on, I am beginning to hear more and more words that I recognize and sometimes I even get the jokes or whole scenes which is exciting.
Tuesday was the busiest day we've had since we arrived here in Kyinka. We had language class in the morning, then we went to the school to meet with the principal. Ukraine is sometimes a very formal country so we had to properly introduce ourselves -in Russian- to our principal. It went over pretty well and she was very kind and glad that we were there. Afterwards, we went down the street to Kyinka's local administrative building and introduced ourselves formally to the mayor. She was also quite nice and had nothing but nice things to say about our roup being in her town.
After all this we took a bus to Chernigev and met up with several groups from our region at what amounts to the Board of Education for our region. By the way, Ukraine is broken up into different regions called "oblasts" which are very big. Imagine Texas only having 14 counties and you'll have the idea. We live in Chernigev oblast. So, the week before this, our technical teaching trainer, Vica, asked me if I would write a speech about why we as a group joined the Peace Corps. I gathered some intel from our other four group members, including Shannon, and wrote a little two minute speech. When we got to the educational headquarters we were greeted on the front steps by two women dressed in tradional Ukrainian clothing and holding a traditional greeting bread which is served at formal ceremonies. When we went in we were escorted into a conference room with the principals from other participating villages, our LCFs and TCFs, as well as members of the press (newspaper and radio). The superintendant said some words and then our TCF, Vica, said some words and then I had the honor of being the spokesperson the Peace Corps in our region. I thought I was giving the speech for our group only and that other volunteers were asked to speak but, no, I was the only Peace Corps volunteer to speak at this event which was very flattering.
This week has been rough but rewarding. I am constantly surprised at what the mind is able to absorb. Shannon is doing fantastically in language class and she wro
Our week was a good one. We learned more Russian than I thought possible. Everytime our LCF sets out a huge amount of words I think, "There's no way I'm going to be able to remember half of this but, sure enough, by the end of the day I have it memorized and in use with my host family to some basic extent. We have learned a great deal of foods as well as all types of pronouns and verb conjugations. I can actually put sentences together in Russian and understand what it is I am saying. Bogdan and I watch a police drama called Gluhar-3 everynight and, though I still have very little idea about what is going on, I am beginning to hear more and more words that I recognize and sometimes I even get the jokes or whole scenes which is exciting.
Tuesday was the busiest day we've had since we arrived here in Kyinka. We had language class in the morning, then we went to the school to meet with the principal. Ukraine is sometimes a very formal country so we had to properly introduce ourselves -in Russian- to our principal. It went over pretty well and she was very kind and glad that we were there. Afterwards, we went down the street to Kyinka's local administrative building and introduced ourselves formally to the mayor. She was also quite nice and had nothing but nice things to say about our roup being in her town.
After all this we took a bus to Chernigev and met up with several groups from our region at what amounts to the Board of Education for our region. By the way, Ukraine is broken up into different regions called "oblasts" which are very big. Imagine Texas only having 14 counties and you'll have the idea. We live in Chernigev oblast. So, the week before this, our technical teaching trainer, Vica, asked me if I would write a speech about why we as a group joined the Peace Corps. I gathered some intel from our other four group members, including Shannon, and wrote a little two minute speech. When we got to the educational headquarters we were greeted on the front steps by two women dressed in tradional Ukrainian clothing and holding a traditional greeting bread which is served at formal ceremonies. When we went in we were escorted into a conference room with the principals from other participating villages, our LCFs and TCFs, as well as members of the press (newspaper and radio). The superintendant said some words and then our TCF, Vica, said some words and then I had the honor of being the spokesperson the Peace Corps in our region. I thought I was giving the speech for our group only and that other volunteers were asked to speak but, no, I was the only Peace Corps volunteer to speak at this event which was very flattering.
This week has been rough but rewarding. I am constantly surprised at what the mind is able to absorb. Shannon is doing fantastically in language class and she wro
Day 3 and such...
9/23/10
Day Three:
They have a saying in Ukraine: "On the first day, guests are like gold. On the second day, they are like silver, on the third day they are like copper and on the fourth day you throw them out. Today was my third day with my host family but I hope they don't throw me out tomorrow.
Today, I helped Bogdan sort his potatoes. I live on a working farm. All Ukrainian doms are working farms in Kyinka but Bogdan's has a large field where he grows potatoes, wheat, melons, and more. He also has about eight chickens, three cats, and a dog (sobacka) named Silva. SIlva looks like a little wolf. Tonight, Elena made pasta boiled in chicken stock, cutlet and fried eggs for dinner. I think Bogdan likes Sriracha hot sauce though he kind of sucks in air loudly because of the heat. He was eating it tonight on his eggs.
Bogdan said I should take the marshruka (mini-bus) to school today. He showed me where to stand and what number bus to catch. This morning I waited and when the first bus came I did not see a number so I chickened out and walked the twenty five minutes to school. After school, as I like to do, I walked Shannon home from class which is about a twenty minute walk from Victoria's dom-school. On the way home, I was studying my new Russian words and wasn't really paying attention to how long I had been walking. When I looked up I didn't know where I was. I turned around to look for a landmark but everything suddenly became a landmark and I became hopelessly lost. Fast-forward to the end, I made it home safe and was never in danger but here's how I did it:
Mind you, the walk home is basically a straight line. You just walk down the same road until you get to my street, you take a right, you walk a bit and you're home. Not difficult. So, I turn around and walk back toward the city and I find a landmark that I am sure of. I turn back around and walk toward home again at which point I pass a bus stop with some babushkas (grandmothers) sitting in it which will come into play soon. I keep walking and I pass a shop but I don't remember a shop so I turn around. I pass the babushkas again. "Dobry den! (Good day!)" I say to them. They wave. I keep walking back towards Kyinka for five or six minutes until I reach another landmark that I remember. I turn back around and walk towards home. Five or six minutes later I pass the babushkas "Dobry den!" I say again. They wave again. I keep walking for five to ten minutes until I pass the shop again. I decide my home must be past the shop so I keep walking. But then I suddenly stop recognizing anything so I turn back around and head back towards Kyinka. This time I'm convinced that I'm simply passing the road. I know that there is an old dilapidated barn across the street from my road but I can't seem to find it. But, I do see a house that looks like a barn...maybe I just remember it differently. I take a left on the road and after a couple of minutes it becomes clear that this is not my road. I turn around and go back to the main road and head towards Kyinka again. I see another road so I take it. Not my road. I see the babushkas up ahead and I don't want to see them again so I take another road before I get to them. Not my road. Now, I decide, I will hike all the way back to Kyinka, turn back around and start all over from the city so I know for sure that I have not walked too far and passed my road. I head toward Kyinka. Pass the babushkas, I nod, they nod and start speaking to each other, I move on. I walk for fifteen minutes back to Kyinka and I turn around and head back home. Now, everything begins to look familiar. The house with the red gate, the big house being built/torn down?, the roadside well, AHA! I walk for fifteen minutes. I pass the babushkas, I keep my eyes straight ahead, they begin to talk to each other, one laughs at something, I assume she's laughing at the reciprocating American, I move on. I pass the shop. I keep walking. I stop recognizing things, I keep walking. Within one minute since I stop recognizing things I arrive at what is most definitely my street. When I first thought I was lost and turned around an hour and twenty minutes earlier, I was literally fifty yards from my street. Oh, and did I mention that Victoria (my language teacher) gave us about twenty pounds of books yesterday and another five or six pounds of material today? Oh well. I say if you haven't been lost during training then you haven't explored enough.
Otherwise, folks, we are learning Russian faster than anyone can possibly learn. I am speaking and reading so much Russian that my english-language novel is collecting dust because the words look funny when I pick it up at night. Weird.
Ok. Until next time: I love you guys and do zvadanya!
Day Three:
They have a saying in Ukraine: "On the first day, guests are like gold. On the second day, they are like silver, on the third day they are like copper and on the fourth day you throw them out. Today was my third day with my host family but I hope they don't throw me out tomorrow.
Today, I helped Bogdan sort his potatoes. I live on a working farm. All Ukrainian doms are working farms in Kyinka but Bogdan's has a large field where he grows potatoes, wheat, melons, and more. He also has about eight chickens, three cats, and a dog (sobacka) named Silva. SIlva looks like a little wolf. Tonight, Elena made pasta boiled in chicken stock, cutlet and fried eggs for dinner. I think Bogdan likes Sriracha hot sauce though he kind of sucks in air loudly because of the heat. He was eating it tonight on his eggs.
Bogdan said I should take the marshruka (mini-bus) to school today. He showed me where to stand and what number bus to catch. This morning I waited and when the first bus came I did not see a number so I chickened out and walked the twenty five minutes to school. After school, as I like to do, I walked Shannon home from class which is about a twenty minute walk from Victoria's dom-school. On the way home, I was studying my new Russian words and wasn't really paying attention to how long I had been walking. When I looked up I didn't know where I was. I turned around to look for a landmark but everything suddenly became a landmark and I became hopelessly lost. Fast-forward to the end, I made it home safe and was never in danger but here's how I did it:
Mind you, the walk home is basically a straight line. You just walk down the same road until you get to my street, you take a right, you walk a bit and you're home. Not difficult. So, I turn around and walk back toward the city and I find a landmark that I am sure of. I turn back around and walk toward home again at which point I pass a bus stop with some babushkas (grandmothers) sitting in it which will come into play soon. I keep walking and I pass a shop but I don't remember a shop so I turn around. I pass the babushkas again. "Dobry den! (Good day!)" I say to them. They wave. I keep walking back towards Kyinka for five or six minutes until I reach another landmark that I remember. I turn back around and walk towards home. Five or six minutes later I pass the babushkas "Dobry den!" I say again. They wave again. I keep walking for five to ten minutes until I pass the shop again. I decide my home must be past the shop so I keep walking. But then I suddenly stop recognizing anything so I turn back around and head back towards Kyinka. This time I'm convinced that I'm simply passing the road. I know that there is an old dilapidated barn across the street from my road but I can't seem to find it. But, I do see a house that looks like a barn...maybe I just remember it differently. I take a left on the road and after a couple of minutes it becomes clear that this is not my road. I turn around and go back to the main road and head towards Kyinka again. I see another road so I take it. Not my road. I see the babushkas up ahead and I don't want to see them again so I take another road before I get to them. Not my road. Now, I decide, I will hike all the way back to Kyinka, turn back around and start all over from the city so I know for sure that I have not walked too far and passed my road. I head toward Kyinka. Pass the babushkas, I nod, they nod and start speaking to each other, I move on. I walk for fifteen minutes back to Kyinka and I turn around and head back home. Now, everything begins to look familiar. The house with the red gate, the big house being built/torn down?, the roadside well, AHA! I walk for fifteen minutes. I pass the babushkas, I keep my eyes straight ahead, they begin to talk to each other, one laughs at something, I assume she's laughing at the reciprocating American, I move on. I pass the shop. I keep walking. I stop recognizing things, I keep walking. Within one minute since I stop recognizing things I arrive at what is most definitely my street. When I first thought I was lost and turned around an hour and twenty minutes earlier, I was literally fifty yards from my street. Oh, and did I mention that Victoria (my language teacher) gave us about twenty pounds of books yesterday and another five or six pounds of material today? Oh well. I say if you haven't been lost during training then you haven't explored enough.
Otherwise, folks, we are learning Russian faster than anyone can possibly learn. I am speaking and reading so much Russian that my english-language novel is collecting dust because the words look funny when I pick it up at night. Weird.
Ok. Until next time: I love you guys and do zvadanya!
We Arrived! Hooray!
9/19/2010
Hello all! We arrived in Washington DC on Friday and we met up with some PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) by chance. We rented a Super Shuttle from the airport to the hotel and there were very many PCVs there. We had little to no sleep the night before and we arrived at the hotel with no time to make up for it. At 11:30 we started a six hour class where we turned in our forms and paperwork, listened to coordinators of all types and did projects and skits to prepare us for our trip.
The next day we were packed up and leaving for the airport by noon. Our flight didn't leave until 5:45PM so you'd think two people would have no problem getting through customs and ticketing. However, there were not two but seventy-six of us which made the process a bit more difficult so we only had about an hour and a half to spare when we got through everything.
We had a two hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany and all of us had to go through the customs and security checks again so two hours were just about exactly what we needed to finish thee process. The Frankfurt airport was very efficient and fast though so, perhaps if we had landed at another airport it would have been a bit more stressful. We boarded a plane on the Frankfurt tarmac and flew off to Kiev, Ukraine.
Ukraine from 35,000 feet looks suspiciously like any other part of the world coincidentally. When we landed the airport and all the people within it reminded us that we were no longer in the US. The Frankfurt airport, except for the German posters and signs, looks like any airport in the US. The Kiev airport looks similar to America but with a subtle Soviet style that sets it apart from anything you'll find in the US. We dragged our very heavy bags and loaded them through the airport across a large parking lot where they were loaded into an 18-wheeler. Then Shannon and I, along with two large busloads of PCVs headed North to our training retreat in Chernihev.
A quick side note: Our group to Chernihev had about eighty PCVs. It could have had 30 more people with it but those PCVs Visas did not come in on time and so there were 30 people who were treated to a two day vacation in Washington DC, all expenses paid.
Our retreat was located at an old Soviet-era resort or sanitorium (which doesn't mean what you think it means). The PCVs were assigned three to a room and, as that might be awkward to the third member, Shannon and I were separated. She to an all-girls room and I to an all-boys room. I roomed with Dave and Dominic who were very nice and fun. Shannon roomed with Lilli and another girl that I don't remember but I"m sure she'll correct later. The toilets had a handle on the top of the tank that you pulled up to flush. The showers, as in many houses (doms) in Ukraine had no shower curtain. It has a white metal shower basin and a hand-held shower head. It did, however, have hot water which not all places have so we could take a nice hot shower and wash many many hours of travelling off us.
The retreat had a nice little diner where we were fed Ukrainian food by Ukrainian women. We ate potato soup and a tame version of borshch. There was rice and chicken for dinner, hot sweet milk with pasta for breakfast, soup and bread for lunch etc. The food was really good and reminded me of home in Alabama where my Mom would cook similar meals (maybe not borshch or hot sweet milk and pasta though).
We had class everyday for two and a half days most of which was taught by Ukrainians who work for Peace Corps. We were broken up into smaller groups called "clusters" (Shannon and I were J Cluster) and we were told the language in which we were to be trained which, for Shannon and I, happened to be Russian. At first we kind of went "Aaaw..." but then we realized that we hadn't really learned that much Ukrainian anyway and most Ukrainians speak both Ukrainian and Russian (sometimes at the same time) so we started learning Russian. Other classes were on health and safety, Ukrainian history and culture, how to behave around your host families and we met with Peace Corps officials in Ukraine.
The night before we left, we were told what city and what families we would be living in/with. We were posted in the town of Kyinka which is a village of about 3000 people. The only downside is that Shannon and I aren't living with the same host family. Our directors tell us that they would have placed us together but that the paperwork did not show us to be married. Also, more importantly, they recommend couples live apart during training in order to pick up the language more quickly. It's not ideal but it's only for training and we'll definitely be living together afterwards. In the meantime, we now have two host families. I am living with a young couple. The father is 27 and is named Bogdan and his wife is Elona. They have a wonderfully cherubic four year old daughter named Veronica. There is too much to say about the warmth and kindness of these people so I will just say that they have made me very comfortable and happy while I am here.
Shannon is living about an hour's walk from my house on the other side of Kyinka with an older family with an adult daughter. The father is named Ivan and the mother is named Maria. As of this post I have not met them yet so I do not remember their daughter's name but, again, I'm sure Shannon will clear this up soon.
So, for three months we will go to language and cultural training six days a week. Our language teacher (LCF) Victoria is from Odessa in southern Ukraine and has a temporary apartment in a house in Kyinka which we travel to daily for school. Veronica is very nice and is really helping us learn Russian quickly. The first night in my host house I had no idea what my host family was saying and they talked to me the whole time saying only one English word an hour. They would ask me a question, I would shrug and they would ask me another question. I would ask them a question, they would shrug and ask me a question. That was yesterday. Today, Wednesday, I came home from school and I could understand a lot more and could speak to them more effectively. I am hoping by Saturday to abandon the English language altogether while I am around them (unless they ask for a word in English which happens from time to time).
Speaking of Saturday, we are going on a field trip to downtown Chernigev where I hope to buy a phone and a guitar. When we return, Bogdan and Elona have invited Shannon over to spend the night and we are going fishing and Elona will teach Shannon to make Ukrainian borcht. I am really looking forward to it more than I can express. I see Shannon for most of the day but the nights apart are hard on us both and I miss her and wish I could share my experience with her but we tell each other about our day when we see each other at class and we laugh at the wonderful situation we've gotten ourselves into.
I miss you guys back home. I really do. I hope you are doing well and Shannon and I will be able to communicate with you when we travel to Chernigev this weekend. More posts to come. We love you! We miss you! Keep us in your thoughts as you are always in ours.
Hello all! We arrived in Washington DC on Friday and we met up with some PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) by chance. We rented a Super Shuttle from the airport to the hotel and there were very many PCVs there. We had little to no sleep the night before and we arrived at the hotel with no time to make up for it. At 11:30 we started a six hour class where we turned in our forms and paperwork, listened to coordinators of all types and did projects and skits to prepare us for our trip.
The next day we were packed up and leaving for the airport by noon. Our flight didn't leave until 5:45PM so you'd think two people would have no problem getting through customs and ticketing. However, there were not two but seventy-six of us which made the process a bit more difficult so we only had about an hour and a half to spare when we got through everything.
We had a two hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany and all of us had to go through the customs and security checks again so two hours were just about exactly what we needed to finish thee process. The Frankfurt airport was very efficient and fast though so, perhaps if we had landed at another airport it would have been a bit more stressful. We boarded a plane on the Frankfurt tarmac and flew off to Kiev, Ukraine.
Ukraine from 35,000 feet looks suspiciously like any other part of the world coincidentally. When we landed the airport and all the people within it reminded us that we were no longer in the US. The Frankfurt airport, except for the German posters and signs, looks like any airport in the US. The Kiev airport looks similar to America but with a subtle Soviet style that sets it apart from anything you'll find in the US. We dragged our very heavy bags and loaded them through the airport across a large parking lot where they were loaded into an 18-wheeler. Then Shannon and I, along with two large busloads of PCVs headed North to our training retreat in Chernihev.
A quick side note: Our group to Chernihev had about eighty PCVs. It could have had 30 more people with it but those PCVs Visas did not come in on time and so there were 30 people who were treated to a two day vacation in Washington DC, all expenses paid.
Our retreat was located at an old Soviet-era resort or sanitorium (which doesn't mean what you think it means). The PCVs were assigned three to a room and, as that might be awkward to the third member, Shannon and I were separated. She to an all-girls room and I to an all-boys room. I roomed with Dave and Dominic who were very nice and fun. Shannon roomed with Lilli and another girl that I don't remember but I"m sure she'll correct later. The toilets had a handle on the top of the tank that you pulled up to flush. The showers, as in many houses (doms) in Ukraine had no shower curtain. It has a white metal shower basin and a hand-held shower head. It did, however, have hot water which not all places have so we could take a nice hot shower and wash many many hours of travelling off us.
The retreat had a nice little diner where we were fed Ukrainian food by Ukrainian women. We ate potato soup and a tame version of borshch. There was rice and chicken for dinner, hot sweet milk with pasta for breakfast, soup and bread for lunch etc. The food was really good and reminded me of home in Alabama where my Mom would cook similar meals (maybe not borshch or hot sweet milk and pasta though).
We had class everyday for two and a half days most of which was taught by Ukrainians who work for Peace Corps. We were broken up into smaller groups called "clusters" (Shannon and I were J Cluster) and we were told the language in which we were to be trained which, for Shannon and I, happened to be Russian. At first we kind of went "Aaaw..." but then we realized that we hadn't really learned that much Ukrainian anyway and most Ukrainians speak both Ukrainian and Russian (sometimes at the same time) so we started learning Russian. Other classes were on health and safety, Ukrainian history and culture, how to behave around your host families and we met with Peace Corps officials in Ukraine.
The night before we left, we were told what city and what families we would be living in/with. We were posted in the town of Kyinka which is a village of about 3000 people. The only downside is that Shannon and I aren't living with the same host family. Our directors tell us that they would have placed us together but that the paperwork did not show us to be married. Also, more importantly, they recommend couples live apart during training in order to pick up the language more quickly. It's not ideal but it's only for training and we'll definitely be living together afterwards. In the meantime, we now have two host families. I am living with a young couple. The father is 27 and is named Bogdan and his wife is Elona. They have a wonderfully cherubic four year old daughter named Veronica. There is too much to say about the warmth and kindness of these people so I will just say that they have made me very comfortable and happy while I am here.
Shannon is living about an hour's walk from my house on the other side of Kyinka with an older family with an adult daughter. The father is named Ivan and the mother is named Maria. As of this post I have not met them yet so I do not remember their daughter's name but, again, I'm sure Shannon will clear this up soon.
So, for three months we will go to language and cultural training six days a week. Our language teacher (LCF) Victoria is from Odessa in southern Ukraine and has a temporary apartment in a house in Kyinka which we travel to daily for school. Veronica is very nice and is really helping us learn Russian quickly. The first night in my host house I had no idea what my host family was saying and they talked to me the whole time saying only one English word an hour. They would ask me a question, I would shrug and they would ask me another question. I would ask them a question, they would shrug and ask me a question. That was yesterday. Today, Wednesday, I came home from school and I could understand a lot more and could speak to them more effectively. I am hoping by Saturday to abandon the English language altogether while I am around them (unless they ask for a word in English which happens from time to time).
Speaking of Saturday, we are going on a field trip to downtown Chernigev where I hope to buy a phone and a guitar. When we return, Bogdan and Elona have invited Shannon over to spend the night and we are going fishing and Elona will teach Shannon to make Ukrainian borcht. I am really looking forward to it more than I can express. I see Shannon for most of the day but the nights apart are hard on us both and I miss her and wish I could share my experience with her but we tell each other about our day when we see each other at class and we laugh at the wonderful situation we've gotten ourselves into.
I miss you guys back home. I really do. I hope you are doing well and Shannon and I will be able to communicate with you when we travel to Chernigev this weekend. More posts to come. We love you! We miss you! Keep us in your thoughts as you are always in ours.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Last Day in the USA
We just got back from eating breakfast and now we're watching College Gameday here in Washington DC. We met a ton of Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) last night. Everyone was so nice and we learned a lot. IMPORTANT! They told us that we may need to password protect this blog so if that happens the password will be the state (not the city) in which we last lived before we left. No capital letters. Got it? The state where we both attended college. Ok?
We are flying out today at 5:45PM ET, we have a two hour layover in Frankfurt and we should land in Ukraine around 1:00PM Ukraine Time which is eight hours ahead of Central Time.
Last night we went down the street to this little sushi bar and had the best sushi I have ever had...and I have had some very good sushi before. I think the name was Sushiko.
Otherwise, we glimpsed the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and Congressional Building from a speeding, careening airport shuttle which is always an adventure. He did take us through Georgetown which was cool.
We need to start getting ready for checkout here in a minute so we will post again when we settle in the Ukraine. We love all you guys! Bye bye USA!
We are flying out today at 5:45PM ET, we have a two hour layover in Frankfurt and we should land in Ukraine around 1:00PM Ukraine Time which is eight hours ahead of Central Time.
Last night we went down the street to this little sushi bar and had the best sushi I have ever had...and I have had some very good sushi before. I think the name was Sushiko.
Otherwise, we glimpsed the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and Congressional Building from a speeding, careening airport shuttle which is always an adventure. He did take us through Georgetown which was cool.
We need to start getting ready for checkout here in a minute so we will post again when we settle in the Ukraine. We love all you guys! Bye bye USA!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
New camcorder and jitters
We got a new camcorder now thanks to Nancy. It
s waterproof and really works great. It's the final piece to the puzzle. We are officially equipped and ready to go with three days left.
By the way, I know that these posts aren't exactly eventful but if I don't start getting into the habit of posting regularly then I might forget to post when we get to the Ukraine at which time the posts will become much more interesting.
s waterproof and really works great. It's the final piece to the puzzle. We are officially equipped and ready to go with three days left.
By the way, I know that these posts aren't exactly eventful but if I don't start getting into the habit of posting regularly then I might forget to post when we get to the Ukraine at which time the posts will become much more interesting.
Friday, September 10, 2010
New netbook and webcam madness
We got a netbook today. It's tiny and awesome but it has Windows 7 on it. The bad thing about Windows 7 is that it doesn't have video recording at all. So, after a good hour or more of searching, I finally found a program that works. So, I should be posting some videos soon before we leave to test it out but now I am tired and ready for bed. Nighty nite.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
First official post...USA
We are out of our old house and into my father-in-law's house. My car died on Tuesday right after we finished moving. It bent a rod and isn't worth fixing. Sad. I liked that car. We have Peace Corps staging in Washington DC on Sept 17 and we leave the U.S. on Sept 18. Exciting. Our plane leaves at 6:15am from Nashville which is an hour from where we are now. That means we have to be up at 3:00am in order to be punctual. Eeek. I'll be sleeping on the way to DC.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Welcome!
Welcome to our blog! You can follow us here for updates on our experiences in Ukraine. Stay tuned for more posts.
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