Hi Everybody!
So Peace Corps is asking everybody to password protect their blogs, so unfortunately I need to move to another blog website. You can follow my new blog here:
http://erininukraine.wordpress.com/
All of my posts will be password protected, so please email me at etaylor1@gwmail.gwu.edu and I will invite you to my blog and let you know what the password is.
Thanks for reading!
Erin
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
This is the end and a new beginning
I can't believe training is at and end! It feels like just yesterday that I was unpacking my bags and meeting my host family. Tomorrow, I will leave for Kiev and I'll know where and with whom I will be living for the next two years. So nervous! I absolutely loved training, so it will be pretty hard to leave all of this behind. I love my teachers and my cluster, so to go live alone in a village without any other Americans is pretty daunting. I'm sure that I can do it though.
I'll update again soon and let you know where I will be living!
If you don't know, Tuesday is one of the most important days of the year. My birthday!!! If you want, you should mail me a package with lots of American stuff. I actually have a list of things that I need from America to help me with my classes as well as with my life in general. I'll post the list when I know my new address and you can send me a package if you want.
I'll post soon!
Erin
I'll update again soon and let you know where I will be living!
If you don't know, Tuesday is one of the most important days of the year. My birthday!!! If you want, you should mail me a package with lots of American stuff. I actually have a list of things that I need from America to help me with my classes as well as with my life in general. I'll post the list when I know my new address and you can send me a package if you want.
I'll post soon!
Erin
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Only one week left!
Time is just flying by! I can't believe that training is almost over! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, thing have been very busy here!
First, we had our summer camp for the children at school. Let's just say that organization here is much different than it is in America. The Friday before summer camp started, we got a call saying that the first day of camp would be cancelled and possibly the third day as well. That put a damper on our plans, but being the flexible trainees we are, we rearranged the schedule and went ahead with the camp on Tuesday. We were expecting to have about 45 6-8th graders, but when we showed up we found that we would also have the 5th grade. You really just have to go with the flow in this country. So we had our first day of camp on HIV/AIDS. We actually spent a lot of time writing a grant for this day and we got about $50, which is a pretty decent amount in Ukraine for one day of day camp. Everything went well and the kids loved the games that we played with, especially red rover! Tuesday, we also found out that we would be having camp on Wednesday. That was a bit stressful because we had to prepare everything basically the night before, but I think we pulled it off well. We taught the second day on Alcohol and Smoking/Drugs Awareness. There is a huge problem with drinking and smoking in Ukraine, so we thought it would be appropriate. The last day combined nutrition (the topic of the first day that ended up getting cancelled) and the environment. We have encountered the question "What do you do with the trash?" many times throughout training. There are no garbage trucks in the villages. You pretty much either throw your trash into the woods or burn it. Littering is a pretty huge problem here too. I think there is a place to take your trash near the big town that's about 30 minutes away, but for people that don't have cars, they don't really have any other option other than burning the trash. Anyway, the kids seemed interested and they of course loved the games we played with them outside like kickball and "steal the salo" and whatnot.
Besides summer camp, we are also working on our community project (technically our second community project as the HIV/AIDS day was considered a community project as well). For our project we are creating listening activities for the school. The school has one English teacher whose background is in German, so we thought it would be good to leave them with a sustainable way of listening to native English speakers talk. We each came up with different topics and dialogues and have been recording them.
Also, we had our site placement interviews last week. They told us at the interview (on Wednesday) that they would know by Friday, but we wouldn't get to find out until June 13th. THREE DAYS before we leave for where we will be living for 2 years. So nerve racking! They asked everybody general questions like what your biggest achievement/challenge has been during training and other questions like that, but some people got questions about if they would like to teach literature or history. It's all really based on your teaching and educational background. At the end, you can request different things, but you will end up being sent to wherever you are needed. I requested to live by myself (not in some family's house) and to live in a city. The interviewers gave us the impression that we will all be living in a homestay, but we will see about that. When I asked about a city, they asked if a village near a city would be ok. So, I'm pretty sure we're all going to villages as well! Well, no use speculating, but we all want to know!!
In other news, Matthew's birthday was last weekend and we all had fun celebrating with him in Obukhiv. Today is James' birthday and we're going to his family's house to have a BBQ and celebrate. We also swam in the river yesterday after class and that was lots of fun! Summers in Ukraine are so beautiful. Next week we will have our language test, so everybody is also getting ready to study for that. I know I haven't gotten any postcards out yet, but I will try to do so as soon as I can! It might not be until I'm at my site and things have calmed down a bit. I can't believe that will only be in a little over a week!
Ok, that's all for now!
First, we had our summer camp for the children at school. Let's just say that organization here is much different than it is in America. The Friday before summer camp started, we got a call saying that the first day of camp would be cancelled and possibly the third day as well. That put a damper on our plans, but being the flexible trainees we are, we rearranged the schedule and went ahead with the camp on Tuesday. We were expecting to have about 45 6-8th graders, but when we showed up we found that we would also have the 5th grade. You really just have to go with the flow in this country. So we had our first day of camp on HIV/AIDS. We actually spent a lot of time writing a grant for this day and we got about $50, which is a pretty decent amount in Ukraine for one day of day camp. Everything went well and the kids loved the games that we played with, especially red rover! Tuesday, we also found out that we would be having camp on Wednesday. That was a bit stressful because we had to prepare everything basically the night before, but I think we pulled it off well. We taught the second day on Alcohol and Smoking/Drugs Awareness. There is a huge problem with drinking and smoking in Ukraine, so we thought it would be appropriate. The last day combined nutrition (the topic of the first day that ended up getting cancelled) and the environment. We have encountered the question "What do you do with the trash?" many times throughout training. There are no garbage trucks in the villages. You pretty much either throw your trash into the woods or burn it. Littering is a pretty huge problem here too. I think there is a place to take your trash near the big town that's about 30 minutes away, but for people that don't have cars, they don't really have any other option other than burning the trash. Anyway, the kids seemed interested and they of course loved the games we played with them outside like kickball and "steal the salo" and whatnot.
Besides summer camp, we are also working on our community project (technically our second community project as the HIV/AIDS day was considered a community project as well). For our project we are creating listening activities for the school. The school has one English teacher whose background is in German, so we thought it would be good to leave them with a sustainable way of listening to native English speakers talk. We each came up with different topics and dialogues and have been recording them.
Also, we had our site placement interviews last week. They told us at the interview (on Wednesday) that they would know by Friday, but we wouldn't get to find out until June 13th. THREE DAYS before we leave for where we will be living for 2 years. So nerve racking! They asked everybody general questions like what your biggest achievement/challenge has been during training and other questions like that, but some people got questions about if they would like to teach literature or history. It's all really based on your teaching and educational background. At the end, you can request different things, but you will end up being sent to wherever you are needed. I requested to live by myself (not in some family's house) and to live in a city. The interviewers gave us the impression that we will all be living in a homestay, but we will see about that. When I asked about a city, they asked if a village near a city would be ok. So, I'm pretty sure we're all going to villages as well! Well, no use speculating, but we all want to know!!
In other news, Matthew's birthday was last weekend and we all had fun celebrating with him in Obukhiv. Today is James' birthday and we're going to his family's house to have a BBQ and celebrate. We also swam in the river yesterday after class and that was lots of fun! Summers in Ukraine are so beautiful. Next week we will have our language test, so everybody is also getting ready to study for that. I know I haven't gotten any postcards out yet, but I will try to do so as soon as I can! It might not be until I'm at my site and things have calmed down a bit. I can't believe that will only be in a little over a week!
Ok, that's all for now!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Celebrating Hram! I think?
So, I have been commanded to update my blog by my mother, so here I am! Please leave me some replies, so I know people are still reading! Don't worry, mom, you don't have to. I know you haven't figured it out yet :)
So, life has been as usual in Ukraine. More class and more celebrations. I was really happy that our old Ukrainian teacher, Ira, came back from the rotation (we had another teacher for 3 weeks while all the teachers rotated to different sites). She's super sweet and a great teacher.
In other news, we celebrated a tradition called hram on Sunday (5/23/11). What is hram? Well, thats a good question. I'm still not quite sure! I heard from James that his family told him that it's the church's name-day. Whatever that means. I've also read that it's St. Nicholas' day and not the Christmas one! Here's an excerpt form the website I found:
So, life has been as usual in Ukraine. More class and more celebrations. I was really happy that our old Ukrainian teacher, Ira, came back from the rotation (we had another teacher for 3 weeks while all the teachers rotated to different sites). She's super sweet and a great teacher.
In other news, we celebrated a tradition called hram on Sunday (5/23/11). What is hram? Well, thats a good question. I'm still not quite sure! I heard from James that his family told him that it's the church's name-day. Whatever that means. I've also read that it's St. Nicholas' day and not the Christmas one! Here's an excerpt form the website I found:
"Ukrainian folk tradition recognizes two Saint Nicholas figures: "cold Nicholas" and "warm Nicholas."
Cold Nicholas, the familiar winter saint, is believed to bring the first snow by shaking his beard. In Western Ukraine accompanied by angel and devil figures, he is celebrated with gift-giving as described above. As the patron saint of spinning, yarns and thread were brought to church to "add to his beard."
Celebrated in the spring, warm Nicholas, patron saint of farming, is said to walk the land to dry overly wet areas and dampen the dry. On the festival horses begin grazing in the fields, sheep are sheared, and buckwheat sowed. In port areas the festival focuses on Nicholas as patron saint of the seas. Cossacks, like the Greeks, take St. Nicholas icons when sailing the treacherous Black Sea."
Here's the website if you want to read more: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/ukraine/
So, we celebrated one of those things on Sunday. The whole family came over for hours and hours of eating and drinking. It was fun, but I was very tired by the end of the night!
Also, I'm pretty excited because we are having our first site placement interview on Wednesday. We'll have a Regional Director come and interview us. The way it has been explained to me is that they will have our resume and try to match things that we can bring to our community to a community that needs/wants what we have to offer. So, hopefully I'll be able to be matched with a community that wants to have a French Club as well as an English one. We'll see! Only 3 weeks until I find out where I am going!
Time is flying by like crazy. I can't believe that I'll be done with training in three weeks. Hopefully I'll be prepared for like in Ukraine on my own by then!
Enough about me. Leave me some replies letting me know what's going on with all of you in the States. Miss you all!
<3
Erin
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Victory Day, Viruses, and Parties
It's been too long since my last post! So much has happened since then, some good and some not so good. I'll start with the not so good. Last week I caught some sort of crazy Ukrainian virus that comes with a fever and painful stomach pains. So that was fun. My babucya was franticly taking care of me, which was very nice. She even tucked me into bed! Luckily, I got better in time for Victory Day!
In case you don't know, Victory Day in Ukraine is when people celebrate Nazi Germany's capitulation in World War II, or The Great Patriotic War as it's called here. We went to the center of the village at night where there is a monument to the village's fallen soldiers. The children did a fire walk where they walked with torches and then they read some poems. I think it would have been much more interesting if I actually understood what they were saying, but nonetheless it was pretty cool. After that we hiked up this hill where they have another monument to the soldiers. It's actually where 600 of them are buried. They have some tanks there and a trench that you can explore. After that we had Ukrainian class and then I went home and saw how people really celebrate Victory Day. With vodka, of course. We had some vodka and dinner with the neighbors and my host brother and the neighbor proceeded to sing the entire Ukrainian national anthem at the table.
Speaking of vodka, let me tell you about the party I went to last night/today. It was my host brother's and sister's joint 30th birthday celebration (host sister's birthday was just a few weeks beforehand), so the family rented out the canteen where the school normally feeds the students and had a catered party. With lots of food and lots of vodka. I think I can say now that I have mastered the art of drinking vodka in Ukraine and not dying of alcohol poisoning. There are a few options. One, you can refuse to drink completely (normally, by saying that you are sick or on medication or something like that). Two, you can drink every shot they give you and probably not remember much of your service in Ukraine, or possibly not survive it. Three, you drink about 1/3 or 1/4 of every shot that they give you, because you know that your glass will be full regardless of what you say. I believe the birthday couple went for option number two last night. Nevertheless, everybody had a great time with lots of dancing and eating very good food.
This morning I woke up around 8:30am (yes, mom, shocking I know) and got showered (a REAL shower!!! with hot water!!) outside and dressed and at around 11am family started showing up for the party part II! Ah, moonshine in the morning.
(Note: my family normally doesn't drink at all, only on special occasions!)
I've really enjoyed my time with this family and I'm really hoping to keep in touch with them. They always keep an eye on me and involve me in whatever they are doing. I'll be sad to leave them!
I can't even believe that I've been here for almost 7 weeks already. I'm still pretty worried about my Ukrainian language skills because it's just so much to learn in a short amount of time. The grammar and sounds are just so different. I'm also super nervous about where I'll be placed. Most likely it'll be a small village in Western Ukraine, but it'll be so different doing it alone! Well, I'll know in just under a month.
Also, we finally had our lesson on the post office, so I'll try and get some post cards out when I can. Sometimes the post office here doesn't work and we're not really sure why?
Ok, that's all for now!
In case you don't know, Victory Day in Ukraine is when people celebrate Nazi Germany's capitulation in World War II, or The Great Patriotic War as it's called here. We went to the center of the village at night where there is a monument to the village's fallen soldiers. The children did a fire walk where they walked with torches and then they read some poems. I think it would have been much more interesting if I actually understood what they were saying, but nonetheless it was pretty cool. After that we hiked up this hill where they have another monument to the soldiers. It's actually where 600 of them are buried. They have some tanks there and a trench that you can explore. After that we had Ukrainian class and then I went home and saw how people really celebrate Victory Day. With vodka, of course. We had some vodka and dinner with the neighbors and my host brother and the neighbor proceeded to sing the entire Ukrainian national anthem at the table.
Speaking of vodka, let me tell you about the party I went to last night/today. It was my host brother's and sister's joint 30th birthday celebration (host sister's birthday was just a few weeks beforehand), so the family rented out the canteen where the school normally feeds the students and had a catered party. With lots of food and lots of vodka. I think I can say now that I have mastered the art of drinking vodka in Ukraine and not dying of alcohol poisoning. There are a few options. One, you can refuse to drink completely (normally, by saying that you are sick or on medication or something like that). Two, you can drink every shot they give you and probably not remember much of your service in Ukraine, or possibly not survive it. Three, you drink about 1/3 or 1/4 of every shot that they give you, because you know that your glass will be full regardless of what you say. I believe the birthday couple went for option number two last night. Nevertheless, everybody had a great time with lots of dancing and eating very good food.
This morning I woke up around 8:30am (yes, mom, shocking I know) and got showered (a REAL shower!!! with hot water!!) outside and dressed and at around 11am family started showing up for the party part II! Ah, moonshine in the morning.
(Note: my family normally doesn't drink at all, only on special occasions!)
I've really enjoyed my time with this family and I'm really hoping to keep in touch with them. They always keep an eye on me and involve me in whatever they are doing. I'll be sad to leave them!
I can't even believe that I've been here for almost 7 weeks already. I'm still pretty worried about my Ukrainian language skills because it's just so much to learn in a short amount of time. The grammar and sounds are just so different. I'm also super nervous about where I'll be placed. Most likely it'll be a small village in Western Ukraine, but it'll be so different doing it alone! Well, I'll know in just under a month.
Also, we finally had our lesson on the post office, so I'll try and get some post cards out when I can. Sometimes the post office here doesn't work and we're not really sure why?
Ok, that's all for now!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
In Ukraine, Ambulance is Taxi
Another week in Ukraine! Sometimes time feels like its flying by and sometimes it feels like I just got here. This week has been extremely busy and I have a feeling this coming week will be just as busy. We are teaching double classes on Friday because Monday is a holiday (again) for Labor Day. That means our Ukrainian classes will be even longer so we can have a short on one Friday. We also have to work on our self directed learning projects, grant for our community project, our portfolios, and our summer camp. Busy busy busy! It doesn't sound like too much, but combined with living in a new environment immersed in a new language, it definitely is. But everybody is still having fun and is in good spirits. We also have a new Ukrainian teacher for a few weeks. The PC wants us to experience a different teaching style. His name is Sasha, like almost all men in Ukraine!
I think my Ukrainian is coming along. I can now catch words and some commands when I'm in a group of Ukrainians. There are still many times when people just talk to me and I have absolutely no idea what's going on. It's hardest when that happens with little children! The 5 year old neighbor girls love to try and talk to me and sometimes I just have no idea what they are saying haha.
I also had some more cultural moments this week. For example, usually in America when you are waiting in line for the ATM, people leave a considerable amount of space for the person actually using the ATM. Not in Ukraine. Personal space is very,very different here! The lady behind me was almost touching my back while I was using the ATM! Another moment: yesterday we were waiting for the bus to go to Obukhiv in the morning. The bus stopped, let a lady off, and then rapidly sped off. We were all just very confused as to why the bus didn't stop. Matthew was talking to a Ukrainian guy that we met at the discoteque on Easter Sunday (where you naturally go on Easter in Ukraine) and he told us that a vehicle across the street would take us to Obuhkiv. We walk over there and it turns out that that vehicle was ambulance. So, we all pile into the ambulance and he takes us to Obukhiv! Needless to say, that was an awesome experience. Another experience happened today. I was walking toward the center of town and saw a grandmother and a 10 year old riding on a vespa. Guess who was driving. If you guessed the 10 year old, then you were correct. I'm not sure what the legal driving age in Ukraine is, but I'm pretty sure it's not 10 years old!
Ok, that's all for now!
I think my Ukrainian is coming along. I can now catch words and some commands when I'm in a group of Ukrainians. There are still many times when people just talk to me and I have absolutely no idea what's going on. It's hardest when that happens with little children! The 5 year old neighbor girls love to try and talk to me and sometimes I just have no idea what they are saying haha.
I also had some more cultural moments this week. For example, usually in America when you are waiting in line for the ATM, people leave a considerable amount of space for the person actually using the ATM. Not in Ukraine. Personal space is very,very different here! The lady behind me was almost touching my back while I was using the ATM! Another moment: yesterday we were waiting for the bus to go to Obukhiv in the morning. The bus stopped, let a lady off, and then rapidly sped off. We were all just very confused as to why the bus didn't stop. Matthew was talking to a Ukrainian guy that we met at the discoteque on Easter Sunday (where you naturally go on Easter in Ukraine) and he told us that a vehicle across the street would take us to Obuhkiv. We walk over there and it turns out that that vehicle was ambulance. So, we all pile into the ambulance and he takes us to Obukhiv! Needless to say, that was an awesome experience. Another experience happened today. I was walking toward the center of town and saw a grandmother and a 10 year old riding on a vespa. Guess who was driving. If you guessed the 10 year old, then you were correct. I'm not sure what the legal driving age in Ukraine is, but I'm pretty sure it's not 10 years old!
Ok, that's all for now!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Christ has Risen! Happy Easter!
Happy Easter everybody! Let me tell you, Easter in Ukraine was incredibly different from Easter in America. There are Easter baskets, but no Easter bunny. Just Easter vodka.
My babucya (grandmother) woke me up at 2:30am to go to the Ukrainian Orthodox church. All the women were required to cover their heads in the church, but the men weren't. Before entering the church and before leaving, everybody crosses themselves (the opposite way of Catholics) and bow. The service was extremely different. There were chairs lining the walls for the babucyas, but the service was basically standing room only. The priest was behind some golden doors in a separate room and he would periodically come out to chant and sing, but there was no real sermon. About 5 older Ukrainians were singing/chanting and everytime they said a certain word, everybody would cross themselves and bow. Then they would stop and the priest would chant and then the singing and bowing would start again. That's what we did for about an hour. After that, we went outside and I ran into James, so we chatted for a bit. Then about an hour later (it was FREEZING, mind you), everybody was lined up outside with their Easter baskets full of food for the priest to bless. He came out with a bucket of holy water and a sort of horse tail looking things and proceeded to chant and spray everybody with water. My host brother-in-law was super blessed as the priest soaked him in water. I think the priest took great pleasure in blessing everybody haha. After the blessing, we went home and had breakfast. Babucya poured us shots of fortified wine at 6am. Great way to start the day! After breakfast, I thankfully went back to my warm bed.
I woke up a few hours later and went on a picnic with my host sister and a few of her friends. We proceeded to stuff our faces in between shots of vodka for a few hours. My host sister made sure I ate plenty of food!! We also shot a BB gun (safe, i know) and BBQd. After that, we went out to the local discoteque which was fun. Lots of techno and dancing. All in all a pretty good Easter!
My babucya (grandmother) woke me up at 2:30am to go to the Ukrainian Orthodox church. All the women were required to cover their heads in the church, but the men weren't. Before entering the church and before leaving, everybody crosses themselves (the opposite way of Catholics) and bow. The service was extremely different. There were chairs lining the walls for the babucyas, but the service was basically standing room only. The priest was behind some golden doors in a separate room and he would periodically come out to chant and sing, but there was no real sermon. About 5 older Ukrainians were singing/chanting and everytime they said a certain word, everybody would cross themselves and bow. Then they would stop and the priest would chant and then the singing and bowing would start again. That's what we did for about an hour. After that, we went outside and I ran into James, so we chatted for a bit. Then about an hour later (it was FREEZING, mind you), everybody was lined up outside with their Easter baskets full of food for the priest to bless. He came out with a bucket of holy water and a sort of horse tail looking things and proceeded to chant and spray everybody with water. My host brother-in-law was super blessed as the priest soaked him in water. I think the priest took great pleasure in blessing everybody haha. After the blessing, we went home and had breakfast. Babucya poured us shots of fortified wine at 6am. Great way to start the day! After breakfast, I thankfully went back to my warm bed.
I woke up a few hours later and went on a picnic with my host sister and a few of her friends. We proceeded to stuff our faces in between shots of vodka for a few hours. My host sister made sure I ate plenty of food!! We also shot a BB gun (safe, i know) and BBQd. After that, we went out to the local discoteque which was fun. Lots of techno and dancing. All in all a pretty good Easter!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Kiev and back again...a Erin's tale
So, this has been an exciting and exhausting week! On Tuesday, after class, we went to the arts and music school to learn how to make Ukrainian Easter Eggs. We thought they would take maybe an hour to make.....we thought wrong. They took 4 hours to make and we didn't even finish them! Ukrainians put a whole lot more effort into their Easter Eggs!! First, we picked out a pattern for our eggs. Then, we sketched the patterns with pencils. After that, we went over the lines with these pens. You would fill the top with wax and then hold it over a flame and it would drip slowly out of the bottom. It was pretty cool! As you can imagine, an intricate design would take forever to draw symmetrically, not to mention again with wax! We not only learned what some of the symbols meant, we learned something about Ukrainian teachers. At this point, Laura holds up her egg to the art teacher and says (in Ukrainian), "my egg is pretty, isn't it?" and then the teacher looks at the egg and says ".....no." Then she walks away. Haha, it was pretty amazing. Of course, Laura's egg was pretty, it just had to real Ukrainian symbols on it.
After we finished redrawing our patterns in wax, we dropped the eggs in dye. I was told I had to use red because it has crowns and crowns must be red. THEN we have to wait until the eggs dry and then cover whatever we want to stay red with wax. After that, we redyed the eggs another color. At this point, we had been at the art school for 4 hours, so we decided to come back to take the wax off and take our eggs home.
On Wednesday, we went to Kiev!!!! Well, first we went to Obukhiv for our Safety and Security session and THEN we went to Kiev. So of course after hearing all the horror stories about people who weren't smart about their stuff on the metro, I clutched my purse to myself and gave the evil eye to any babushka who looked at me.
Kiev was fun! It was definitely more of a business trip than a sightseeing trip. The point was to show us how to navigate and survive Kiev. Now that our group has gone to Kiev with Ira once, we can go alone. When we first got there, we learned how to use the metro and we found the main branch of the bank we will be using. Then we went by the train station and then visited the PC headquarters and had a tour of the building. Now comes the best part. We took the metro to the main street and then we had.........SUSHI!!!!!!
I don't know if you guys know how I feel about sushi, but it's just about my favorite thing in the world. It was happy hour so everything that you bought was buy 1 get 1 free. So much sushi!!! And so yummy!! It was very reasonably priced too for being right in the middle of Kiev. For 6 people, the total about about 500 HR or $62.50 or about $10/person. I love some things about Ukraine!
I'm excited to go back to Kiev sometimes soon and do some more real sightseeing.
Today was also exciting because we had our first Russian lesson! The PC decided it would be important for everybody to know at least a little of the language they are not studying (Russian or Ukrainian) because the entire country is basically bilingual. In the east and south, Russian is mostly spoken, but road signs will be in English. In the west, Ukrainian is spoken, but most everybody will speak Russian and it is possible you'll end up in a Russian speaking town or that your counterpart will only speak Russian. I'm already in Ukraine and I am still in the dark about some things in my near future!
Today, we also began planning our summer camp and community project. As of now, we're planning on have a 4 or 5 day summer camp dedicated to health and the environment. We will probably apply for a HIV/AID awareness grant to help fund one day dedicated to educating the students about the HIV/AIDs problem as Ukraine has the highest rate of HIV in all post-Soviet countries. We are thinking that our community project will be to record some dialogs and maybe some songs onto CDs so that the school will have permanent access to native English speakers for listening activities.
Tomorrow will be fun too! We won't be teaching classes because the school is having a sports day. We'll go to the school and hopefully play kickball with the kids. Then just 2 hours of Ukrainian lessons and 1 of Russian.
This weekend is also full of events! At about 3am on Easter Sunday, we will get up and go to the church to have the food blessed by the priests. After that, we'll come home and sleep and then wake up and eat and drink bahato (a lot) with the whole family. I think some of my host family's cousins are coming and they go to the school I teach at, so hopefully I'll have somebody to speak a little English with. I'll definitely update again after I come out of my food coma on Sunday.
That's all for now!
After we finished redrawing our patterns in wax, we dropped the eggs in dye. I was told I had to use red because it has crowns and crowns must be red. THEN we have to wait until the eggs dry and then cover whatever we want to stay red with wax. After that, we redyed the eggs another color. At this point, we had been at the art school for 4 hours, so we decided to come back to take the wax off and take our eggs home.
On Wednesday, we went to Kiev!!!! Well, first we went to Obukhiv for our Safety and Security session and THEN we went to Kiev. So of course after hearing all the horror stories about people who weren't smart about their stuff on the metro, I clutched my purse to myself and gave the evil eye to any babushka who looked at me.
Kiev was fun! It was definitely more of a business trip than a sightseeing trip. The point was to show us how to navigate and survive Kiev. Now that our group has gone to Kiev with Ira once, we can go alone. When we first got there, we learned how to use the metro and we found the main branch of the bank we will be using. Then we went by the train station and then visited the PC headquarters and had a tour of the building. Now comes the best part. We took the metro to the main street and then we had.........SUSHI!!!!!!
I don't know if you guys know how I feel about sushi, but it's just about my favorite thing in the world. It was happy hour so everything that you bought was buy 1 get 1 free. So much sushi!!! And so yummy!! It was very reasonably priced too for being right in the middle of Kiev. For 6 people, the total about about 500 HR or $62.50 or about $10/person. I love some things about Ukraine!
I'm excited to go back to Kiev sometimes soon and do some more real sightseeing.
Today was also exciting because we had our first Russian lesson! The PC decided it would be important for everybody to know at least a little of the language they are not studying (Russian or Ukrainian) because the entire country is basically bilingual. In the east and south, Russian is mostly spoken, but road signs will be in English. In the west, Ukrainian is spoken, but most everybody will speak Russian and it is possible you'll end up in a Russian speaking town or that your counterpart will only speak Russian. I'm already in Ukraine and I am still in the dark about some things in my near future!
Today, we also began planning our summer camp and community project. As of now, we're planning on have a 4 or 5 day summer camp dedicated to health and the environment. We will probably apply for a HIV/AID awareness grant to help fund one day dedicated to educating the students about the HIV/AIDs problem as Ukraine has the highest rate of HIV in all post-Soviet countries. We are thinking that our community project will be to record some dialogs and maybe some songs onto CDs so that the school will have permanent access to native English speakers for listening activities.
Tomorrow will be fun too! We won't be teaching classes because the school is having a sports day. We'll go to the school and hopefully play kickball with the kids. Then just 2 hours of Ukrainian lessons and 1 of Russian.
This weekend is also full of events! At about 3am on Easter Sunday, we will get up and go to the church to have the food blessed by the priests. After that, we'll come home and sleep and then wake up and eat and drink bahato (a lot) with the whole family. I think some of my host family's cousins are coming and they go to the school I teach at, so hopefully I'll have somebody to speak a little English with. I'll definitely update again after I come out of my food coma on Sunday.
That's all for now!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Another week in PST (Pre-Service Training)
So, another week has passed in Ukraine and I am totally exhausted. This week was really busy and the rigors of the program are starting to wear on me, but I'm staying positive and I'm still having a good time and enjoying what I'm doing. Our schedule has been very, very busy and will be next week, but hopefully we'll be able to take our first trip to Kiev!! I'm a city girl at heart, so I'm very excited about that! Next week will be full of more Ukrainian lessons, Ukrainian tutoring teaching technical training, cross-cultural training, lesson planning tutoring, as well as actually teaching classes. They are pretty good about keeping us busy even when we have a day off with lesson planning, Ukrainian homework, as well as planning an English summer camp and community project for this summer. Lots to do!
Besides the trip to Kiev, I'm also excited about this coming Tuesday because we get to go to a class on how to make Ukrainian Easter eggs! I'll take lots of pictures and post them when my internet is working well enough. ALSO, next weekend is Easter, so we will go to church and then I presume we will eat lots of salo and I'm under the impression it's a big, fun family event. Speaking of salo, my host family killed a pig yesterday and today they made fresh sausage. Needless to say, while some things are pretty similar, some things are very different in Ukraine!
Besides the trip to Kiev, I'm also excited about this coming Tuesday because we get to go to a class on how to make Ukrainian Easter eggs! I'll take lots of pictures and post them when my internet is working well enough. ALSO, next weekend is Easter, so we will go to church and then I presume we will eat lots of salo and I'm under the impression it's a big, fun family event. Speaking of salo, my host family killed a pig yesterday and today they made fresh sausage. Needless to say, while some things are pretty similar, some things are very different in Ukraine!
Monday, April 11, 2011
I forgot!
How could I forget to write about this!? It was one of the most fabulous experiences I've had so far.
Sunday, I went to James' house to work on our lesson plans together and I had a great time with his family. I showed up during lunch time (I had already eaten lunch, but then I had a second lunch!) and we proceeded to sit and chat over many (many, many) shots of vodka and some beer. We had a great conversation and I learned a few new words I won't repeat here.
Then his host father, James and I listened to heavy metal blasting from James' host father's truck in his driveway. It was very surreal looking over rural Ukraine with Iron Maiden blasting in the background. Luckily, we did get our work done in the end.
Ok, thats all for now.
Sunday, I went to James' house to work on our lesson plans together and I had a great time with his family. I showed up during lunch time (I had already eaten lunch, but then I had a second lunch!) and we proceeded to sit and chat over many (many, many) shots of vodka and some beer. We had a great conversation and I learned a few new words I won't repeat here.
Then his host father, James and I listened to heavy metal blasting from James' host father's truck in his driveway. It was very surreal looking over rural Ukraine with Iron Maiden blasting in the background. Luckily, we did get our work done in the end.
Ok, thats all for now.
Our schedule just blew up
I had my first day of teaching today! I taught with James and I think it went really well. We talked about ancient books and the use of the passive voice. It wasn't perfect, but I think we did a good job and next time will be even better. The classroom is definitely very different from what I experienced in school. Some of the kids just knew every single answer and had no problem just yelling it out (even when you asked somebody else) and some of the kids seemed to not understand anything. Apparently this is a problem that we will learn how to handle while we're here.
So, they have most definitely upped our schedules this week! We are insanely busy. Today was a 9-5 day for us! It sounds like a normal work day, but when you include homework as well as being forced to practice what you learn because your family speaks the language, its more like a 16 hour day! Here was our schedule today:
7am : Wake up and run to the outhouse!! Oh, and its FREEZING and it has been snowing......AGAIN.
8:15: finish up breakfast (potatoes and cabbage) and leave for school
9:05: James and I teach our first English class!
9:55: Observe the other Americans teach their class and we do a debriefing session
11:30-12:30: lunch at the canteen (we have 3 course meal: soup, sausage (2 kinds), salad, kashi, and pickles tomatoes, and finally awesome cookies for dessert and its all served with a yummy apricot compote. this costs us 10 hyrivna per person, which is a little over $1!)
1pm-5pm: Ukrainian lessons
6pm: dinner! chicken soup, great ukrainian bread, meat and cheese
7pm: update my blog! and then go study more Ukrainian
Not only do we have lessons to teach and observe, we have language classes, lesson planning tutoring 2x per week, one hour of language tutoring per week, technical group training, and two group projects to plan for. So intense!!! We will have a brief respite this Wednesday as we have "health day," where the doctor will come out and teach us....about health? Not really sure!
I'm really excited about our lesson tomorrow because its cooking day! We get to spend 1/2 of our lesson (2 hours) cooking borscht and halupki (stuffed cabbage). We can only speak in Ukrainian so who knows what we'll end up actually making. It should be fun though!
Nothing else much is new besides that. I am still being harassed by angry geese on the way home and I don't know why they hate me. Ok, well I'm off to study more Ukrainian and then pass out!
P.S. We should be doing a chapter about sending letters/going to the post office, so once we do that, I'll try to have some post cards out to you all!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
I CAN HAZ INTERNET!!!
So, as you can see I finally have internet! Yay!!! I ended up having to buy a portable modem so I just stick that in my computer and pay by the month. Not too shabby! Now that I have internet access, you can all skype me or chat with me on aim/gchat. Just post if you want my info!
So we have been continuing with our Ukrainian lessons and they have been very intense. Our teacher and mentor Ira is very nice and a great teacher. It's just so exhausting to have so much information pounded into your brain for 4 hours at a time everyday and then to have to go home and do more homework! I'm even making flashcards of our vocabulary as we speak. Ironically enough, Cyrillic was the thing that most people feared about Ukrainian and has actually probably been the easiest thing to learn. The hardest part for me is pronunciation and grammar. I can't roll my "r's" so that has been a problem. Also, there are just a crazy amount of consonants in Ukrainian words. For example, подороувати is podorojuvati or to travel. Also, the grammar is difficult because they have so many things you have to conjugate! You can't just conjugate verbs, you also have to have the correct pronoun and noun conjugation as well. For example, to say "I love," it's "Ya lublu," but if you want to say "I am 22," you have to say "Meni 22 roki." So much to learn in just three months! I really like learning languages so hopefully I'll have everything down by then.
Here's a breakdown of the typical day for me if you're interested:
7am: wake up and run to the outhouse
8am: breakfast/walk to Iras
8:30-10:30 : Ukrainian lessons with Ira
10:30-11:00: Tea time! Ukrainians are very big on tea and it is customary to bring cookies or biscuits for tea if you are going to somebody's house, even if you don't want to have tea!
11:00-1:00pm- More Ukrainian
1:00pm: Lunch!
Sometimes we'll also have technical sessions for a couple hours or we'll go to the school for class observations or one day we went to the bazaar to buy food, so there is always something going on.
Not only are we learning more Ukrainian everyday, we are finally starting to really get into our teaching training. We observed two English lessons today and on Monday we are already going to be teaching an English class! James, another PCT(Trainee) in our cluster will be teaching with me on Monday. We'll be teaching the 8th graders about books. Wish me luck!
So besides studying and more studying, I've been hanging out with my host family and cluster. We have made friends with the dog at Ira's house and he has subsequently been named "George Jefferies" by Paul.
My host family has also introduced me to Ukrainian vodka and moonshine. Who would have thought that I would leave Georgia to try moonshine in Ukraine??? Ukrainians are very fond of their vodka and it is appropriate to do multiple shots of vodka as long as you are eating after each one.
I'm not sure what to write about besides that and the fact that some angry geese chased me home today. Such is life in Ukraine!
So we have been continuing with our Ukrainian lessons and they have been very intense. Our teacher and mentor Ira is very nice and a great teacher. It's just so exhausting to have so much information pounded into your brain for 4 hours at a time everyday and then to have to go home and do more homework! I'm even making flashcards of our vocabulary as we speak. Ironically enough, Cyrillic was the thing that most people feared about Ukrainian and has actually probably been the easiest thing to learn. The hardest part for me is pronunciation and grammar. I can't roll my "r's" so that has been a problem. Also, there are just a crazy amount of consonants in Ukrainian words. For example, подороувати is podorojuvati or to travel. Also, the grammar is difficult because they have so many things you have to conjugate! You can't just conjugate verbs, you also have to have the correct pronoun and noun conjugation as well. For example, to say "I love," it's "Ya lublu," but if you want to say "I am 22," you have to say "Meni 22 roki." So much to learn in just three months! I really like learning languages so hopefully I'll have everything down by then.
Here's a breakdown of the typical day for me if you're interested:
7am: wake up and run to the outhouse
8am: breakfast/walk to Iras
8:30-10:30 : Ukrainian lessons with Ira
10:30-11:00: Tea time! Ukrainians are very big on tea and it is customary to bring cookies or biscuits for tea if you are going to somebody's house, even if you don't want to have tea!
11:00-1:00pm- More Ukrainian
1:00pm: Lunch!
Sometimes we'll also have technical sessions for a couple hours or we'll go to the school for class observations or one day we went to the bazaar to buy food, so there is always something going on.
Not only are we learning more Ukrainian everyday, we are finally starting to really get into our teaching training. We observed two English lessons today and on Monday we are already going to be teaching an English class! James, another PCT(Trainee) in our cluster will be teaching with me on Monday. We'll be teaching the 8th graders about books. Wish me luck!
So besides studying and more studying, I've been hanging out with my host family and cluster. We have made friends with the dog at Ira's house and he has subsequently been named "George Jefferies" by Paul.
My host family has also introduced me to Ukrainian vodka and moonshine. Who would have thought that I would leave Georgia to try moonshine in Ukraine??? Ukrainians are very fond of their vodka and it is appropriate to do multiple shots of vodka as long as you are eating after each one.
I'm not sure what to write about besides that and the fact that some angry geese chased me home today. Such is life in Ukraine!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
First week in Ukraine!
Wow is pretty much all I can say. Everything is so crazy right now. Right now I'm in a internet cafe in the closest town to our village, Obuhiv, and I'm surrounded by teenagers playing World of Warcraft and screaming at each other in Ukrainian/Russian. Some things aren't so different from America!
I've finally settled into my house in Hermanivka and gotten into a routine. I live on the outskirts of a village on a small farm in a small house with a small family. The family has a grandmother, a mother and father, and a 6 year old son. I have no running water or internet. At first I wasn't sure if I could deal with having an outhouse and a bucket to shower with, but I've gotten used to it. The family is so nice and welcoming that it makes up for the lack of amenitites. The grandmother cooks my meals and I have quickly learned the word for "EAT!" as I hear it fairly often. I have also learned to only eat when my babusya (grandmother) is in the room as otherwise she will insist that I eat more of it and I can't speak enough Ukrainian to tell her that I've already had some. The family speaks no English and I speak barely any Ukrainian. Things have been challenging, but not too difficult. I made friends with the 6 year old, Sasha, by letting him play Angry Birds on my Ipad. He is now obsessed with the game! He is much like any typical American boy who loves video games and Spongebob. The mother and father work alot, but have been very friendly to me when they have been around. The babusya even taught me to milk the cow!! Not something I saw myself doing a year or even a week ago! On the farm, there is a cow, chickens, pigs, dogs, and cats.
Everyday, I'll get up around 7am and have breakfast with my babusya. After that, I'll head over to our Ukrainian language teacher's house, Ira (short for Irina. So many Irina's here!). We'll have about 4 hours/day of Ukrainian lessons Monday-Friday. We also have a technical teacher who is in charge of teaching us about teaching English effectively in Ukraine. We'll do classroom visits to observe other teachers as well as make lesson plans and teach ourselves. They keep us really busy! On Saturdays, we meet up with another group (our "link" group) and we have a technical class. The other group is in Obuhiv and they all live near the internet cafe and have running water and are able to go places at night. In our village, there is nowhere to go at night and the only bar is not a safe place to be. There are ups and downs to living in a city/town v. a village. Everybody already knows us in our village!
While a few of us live on farms, one of us actually has his own house. His family set him up in their two story guest house complete with a sauna. He has a sauna and I have an outhouse. Typical. At least I'll have an authentic experience!
We do have free time at night and as there are no street lights in our village or anywhere we can go, most of us have been staying at home with our families as well as watching movies and reading. I've already read about 3 books since coming to the village. I'm going to run out soon! Hopefully I'll be able to get some more if the internet will work in my village. So apparently the school in our village has internet and we are allowed to use it, but as we aren't going to the school often, I don't know exactly when I'll be able to update next. We are going to see if the internet modem you can buy will work in our village and if it does, I will get one. I really hope it does because I don't like not being able to keep in touch with you guys and from whats going on the in the world.
There is mostly schools and government buildings in my town (a hospital, admin building, museum, schools) as well as two cafes, only one of which we were advised to go to and only during the day. For the most part, our host families provide food for us. All I can say is that I've never eaten this many potatoes in my life! One day I had leftover mashed potatoes for breakfast, mashed potatoes for lunch, and then potatoes in my borscht for dinner. Almost everything that I have eaten has been really good though. I did try some Ukrainian salo (pig fat), which is an experience. I actually liked it! It was my host sister's birthday and her husband pulled the salo out as well as a bottle of vodka. A very cultural experience! The people are very big into canning food. I've had lots of called tomatoes and pickles already. Ira is going to teach us how to can food and I'm really excited to start making my own pickles and whatnot so I can have them during the winter!
Ok, well I'm gonna go before I run out of time at the internet cafe. I'll try to update when I can! I'll try to get postcards out when I can, but I'm not sure when. Miss you all!!
I've finally settled into my house in Hermanivka and gotten into a routine. I live on the outskirts of a village on a small farm in a small house with a small family. The family has a grandmother, a mother and father, and a 6 year old son. I have no running water or internet. At first I wasn't sure if I could deal with having an outhouse and a bucket to shower with, but I've gotten used to it. The family is so nice and welcoming that it makes up for the lack of amenitites. The grandmother cooks my meals and I have quickly learned the word for "EAT!" as I hear it fairly often. I have also learned to only eat when my babusya (grandmother) is in the room as otherwise she will insist that I eat more of it and I can't speak enough Ukrainian to tell her that I've already had some. The family speaks no English and I speak barely any Ukrainian. Things have been challenging, but not too difficult. I made friends with the 6 year old, Sasha, by letting him play Angry Birds on my Ipad. He is now obsessed with the game! He is much like any typical American boy who loves video games and Spongebob. The mother and father work alot, but have been very friendly to me when they have been around. The babusya even taught me to milk the cow!! Not something I saw myself doing a year or even a week ago! On the farm, there is a cow, chickens, pigs, dogs, and cats.
Everyday, I'll get up around 7am and have breakfast with my babusya. After that, I'll head over to our Ukrainian language teacher's house, Ira (short for Irina. So many Irina's here!). We'll have about 4 hours/day of Ukrainian lessons Monday-Friday. We also have a technical teacher who is in charge of teaching us about teaching English effectively in Ukraine. We'll do classroom visits to observe other teachers as well as make lesson plans and teach ourselves. They keep us really busy! On Saturdays, we meet up with another group (our "link" group) and we have a technical class. The other group is in Obuhiv and they all live near the internet cafe and have running water and are able to go places at night. In our village, there is nowhere to go at night and the only bar is not a safe place to be. There are ups and downs to living in a city/town v. a village. Everybody already knows us in our village!
While a few of us live on farms, one of us actually has his own house. His family set him up in their two story guest house complete with a sauna. He has a sauna and I have an outhouse. Typical. At least I'll have an authentic experience!
We do have free time at night and as there are no street lights in our village or anywhere we can go, most of us have been staying at home with our families as well as watching movies and reading. I've already read about 3 books since coming to the village. I'm going to run out soon! Hopefully I'll be able to get some more if the internet will work in my village. So apparently the school in our village has internet and we are allowed to use it, but as we aren't going to the school often, I don't know exactly when I'll be able to update next. We are going to see if the internet modem you can buy will work in our village and if it does, I will get one. I really hope it does because I don't like not being able to keep in touch with you guys and from whats going on the in the world.
There is mostly schools and government buildings in my town (a hospital, admin building, museum, schools) as well as two cafes, only one of which we were advised to go to and only during the day. For the most part, our host families provide food for us. All I can say is that I've never eaten this many potatoes in my life! One day I had leftover mashed potatoes for breakfast, mashed potatoes for lunch, and then potatoes in my borscht for dinner. Almost everything that I have eaten has been really good though. I did try some Ukrainian salo (pig fat), which is an experience. I actually liked it! It was my host sister's birthday and her husband pulled the salo out as well as a bottle of vodka. A very cultural experience! The people are very big into canning food. I've had lots of called tomatoes and pickles already. Ira is going to teach us how to can food and I'm really excited to start making my own pickles and whatnot so I can have them during the winter!
Ok, well I'm gonna go before I run out of time at the internet cafe. I'll try to update when I can! I'll try to get postcards out when I can, but I'm not sure when. Miss you all!!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Hermanivka, Ukraine!
So, I just found out that I'll be spending my next three months in the small village of Hermanivka, Ukraine! It's located in the Kiev Oblast about 55km from Kiev. I can't believe I'll be in such a small town!
During our training, we'll be learning lots of Ukrainian as well as doing teaching training. It's all very exciting. I can't wait to meet my host family!!
I won't have steady access to internet as the only internet available is at a local school. Luckily, the principal has agreed to let us use it when we need to. I'll try to update when I can!
During our training, we'll be learning lots of Ukrainian as well as doing teaching training. It's all very exciting. I can't wait to meet my host family!!
I won't have steady access to internet as the only internet available is at a local school. Luckily, the principal has agreed to let us use it when we need to. I'll try to update when I can!
Finally in Ukraine!!
We are finally in Ukraine! We got in yesterday at about 1pm Ukrainian time and we were all so tired. I tried to stay awake to see the countryside, but it was all but impossible. We got into our room at our hotel, which is pretty nice and then we had a welcoming ceremony with bread and salt. After that, we had our first meal in Ukraine. Chicken and rice!! Some of us had to get some vaccinations. I had four shots. FOUR. My arms are still sore, but better safe than sorry! They also gave us a medical kit to take with us.
After dinner, I went to sleep at about 8pm and woke up about 7am today. We had some more sessions on what to expect, what we will be doing as teachers, and did some other bureaucratic things. After lunch we will have our first Ukrainian session! I'm very excited. It seems that more people are learning Russian than Ukrainian, which is surprising. I'm excited to learn Ukrainian as I feel it's a language that most people don't have the opportunity to learn.
Tomorrow, we will meet our host families and go off to live with them! We will be in a "cluster" with 4 other volunteers who will live in the same village. We will also have another cluster that will be our "link" and we'll be able to visit them and hang out. I can't wait to meet my host family. Will they have kids? heat? toilet? I guess I'll find out tomorrow! Everything is moving very fast, but very efficiently. Ok, well I'm off to my first Ukrainian lesson. I'll try to update after if I can.
After dinner, I went to sleep at about 8pm and woke up about 7am today. We had some more sessions on what to expect, what we will be doing as teachers, and did some other bureaucratic things. After lunch we will have our first Ukrainian session! I'm very excited. It seems that more people are learning Russian than Ukrainian, which is surprising. I'm excited to learn Ukrainian as I feel it's a language that most people don't have the opportunity to learn.
Tomorrow, we will meet our host families and go off to live with them! We will be in a "cluster" with 4 other volunteers who will live in the same village. We will also have another cluster that will be our "link" and we'll be able to visit them and hang out. I can't wait to meet my host family. Will they have kids? heat? toilet? I guess I'll find out tomorrow! Everything is moving very fast, but very efficiently. Ok, well I'm off to my first Ukrainian lesson. I'll try to update after if I can.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Leaving tomorrow!!
Just got back from a cruise to the Bahamas with the fam! It was really nice and relaxing. I'm glad we got to have some family time before I left for Ukraine. I'm nice and sunburnt now :)
In four hours I leave Atlanta for DC for Staging! I'm super excited and nervous. I hope my bags will be fine and I haven't forgotten anything. Hopefully I won't fall asleep during the sessions. Tomorrow is when it gets real. Luckily, I'm going to have dinner with some of my best buddies in DC, so that will be a nice farewell. I'm going to miss my friends and family so much.
Leave me your address if you would like a postcard! I'll try to update again tomorrow or when I have internet access in Ukraine. Oh, also, I'll have my cell phone with me in Ukraine (just got my brother's old international blackberry woooo) so you can contact me if you really need to.
<3
Erin
In four hours I leave Atlanta for DC for Staging! I'm super excited and nervous. I hope my bags will be fine and I haven't forgotten anything. Hopefully I won't fall asleep during the sessions. Tomorrow is when it gets real. Luckily, I'm going to have dinner with some of my best buddies in DC, so that will be a nice farewell. I'm going to miss my friends and family so much.
Leave me your address if you would like a postcard! I'll try to update again tomorrow or when I have internet access in Ukraine. Oh, also, I'll have my cell phone with me in Ukraine (just got my brother's old international blackberry woooo) so you can contact me if you really need to.
<3
Erin
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Leaving March 21st, I hope?
Nothing like a reminder that you work for the government....
Dear Group 41,
A few of you have contacted me recently with questions regarding the effect a government shutdown could have on your departure for Ukraine. Today, Congress agreed in principle to pass a Continuing Resolution that will fund the government through March 18th. While the extension is welcome, I know that it would be poor timing for all of us if the government were to then shut down just prior to your departure on March 21st.
Rest assured, a government shutdown would only delay the departure of your class until the budget is resolved. The Peace Corps would plan to send your group of volunteers to Ukraine as soon as possible. The new date of departure would be contingent on: 1) when the new budget is passed and 2) when we are able to book new hotel rooms for Staging and arrange new flights to Ukraine for your group. In the event of a shutdown, I anticipate being deemed “essential personnel”, so I will send you updated information as I receive it.
At this point, the decision ultimately lies with Congress and we will base our plans on the timing of the budget they pass. As always, our priority is getting volunteers into the field and we will be aiming to do that as soon as possible.
Regards,
Lenny
Lenny
Monday, February 28, 2011
Timeline Fail and Everything is Finally Real
Ok, so I basically failed on the timeline. Sorry guys!
Basically, I totally forgot about my blog for awhile. I'll try to sum up my timeline since my medical process. Note that my medical clearance was expedited because there was a trial program in DC where the PC provided a doctor that would take care of all of the tests (not dental or blood) at once. Basically, I was medically cleared in October and officially invited at the very end of October. I sent in my acceptance on November 1, 2010. You will be an application update which will say that you have been accepted, but of course doesn't tell you to where so if you have to work two jobs like me, you have to wait until late at night to find out where you are going! The packet is full of information and forms to fill out and send back in. Basically, once you fill everything out and send it back, you go into radio silence from the PC. Its a bit nerve racking not hearing anything for months!
I finally got an email on January 7th, 2011 clarifying that our group, TEFL, would be combined with Community Development and Youth Development for Orientation/Staging to make one of the biggest groups in PC history! That's pretty cool. We got the official email with all of our Staging info, plane ticket info, ect on February 18th, 2011. It is such a relief to know that I have a ticket and I'm really going. I've joined a Peace Corps Group 41 on Facebook and it's really cool to talk with people I'll be with in Ukraine in under a month.
Staging/Orientation will be in Washington, DC on March 21st. We'll do orientation stuff all day, spend the night, and then more orientation on Saturday and then we are off to the airport! We go through Frankfurt, Germany and then will end up in Kyev, Ukraine.
I just moved back to my parents house in Atlanta and it just made everything so real. I have three weeks to buy everything I'll need for Ukraine and get all of my affairs in order. I really can't believe that I'm going to be living in another country in just a few weeks.
I'll try to post regularly with photos and everything so you can all stay in touch and updated on what I'm doing!
PLEASE leave me posts and let me know that you're reading! If you want a post card, post or email me your address! I can't receive any packages in the mail until I move to my site (June 16, 2011) so I'll post more about sending me stuff (which you totally should do :) later. That's all for now!
<3
Erin
Basically, I totally forgot about my blog for awhile. I'll try to sum up my timeline since my medical process. Note that my medical clearance was expedited because there was a trial program in DC where the PC provided a doctor that would take care of all of the tests (not dental or blood) at once. Basically, I was medically cleared in October and officially invited at the very end of October. I sent in my acceptance on November 1, 2010. You will be an application update which will say that you have been accepted, but of course doesn't tell you to where so if you have to work two jobs like me, you have to wait until late at night to find out where you are going! The packet is full of information and forms to fill out and send back in. Basically, once you fill everything out and send it back, you go into radio silence from the PC. Its a bit nerve racking not hearing anything for months!
I finally got an email on January 7th, 2011 clarifying that our group, TEFL, would be combined with Community Development and Youth Development for Orientation/Staging to make one of the biggest groups in PC history! That's pretty cool. We got the official email with all of our Staging info, plane ticket info, ect on February 18th, 2011. It is such a relief to know that I have a ticket and I'm really going. I've joined a Peace Corps Group 41 on Facebook and it's really cool to talk with people I'll be with in Ukraine in under a month.
Staging/Orientation will be in Washington, DC on March 21st. We'll do orientation stuff all day, spend the night, and then more orientation on Saturday and then we are off to the airport! We go through Frankfurt, Germany and then will end up in Kyev, Ukraine.
I just moved back to my parents house in Atlanta and it just made everything so real. I have three weeks to buy everything I'll need for Ukraine and get all of my affairs in order. I really can't believe that I'm going to be living in another country in just a few weeks.
I'll try to post regularly with photos and everything so you can all stay in touch and updated on what I'm doing!
PLEASE leave me posts and let me know that you're reading! If you want a post card, post or email me your address! I can't receive any packages in the mail until I move to my site (June 16, 2011) so I'll post more about sending me stuff (which you totally should do :) later. That's all for now!
<3
Erin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)