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!
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