*Disclaimer: the contents, views & information presented in this website are my own and do not represent the Peace Corps, Peace Corps/Ukraine, the US Government, or the Government of Ukraine.
On Saturday we tried out the Ukrainian train system for the first time, as our TCF took us and our link cluster to her home city of Nizhyn (Ніжин), a 1.5-hour train ride south of Chernihiv. The day started with us standing in the aisles of the very full "elektrichka" (short-distance train) – as time passed and stops went by, we were able to sit down.
Chernihiv trains station.
Chernihiv --> Nizhyn!
Upon arrival in Nizhyn, we walked to the Center for Children and Youth, where they teach math, English, and music to children ages 3-6. They also have some older students who study various things there, including traditional Cossack sword-fighting. Nizhyn was a largely-Cossack city in the early times. We watched some demo fighting and saw some other model weapons, including a little cannon and some Viking shields.
Cossack fighting.
Women of my cluster!
We went briefly to an old post-house and museum, which among other things had collections of stamps and letters written by famous Ukrainian and Russian writers. After lunch we walked to the Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University, where our TCF, Kateryna, teaches when she’s not working for the Peace Corps. As you may know, Gogol is a famous writer who Ukrainians and Russians both claim as their own. A beautiful park adjoins the university buildings.
Gogol!
Best link ever.
Gorgeous fall trees.
It was fun to see a new city for a day – Nizhyn was wonderfully peaceful, and it was a beautiful fall day to explore a new place.
Some tidbits about riding the bus (aka “marshrutka,” aka маршрутка) in Ukraine:
1) Be aggressive when the bus arrives to make sure you get on it.
2) There is no limit to how many people are allowed on a given bus – you pack in until everyone who wants to get on is on. Sardines, anyone?
3) If the bus is too crowded for you to give your money directly to the driver/money collector, you simply hand it to the person in front of you and tell them where you’re going and how many people you’re paying for. Quite a handy system, actually. Allows for maximum sardine-packing.
My cluster left the city on the 5:45pm маршрутка back to our village one day this past week and experienced all three of the above. Fun times!
Pictures below, as usual. Above is a video of monks ringing bells in a bell-tower in Chernihiv. Surround sound!
Peace,
T.
Monument to the Chernobyl "explosion" in 1986.
"Eternal Flame" for WWII, here called the "Great Patriotic War"
...to pack up many things! Things for the next 27 months -- not ships or sealing-wax or kings, and I will get plenty of cabbage at my destination, but definitely shoes. (Full text of Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and The Carpenter.") Here's what my "packing room" looked like at the end of last week:
And when I started trying to put things in suitcases: DISASTER. I thought weight would be the issue, but it's actually space -- I want to bring too many things! So I acquired two vacuum-pack bags from my dad and took out some clothes for my parents to send once I get to my site at the end of December.
I leave on Friday. Unbelievable. I just ran my first half marathon, and now that that's done, the next thing on the list is the Peace Corps! The scariest thing about leaving on Friday is how much I don't know about what happens in the next three months: what language will I be learning? Who will be in my cluster? Where will I be located during training? Will I have internet access? What will my host family be like? Will I be able to exercise? Where will I end up being placed in December? And so many more.
I can think of two ways to reconcile these unknowns to my schedule- and routine-oriented brain. First, the following quotation, which I can hear Meryl Streep-as-Karen Blixen reciting in her Danish accent in the 1985 film, Out of Africa, adapted from Isak Dinesin's memoir of the same title: "Perhaps he knew, as I did not, that the Earth was made round so that we would not see too far down the road." A simple explanation, yes, but it resonates with me as I start my journey with the Peace Corps.
Second, I had coffee this morning with a former English teacher who remains a mentor, friend, and kindred spirit in the discussion of books, literature, and life. I recommended he read Dave Eggers' novel, What is the What, and was describing the basic premise of the book. Astutely, Mr. D asked, "so, what is the what?" I explained that, in the book, the boy's father tells a story where God offers men a choice between cattle -- i.e., security and prosperity -- and "the What"-- variously interpretable as the unknown, the mysterious, or just plain chance."Oh," said Mr. D, "so you're about to enter the What." "Yeah, I kind of am, I guess," I replied.
So, off I go to Ukraine and the What, not seeing too far down the road but prepared for anything. Stay in touch!
19 days until departure...and so much to do before then: make copies of important documents; call/see friends; finish backing up the photos/music/files on my computer; run a half-marathon; and PACK! That's right -- all the shopping I've done over the past month now has to fit into two suitcases (no more than 107 linear inches combined), my backpack and a (generously-sized) purse. Oh, and it all has to be about 80 pounds or less (technically it can be 100 lbs., but current volunteers tell me the PC gives us another 20 lbs. of stuff when we get there). Whaaat?They tell us not to over-pack, but that's hard not to do when one is leaving the country for 27 months... Clothes, toiletries, technology, gifts, books... I tried to copy/paste my packing list, but Blogger doesn't like the formatting. I'm sure I'm over-packing, but I guess I'll find out when I try to put everything in suitcases and weigh them.
I had a small freak-out yesterday, along the lines of "oh-my-goodness-I-am-leaving-the-country-for-more-than-two-years-what-was-I-thinking?! I'm not ready for this!" But who ever is ready for what may be the adventure of a lifetime? All I can do is have an open mind and heart and plunge right in. Two things helped me reverse my freak-out mode this morning: (1) My friend Christina has been in Indonesia for less than a week -- she's starting a Fulbright ETA year -- and is already blogging about all her amazing adventures. (2) My friend Ryan has been in Fiji all summer and recorded an inspiring set of reflections on his blog, about "do" versus "doing." Here's an excerpt from his entry:
My involvement in these projects has largely been the byproduct of my insatiable desire of DOING, which is an activity that will help me find something to DO. With each passing experience, I am getting closer and closer to devoting my entire life to a cause, be it education, sustainability, or solving large social inequities – or all three. To move forward is to rely on faith and a dash of fear. So fill up my cup, and here I go. (Ryan King, "Reflections - Part 1," Sometimes Sun, Sometimes Rain)
Thank you, Ryan, for those wise words -- my 27 months in the Peace Corps will be a lot of doing, in part to help me discover what I want to do. Ryan also posted this quotation at the bottom of that same entry, which put my fears in perspective (and even made me realize that my fears and anxieties may, in fact, be what make my embarkation and service more valuable):
“What gives value to travel is fear. It is the fact that, at a certain moment, when we are so far from [home], we are seized by an instinctive desire to go back to the protection of old habits. At that moment we are feverish but also porous, so that the slightest touch makes us quiver to the depths of our being. This is why we should not say we travel for pleasure…Pleasure takes us away from ourselves — Travel, which is like a greater and graver science, brings us back to ourselves.” (Albert Camus)
Camus' statement really resonated with me, and maybe it does with any of you travelers out there. I try to remember my 8-day trip to Kenya (Jan 2009) and tell myself that I will have many similar feelings in Ukraine, though the time period will be longer.
There may be days when we sleep on little more than a mattress in a town with no electricity or running water:
But there will also be plenty of beautiful sunrises and sunsets:
Though I haven't left my comfortable home yet, I begin to be more and more excited about what my fears may reveal about others and about myself.
Today's post is again not directly about Ukraine, but it does pertain to traveling and adventuring around the world. For my 22nd birthday this June, my brother got me a book called Female Nomad and Friends: Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World (click the title to purchase at Amazon.com -- all royalties help send children from Indian slums to vocational schools in New Delhi). The author, Rita Golden Gelman, took off on her adventures as an adult, after her kids were grown and she got divorced. But that's not really the point. Her first book, Tales of a Female Nomad, talks about her early adventures as a single woman traveling the world (I haven't read it, I just learned this stuff from the introduction of Female Nomad and Friends).
Anyway, Female Nomad and Friends, as Gelman says on her website, is a collection of short stories from 41 authors (all but two are women) about connecting around the world. Interspersed throughout the book are 32 recipes from around the world. Stories and food: my brother knows me well! (Another note on connection: anyone who's read my Oberlin honors thesis knows that it was all about connection -- this seems to be a theme in my life!). Have just tried two of the recipes -- chapati and Swedish Kladdkaka (chocolate cake) -- and they are both delicious.
I'm almost finished with the book after only a day, and it's wonderful. Stories come from all kinds of women, from professional writers to Peace Corps Volunteers (like I'm about to be!) to just plain adventurers. There are tales about crossing language and cultural barriers (or not, as the case may be), and about the kindness and generosity of so many people around the world (and the recipes look delicious -- I can't wait to try some!). It really inspires me as I prepare to set off on my own journey. It also recalls Julie Taymor's speech at my Oberlin Commencement this past May -- her main message was, be flexible and don't set a time limit on anything.
I recommend this book to any and all people who like to travel, whether or not you're a woman. Short stories are great for a short attention span, and you won't be able to put it down. And on another literary note, my first Ukrainian reading project arrived today: Anna Reid's Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine, which many Peace Corps/Ukraine Volunteers recommend. More on Ukraine soon!
Two months from tomorrowI depart for my staging -- a couple days in the US to get acquainted with my group and take care of last-minute stuff -- and then for Ukraine on September 19th with my fellow Ukraine Groupe 39-ers! Wowzers. I started studying Ukrainian today and it's tough! I think once I learn the Cyrillic alphabet (abetka) it will get easier.
So I thought you might be curious as to what I will be doing in Ukraine for 27 months -- this post will reveal what I know so far:
My job title is Secondary Education TEFL Teacher. The Peace Corps TEFL program was launched in September 1993, with the goal of expanding and improving the quality of English instruction in schools and at teacher-training institutions. So this means I'll be teaching English -- conversational, communicative methodology, U.S. history/culture, American/British literature -- to students ages 8-17. I will teach a minimum of 18 hours/week, made up of 6-9 classes with 12-28 students each. In addition to my teaching duties, I may be involved in developing English teaching materials and curriculum for my school, leading workshops on approaches to language teaching, and assisting with English development among my (Ukrainian) colleagues.
But those are just in-school activities... Secondary to my school-teaching will be work on community projects. These may include workshops on any number of things: healthy lifestyles, HIV/AIDS awareness, drug/alcohol prevention, multicultural awareness, ecology, journalism. I may lead English conversation clubs or educational activities at orphanages. The options seem endless! The most important thing that my assignment materials remind me of is that I will be part of a long-term development project. There won't be quick fixes. But success often comes from a series of small changes.
So are they just going to throw me into a classroom right off the bat, you may ask? Nope -- that's where Pre-Service Training (PST) comes in. We -- Ukraine Group 39, I think we're all incoming TEFL teachers -- will spend the first three months in and around Kyiv with host families, taking part in intense training, of which there are five components: technical training, language training, cross-cultural training, health training, and safety/security training. We will work in our communities to apply/develop our skills and experience, learn about Ukraine (economy, politics, education), study Ukrainian or Russian, and learn preventative health maintenance and safety measures. Halfway through PST we will get our site assignments -- the place/project we will be with for the next 24 months! It could be anywhere in the country. Exciting times are ahead...
As a parting thought I leave you this video (below) showcasing the sights of Kyiv, with a pretty rockin' soundtrack. Enjoy!
(Information courtesy of my Peace Corps/Ukraine Welcome Book and Peace Corps Assignment pamphlet. Video courtesy of YouTube.)
Hi everyone! As many of you know, I graduated from Oberlin College in May 2010 and spent much of the spring semester applying, interviewing and filling out medical forms in hopes of joining the Peace Corps. On July 8, I received an official "invitation to serve"! So, on September 17 I will embark on an exciting 27 months of teaching secondary English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Ukraine. This blog will help me keep in touch with all of you, as I will post information on Ukraine culture/politics/history/religion/food as well as my experiences once my service begins. Hope you’ll stay in touch!
