Wow, I can’t believe it’s been almost two months since I last had the time and energy to write. It is with mixed emotions that I plug this entry out right now seeing as today is my last day, ehem, my last full day in my little village in Ukraine. I am sitting on my bed amongst strategically placed and not so strategically placed piles of clothing wondering how the hell I am going to get all this crap back into my suitcases. What better way for a procrastinator to get her shit together than to just stare and then open up her computer and start writing a blog entry. Talk about productivity!
Well, as far as I know, or so they tell us, our little cluster, in our little village has seemingly, successfully completed training. Tomorrow we lug all of our belongings to the hole-in-the-wall ‘magazine’ (convenience store) and hop on the bus bound for Kiev where we will learn our site-placements and take part in a few meetings/ceremonies culminating in the much anticipated ‘Swearing-In’ Ceremony where we, the group of now I think 72 of us, will be official sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers and our service will start. (Supposedly, there will be media at the Swearing-In so perhaps some of you computer savvy people can find the broadcast).
(In true form, re: procrastination… I am coming back to writing this two hours later after being Boodish Kooshited – this is our bastardization of Boodish Kooshite which means ‘Will you eat?’ – our families usually chase us around the house saying this at some point in time or another… usually just as we come in the front door).
I don’t think it is humanly possible for me to describe the last month and a half accurately. Let’s just say, training was a bitch, but also a very necessary learning experience. At least four hours of language study a day, followed by technical and cross-cultural classes, then in addition, we had to produce and manage a mini-project… in a village of 2,500. They didn’t think we could do it. In fact, they were pretty sure we couldn’t, but we gave it our all and surprising enough our little cluster of 5 people managed to organize a health seminar and successfully present it in a very potentially sustainable way. So within the time-frame of a few weeks… we got some project management, logistics, budget, grant-writing, and PR/marketing experience amongst other things. We also discovered that the 5 of us work well together as a group… and after working together, we are still all good friends, if not closer for it. Go team.
Within training we have faced many challenges… my challenges revolved around having to deal with various ailments (most recently a nasty head cold, a kind of severe allergic reaction to Ukrainian mosquitos and intestinal parasites – yum – all at the same time), teenage host-siblings, having the cord to my A/C Adapter on my computer go up in smoke (literally), trying to navigate a diet where the few vegetables that I was getting were doused in mayonnaise, and having my first semi-stalkerish experience with the men in Ukraine, and realizing that I can’t always go for a walk when I want in Ukraine when I need to clear my head.
But not to worry, all challenges turn into learning experiences, right? Like having to say over and over again to disbelieving family members that food drenched in mayonnaise causes intestinal distress for me… they don’t know me well enough to know that most food causes some kind of distress for me, but now there are more salads without mayonnaise. I can’t say that the mayonnaise has been eliminated from my food, but I am only doubled over in crippling stomach pain maybe once a week instead of 5 times a week. And, who knew some intestinal parasites are killed with a single pill… Who knew?
As for the computer cord, since my adapter wasn’t damaged in the mini-explosion, which was likely caused from my repetitive tripping over the cord at various points in time both prior to Ukraine and here, I was able to plug Conor’s cord into my adapter and still get juice. Now this arrangement was all fine and dandy during training, but I was dreading when we split off and go to site. What would I do? Thus ensued a two-week search in where I had to try and navigate with my crappy Russian to find a replacement Adapter. I got many odd looks like – Girl, you CRAZY – your adapter is American, this is Ukraine… funny how this situation seemed to sum up a lot of my experiences here.
But, as with many things in life, being in the right place at the right time and remembering to bring up something you heard weeks ago… like that Jay knew of a used computer parts store and actually asking Jay at the right moment (when we were standing across the street from said mystery store)… Jay accompanying me across the street only to find out that the guy did not have an adapter that would work… BUT, that there was a guy, just downstairs, that could actually repair the busted cord. And, said guy repaired the cord… for less than $3. I thanked the man who repaired my cord with Ballshaya Spaciba-s (big thanks) and then I also told him that I loved him. I’m sure he was really impressed since I was drenched in sweat (did I mention that it has been hitting the mid-90s here?) and looking slightly deranged (re: Amy + heat not a good combo). (I should probably have also prefaced this story with the information that we aren’t allowed to receive packages from the states during training – so there is a replacement adapter ready to be sent to me at my parents house, but with nowhere to send it – huh). So all is well, I can power-up my own computer now at least until said replacement can arrive in the mail.
But really, nobody wants to hear about my mayonnaise battles and my master quest for a computer cord. Although seemingly monumental to me, these situations are going to be part of my day to day life for the next two years. Learning how to navigate in a world where at this point in time a lot of your communication is comparable to how a small child communicates… by pointing at things that you want, speaking in a very broken and stunted way, making expressive facial gestures to get the point across, and running away and/or shutting yourself in your room when you want to be left alone. One has to rely on the kindness of strangers to either get the point across or to find what you need. We have to build a new network of friends and family that we can rely upon when we are having a tough day, or just need to laugh at how ridiculous some of the situations that we are put in are, or just need to get a computer cord fixed. I’m happy to say that the people that I am sharing this experience with are all super cool and there is not a doubt in my mind that a lot of these people are going to be my friends for life. I say that with all sincerity, and not because I am trying to avoid packing all my crap away.
And on that note, time to get packing. There is a lot of work to do here before I can get on that bus to Kiev tomorrow.
