Where to next?

Two days until my new site is revealed. I've been thinking about where I might like to go. It doesn't take as much thought as you might think. Even though I've been living here for two months, I know virtually nothing about the rest of the country. So it's really a choice between one city I've never heard of and another that I've also never heard of. I'm sure it makes a difference even if I don't know what it is, but I think to a large degree your site is what you make it. I think I'll do just fine wherever I end up.

The one thing I do hope is that I'm placed near PCVs I like and respect. I'm sure I will make Ukrainian friends, but it's nice to have American friends too. Things may be different at site because I will be working with English teachers (and presumably they speak English pretty well), but up to this point the conversations I can have in Ukrainian are still pretty superficial. It's nice to be able to communicate at all, but I really need more than that. I'm hoping for the best, but my friends are only a phone call away. I'm sure we'll visit each other during service too. It's just a little intimidating going somewhere alone for two years.

The nice thing about being around other PCVs is that they understand what you're going through. Family, friends, and Ukrainians can be very sympathetic, but they don't really understand what doing Peace Corps is like. That's something you can only get from other PCVs and it's kind of nice to have. On the other hand, I hope that being off on my own will make me more independent and better adjusted to life in Ukraine. That doesn't happen by itself, it happens when you're challenged and you're forced to make it on your own. Much of it I know I'll enjoy and I just hope that the parts I don't will be good for me!

A New End and a New Beginning

Training is coming to an end. I taught my last classes this past week and said goodbye to the teachers and students I have been working with. This next week we have our exams - Language, Safety, Medical, and Policies and Procedures. After that I will be saying goodbye to my host family and friends and packing for my trip. I still don't know where I'm going to, but I will find out soon.

In a lot of ways what I'm going through right now is similar to what I was going through just before coming to Ukraine with the Peace Corps. I had to say my goodbyes, pack for a trip without knowing the destination, and prepare for a completely different life. All of that is just as true now as it was two months ago. My work, living conditions, and town will all probably be very different. The students at the University where I've been teaching speak English very well and even though they make mistakes they can communicate what they want to say and understand me very well. At some technical colleges where I may be teaching next the students may never have taken an English course before. That is a bit intimidating, but I'm sure I'll manage somehow.

Throughout training I have been very spoiled while living with my wonderful host family. Since coming here they have helped me with everything, from getting a haircut to showing me how to go places, to cooking for me etc. Their home is also very nice - computer, internet, hot water, etc. Very modern! My future living conditions will probably not be as nice. Odds are I will be living in the dorms with students. Internet and hot water in my room would both be luxuries. It won't be too bad, but definitely a change from my current situation.

Also, my next city will probably not be as big as the one I'm living in now. Chernigev is a city of about 350,000 people and is one of the larger ones in Ukraine. Most of the volunteers in the University teaching program will be in larger towns than volunteers in other programs, but we may still be in towns as small as 20,000 people. There are advantages to being in a smaller town, but it won't have all the things I've become accustomed to here. But these are things you adjust to.

There are many good things about leaving for my site though. I'm really looking forward to meeting new friends that I will have for the next two years. Besides that, I will finally get to start working in a community. I have been teaching and doing other things in Chernigev for the last two months, but mostly I have been the one learning how to teach, learning the language, learning how to live in Ukraine, etc. At site I will really be able to contribute which is the reason I joined Peace Corps in the first place.

It can be frusting to know that you've been in Ukraine with the Peace Corps for two months and really haven't done much yet. Really we've done a lot, we hardly even get any time to ourselves, but none of us came to Ukraine for the training. We are here for what comes next. It seems like training has been going on forever and we all thought it would never end, but now it is only a week away. Very exciting! I really can't wait to get to my new home. I'll post once more before I leave Chernigev, but after that the next time you will hear from me I will be at my new site!

PS

I have skype working now on my computer so if you'd like to chat with me send me an e-mail and we can set up a time. You can download skype for free at www.skype.com, all you need is a microphone and a webcam is a plus too.

I apologize for the lack of updates recently. Training has really been keeping us busy. The good news is we are starting to near the end of it, less than 4 weeks to go. When we came here, two months seemed like forever. The days were going in slow motion, I remember being here for a week and how it seemed like a month. Now it seems to be zipping by and in a few short weeks we will be taking our final training exams. If all goes well we will be sworn in as volunteers and be given our site assignments on December 7th. The day after that it’s off to site and the safety net we had during training will mostly disappear. It’s a little scary to think of being on my own with my very limited language ability, but it will force me to rely on my Ukrainian more which will encourage me to develop my language skills. Maybe it’s kind of like “encouraging” someone to learn how to swim by throwing them into a lake, but if it works it will all be worth it.

This last Sunday my cluster took a trip to Kiev. It’s only about two and a half hours from Chernigev by Mashrutka (sort of like a bus). We stayed for the day and saw some of the sites and also the Peace Corps office. That was all fun, but my main goal for the trip was to find a place in Kiev that had decent pizza. I was okay giving it up when I came here, but I’m starting to get some serious cravings. Anyway, I thought there might be a Sbarro or something like that somewhere in Kiev and I was going to find it. I walked some of the main streets and had no luck whatsoever. Then I found an underground shopping mall which got my hopes up. It was the closest thing to an American shopping mall that I have seen since coming to Ukraine and EVERY shopping mall in America has a pizza place. So I find the food court and to my utter disbelief there is a Papa John’s there. Except…wait a minute…something isn’t quite right. The first thing I notice is that Papa John is spelled with Cyrillic letters. Kind of strange, but we are in Ukraine, right? Then I notice a picture of a 60 year old black guy, who is supposed to be Papa John, smiling at me. This guy was clearly NOT Papa John. It was more than that, he was the anti-Papa John, the complete inverse. I still had one last shred of hope, but no, the pizza was definitely Ukrainian. I was telling this story to one of the Ukrainian language instructors over lunch yesterday and she asked me “How is Ukrainian pizza different from American pizza?” I honestly didn’t even know where to begin. First, there are the many things that go on Ukrainian pizzas that do NOT go on American pizzas. I’m talking about mayonnaise, hard-boiled eggs, ketchup, barbecue sauce, and so on. Then there are the things on American pizzas that I haven’t seen yet in Ukraine. To start, I don’t think mozzarella cheese exists in this country. I also haven’t found anything resembling tomato sauce like we have at home. And of course the crust is completely different. Really, there is very little about Ukrainian pizza that is anything like American pizza at all. Maybe from a hundred yards away they might look similar if you were completely blind. Okay, I got myself off on a tirade. I’ll try to let this go, I promise, but it is going to be tough.

Anyway, the rest of Kiev was great. I saw a few of the major churches which were spectacular. There was also a political rally going on. I didn’t know it was a political rally at first, it really just seemed like a celebration. There was some cultural entertainment like singing, dancing, traditional costumes, horses, etc. It took me a while to even figure out what it was. As Peace Corps volunteers we are supposed to steer clear of events like that. We are representatives of the US government and so we have explicit instructions to keep away from anything that is the least bit political. Still, I’m glad I stumbled on it and as far as I know there are no pictures of me waving one of those banners (our country director would have a seizure).

The only sad thing, besides the pizza was we had so little time to spend there. The good news is we will be returning to Kiev for our swearing in. That is going to be a huge party, let me tell you. I am sure that they will have lots meetings and events scheduled for us, but I still think the whole thing is going to be pretty wild. At that point we will have been in Ukraine for over two months and we have had very limited contact with each other. We talk to each other with the internet and cell phones, but many volunteers haven’t seen more than five Americans outside their cluster since they’ve been here. We all hung out and spent time together in Philadelphia and during our first few days in Ukraine and, for the most part, haven’t seen each other since. It is going to be a huge reunion, but it will be much more than that. Training is really brutal and this is the event that represents us moving past training and into our new roles as volunteers. During training we go from class to class, we teach, we work on our community project, we have special events to go to, and the whole time we are constantly being observed. By our language instructors, our technical trainers, our Ukrainian teachers at the University, more Peace Corps staff that comes down from Kiev, our host families who love us so much that they call us to ask where we are if we are not home by 5, etc. When we are sworn in as volunteers we are basically getting our freedom back. It’s like leaving kindergarten and going straight back to being adults again. So add to the reunion and the graduation the fact that we will finally get to find out where we will be living for the next two years and you’ve got quite a mix. It’s going to be one hell of a party!

Unfortunately that’s all I’ve got for now. We keep being told by current volunteers that we will have lots more free time when we get to site so hopefully I will be able to do a better job of updating the blog. In the mean time I am re-committing myself to updating it at least once a week. Bye for now!

Remember how I was a little nervous last week about only having 24 hours between observing a class and teaching one? Turns out I was not quite so lucky! I got a call at 9 on Sunday night and found out that the teacher was sick. That meant me and another volunteer got to teach the class instead of observing it! It went pretty well, all things considered. The students seem to like us and we got them to practice some of their conversation skills. Their English is very good which is a good thing because my Ukrainian is terrible! We have to communicate somehow. The students we are working with are future English teachers. I am really happy about that because I think that means the work we do will have a much bigger impact.

Our own language training is going well, but right now we are still learning the basics. Because of budget cuts the amount of time we get for training is being reduced. Originally I thought we would be in training for three months, instead we will have 10 weeks. The next group to come to Ukraine will only have 8 weeks! It's a little intimidating to think that we are reaching the halfway point of our training. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I really have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I can't wait to finish training because, to be honest, it really is not a lot of fun. On the other hand, I'm not confident enough in my language skills to go off on my own. Oh well, we don't depart for our sites until December 7th so there is still some time.

All the volunteers in Chernihev went on a tour of some of the famous sites of the city yesterday. I had been to most of them before, but it was nice because this time we had an English-speaking guide. The other neat thing was there were a few volunteers from group 31 that went too. They have been in Ukraine for over two years and will be finishing their service in a few weeks. Chatting with them was encouraging because they told us that we would pick up a lot of our language skills once we get to our sites and also that life will improve dramatically at that point. Having a little free time and being able to communicate sounds really nice right now. It was also great just seeing how comfortable and well-adjusted they were to life in Ukraine. It was kind of like a window to where we might be in two years.

I have to admit that it was a little bit scary too though. Right now I'm still trying to adjust to living in Ukraine. Group 31 is going back in a few weeks! It was just a reminder that two years isn't such a long time and soon we will be counting how much longer we have left in Ukraine instead of how long we have been here. I'm just pushing that thought to the side right now because there are much more immediate things for me to worry about. But I know that I'll have to deal with it at some point. That's all I've got time for right now, catch up with you next week!

Adjustment

I'm starting to get used to being in Ukraine, but I have to admit that the adjustment has been an extremely bipolar experience. Most days I'm thrilled to be here and enjoy the fact that every day is an adventure. Sometimes it can be a bit much and I really wish I could communicate better and be more independent. It is definitely more difficult than I expected it to be. I have visited many foreign countries and thought most things wouldn't be so different here. I can tell you that living in a foreign country is an entirely different experience than visiting one.

When I first came here I really did not know how to do anything at all. I like to make the analogy that managing your daily life in the states is like playing catch. It's really not that difficult and you can mostly survive on autopilot. Trying to adjust to life in Ukraine is like having 200 baseballs thrown at you simultaneously! Even the simplist things you need to learn all over again. Each task is like a ball you need to catch. Imagine if nothing was automatic and required your full attention. I am starting to get the hang of life here, but some days I still have my arms over my head while I get pelted with baseballs! It is a good thing though, if the Peace Corps were easy it wouldn't be worth doing. One of the reasons I wanted to join was so that I would be challenged in ways that I have never been before. I have not been disappointed!

On Tuesday I teach my first English class. Surprised? Me too! We observed a class at a University last week and on Monday we will observe the class that we will be teaching ourselves. We will have a chance to talk to the instructor about exactly what we will be doing. Most of us really wish we had more than 24 hours to prepare, but the Peace Corps has an expression for this: "experiential learning." Come to think of it, we have been doing quite a lot of experiential learning. Anyway, we will be teaching two days a week which will be good preparation for us before we leave for our placement sites.

In addition to our language classes, technical sessions, and the classes we will be teaching we also have to work on a project at the University. Basically, we come up with some way we can help out like holding a seminar to show teachers how to use the internet as an educational resource. We come up with the idea and discuss it with the admistrators, teachers, and students and then make it happen. We also have to write a grant so that our project will be funded. It is sort of a trial run to get us prepared to do these types of things when we get to our permanent sites.

All of this stuff has been keeping us pretty busy. Some of the volunteers like to compare training to boot camp. We have been told by other volunteers that once we finish our training things will be much easier. We will get much more time to ourselves and we will be more in charge of our own lives. Right now our entire day is scheduled for us then we go home, do a big pile of homework, and go to sleep. It is really difficult for someone like me to not be in control of what I do and how I do it, but I imagine it must be even more difficult for some of the more experienced volunteers. They have come here after a lifelong career in academics, education, or business and have to start over at square one.

Even though it sometimes feels like we are being treated like children we realize that it is because in a lot of ways we are like children. As experienced and independent minded as all of us are, the truth is we don't really know how things work here in Ukraine. We are just starting to learn and it is already clear that things work very differently here than they did in the United States. As we get our education we are "growing up" and soon we will be able to live in Ukraine as adults. We are getting this education both inside and outside of school.

A few days ago I had what we call a "cultural moment." After I did my laundry and was frantically trying to iron all my clothes the 13 year old boy that I live with asked me "Why do you have so many clothes?" It seems like a simple question, but it is not. People in Ukraine typically have only a few outfits. That is accepted and normal here. I must have looked awfully silly with that big pile of shirts trying to iron them all. I could have tried to answer his question by explaining to him that everyone in the US has this many clothes (and usually more). That maybe we have so many clothes because it is an indicator of wealth and status. Maybe we use our clothes as a way to express ourselves. Maybe we have so many just because everyone else does. I have to admit, that as I stood there next to my giant pile of wrinkled shirts none of these seemed like very good explanations. After he asked me this question all of these things went through my mind, but I just stood there blankly for a second while I considered these possibilities and simply said "I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders after getting the answer he must have expected and walked off. Some things are just not so easy to explain. What I didn't tell him was that I left most of my clothes in the states!

A few more quick notes.

In case anyone does not have my e-mail address it is davidaceo at gmail dot com. Also, if there is anything you want to know that I forgot to mention or skipped over in my last post please let me know. I will try to provide more detail in the next entry. Unfortunately, I only have enough time to throw my random thoughts down and submit the post and so each entry won't be proofread and thought out as it should be. Talk to you next weekend!

I'm still alive!

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been extremely busy since the last update. First, I'll give you the latest about the blog, then the latest about me. I'm going to start updating it regularly, once a week on Sunday. I don't have time to update it more often than that and Sunday is my day off (sort of). I will also need to add a password to access the blog. Because of Peace Corps regulations I either have to submit every post to them to be approved or I need to put a password on the blog. They don't want any Ukrainians to read it and possibly be offended. If you read my blog and would like to keep reading it, please send me an e-mail so that I can send you the password. You can feel free to share the password with anyone who would like to read the blog. This will go into effect next week.

Okay, enough about that. After leaving home I spent a few days in Philadelphia with Peace Corps staff and the other volunteers coming to Ukraine. There were 72 volunteers so things were kind of crazy over there. I didn't know anybody, but neither did anyone else so we spent lots of time getting to know each other. We spent most of our time in training sessions learning about Ukraine, learning about how to be safe there, and learning about the cultural differences. From Philadelphia we flew to Frankfurt and then to Kiev. When we got to Kiev we discovered that half of our bags had not made the journey with us. It was actually pretty amazing, out of 72 of us only four people got all their bags.

Of course, the remedy to this situation was filling out paperwork - in Ukrainian. It was pretty crazy at the airport. Imagine 72 Peace Corps volunteers who have been traveling for over 24 hours in the Kiev airport trying to fill out all these different forms in Ukrainian. Oh yeah, and if you made a mistake on the form you had to start over again. Because no one actually knew exactly how we were supposed to fill out these forms we made a lot of mistakes. Once we did get the forms filled out correctly there were more forms. Of course, no one knew how to fill those out either. We never did manage to get through all the paperwork. Eventually, the Peace Corps sent a few people over to take care of the situation. After that there were no more forms, all we had to do then was get our passports stamped and leave the airport. There was just one small problem - one of the members of our group has the last name "Castro." After we got that sorted out we left the airport (after about five hours).

Next it was time to head to the Peace Corps retreat which was two or three hours away. We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got there and we just crashed. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any of Ukraine because it was pitch black by the time we left the airport. The next morning we got up early (every morning we got up early) and got going on a few more training sessions. In our spare time we got to walk around the retreat and see the countryside in Ukraine. After a few more days of training sessions we were all split up and sent to our clusters. Even though there are 72 volunteers in my group, we were all split up into clusters of about 5 and sent to different cities to do our training. This was a little bit scary and a little bit sad. After spending the last 4 or 5 days meeting 72 new people we were being split up and sent to different places. We said goodbye to the friends we had made and got ready to make some new ones.

Next, off to our new cities and to our Ukranian host families. I was sent to Chernihev with five other volunteers that I didn't know very well, my friends were assigned to different cities. When the bus arrived we got out and waited in the square for our host families to come and pick us up (we were about a half hour early). It was kind of strange waiting for people you had never met to come and pick you up so that you can live with them for the next few months. When we would see people walk by we would wonder, "is this my new family?" We all laughed about it and the best way to describe it is to say that we were like puppies hoping someone would walk by and take us home with them. My family did come and I discovered that they speak virtually zero English. I speak very little Ukrainian and so communication is still difficult. It took me half an hour to ask where I can hang my towel and an entire afternoon to make it to the bank that ended up being just down the street.

Aside from the language barrier they are very nice and make me feel welcome in their home. Their home is also very nice. When I got on the plane to come to Ukraine I thought I might be getting my water from a well. Instead, my family has hot water, a washing machine, and internet in the home. I am the only volunteer that I know of who has access to all of these things. Space is at a premium in all of Ukraine, there are usually many people living in very small spaces. I like it here and am starting to settle in.

I go to class six days a week, most of the time is spent in language training and the rest is technical training and other miscellaneous things like medical visits or meeting local officials. I am working very hard on the language training. One of the girls in my cluster has a master's in Russian and another is a linguist. It is hard to keep up, but it motivates me to study more and learn Ukrainian faster. It is important for me to spend lots of time studying anyway so that I can communicate. I'd like to be able to talk more with my host family, but even more than that I will need to communicate when I leave Chernihev in two months to go to my placement site. I will probably be there without any other volunteers or Peace Corps staff.

In the technical training sessions we learn how to teach English in the Ukrainian universities. This includes a few days a week observing and teaching at a university here in Chernihev. I start observing next week and then a few weeks after that I will begin teaching. I need to get back to studying right now, but I will tell you more next week. I really need to spend every spare minute studying so that I can communicate.

I have been getting lots of e-mails from everyone which is great, but I am too busy to respond to most of them during the week. You will probably get most of your replys on the weekend. I also have a cell phone now. If you want to call me send me an e-mail and I will give you my number. I still haven't managed to call to the US yet, but hopefully I will figure it out soon. Talk to you later!

The last...

This past week, I've been thinking a lot about the last time I will get to do things before I leave. The last time I get to be together with my family, the last time I'll see my dog, and even the last time I'll eat at Taco Bell (oh, what a tragedy). Every where I look there are things that I won't get to do again for a good long time. But I realize that this is only one side of the story. Along with the lasts come the firsts. Today is my first day in the Peace Corps and will also be the first time I will meet my fellow volunteers. Soon I will be spending my first days in my new home. And there will be many other firsts, many of which I don't even know about yet. New foods, new experiences, and new friends. It's difficult to say goodbye, but I'm not just saying goodbye to my old life, I'm saying hello to my new one.

I will still be in touch for the next few days while I am in Philadelphia. My flight leaves for Kiev at 5:50 on Thursday from JFK. After that, I'll talk to you from Ukraine!

Staying in touch!

I went ahead and posted my temporary address in Ukraine to the right. I will be able to receive letters at this address for the next few months, but no packages. After I finish my training I will move to my site and have a permanent address for the rest of my stay. I'll post that when I have it, but the best way to keep in touch with me will be through e-mail. International mail can be slow and unreliable. I won't be able to check my e-mail as often as I do now, but I will try to log on a minimum of once a week. I hope to be hearing from all of you while I'm there! For now I've got to finish preparing for my trip. Only three days left!

Italy

Italy was fantastic! The whole trip was kind of a whirlwind because we were constantly on the move, but we saw more in a week than most people would in a month. Unfortunately my camera died at the start of the trip. I have a few pictures from my Aunt's camera, but the rest will be from google images. Their pictures are better than mine would be anyway.

Most of the places we visited you may not have heard of before. There are so many beautiful places in Italy and this time we took a route that was off the typical tourist track. It was nice because the experience is really your own rather than having to share it with a few hundred other tourists. The picture to the right is of our entourage. From left to right you have me, my Aunt Gloria, Grandma, and her friend Joan. Joan was a last minute surprise, we invited her on the morning we left for Rome. She said yes, we booked the plane ticket, and she packed and then we were on our way!

After landing in Rome, we drove to Ravello. Ravello is high up in the mountains on the Amalfi Coast. It was the most picturesque stop on the trip. You could see the rolling hills, the coast, and a few smaller towns down below. The only catch was getting up there. There were lots of small winding roads with sharp curves. And the Italians love to zip around those curves. But we made it, and it was worth the trip! The views were spectacular. Many of the restaurants had balconies where you could look out over the Amalfi Coast while you dined. On a side note, we noticed a fair amount of graffiti as we were driving up. But graffiti is different in Italy, about 95% of it was love notes. It was sweet! A very refreshing change from what you see in the states.

The next morning we went to Paestum which is the ruins of a city originally founded by the Greeks around 600 BC before the Romans were on the scene. A few hundred years later the town became Roman after they fought a war with the Greeks. Now that the city was part of Rome the Romans didn't want the nicest buildings around to be Greek. They destroyed some of the Greek buildings or filled them with dirt so that Roman buildings could be built on top of them. The Greek buildings that weren't destroyed have now been excavated. The highlight of Paestum was the Greek temples. The oldest was built around 550 BC. They are pretty impressive now, but they must have been even more so in their day. Besides being brand new, they would have been very imposing when compared to the small houses that were around at the time. It was definitely worth seeing!

Next we headed for Naples. Even though there are plenty of sights to see in Naples, sampling the pizza was at the top of my list. The pizza all over Italy is fantastic, but Naples is really known for its pizza. My Aunt knew of a place called Da Michele that is extremely popular with the locals. They only make one kind of pizza, margherita (tomato, mozzarella, and basil), but they know how to do it right. At least that's what we thought when we got to the restaurant and there was a line of Italians outside waiting to get a pie. But when we finally tried it, we all agreed the pizza was mediocre. Oh well, there were other pizzas to be had and with very few exceptions the food in Italy was divine.

We stayed in Naples a bit longer and saw a few churches, sculptures, and the archaeology museum, but the city didn't have quite the same charm and intimacy as some of the smaller towns, so we decided to move on. The next stop was Herculaneum. You may have heard of Pompeii which is a city that was completely buried by a volcano about two thousand years ago. It has been excavated and you can walk around the ancient city much like when it was inhabited. Herculaneum is located nearby and was also buried, but is better preserved. There are many archaeological sights to visit in Italy, but walking through an entire town that was frozen in time is a very unique experience. We walked through the streets and stopped to see the tavern, blacksmith, baths, and homes. Many of the houses are bigger than the ones we live in today. Some were three stories high with gardens, mosaics, frescos, and even private baths. It makes you wonder how far we've really come in the last two thousand years, but then you remember that this was a resort town at the height of the Roman empire. Most of the rest of the world didn't live quite so well.

Our next stop was a town called Olevano Romano. It is a beautiful little town in its own right, but it has special significance to my family because we can trace our roots back there. We visited my great grandfather's grave and also visited some of our living relatives in town. They own a jewelry shop that has been in our family for many years. They were happy to see us and we stayed a while to chat. Too long, actually. We got a $50 parking ticket while we were inside visiting. I guess it can happen anywhere, but we were still glad that we made the stop.

The next day we went to Civita di Bagnoregio which is a very small town that sits high up on a rock. The only way to get there is a pedestrian bridge that is too small for most cars. Only very small cars and motorbikes can travel the bridge. And I do mean VERY small cars. We don't even have cars that small here in the states, but in Europe they aren't so uncommon. Anyway, the view was incredible. The only surprising thing was that there were hardly any tourists. They were even having a festival with donkey races the next day. Still, it was nice to have the place to ourselves. It is so easy to fall in love with these small towns and the people were wonderful. We thought about staying another day for the festival, but we decided to skip the donkey races and head on to Bevagna.

Now Bevagna was a nice place, but the most important thing I want to mention isn't about the town or the sights, it's about the gelato. I have had many of these all over Italy, but there is a special kind of gelato we had here called "artiginale." I think it means organic, but I can tell you that it was far and away the best gelato I have ever had. They are pretty good to begin with, but I have never tasted anything like this in my life! If you ever plan to go to Italy, add gelato artignale to your list of things to do just above seeing the Coloseum and the canals of Venice. Yes, it was really that good!

After Bevagna, we drove to Spoleto to have dinner, but didn't quite make it there. On the way we passed by a building where we saw a bunch of people dressed all in black. We thought it might be a funeral except they were smoking and chatting and didn't seem too sad. Then we drove around the corner and saw lots more people who were also dressed nicely, but were not in black. It turned out that there was an opera that was in intermission and the people dressed in black were the orchestra on a cigarette break. On a whim we decided to go inside to check it out and we ended up with front row seats to Rigoletto! We only missed the first act. I have always wanted to see an opera in Italy, but this particular one was very special. My Grandma's friend Joan is a retired opera singer and she had gotten her big break as the leading lady in Rigoletto! The performance was excellent and Joan was able to fill me in on the story as it went. She was even more thrilled than I was to see it and things couldn't have worked out better if we had planned them.

Our trip was starting to come to an end so the next day we headed back to Rome. We dropped my grandma and Joan off for dinner and went to park the car. Before we could do that it started storming and raining. Next thing we knew our GPS couldn't get a signal and we were lost driving around Rome in a thunderstorm. Finally we found a parking space and eventually found the restaurant, but we were completely soaked when we got there about 45 minutes later. When we arrived everyone in the restaurant clapped and cheered for us. It's amazing how helpful and caring the people in Italy were. More than once we stopped to ask for directions and the person was not only happy to tell us, but escorted us to where we were trying to go personally. After dinner we drove around and saw some of the sights of Rome. I have seen Rome before, but it was very nostalgic seeing the Colosseum and the Roman Forum again. It was so hard to leave, I have to make it back to Rome again!

Now that I'm home, it's straight back to reality for me. I only have a week to go before I leave for Ukraine. It seems like lots of time, but I have so many things to do before I go. In seven days, ready or not, I'm off to the other side of the world. I'm trying to get packed right now which is a lot more difficult than it sounds. It isn't like packing for a vacation. It's more like moving, except you can only take one hundred pounds of stuff with you. Everything else has to stay. On top of that, I really have to make sure I bring the right things because many of the things we take for granted simply won't be available over there. The packing is important enough that it will probably get its own post, you might be surprised by some of the things I need to take. But that's a post for another day!

details, details, details....

It's been a good weekend! I won some money playing blackjack at the casino with my brother and cousin. Not enough to quit my day job (if I had one), but it was a good time. Besides, any time I walk out of a casino with more money than I went in with, I'm happy. It's really a thrill!

I'm at the airport now ready to head off for Italy. We had a little bit of last minute excitement, but everything is okay now. I drove with my brother to the east coast and he drove my car back to the west coast by himself. I won't need it for the next week while I'm in Italy. The only problem was that my passport was still in the back of the car. Oops! On top of that his phone wasn't working so no one could get a hold of him until he got back to Sarasota. I thought I might have to drive all the way out to Sarasota and back (an 8 hour drive) which would get me back at about 4 AM. Luckily we finally did get Avery on the phone and he met me half way. Hopefully he's not too tired going into work this morning, we must have both gotten back at about 12:30. A bit of a late night, but not nearly as bad as it would have been for me. Thanks Avery, I owe you one! I've got to go because we are boarding soon, but I'll let you all know about the trip when I get back!

In Limbo

It's been over a month and a half since I moved out of my place in Indiana. So far I haven't spent more than a week or two in any one place. It feels kind of strange not having my own place to go back to and I am starting to realize that things aren't going to change any time soon. Even after the rest of my time here in the states, I will be living with a Ukrainian family for my first three months while I am in training. It won't be until after that that I will finally settle into my own place again.

Still, I consider myself lucky that there are so many places where I am welcome. My family and friends are the best! Not only have they invited me into their homes, but they have done everything possible for me. My parents are storing all my things. My brother Avery is looking after my dog until I get back. My other brother, Brian, is fixing my car as I type. But this doesn't even scratch the surface. I could go on and on about all the people who have bought me dinner or helped me out in any number of ways. I only hope that someday I will be able to return the favor.

And now to let you in on the latest. One person I haven't had a chance to spend much time with is my grandma. I was planning to drive to Pompano Beach to spend this next week with her. So she called me up last week and she said to me "If we're going to spend time together, wouldn't it be nice to do it in Italy?" I wasn't expecting that! But I'm thrilled to go and am looking forward to it. My grandma has always been the most generous person and she never disappoints. I was happy just to spend time with her, but Italy will be fantastic! We leave on Monday and we'll be there for about a week. I'll try to update the blog at least once while I'm there, but no promises. It might have to wait until I get back. I'll post some pictures!

20 days to go!

Georgia - the country

Many have expressed concerns to me about what has been happening recently in Georgia. Here is an article that gives a pretty good overview. The basics are that Russia invaded parts of Georgia and has refused to withdraw completely, despite the objections of much of the world. This is bad enough, but what really worries everyone is that this is about more than Georgia. For a long time, Russia has opposed the Westernization of some former Soviet countries. They have been against Georgia and Ukraine becoming part of NATO and do not seem to want them to become a part of the European Union in the future. Russia would like to maintain close relations with these countries and does not want to see them turn to the west. However, Georgia and Ukraine have continued to show interest in forging western ties.

This may have contributed to Russia's decision to invade Georgia. Now that this has come to pass, some speculate that other areas might also be at risk. Specifically, Crimea (in the southeast of Ukraine) has been mentioned. This part of Ukraine has more Russians than Ukrainians. In fact, many people in Russia believe that Crimea should never have been given to Ukraine in the first place. This is a controversy that has been around for years, but is seen in a new light after the recent events in Georgia. Some worry that Ukraine and Crimea could be next.

It is reasonable to be concerned, but right now this is only speculation. Emotions are still high from what is happening in Georgia and the situation is continuing to develop. For now, all we can do is wait and see what happens. I suspect that by next month things will have cooled down a bit. In Georgia, all 85 Peace Corps volunteers and trainees were safely evacuated. The Peace Corps takes the safety of its volunteers very seriously. On a personal note I would like to reassure my friends and family that when I am in Ukraine I will put my safety first and leave if I feel it is necessary. Thank you all for your concern.

Happy Independence Day!

Besides being the first day of my blog, today is also Ukrainian independence day. Ukraine declared its independence on August 24, 1991. To celebrate, they set off fireworks and have parties just like we do in the states for our own independence day. Of course, one major difference is that most Ukrainians can actually remember when their country became independent. After being part of the Soviet Union for many years, Ukraine is very proud to be an independent nation. Especially with the recent events in Georgia, I imagine it is something they don't take for granted.

But now for the latest with me. A lot has been going on! I sold my house last week which is great news! Even better, I just got back from two incredible weeks with my mom in Hawaii. Wow! I had no idea how much there was to see. There are way too many things to list, but some of the high points were hiking into the crater of a volcano, going on a submarine tour, seeing the green and black sand beaches, and going to Pearl Harbor. Just an incredible experience, if you ever get the chance - go!

Right now I am spending some quality time with my dad in Atlanta, which has been great fun. We went to the Georgia Aquarium yesterday - the world's largest. I've been to a lot of aquariums, but this one blew me away. First of all, the place is simply massive. They have huge viewing tanks and fish that you might not see anywhere else in the world. The highlight for me was the four whale sharks. The only other aquarium in the world that has one of these in captivity is in Japan. The staff were very knowledgeable, if you are ever in Atlanta this is a must-see.


We also went to a Hindu temple, which was amazing. I was impressed when I saw it from the outside, but when we went in I was literally awestruck. I have been fortunate enough to visit holy sites all over the world: the churches and cathedrals of Europe, mosques in Morroco, etc., but I have never seen anything like this before. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures of the inside, but here is one of the outside. You will just have to come and see it for yourself!

If all that wasn't enough, the pinnacle of my time in Atlanta was going to the shooting range with my dad. That may not sound so special on its own, but this was not an ordinary trip to the shooting range. We went with my grandfather's Mauser rifle. This gun was manufactured around the time of WWII (or earlier) and probably saw action. My grandfather purchased it in the 40's (?) and used it as a hunting rifle. It has been in the family ever since, but hasn't been fired much for some time. We took it to a gun shop here in Atlanta to buy some ammo. The guy at the counter wasn't even sure he had any for this gun at all and when he finally did find some he blew the dust off to reveal that it had been manufactured in Russia in 1949. The gun needed some cleaning, but it still works great. It has quite a bit of kick to it, as the bruises on my shoulder will testify. It was great fun taking out this little bit of family history for a day.

Tomorrow I leave for West Palm Beach where I will spend some time with my family down there. If we have time my cousin and I might make it to the Seminole Casino where they now have blackjack! Wish me luck ;)

PS

32 days to departure!

PPS

That was a lot crammed into one post, next time will be better (I hope).