The first semester

Time is starting to move quickly, it's hard to believe that I have been in Ukraine for almost six months. The combination of work and travel are keeping me busy. I spend most of the week teaching classes and tutoring students. On the weekend I often travel to see friends or they come to see me. I also fit in there working on side projects like the grant I'm writing, helping teachers and students with proofreading or other things, writing exams, and teaching extra classes. When I have a weekend to myself I usually spend it catching up on work, but today I am spending it updating my blog.

Last weekend was Easter in Ukriane and one of the things I enjoy most about living here is enjoying the Ukrainian traditions. I did this on Easter by getting up at 2 AM so I could go to the church to have eggs and bread blessed along with all the other Ukrainians in the village. At first it was a little strange since there are no street lights, but when I got to the church all the people were gathered around and waiting with their painted eggs and bread. The church is very beautiful too! After this I went home to sleep until 8 AM when I got up to "breakfast" with some Ukrainian friends. Breakfast is in quotes because in Ukraine the foods that you eat for breakfast are not necessarily different from those that you eat at lunch or dinner. But the food for Easter was really spectacular! It is a tradition that for holidays like Easter families cook as many different types of dishes that they can. The table was completely full with all different types of food. In fact, it was more than full. The table wasn't big enough and plates had to be stacked on plates, with more plates waiting with deserts for later! Of course your host wants you to try everything, but this means you can't take more than two bites of any one dish because otherwise you will not have room for the others! The greatest compliment you can give to your host in Ukraine is if you say you think the table might collapse. I didn't really understand until I saw it for myself and truthfully, I was a bit concerned that this could really happen.

After breakfast, we went to another friend's house who had a birthday on the same day. Of course, they had just as many dishes on their table and we were expected to start eating all over again! I had some because it was just too delicious, but I had to bow out early and went to play soccer with the kids. This was a good idea, not just because I was completely stuffed, but because the vodka had been flowing this entire time too - since 9 o'clock in the morning! I can't drink like a Ukrainian man, it just isn't possible. When I'm offered one shot too many I usually just smile say no, "ya ne ookraiyeenetz." This means "I am not a Ukrainian man" and it usually draws a laugh and they let me off the hook. If not, I turn my glass upside down, bring it to the kitchen, or fill it with water. Sometimes several, or all of these methods are necessary.

Easter was a lot of fun, but one of the best trips I took was to visit my host family in Chernihiv last month. I was really looking forward to it, but I didn't realize the impact the trip would have on me. When I was in training, Chernihiv was really the only city I spent any time in. As far as I was concerned, that was Ukraine. Everything I understood about Ukraine was from what I had learned in Chernihiv. Going back was different though. Now I had lived in another city and done a lot of travelling to other cities too. When I saw Chernihiv again it was in a completely different light because I had other things to compare it to. I had so many memories of being in training with 20 or 30 other volunteers there as well as the Peace Corps staff. Now it was just me, alone, with my earliest memories in Ukraine. I remembered how difficult it was to find my way from one place to another, all the times I got lost, the first time I bought food from a Ukrainian at the bazaar, when my host mom took me to school on my first day and on and on. These things are easy for me now and I do them every day, but it was an adjustment that took months and is really still happening. It was great seeing my host family again too, all of their friends came over and we had a big party. I will have to go back and visit them again soon.

These are just some of the highlights of the last few months, I have so much more to write and so little time. I will try to update again soon, but if you want to say hi or hear more about things you can always send me an e-mail. Talk to you soon!