six and a half months and counting...

I officially bestow upon myself the award for worst blog updater. My apologies.

I have been in Ukraine for almost seven months now and at my permanent site for about four. The following is a slightly edited excerpt from an email I recently wrote to two of my favorites, Laura and Kathleen, about my experience so far-

"Let me say first and foremost that my experience thusfar in Ukraine has been pretty good, although I'm not sure I would call it "life-changing." Of course things probably never feel life-changing until they're over. At times I don't actually feel like I am in the Peace Corps. In a lot of ways it is nothing like I expected- ie no hut, no Spanish or French, no disease, no malnourishment. Also, I sometimes doubt I am affecting my students on any deep level, although I do think they enjoy their slightly insane American teacher and I do offer them some perspective on the outside world and what it means to be diverse.

That being said, there are times I want to say "F you!" and head on home. Knowing that I could make that decision at anytime and probably be home within three days is actually part of what keeps me here longer and longer. I can't really say I have had any BIG ISSUES with Ukraine, but it is really the small things that can get you down everyday, such as when there is no water or no electricity or your apartment is forty degrees or it has been raining for five days straight and the roads aren't paved and your boots and pants are covered in mud and you have no washing machine (not that it matters because you have no water or electricity anyway) and yet somehow everyone expects to show up looking beautiful and put together for school (ha!) or you just can't possibly eat anymore mayo or oil or greasy meat patties (they love those here) or watch anymore ridiculous, I mean absolutely RIDICULOUS, reality television in a language you don't even understand..."

... and I take a deep breathe.

Now for the good things. Most important of all, my students. Like I said before, I think the best thing that has come of our relationship so far is the fact that my students get to see and interact with a REAL AMERICAN on a daily basis. While I am far from "diverse" I do offer some perspective on the outside world which I think is important in my small village.

My eleventh formers recently informed me that they love the shows Jackass, Viva la Bam and and Dirty Sanchez (?) because "Americans are so funny." I answered "I'm really glad you watch those shows because they are a great representation of America. In fact, all Americans love absolutely demolishing their homes and destroying their bodies for the sake of a laugh." My students response was a universal "huh?" to which I answered "we should probably just make them the foreign ambassadors for America." I then explained that while those shows may be funny, I don't want them to think that all Americans are this way. They thought for ten seconds, nodded, then proceeded to form the "rock out" sign with their fingers and scream "VIVA LA BAM!" I could tell I really got through to them :)

On a slightly cuter note, one of my second formers asked me last week "are you from another ball or our ball?" At least, that's what I thought she said. Turns out I had confused the words "ball" and "planet." Her mother, an English teacher from school, explained that she was wondering if I was from the planet Earth. After a good laugh I was able to tell her that while Ukraine and America often feel like different planets, they are in fact that same.

And on a somewhat random note, students in Ukraine love and ask about 50 cent so much that my volunteer friend Garrard recently accidentally said "well, here's my fifty cents on the topic.."

Ukrainian Easter is on Sunday. Unlike my Christmas blog, which I never actually posted (whoops), you can except some updates on that soon. The easter eggs and candy from American were a big hit. I did a scavenger hunt type game with the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th formers and basic egg hunt with the little ones. The first form was the most excited for their hunt. Unfortunately it's been raining all week so I had to hide their eggs inside. They were each allowed to find two eggs and I even let them eat their candy in class (!) One of my students was so excited from the hunt and the candy that she spent the second half of the lesson after the egg hunt making bunny ears and giggling. Every time I or her teacher asked her to calm down she would wait for us to turn around and then do bunny ears again. As I was leaving she told me the egg hunt had been "duzje klasno" (very cool) and asked if we might be able to do it again next year. Very cute.

With the older students thing were not quite as cute, stemming partially from the fact that the Ukrainian slang for testicles is "eggs." Consequently, the question "where are your eggs hidden?" elicited more than a few giggles. Once they got beyond that though, the game was a success.

Alright, as usual time is running out. Love and miss you all.