And he came down from the mountain...

Peace Corps has ten core beliefs that it considers to be the mission and mantra of the whole experience. While I am in Ukraine struggling to understand my role in this huge organization's efforts around the world, there is someone all the way in China, in Dominican Republic, or Tonga (or the other 77 places around the world) in my same shoes. What do these values mean to me, and how am I supposed to apply them to my service here? As a part of the application process, Peace Corps requires that every applicant must agree to these ideas. Even after one submits, there is an endless reference to these values in order to ensure that every person understands, or at least is aware of these expectations.

In Ukraine, there is a proverb "Gods don't make pots." The reason I introduce this thought after a quick 101 on PC's application is because the ten values sometimes seem almost god-like. Thousands of people every year volunteer their time to serve in various ways, and then some leave along the way for many different reasons. This proverb was shared at the very beginning of our language classes (only 3 weeks ago!) and I am hoping that it will push me when I am feeling confused or lonely. Gods do not make pots - and if Gods don't make pots, then Gods also don't commit to two years abroad in an intensive fellowship.

I am in the middle of an intensive language program, and I have an immense amount of work ahead of me in just the next month. Today, we decided to create a resource handbook of American-English games and situational role-plays for the English teachers to use in school. Tomorrow I learn more ways to say "to go" in Russian, and on Saturday I am going to Kiev to be a tourist.

I am just simply excited.

Self-sustenance

After a week of back and forth guessing about what Тамара does every three days, I think I have a better grasp. She is either a book keeper or landlady for the community which we live in, or she is some crime fighting бабушка who scares dogs off. I guess I will have to investigate further (or just wait until my Russian improves).

Today we walked to her garden which is located right behind the apartment complex where I live. Тамара's garden is HUGE! Right now it is the end of the harvesting season, minus the few patches of parsley and dill which we cut today, and a few grape vines with some very tasty grapes still hanging. There she grows tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins (self made tikvana kasha!), beets, apples, grapes, various herbs, turnips (or something that resembled) and cucumbers. I forgot to bring my camera (smart), so I asked her again if I could see it so I could share photos with you. I am hoping that come March, I will be able to visit her and learn how to garden with her.

If all the бабушкаs got together and combined their savings to go to America and start a Ukrainian farmer's market, they would make a killing. There's no organic here - it's just how people do.

Yesterday we learned about Ukrainian history and how it influences peoples' personalities today. The cultural differences became so clear when Denise flashed photos of famine and death across his computer screen. My job just became so much heavier. I'm not only teaching English - I'm teaching people how to look up. Maybe Тамара's tutorial on gardening can be translated into teaching about "יהיה טוב."

Tikva means pumpkin

Recently, the other volunteers and I have begun opening up our homes to each other and it has been really interesting meeting other Ukrainian families. After being in a few others' homes, I have noticed that I live in the most Ukrainian decorated household, with four antler ornaments in my room, along with a rug with dead muskrat (maybe beaver?) hangings on my wall above my bed. My room has a table in the middle, which serves well for hanging out and hosting. Even though I'm not used to a lot of stuff (rock and shell collections, wine glasses, shot glasses, Religious ornaments, tea sets, lanterns, bibles and more!) I am beginning to adapt to the Ukrainian decor that Тамара has here.

I have been having a lot of fun with Тамара. We have few conversations (more than just mooing) and I am learning a little bit about her life, hobbies and family. She especially likes to cook, so I asked her to teach me how to cook which I think will be very beneficial to our friendship (she smiled and seemed very enthusiastic about this project). Last night while Colette was over, I learned how to make a pumpkin gruel which is quite delicious and has been my breakfast for the past few days. It's very simple, and doesn't take much time, so I thought I'd share it with you:

grated pumpkin (0.5 kg)

milk (150 ml)

rice (150 g)

honey (1 T)

butter (1 T)

Grate pumpkin into a bowl and leave aside. Boil rice until ready and leave aside. Boil milk and add the pumpkin honey and butter. To serve, combine pumpkin and rice together in bowl and add butter as you please for each meal. (I add very little; Тамара adds another spoonful - great for flavor, awful for my stomach)

приятного апетита!

хорошее хорошее

Hi from Ukraine! I have finally arrived and I am into the training process! These past few days have been quite a trip. The first things I saw in Ukraine were farmlands and cowsheds, and I don't actually think that's much different from the Catskills or RT 17 upto Binghamton, NY. We spent a day in a hotel type place, and there I hung out with fellow volunteers and learned a few more things about health and safety. I met a few new people, but the orientation was so quick I hardly remember anyone's name.

I am in cluster D and live in a small-sized city called Vasylkiv along with 9 other volunteers. We are learning Russian which means that my future site has a greater potential of being more East, but I really have no idea. All I know, is that sometime this year when it gets warmer I will be using my Russian to lead me down south to the Black Sea. Three of the volunteers live in the same apartment complex as I do, which makes it really nice for travel and hanging out. My host mother's name is тамара (Tamara) and she lives in a small place with another room for me and a room rented out to another girl. тамара has two children who have kids of their own. She is quite a good cook, even though I am not such a meat-person (every. single. meal.) and I think she has taken note that I love salad and soup.

тамара does not know a single word of English so it makes conversation quite funny and frustrating at the same time. Last night I mooed at the table as a way to ask about the meat's origin, a moment which might be considered unoriginal in a normal volunteer's life. We have taken to a lot of hand motions and pointing, sometimes including a small slip up of Hebrew. Hopefully in a week's time I will be able to carry a small conversation with her about the weather.

Until then, keep warm for me.