There's no business like snow business!

Saturday morning: I awake to a text from a fellow trainee Theo, who lives in Kozaletz; "My first snowfall of the year!" I immediately direct my attention to the laundry I had left outside to dry the night before. Ukrainian rule # 32: "Know the weather before you hang wet clothes out to dry." I promptly skipped outside and removed my cardboard like clothes from the line to dry inside, it was hilarious! Ukrainian rule # 2: "Laugh at yourself"- thats one of the important ones that comes up daily.

Frozen Clothes!

I am sad to say the day before was my last class at School number 2 in Oster and I am sad to being going as I said in my last post. I just hope that the community I go to shares the same awesomeness (which is a word) as my present community. After class we had the lottery that was part of our 3 step fundraising project to help raise money for the local soccer field. All in all the project seemed to be a big success and we made 1800 Hryvina- Great Success!

Anyway, back to the weather. This Friday it started to snow, and it hasn't really stopped since. Though I am much more of a summer person, I will take snow over cold winter rain any day! The roads and yards are covered in soft snow which has made everything seem so much more quiet, and more Ukrainian too. It sure aint warm here anymore but I am pretty prepared. Living in Vermont for so long has me able to block out the winter with long bass-busting Dance-Hall mixes that I bump to and from class, making Ukraine feel almost like Jamaica. Although the Dance-Hell helps to warm my walks there are certain feelings of longing that the pounding bass can not drown out. I was surprised to see people still riding bikes in the ice and snow, but Ukrainians actually seem quite comfortable. It feels like just yesterday that I was laying on the beach in Suckanesset in the warm sun and now here I am sloshingthrough snow and slush. Its nice though, it makes me feel not too far from home, but now my skiing urges are kicking in. I imagine what I would do if I was back in Vermont at school. With this much snow on a school day I can imagine Ben and I cutting class and heading straight to Smuggz, lacing up the gnar-boots and getting our Warren Miller on. But, alas, there are more pressing issues at hand.

Gettin down on some Ping Pong at school

One of those pressing issues being that tomorrow I have my LPI or Language Progress Interview. Basically it is what we have been studying for all of this time, besides the whole communicating thing. So each trainee has a 25 minuet oral examination where we talk as much as we can. The interviewer gives us guiding questions, but it is basically up to us to keep it going for 25 minuets talking about all sorts of different topics ranging from our families, our project, and teaching. So wish me luck! After this it will be basically up to me to continue to improve my Russian which wont be easy. Soon I will be a real volunteer.

Our Trainee Thanksgiving Dinner

What we are thankful for

Being that it is so close to my favorite American holiday, (besides Cinco de Mayo of course,) it has been a day that continues to go through my mind everyday. For obvious reasons too, I mean, if you have ever been lucky enough to be invited to a Thanksgiving day dinner at the Twohigs you would know why. Food is a thought that passes though my mind unconsciously about every 2 or three minuets, so that means that recently my minds menu has been full of turkey, stuffing, potatoes etc etc etc. So have an extra slice of dark meat for a brotha over here in Ukraine. And Grandma, I can't wait to join you again for Thanksgiving dinner in 2013!

The 5th form

We have been featuring Thanksgiving as a theme in our extra-curricular activities at the school. For English club we had kids make the traditional hand shaped turkey and on each finger they wrote something they were thankful for, and the same on leave shaped cut outs that we used for decorations in an English teacher's conference that the school hosted. We were so lucky as to be asked to participate in the conference where our vice principal/ english teacher, Tanya, hosted a lesson. The conference is meant to be a chance for all of the teachers to get together, share information, plan events, such as the national Olympiads, where one of our students took 2nd place in the Oblast last year for English. After, the school had prepared a concert for the teachers who came from all over the region called a "rayon." Many students put on great plays, sang a whole bunch of songs, recited poetry, and all in English! As part of the concert we were asked to present as well so we did a small recreation of a modern day Thanksgiving in the US with a small informational intro and a game of "pin the waddle on the turkey," obviously our take on the classic and fan favorite, "pin the tail in the donkey." It was a lot of fun an I was really glad to be a part of it. They also had a surprise for us where they students did a presentation of the US which even featured our towns. As a picture of Nobska light passed by on the projector I had of of those realizations of time and place which occur pretty much everyday. I am really sad that my time here in Oster is almost over, just now I am starting to develop really strong relationships with the kids who I know consider, "my kids." They are so friendly and follow us around everywhere, I think its every teachers dream to have kids follow you down the road trying to pick up more information from you, to be walking and a block away you hear a group scream in unison "MR PATRICK!... HELLO!" What teacher would be crazy enough to leave that? I can only hope that the site I go to in a week an a half has a fraction of the charm and awesomeness that is the town and people of Oster Urkaine. If you are every passing through the area, stop in!

4th form at the concert

You would think that being here in Ukraine for over 2 months now, I would have lost that shock of remembering where they heck I am and what the heck I am doing, but it still happens. I will be reading a book, listening to music, or doing work and look up for a second and it hits me like a sack of potatoes, (get it? potatoes? because I am in Ukraine?,) I think to myself, oh my god, I am in freaking Ukraine right now! Thats so crazy! I don't know if thats the way it should feel here but I am happy that even now, this adventure is still a surprising adventure.

Teaching the 5th form

This being said, we move back to what we are thankful for. A projected departure date that is set for December of 2012 seems totally intangible to me. I mean, I will be 25 when I get home, and I cant even imagine being 25. A lifetime away from my home, I think, as, I am sure many other world travelers and soldiers have pondered about their friends and families. And as old as it makes me feel to say, I ponder my old life in the states; looking at pictures. It makes me realize what I am thankful for, and that is the people who I had to say goodbye to and all the love and care I received from them. I am thankful for all of the Thanksgiving, and at the time the "unimportant" dinners I was so lucky to have with my family. It doesn't help that I got the new Tigers Jaw album came out, I miss my friends.

4th form

Enough of the sappy stuff and into the goods! We have been working for the last few weeks on our community project to help raise money for the reconstruction of the football (soccer) field. It has been a lot of work; meetings with the mayor, interviews with and without translators, cooking, packing candy, and advertising our events, but it is almost over and we have done a phenomenal job in my opinion. I heard the record for fundraising in a training community project (only 3 months) is about 1,300 Ukrainian Grivna and we have already surpassed that by organizing a bake sale at one for the schools, selling baked good at the bazaar (where we got some pretty funny looks), and a lottery at another school which will be finished this week. Though the bill for the ambitious committee working on the field is pretty bug, we are confident that our work will help to ease the pressure.

Bake sale

It is important to remember that as volunteers, we are not donators, and to say our fiscal resources are limited is an understatement, but don't worry, what do you think Peace Corps is training us in?! The approach to our work is community participation. What we are there to do is to do needs assessments, isolate an issue, and find a way to motivate the community to act on it. So in reality the community had all of the resources for us to do our project we just had to get it rolling. You cant expect to just throw money at problems and expect them to go way- I think thats the kind of development approach that spans across all disciplines; to quote a good friend of mine Eggy- "Get into it!"

We found out yesterday they have out permanent sites picked out for us, but of course we cant know for another week and a half, when training ends and volunteering begins. As for that I'll keep you posted- and I miss you all.

All aboard; Ukraine in the fast lane

So time is flying by and including this week, there are only 3 more weeks left until swearing in. We continue to get more and more information everyday, which is a turn for the better since until now we have been planning out lives day by day. When it seems that we cannot possibly any busier, it does, things are crazy, but the end is in sight! Pretty soon I will know, and where where I will remain for my real Peace Corps service! I am so excited to find out where. The deal is December 9th (I dont remember if I have already written this but o well) we all head down to Kiyv, sit in a big room, they tell us a name of a town after which we get all excited even though we have no clue where that is yet, we meet our counterpart who has come all the way to the city to accompany us back, they throw an electric heater, a fire extinguisher and a smoke/ carbon monoxide detector at us and some of us ship out that very day, the rest of us will leave the next day.

In other news, I had my Site placement interview, which is your one 20 min chance to tell Peace Corps all your awesome qualities and skills so that they can appropriately place you where you will be able to rock and roll as a volunteer. The two interviewers were really nice and had really done their homework. They had researched all my great information and we talked about using black and white photography as part of my project or english club at the site and they made it seem like I may be placed somewhere that would have access to a dark room; dream come true, but I haven't got my hopes up, kinda.

Also the kids at my school are officially the coolest cutest kids in the world, and I am sad that I am moving on to another school soon though I am sure they going to be just as cool and cool. Last week after classes the school held the Mr. and Ms. Autumn contest which happened to be gnarly. It was mostly my 5th formers who were all dressed up in dresses and ties. They had to do a bunch of different events such as talent show, stringing beads on a needle and thread and separating sunflower seeds, which are addictive as I have found out. Everyone on the street eats them and I am currently snacking as I type. It rocked.

Yesterday I took another trip to Chernigov which was a blast. I got to hang out with a bunch of other Peace Corps trainees I hadn't seen in a while and it was a beautiful day. I got up while it was still pitch black dark and got on the bus at 6.20. The sunrise was amazing, the kind of sunrise that you would imagine over african planes, the kind of sunrise that if captured by and artist, could only be captured in pastels, the kind of sunrise where sailors take warning. It was a sunrise I could deal with watching everyday. Just as light starts to come over the vast yellow feilds you can start to make out the mountains of hay that speckle the landscape. You pass cows, rows of trees, and small villages where even at 6.30 on a sunday morning whole families are seen outside chopping and stacking wood for the winter that is right around the corner. I do not know what it is, but I am starting to get the feeling that old women singlehandedly support the bus system of Ukraine or at least this region. Every time I get on the bus, out of all of the people 90% of them could claim babushka status.

When the sun finally does rise you know why the Ukrainian flag is what it is. Those vast fields show their true golden color until they meet a horizon of clear blue sky. Riding on the bus is something I will always love wherever I go, and I find that they are always worth far more than they cost. I think bus is the best way to see a country.

Sean and I with the Mayor of Oster after a community project meeting.

As for new buys, I picked up a pair of fur shoe inserts for my winter boots that are one of the gnarliest things I have ever come across, and they only cost just over a dollar. For some reason people sell lots of old keys so I picked up a nice skeleton key, one of many that I am sure Ill buy, and as for gifts, I have started to compile a collection of old soviet military issue metals which are going to blow all your faces off. I hope everyone is healthy and happy I miss you all greatly and I hope you have an extra slice of dark meat and scoop of mashed taters for me on Thanksgiving!

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venga ya!

Some objects are bigger than our heads:

So as you will see from the following pictures, there are many things in Ukraine that can dwarf even the most big headed peoples dome-piece's, or as it is pronounced in russian "galavuey."

Happy birthday Tim!!!

I know every post I write about how things continue to keep me busy, and I always hope that they slow down, but to no avail; I feel like I get busier and busier every week. We hear from many current Peace Corps volunteers that we will miss this busy life style when we finally get to our site and settle in. Supposedly we will be bored to hell many cold nights, so far I haven't seen much of it, but we'll see. I prepare to combat this alleged "boredom" with my fly-fishing tying kit, Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Cien años de soledad, and my boy Pablo Neruda. Im sure the gentleman will keep me company throughout my stay here. To you readers, when I finally do get to my site feel free to send me any more of their works, along with anything other type of literate for I hope to play teacher by day and sponge by night.

But yea, things are still crazy busy; with language classes everyday for 4 hours, technical sessions twice a week, technical and language tutoring and teaching 5 classes a week at the school it is tough to get bored here. The food remains very tasty, and I continue to discover new flavors and places to find cheap and delicious food as well. I do not know if I have also mentioned this previously, but the beer here is phenomenal and only 50 cents american for 1 bottle. As a side not a bottle of beer here is not our typical 8oz bottle but a "pol-litre," or a half liter. So it is quite a deal, though I find little time to enjoy the frothy brew.

Life here is good, you walk around and you are stopped by random people who ask you many questions you can answer and many more you cannot. Sometimes you are greeted with a mouthful of gold teeth that would put Little John or the Cash Money Millionaires to shame, but some times you receive cold suspicious stares. The waether has turned cold and wet and plump babushkas (grandmothers,) waddle by in groups, their equally plump cheeks peeking out of their always present colored shawls. Young boys play fight roughly without overbearing others keeping them from otherwise learning the ballet of battle and pairs of stray dogs behind them mimic the same dance. Walking through the bazar, even in a town as small as Oster you see everything for sale; from food, to mittens, and fishing poles. Piglets squeal while being carried away in burlap bags, rabbits wait patiently next to chickens to go to their new homes ore wait until next sunday (someones stomach!)

Recently I have participated in an assessment of my community integration which was an interview about my capacity building, health and safety skills, and integration into Ukrainian life which went well and tomorrow I have my SPI, Site Placement Interview, which all the volunteers are freaking about, it is our 1 chance to voice where we would like to be placed fro our 2 year stint here. Much information passes through he grapevine of volunteers here in Ukraine, so not many of us know exactly how to act during this 20 min interview, do we voice our locational preferences? host family or not? city or village? young learners or high-school? past experiences? Who knows? Does it even matter? Well we will soon find out. On december 6th I will head to Kyiv for Swearing in and site placement. The day after I find out the name of my site I will be there. Stay tuned and wish me luck!

Spoooky!

So, first off I would like to wish all you readers a happy Halloween, it is one of my favorite holidays and I am sorry that I have to wish three of them, but I am also happy to say I had a wonderful Halloween here in Oster. One of the past volunteers taught the word "spooky" to my host family and it is a favorite word used quite frequently in the house, but yesterday was the day that it would be used for everything.

Adam and I from Kozaletts playing a bluesy version of "When the Saints go Marching in" He on the Saxophone and myself on my Harmonica.

A few days before the 31st I noticed a strange fog come over in Oster in both the mornings and evenings. In certain areas of the town I would notice the fog hanging a few feet over the ground which was quite soothing in a weird way. It seems fitting that so close to such a scary spooky day, in a region of the world where there has been so much violence that energies make them selves noticeable.

Since coming here to Oster I did not realize the history that had gone on here. Just a s a quick summary, dozens of civilizations came and went and because of Oster's geographical position between Chernigov and Kyiv as well as Moscow and Kyiv, it was used as both a camping area for army after army and a settlement for those who chose to stay. Also because it is at the crossroads of two rivers it has always been a military and economic powerhouse. You wouldn't think that in this small town of 7000 individuals you have relatives of the Goths, Visigoths, Vikings, Mongols, Tatars, Cossacks, Pols, Lithuanians, Russians and probably more.

During WWII, known here as The Great Patriotic War, all of Ukraine was a war zone and all of it at onetime was occupied by Nazi Germany even Oster. It is said that of for every 2 Soviet casualties, (an estimated 26 million,) 1 of them were Ukrainian. For those of you who are not Math Majors, half of the soviet casualties were Ukrainian, this not including the millions who died in the synthetic famines created by the USSR in the 30s. It is interesting to see flowers left on old soviet monuments, I found myself first thinking, why would people still praise those people? but when you look a little farther in, and you start to understand the community you live in it seems that people are simply remembering lost family members and praising the courageous liberation of their own town regardless of political denomination. I find it enlightening and humbling.

Sometimes as Americans it is easy to see a statue of Lenin or a Sickle and Hammer as some sort of soviet relic, something that people so not believe in anymore, but I am starting to think that they also may be a means of remembering those who sacrificed it all, in thier own hometown. I do not think any American can know what it feels like to have their hometown turn into a war zone, and for people here in Ukraine it is all too recent of a feeling. With the horror of the war came the pride that they now have after defending their land. It is customary for grooms to carry their brides on their wedding day up he steps of war memorials to offer flowers or gifts, and to take pictures, paying their respects because without the sacrifice of their families, they would have never fallen in love.

So could the spooky mist be the spirits of so many who have come and gone in Oster? I like to think so.