I can see Moldova from my house!

Literally, I can see it from right out of my window! So if you are reading this you know that I have finally made it, literally and figuratively. I have made it to my permanent site where I will live and work for 2 years and I have made it to Official Volunteer status- no one may ever refer to me as a lowly Trainee ever again.

I am way donw west southern central Ukraine the most western light blue name tag in the second most green State- or Oblast.

So on the 6^th my host Dad drove all my luggage and me to the park to be picked up right where we were dropped off just 3 months earlier; under the guise of a statue of Vladimir Lenin. This time I was far more prepared since I can see much more than “yes”, “no”, and “good.” We all waved farewell to our Ukrainian families who had acted as our guides, friends, families, and teachers, headed off to great Kyiv. After a short drive we arrived, through our luggage in storage and started our 4 days of meeting after meeting.

After a few informational sessions we finally heard the news we had been waiting months and months to know; where we would be serving. Drum roll please……. My new home, my site, my город, Mohyliv-Podilskyia. MP is a town of about 34,000, a big step up from my last site of 7000. It is the second largest city in the Oblast, which is called Vinnytska. It has a pretty lengthy history being incorporated sometime in the 3rdcentury I was told. The lands were given as a dowry gift to a man marrying a rich man farmer's granddaughter, and the town is named after him. The town was very prosperous because of its position and easy access to the Black Sea and Turkey via the river that separates Ukraine and Moldova- the Dniester

US Ambassador to Ukraine, Country Director of PC, Head of TEFL Program- A SMC grad by the way, Representatives from the Ministry of Education.

At “swearing in” we took the oath read to us by the American Ambassador to Ukraine in which we had to swear to uphold and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic so help me God, among other things. After a short celebration we started to roll out of town to our respective villages, cities and towns, spreading all over the country. As you can imagine it was both terrifying and exciting since we had no clue what was really waiting for us at our new homes.

Of course we need not worry since Peace Corps has more than prepared us linguistically, technically, and culturally to deal with a number of different issues and I have already recognized myself using different techniques learned in training.

The entranceway of my crib

So some details about my new place or as I call it, my little ski lodge. Well, its not really like a ski lodge, its an apartment, but its got a lot of varnished bead-board in it, its super cosy and I have a coat rack make of deer hooves and antlers. It is kind of strange since I have never had to live by myself, especially so far from anyone I know, but I have had people like Ira Glas from This American Life and Peter Seagal from Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, stopping by each night as I cook dinner and eat.

Where the devil sleeps... and outside there he hangs his clothes to dry too.

Unrelated, but interesting they say almost all towns once under Soviet control have a statue of Vladimir Lenin, the once General Secretary of the USSR, but not in Mohyliv-Podilskyi! They actually have a monument of John Lenin! Its one of only three memorials in the world, one in England, one in Japan and the last here!

An empty room I dont know what to do with.

I have already started going to my school Gymnasia 3 which is about a 30 min walk from my house. There I have been being shuffled from class to class introducing myself, going through normal teenage interrogation, and getting the feeling for the place in which I will be trying to drop some serious knowledge, na sayin? I have been extremely impressed in the level of English speaking of the students and total lack of fear in approaching me and asking any question. In one 10^th form class two students got into a pretty serious debate over the pros and cons of school uniforms where other students were backing them up. Part of our teaching has to do with extra curricular activities and judging from this I have come to the conclusion that a Debate Club will be in the near future of Gymnasia 3. I think it will go over pretty well.

My Kitchen- stocked and stoked

Alright MTV, I've shown you my crib, now get outta here!

Though the town is a lot bigger, it has not lost its small town charm. Everyone has been more than helpful and my counterpart and the other English teachers have been introducing me to everyone here. I now have my address so if you would like to send some goods via mail to me jut email me and I will send you my address and directions for mailing to Ukraine! I hope all is well and the season is upon you. It comes a little late in Ukraine. Christmas is January 8^th here. But nonetheless Merry Christmas!

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