New Kids in Town

When I first came to Ukraine I looked at the Volunteers we met with awe. Here were people who had already been through what I was beginning, who could speak Russian (or Ukrainian), who know how the trains work and where to go in the Peace Corps office, where to eat in Kyiv, how to get around. I looked at them with wonder, and felt very young. I wondered what they saw when they looked at me, this new arrival. I must seem so...young.

At the beginning of March the newest group of Trainees arrived in Ukraine and began their training. My group is no longer the youngest.

Two weekends ago I went to Kyiv for the first time since arriving here in Chernomorskoe. It was a great trip, very empowering. I bought the bus ticket to Simferopol by myself, and in Simferopol I bought the train tickets for myself and another Volunteer. We got on the right train at the right time, no problems. And in Kyiv we knew exactly which metro to take to the Peace Corps office; it was as though we were coming back to a city we already know. Our city. Strange how you can feel ownership of a place even when you barely speak the language, and haven't been there more than a half dozen times. But even so it was like a homecoming.

Almost everyone I was close with in Training was there, plus many other friends. We were in town for various meetings, a couple of which happened to be meeting on the same day. I was insanely glad to see everyone. We all shared our impossibilities, frustrations, and successes. Being there, I felt so much more comfortable; and it meant that, for the first time, going back to Chernomorskoe on Monday felt like going home.

Everything feels better. A trip to Kyiv after a couple of months at site should be mandatory.
PS: Inquiring minds want to know: when you pickle vegetables, how much of the vitamins do you lose? Are the vegetables still even remotely healthy? If not, we volunteers are all in trouble. (Especially the vegetarians.)