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.)

Spring Update

A week ago I saw leaves on some of the trees. First leaves! And lovely green things are peeking out of the ground. People are planting gardens. There are baby animals, lambs and calves.

Spring!

If another frost comes it will kill all the buds and we won't have much fruit this summer. Please send happy warm thoughts to Crimea.

I have just moved into my new apartment, where I'm all alone. Joy! Things have been busy here lately, and I have a lot to tell you all but very little time. I hope to sit down and write a lot this weekend, so look for a long update next week (really). For now...

Desvedanya. (Goodbye.)

Spring is here!

Last week was the 8th of March, Women's Day. This is a huge holiday, one of the biggest I've seen so far. We went to school the Saturday before so that Monday as well as Tuesday would be a free day. My pupils brought me flowers, chocolates, cards. They put on a small concert for the teachers, with singing and dancing. The party that followed was for teachers only; everyone--except me--brought a dish, and there was an enormous amount of food. (Next year I'll be prepared.)

Women's Day is apparently a big international holiday--who knew? When I say we don't have Women's Day in America, just Mother's Day, people are astonished. They look at me with faces that clearly say, How can you live without Women's Day?

My host mother and I spent a good part of Tuesday cooking dinner--though of course Grandmother and my host mother's sister also brought dishes. Towards the end of the day my host mom said to me, "Usually the men should do all this, to congratulate us, but since we have no men...." But that seems to be the general Ukrainian way--so many households without men.

The dinner we made was the greenest I'd seen in a while--because March First is officially Spring (at least it is in Ukraine), we celebrated with such luxuries as green onion, parsley, and lettuce garnishes. And I don't know where they came from, but there were pussywillows in a vase in the hallway.

Joy! Spring is coming! I couldn't feel it last week (in fact, the day after Women's Day brought a small snow storm), but today it is definitely here. Warm and fresh, with buds on the trees, and green peaking from the soil. It's wonderful, fabulous, delicious.

I long for warm weather, for summer. I lust after fresh fruits and vegetables, dream about cooking for myself.

But mostly I dream about summer clothes. I have two shirts and two skirts I can start wearing once the weather turns a bit warmer. This will nearly double my wardrobe.

I am so sick of my clothes.

I have one pair of black pants and once black skirt I can wear to school. I also have one light blue and one olive green sweater; this is what I wear every day. I have 3 or 4 t-shirts and blouses I can wear under the sweaters, and a pair of (tight) jeans for when I'm not working, but that's about it. It's excruciatingly boring.

You may be thinking that I must have less than my neighbors, but really I don't. Nobody here has a lot of clothes; it's perfectly normal to see people wear the same thing almost every day. That's probably why people take such good care of their clothes, changing as soon as they get home, brushing any dirt off their pants, obsessively cleaning their shoes. I am such a slob in comparison. I indifferently fold up my pants, don't iron all my shirts, and sometimes I even go outside without makeup! I'm a barbarian.

One thing I like about the Ukrainian soaps is how they're realistic about clothes. Take "Healing Love," whose confusing mess of relationships I wrote a bit about in my last entry. They wear the same clothes all the time in that show. Even the rich fiance-leaving princess seems to have a set number of outfits. The same clothes pop up all the time, and I'm always a little thrilled when something new appears. Is that a new dress Masha's wearing? I don't think I've seen that before! Cool! I wonder where she got the money?

American shows are so unrealistic. Even supposedly struggling families seem to have bottomless closets. You never see them wear the same thing twice.

But now it's Spring! Another couple of weeks and I'll be able to wear my blue skirt! Another month and I can add the lime-green knit top! Soon it'll be summer and I can wear sandals! And all the while I'll be eating salads, fruit, vegetables....mmmmm. It's beyond exciting.