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Easter Ukrainian Style

Woah! Easter is a big deal in Ukraine, it seems my Host Family has gone to church for a week straight! There is a lot involved in Easter and many Christians know and like any holiday Ukrainians seem to take it a bit more seriously, bringing up to a new level. Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter is when people bring a bouquet of pussy willows to church and after the church service everyone stands outside the church and their pussy willows are blessed.These pussy willows are kept for the year for protection. The week was then filled with baking and more church services and of course school. (The package my English Clubs sent was also received in Wyoming, yeah!) My Host Mom made cakes throughout the week and on Friday we made Paska, a special bread that is decorated for Easter. Sometimes they are frosted and they look like giant cupcakes and other are rounder and shorted with bread designs on top. Saturday is spent deep cleaning and adding the final touches the basket for Sunday. Af
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Recent posts
Site Placement! Oh boy did I take a blog break! Since last I blogged I went to my site for a quick visit, finished PST, became and official volunteer, and lost my computer cord. Finishing up PST was crazy busy finalizing our plans for our final project which was a conference for teachers about adapting games to fit different knowledge levels. and working hard to learn more of the language. Then came swearing in in Kiyv, where I lost my computer cord and had a real excuse for not blogging. I have been at my permanent site for just over 3 months now and am really getting the hang of things. Our "classroom" covered in language posters December Swearing In with my Language Group and Instructors  I spent December observing classes at my site. It wasn't always fun but I certainly understood better how my teachers do things at my school. It was cold but not terribly, insulation doesn't seem to be especially efficient in Ukraine but they have mastered war
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Some Things Just Feel Right

St. Anthony's Church with caves underground! I think this week, for the first time, it really felt like I was in Ukraine. I was walking alone to catch the bus after a day of site seeing with Peace Corps and I looked around at all the street signs and realized a could read some and that I could decide how to get where I wanted to go and what I was going to do. There have been days where we have free time and I have gone into the city but this was different because I had no purpose, I could walk fast or slow, wander the tunnels under the streets, or stop and it. All I did was stop in a store and buy a kilo of chocolate and it was the right decision because the chocolate I like was on sale! It got better because right when I walked out my bus pulled up AND one of the English teachers from the school we work at was on the bus with her husband! We talked most of the way back except the times we were interrupted by a man who wanted to try to speak some English, Russian, and Ukrainian
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Be Brave - Cultural Events

Birthday Dinner "Cucumber Pizza" This week was Mama Tanya's Birthday (she stays with Sasha and I on days when Marina works 8-8 or Lyosha works in Kiev). We went to Mama Tanya's house where she lives with her parents because her mothers health is declining. Their house is in Chernihiv near St. Trinity Monastery and I was "warned" before we arrived that the house wasn't pretty because they built it in sections and had recently added a "hot wall" (a hollow brick wall where a fire burns), I thought the house was great and pretty large. The table was full of food when we arrived and I was immediately told to sit down. Mama Ana, Mama Tanya's mom, is very hard of hearing because of her health issues but spoke to me all night. The real issue though was that everyone was speaking Russian and I have been learning Ukrainian and my skills are still rather poor. I smiled and nodded most of the night except the times when Marina wanted to transl
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Week 2 and New Favorites

Our first dialogue finally completed! The end of week 2 and I still don't think I've fully processed the fact that I'm in Ukraine and will be for the next two years. The language learning is hard for sure, the goal is the get at least 3 hours in a day but we have started teaching in classrooms and PC has health, safety, and cultural training for us as well. Immersion is the best way so hopefully that can make up for some of the time we are missing in the classroom. I am excited to start team teaching this week because we were able to actual participate in a class this week and the students seemed very excited and receptive to what we had to say which has helped to remind me why I need to get through training. As we are preparing to teach we are trying to get materials ready to make the topic more interesting and not relying as much on the book. The first topic is "Items in the Kitchen" which might not sound boring until you find out the items are not things yo
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After about a year long process applying and filling out forms I have made it to Ukraine and am ready to start learning. Throughout much of this time I have only known 3 things, 1) my departure date (August 19), 2) my field (TESOL English), and 3) my country (Ukraine). I still basically only know those 3 things but am now working quickly towards understand how I will serve in Ukraine. The Whirlwind Once PC gets going it is all a whirlwind. Less than 2 days in DC for a Pre-Service retreat then a day or so of travel then a 4-day training retreat and finally onto our first host families who kindly house us for 11 weeks of pre-service language, cultural, and technical training. I have been place with my language group in a small village outside of Chernigov. Language lessons began immediately and we haven't stopped. Today, being the first day of classes in our village, we wandered around asking people where different basic components of the community could be found. I understood
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