Long Overdue Update

It appears I have just been in the habit of putting off writing about my PST experience so far.  My bad.  Life got in the way, so please forgive me.  How about a short recap by week using bullet points beginning with leaving Florida?

Week One: Staging and Arrival in Ukraine

-Missed checking in for my flight out of Florida by about 5 minutes.  So even though the plane was still there, it was a no-go.  Insert tears and frustration.

-Hung out at the Gainesville Airport for another 4 hours until the next flight to Charlotte.  This meant I wound up leaving Florida about a half hour before I should have been arriving in DC.

-Showed up to staging about 4 hours late.  Not such a bad thing though since the part I did make it for was rather boring. It did, however, suck that I missed out and that bit of bonding time.  I did make it in time to be able to volunteer to help with getting everyone to UKR in one piece.

-Learned I am not the only one to FB stalk others in my group.  It seemed that during staging and the retreat that I am easily recognizable (or something..)

-Last dinner in the US was BBQ.  A BBQ quesadilla to be exact.

-Saw the sights in DC the morning before I left.

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial.

Korean War Memorial. Neat and a bit creepy all in one.

WWII Memorial

-Last meal in the US: Chipotle! Yum.

-I slept a whopping half hour (maybe) on the flight. I was exhausted when we got to Ukraine on Wednesday.

-We received "Welcome" bread and salt the first night at the Arrival Retreat.

Bread is referred to as being "sacred" here in Ukraine. 

-I got shots my first night there.

-Met the people I’d be spending the next 3 months with and found out I would be studying Russian and training in Obukhov.  Also met many other people J

-Moved in with Host Family.  Nadia (52) and her grandson Yura (9).

Week Two: Week 1 of PST

-Russian classes commence!

Alphabet and greetings!

-Tried salo straight from the jar.  Not a huge fan of the texture.

-Bought my UKR cell phone and a wireless modem so I could have interweb access.

-Presented myself to the Vice-Mayor of Obukhov in Russian.

After the presentation.  That is the Vice Mayor on the left with 2 people from each Obukhov group in the picture.

-Had a picnic in the woods when our link cluster came to our joint tech session.

Week Three: Week 2 of PST

-Stomach issues galore! I hate upset stomachs.

-Rolled my ankle multiple times.  To top it off I also managed to trip and fall while walking home.  This led to a slamming of my face on the ground, two scraped up ankles, and one scraped knee. Insert face palm here.

-First shot of vodka taken.

-Enjoyed a movie night with ¾ of my cluster mates.  It was a night of Basketball, Ukrainian beer, and a taste of fish jerky.  The latter is salty and difficult to swallow, FYI.

You even eat the tail.  These things were quite large.

Week Four: Week 3 of PST

-Frustration about language rears its head. But hey, I have only been speaking it for a few weeks!

-2^nd and 3^rd shots of vodka.  I notice that pickles are used as a common chaser.  It works rather nicely!

-Note to others: BRING MASKING TAPE.  So useful, I want some.

-Taught my first two lessons.  One to 6^th form and one to 10^th form.  Both went awesomely.

-Went on a hike in the woods with the cluster.  It was awesome. Well, except for the days old dead cat and trash piles we has to pass on the way up.

Forest! So nifty.

-The local PCV invited both Obukhov clusters to her place to cook pizza and have beer.  It was nice to get everyone together and hang out.  Also, pastry crust is a tasty substitute for pizza crust J

Obukhov groups! Well, parts of them :)

And here are some picture of the people that I spend just about everyday with:

This is Rachel from Ohio.  She is a tiger.

Joe from Minnesota.  He provides great entertainment for us all.

Kip from California. He also provides hilarity to the cluster.

Katherine from Georgia. She's the mama of the group.