New Toilet and Hot Water!!!

Yes, that's right, I'm moving up in the world! I got a new toilet this week and on top of that HOT WATER!!! I have really been enjoying my showers and washing dishes now. It wasn't very expensive either.

But if it's not one thing it's another, my computer monitor isn't working right now. Hopefully today I can get that fixied in the city. I'm chilling at an internet cafe now, then I have big plans for McDonalds Chicken Nuggets :) They have never sounded so good to me as they do right now. Tomorrow I'll be presenting some teaching methods to some English teachers from the region. I'm kind of nervous, but i'm sure it will be fine. I'm not sure if the teachers will pay more attention than the students, but i'll let you know how it goes.

I hope all of you are doing well. Thanks for the emails and all the support I have received. You have made me feel so loved:) And things are indeed looking up!Keep me posted on what your life is like!

Britt

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone! I hope this email finds you all enjoying the holiday season, spending lots of time with friends and family and resting a little, too. Brace yourself for this one, it's a doosey!

As for me, things here in Ukraine are, as usual, crazy and unknown. But that's the life of a volunteer :) On Dec 18, my cluster and I left our training village, Mryn, for a short stay in Kyiv before our swearing-in ceremony. It was a bittersweet occasion. We had such a great experience training in Mryn and really connected with the community and our families. Our community project was a HUGE success, too. We held a fundraising concert for the school because they desperately need to buy new furniture and chalkboards. Our technical trainer Tanya and the vice principal of extra-curr. activities helped us organize the performers and prepare everything. The local gas plant band (yes, the gas plant has their own band) played for free and their involvement dew in people from all age groups. Plus we sang one song in Ukrainian while wearing traditional costumes. We were worried about no one showing up for the event so we only printed 300 tickets. Well, word must have gotten out that the Americans were going to be singing because almost 500 people showed up! People were standing along the side walls and in the back, anywhere they could squeeze in, and believe me, Ukrainians know how to squeeze into any place they need to (ex. a small bus meant for 25 people in the US can hold 50 in Ukraine, plus a few planks of wood and 15 duffle bags, no problem). In all we made 931 hrv that night and all of it went to the school. The look on the principal's face was priceless! He never seemed that interested in us before the concert but after he was so thankful. We just wanted to show the community that it is possible to fundraise and they don't have to be afraid to try new things. Hopefully the school will continue to host more events like it.

I was really looking forward to getting to my permanent site with my wonderful host family and finally starting work at school (not to mention starting the 2 year countdown, only 722 days to go :) After 2 days of policy and administrative wrap-up sessions our coordinators arrived at Prolisok for their own mini conference. And on Dec 21 we drove into Kyiv to the Teacher's House (a big educational building) for the ceremony. The US Ambassador Taylor met with us again to update us on some of the political things that have been going on in Ukraine, including the Prime Minister's visit to Washington D.C. which ended up being very positive. Our PC Country Director spoke to us and gave us a few last minute pieces of advice. She and her husband were volunteers with group 17 in UA and now she is the director. We had a lunch break so I and a few girls ran over to the delicious pizzeria before other people could get there. We made our way back not in any rush, but as soon as we walked in the door one of the PC admin grabbed me and told me they had been waiting for me to do a TV interview! My host mom had come with other families from Mryn and I am pretty sure she told the news journalist that she wanted to be interviewed and that they should interview me too. There is a saying here (and the US too?) that the man is the head but the woman is the neck and she tells the head which way to turn. Well my host mom is the woman they made this saying after. It's great because she can get anything done that you need, but I definitely had no idea that also included TV interviews. Anyway, they stood me and my interpreter in front of the camera and started asking questions. I talked about what it was like to be a volunteer and how I became one, living with a host family, what I like about Ukraine, etc. Then after I was talking to my mom, trying to figure out if she had set it up and the camera man was following us around. It was kind of awkward because when I speak Ukrainian I speak really slow and make a lot of gestures to further express what I am trying to say. But never the less, I was the American representative for PC Ukraine Group 31 that night on the evening news. Right now I'm trying to get a copy of the interview and if I do, I'll send it home to share with you all. I talked with the PC Training Director about it later that night and apparently channel 5 that interviewed me was the channel that represented the "Orange Movement" a few years back. The government would send out memos to the media to sensor what they would broadcast or print and Ch. 5 was the first to reject those directions and broadcast the real news.

The next day we all headed out to our sites. It was really hard to say goodbye to my cluster mates. We had really grown close and built a strong support system for each other. But it was time for us to be individuals and head out on our own. I, my coordinator, Raisa Stepanivna (Rah-e-sah), and all of my luggage took the 3 hour bus ride to Pohrebyshche, my new home for the next 2 years. A note on the luggage: I brought over 2 big rolling duffels with extra room in them (BTW, no Ukrainian would ever consider buying luggage like mine), a traveling backpack and my computer bag. PC gave us at least 50lbs of binders, teaching, heath, safety and policy manuals, plus a huge "babushka" or grandma bag with a small heater, fire extinguisher and smoke detector. As If I didn't stand out enough! My host father and brother (both named Sasha) met us at the bus stop, thank goodness, and helped my get everything back to the house. It felt so good to finally be in Pohrebyshche and done with training. I will always have a special place in my heart for Mryn, but it was time for me to move on. Plus ever since my site visit I had been looking forward to my return so that I could finally attend church services, and with my host family no less. Like I had written previously, my family is Christian and they go to a Baptist church in town. Sunday morning we went to church together and I met the pastor, Anatoly, who was very excited to have me there. He was talking to me and I understood a little of what he was saying, but I just kept nodding my head in agreement. Services started with a prayer and then some singing, and I actually knew the first song! I couldn't remember all the words but it was one of the classic hymns so I just hummed along. From what I could understand, the sermon was about leading our children in the path of God. At the end of services the pastor was giving announcements and he mentioned my name, so I smiled and waved to everyone. But then my host brother leaned over and said that I had agreed to speak to the congregation before services and now was the time to do it! I took Sasha up there with me to help me translate, but ended up saying everything myself in Ukrainian :) I told them about what I will be doing here and how happy I was to attend church with them because I hadn't been in 3 months. And I told them to please ask me any questions they have so I can get to know them better and practice my Ukrainian. They were all so impressed with my ability to communicate with them, and frankly I was surprised myself. After services I talked with one girl, Tanya, who is 21 and she studied psychology at her university too. She was so sweet and I hope that we can become friends. All these things were falling into place at just the right time and in just the right way. I know it was all God. During all the prayers that morning I would pray on my own in my head in English, but I had to stop because thinking about all the crazy and awesome things God has provided for me was making me teary. I didn't want my first impression to be awkward there, so I just saved it for later when I could explain to my family what I was feeling. I told them about how everyone at my church back home has been praying for me, even when I wasn't even able to pray for myself. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am for all the prayers that have been sent up for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Ok, so on to this week really quickly. On Christmas morning I woke up and forgot that it was Christmas until I went to breakfast and my host father and sister gave me a Ukrainian Bible! They said they knew that my family was going to be celebrating together and didn't want me to feel left out. And that with a Ukrainian Bible I can practice my language and study with them later. At school I talked to 2 classes about Christmas in America and how my family celebrates it. Those 2 lessons really drove home the reality that I was not going to be with my family for Christmas and made me pretty homesick. Later I watched the little kids New Year's performances. Did I mention that they celebrate Christmas on Jan 7 because they use the Orthodox Calendar, and that's why I had forgotten that it was Christmas? The New Year celebration is much bigger here. I did get to talk to family back home later that night though, which was good and bad. When Grandma answered the phone and announced that it was me, I could here everyone in the background yelling and being so excited that I had called. After talking to everyone and running out of money on my phone, I had a lot of time to think, and cry, about what being away from home really meant and how I would respond to it. I'm learning a lot about Ukraine over here but I'm also learning about myself. I realized that family and friends were more important to me than I ever made them out to be back home. It's easy to take things for granted at home because everything is right there for you. But being thousands of miles away really gives you some perspective on things. Anyone who has ever been away at Christmas would agree with me on that point.

I know I have a lot of hard work ahead of me here, but I am given so much confidence by all the amazing connections God has laid before me here in this little Ukrainian town. I know I'm really hard on myself and that will be something I have to work on here, but I know that no matter what classes I have to teach or what projects I end up doing here I know that God will be with me the whole way. Thanks again for all the prayers...I hope that my updates show you how effective prayer is and what a difference it can make in a person's life. And thanks for reading my long letter :) Love you all!

Grace and Peace,

Britt

P.S. Today we fixed my computer and now I can finally watch DVDs on it! Hallelujah! And yesterday my mom and coordinator took me to the bazaar to buy a warm winter coat. My "autumn" coat was not nearly enough for the kind of weather we have here. It's actually pretty funny how clueless I am as a Californian girl about cold weather. Now when I walk around town I will blend in a little more :)

On the Other Side of the world!

Two weeks have passed since I left home. It feels like I just left for the airport and yet I also feel like I've been here forever. After our staging weekend in Washington DC we flew to Kiev where we stayed at a Soviet retreat center in Prolisak. We had a basic crash course in heath and safety standards and culture adjustment, received the first round of immunizations, and we were placed into learning groups for our assigned language. I am learning Ukrainian with my cluster. At first I was kind of hoping for Russian because I thought it might be more useful in the future, but now I am glad to have Ukrainian. Ukraine is growing and hopefully will be a bigger part of the global economy. Knowing the language gives me an advantage for possible future jobs. On October 4, our cluster and 4 other clusters took a bus to our training sites. As we drove in to each town we were greeted by a crowd of host parents and locals who were excited to see us and take care of us for the next 3 months. The 5 of us in my cluster are living in a small, small village about 3 hours outside Kiev called Mryn. The population is around 900. There is a main road that runs through town and a few side streets but basically the main section of town is about 3 football fields long. We thought our language teacher, Olena, was teasing when she said we couldn't get lost, but she was so right. It literally takes 2-5 minutes to get to any place from any place in town. Each of us live with a host family in the same apartment building. Of course I was nervous about living with a host family because I didn't want to be a burden and since I didn't know the language it would be difficult to communicate. But when we got off the bus in Mryn and Olena introduced us to our new families, my host mom, also Olena, ran up to me and kissed me and hugged me! I was so surprised but glad that she was excited to have me in her home. Soon my host dad came home from work. His name is Tolia and he is a huge man. I was kind of nervous at first because of his size, but soon found out how friendly and warm he is. It was actually his birthday the day we arrived. That evening we shared family pictures and tried to communicate as best we could with miming and the best thing the PC gave us, my Ukrainian-English dictionary. I have become good friends with that book.

There is so much to tell but I don't even know how to describe everything. One thing that my cluster has come to appreciate is the fact that although we are in a very small community, we all have unlimited hot water and gas heat. There is a gas reservoir underground here that stores gas all year and then on October 15 each year the gas is turned on and all the houses are heated. They have been testing the pipelines this week to make sure everything works well. It has been cold, but not unbearable at all. But I have definitely realized that I am a California girl. I love the cold and that's what I wanted, so we'll see how I stand up to the below freezing temperatures soon. In each apartment there is a Kolonka or water heater. My host dad showed me how to turn it on and anytime I want to shower or need hot water we can just turn it on. This really is a luxury because at most training sites the volunteers have to boil their water for a shower. Our time is divided into language classes, technical and cultural training and also just time with our host family. Our intensive language class is exactly that—intense! We usually have 4 hours a day and so far we have covered at least a semester's worth of material. When we leave our teacher's apartment we must look like zombies because our brains are all mush. But somehow things are sticking and I am actually able to communicate with my host mom and dad. The first weekend was really challenging because all of Tolia's family came over for his birthday dinner as well as the volunteer that lived here with the previous PC group in the spring. Annie was practically fluent and had only been here for 7 months. I was encouraged by her but also completely intimidated. I felt like a mute child sitting at dinner with everyone because all I knew how to say was "my name is Brittany and I don't understand" and there's only so many times you can tell people your name. After a minor freak out and questioning my decision to do this and my ability to stick it out, I was reminded that it was only the 4th day of my 27 months. That gave me a little better perspective on where I should be with language. Annie even said I knew more than her after the first week. Nevertheless, there is nothing more frustrating than the inability to communicate basic thoughts and needs. My host mom has been so great though. She is a master mime and will repeat things as many times as it takes for me to understand. And my host dad likes to find all my mistakes in my homework and quiz me on what I've learned. I have a hard time understanding him most of the time, but I can't wait to understand him better because I know he is funny and I want to get his jokes.

On Wednesday we had a medical day where the Medical Officers visited us and our link-cluster and we went more in-depth with the heath issues. We connect with another cluster in Nosivka about a 30 minute bus ride away for days like this. We were each given a medical kit with all sorts of medicine that will help us in any situation. I got my last 2 immunizations, one was Tetanus and my arm still hurts from it. While we were in Nosivka we had some extra time to buy cell phones! I now have a way to communicate with the outside world. Mryn doesn't have internet and not all the phone lines can call international so that has been a challenge. But now I get free incoming calls and I can call out for less than 20 cents a minute from 8pm to 8 am. I just have to be in a spot that has service, which is limited.

On the whole I am having a great time. As frustrated as I get with language class and as confused as my host mom and I can get trying to talk to each other, I am so happy to be here. I am absolutely "in my element" even though I'm completely out of my element. Is that possible? I don't know but whatever is going on here, it's great.

Grace and Peace,

Brittany

It's Tuesday morning, I'm up and ready to start my last day at home. There's still so much to do before I leave, it's hard to process it all. I wanted to make sure I got my blog started though, and get it emailed to everyone. Yesterday was my birthday but with all that is going on I kept forgetting about it. But my family didn't--we had dinner together and a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. It was great! We really celebrated it last weekend at my big going away and b-day party with all the family and friends. That was an amazing evening. Even though I knew I was loved, I didn't realize how much I was loved. Talk about counting your blessings...when they are all at your house in front of you! :) Sometimes it takes something like that to wake you up the the blessed life you have.

I have so many thoughts in my head right now, and yet I can't thing of anything to say. It's an emotional and exciting time for me. I'm glad the waiting is almost over and I'll get to meet all my fellow volunteers soon. But of course I wish I had a few more days with my family and friends.

I'll leave you all with a little posting I wrote late after my farewell party. I think it pretty well sums up how I feel at the moment and how I want to leave for my adventure.

"Tonight my family had a going away party for me. We invited a ton of people, friends and family. I've been getting nervous about going into the Peace Corps because it is such an extreme adventure to pursue. But after tonight, after seeing over 100 people that came to say "bye" to me, after reflecting on all of the miles people drove to see me, the hours spent in traffic just to spend a few moments with me before I leave, I realize that I have nothing to fear at all. God has a purpose for my life and each person that came tonight is part of my purpose. They are God's love in my life and they are my strength to go on. I saw tonight that God is on my side and is guiding me in this adventure. And if God is with me, who or what could I be afraid of? Nothing! I'm going to Ukraine to teach English and change the world. The changing the world part may not be on my job description, but that's what I plan on doing. And I know it can happen. I've never been more humbled and encouraged by an experience like I was tonight. Thank you to all my friends that have encouraged me in my life, to follow my passions and to be myself. I have such a blessed life because of you."

Grace and Peace,

Britt