getting adjusted 04.26.08

when was the last time you saw a group of grandmothers with their hair dyed various shades of eggplant sitting outside of their apartment building chatting amicably and keeping track of all the comings and goings of the entire complex?

… or the last time you’ve seen a group of young women wearing long leather jackets and knee high leather boots dodging puddles and mud among 800 year old buildings?

… or the last time you saw a person on a crowded bus reach down to wipe dirt off the collar of a complete stranger?

… or the last time you’ve seen someone pass a $20 bill up 8 rows of people to the front of the crowded bus to pay the fare, and not only expect, but receive their $19 in change right away?

needless to say, it’s been an interesting first few weeks of getting adjusted to my new life here in chernihiv. everything is new, everything is an adventure, and everything takes more time in a new language than you might expect. but at the same time, it’s pretty amazing how quickly you can adapt to new customs and be able to get around comfortably.

in the last couple weeks our group of 27 has visited many types of organizations around the city including various city government departments, youth organizations, the city employment center, a professional women’s organization, and the local technical university. each one of these visits has given us various perspectives of life here in chernihiv, along with a basic idea of possible needs and future priorities. our next task is to take this information and come up with community projects in groups of 4 to 5 volunteers to complete over the next two months. of course, we only know so much about the language and culture at this point, so i’ll keep you posted on the lessons we learn J

in addition to the work, i feel like i’m adapting to the other parts of life here pretty well so far. after 4 solid weeks of Russian class, i figure i’m picking up every 5^th word or so of my host family’s conversationsJ and after about 10 mins of confusion with my host dad this morning, i was finally able to get out my question of “whether or not he knew if the tulips were blooming in front of st. catherine’s church because i wanted to go take pictures later today”.

the food is amazing, although that’s a huge topic that i’ll save for another post. i’ll just say that i’m discovering some great alternatives to things that i was used to cooking in the states. i’ve been making some version of a cuban panini for lunch, and i even made a couple attempts at chocolate chip cookies this week with my host mom. of course, i then learned the Russian phrase for “million calories”.

i’ve also pretty much thrown out whatever portion control i learned in DC, at least for the next few months while living with a host family. i’m constantly amazed at the amount of food i eat, and yet i’ve definitely lost weight. so far, all of the walking must be good for me because my body is a happy camper!

another fun thing has been discovering the local soccer team. a few of us went to a game last week, and i think we’ll be making it a regular event. the team is called desna (after the river that runs beside the city), and i believe they are generally towards the top of the Ukrainian second division (although that was me translating an answer from Russian myself, so i need to do some independent research to confirm). who can complain about $1.50 tickets?

lauren also made it up for a visit the other weekend from kyiv. (i’ll be posting a couple pictures on the picasa site) she’s doing great, and i’m definitely jealous because she was just able to take her first vacation yesterday. she’s on her way to Krakow for the next few days with a couple of fellow teachers, and then they’re going to try to swing down to bratislava before heading back to kyiv at the end of next week.

i’m gonna wrap things up because i need to get started on some work before the day starts slipping away. tomorrow is easter, following the orthodox calendar, and i know that as soon as my host mom gets back from work this afternoon, everyone will be put to work. i’ve seen the preparations for easter eggs, special easter bread, homemade kolbasa, and other good looking stuff in the fridge; my mouth is watering already!

hope everyone is well! the crazy part of our schedule is basically over now, so i’ll have more time the next few weeks to make more regular posts. next up, easter and amazing food!