Torrents of Change
Trip Start
Mar 02, 2003
1
19
41
Trip End
Jul 04, 2005
Kyiv,
Ukraine
Friday, March 12, 2004
I have recently received a few emails asking me what's been going on with me. Well, this have been more than hectic in the past couple months and I honestly have lost track of what has happened, when it happened, and why. So, here's the long and short of it.
The year started out fine. I came back to Rivne after spending the holidays in Poland and got back into working after all the Ukrainian winter holidays were over. I did a mini-seminar for the Ecoclub staff about strategic planning, wrote a grant for protecting a little reserve outside Rivne, and translated another that the girls wrote for an Environmental Resource Center. In all, work was going well.
On the social side, I spent a couple weekends in Vinnitsa, a city in central Ukraine. The first weekend I went down for a friend's wedding, which was absolutely fabulous. It was dreadfully cold, but we all made it through the nearly two hour ceremony, and had a chance to check out the embalmed body of Dr. Peregov, the "inventor" of anesthesiology - that was, well, interesting. After the ceremony we went to the reception and spent the rest of the evening toasting (with vodka of course), dancing, and singing. It was a great celebration, and even cooler because Jason is the first person in my group 24, and the environmental group to get hitched. He won't be the last though, Kevin, also an environmental volunteer recently proposed to his Ukrainian girlfriend, and so the next wedding should be in August!
Now then, here's the real news. I have moved to Kyiv. Peace Corps made a tough decision for me and pulled me out of Rivne and away from my site. A very unfortunate situation arose at my site caused by a slimy coworker. That's all I'm going to say about it because I don't think the whole world needs to know - but I do want to assure you that I'm fine and that Peace Corps made the right decision. The whole process of site transfer happened really rapidly. I spoke to PC about my issue a couple weeks ago now. My regional manager and I talked in length about the best way to handle it - this guy has been slimy since day 1, and my RM had already talked to him about it before. Well, in the end I had to file a special form reporting the incident and then write an official notice called a "Site Transfer Form". I wrote the thing, my RM spoke with the country director, and that was that. Almost immediately Peace Corps had a new potential site for me and set up a meeting for me to meet with them. I went home on a Tuesday, packed up (with Regine's help) on Wednesday and Thursday, and last Friday I was in Kyiv. Peace Corps has been great through the whole site change process and have been so supportive. I have never felt alone or isolated which is something I have heard other volunteers mention when they went through site changes. I feel lucky and for the first time in awhile more-or-less stress-free.
I live in a hotel here in Kyiv (well, until today, now I'm staying with a friend), and this past week I met with my new site. I actually had to put together and update my resume, and then had an interview with them at which my country director was present. Let's just say I was quite nervous. So, my new Peace Corps site is the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine, and to start with I'll be working with the UN Chernobyl Recovery and Development Program. Okay, I probably had the same reaction that you just did - Peace Corps Volunteers work for the UN? Well, this PCV is doing just that as of April 1st. I met with my new co-workers yesterday and I'm really excited about my new job. In the past I dreamt of working for the UN and thought about the difficulties associated with obtaining a job with them, especially for Americans, and here, in Ukraine I have been given that opportunity. I was so sad about leaving Rivne and my friends there, especially under such negative circumstances, and yet from that bad situation a fantastic one has resulted.
As to why I start on April 1st and not immediately - I'm going to be in America! I'm flying out of Warsaw next Wednesday and I'll be in the States for two weeks. First I'll be in San Francisco and then in Omaha, and I fly back out of San Fran on the 31st. I would have told you all earlier, but things have obviously been rather crazy on this side of the ocean.
I'm sure there are things that I have forgotten to include in this blog, but my brain has gone through several melting cycles in the last few weeks and I'm not yet totally thinking straight. You got questions? Email me. You wanna hang out in Amerika? Call me at my mom's. That's it for now. Next time I'll post new pictures from Kyiv - my new home.
