May 30, 2003

Hi Friends and Family,

I am a Peace Corps volunteer! On Tuesday, May 27 I was officially sworn in by the American Ambassador, Carlos Pasqual. The ceremony was very nice, attended by all 77 new volunteers, many of our host familes from training, and much of the Peace Corps staff. A reception followed complete with a brass quartet playing American classics, including themes from "Westside Story."

I'll start work at Counterpart on Monday. For the next couple days I get to concentrate on settling into my apartment and exploring Kiev a little more. The apartment is one room, and also has a kitchen, bath, and balcony! The main room is slightly larger than what I had been expecting, it is a nice size. I've already rolled up the carpets to reveal a lovely hardwood floor. I've also secured permission from the owner to remove the carpets from the walls. The wall paper is a muted pink with darker pink flowers.

The apartment is on the 5th floor of a five-story brick building. There are four buildings facing a courtyard, where there are trees and a small playground. My balcony and windows face the courtyard. The neighborbood must be fairly old, the buildings are all brick rather than the cement blocks built during the Soviet era. Within walking distance are two 24-hour supermarkets, and many outdoor vendors selling fresh fruit, vegetables, flowers, and everything else imaginable. The closest Metro stop is about a 15 walk away. I'll probably commute to work by bus, it will be about a half hour ride.

I'm happy to have survived pre-service training! From this side it was a fun and rewarding experience, but in the middle it sometimes seemed painful and frustrating. Learning Russian and living with a host family were the biggest events and provided the most rewards and challenges. The technical training (internship) was actually a fairly small part of training and was not especially rewarding.

My host family (Tanya and Galya) have become friends, and as Borispol is only about an hour by public transit from Kiev I know I'll be seeing them again. Galya's birthday is June 26, so I'll probably go to her birthday party. She is planning a picnic, and possibly swimming. Tanya seems certain I'll be calling to come over for dinner on a regular basis. However, as much as I enjoyed her cooking I'm not so sure how often that will be happening. I am looking forward to preparing my own meals. The "challenge" part of living with the host family was simply the many stresses of being a guest for 3 months.

Learning Russian has not ended with the end of traning. But I'm going to miss having class everyday. Although I learned a lot in three months, what is clear is how much I still *don't* know! I have materials to study on my own, and Peace Corps provides money for a tutor. The challenge will be keeping up my motivation considering how much I'll be speaking English at work.

I wrote when I first arrived in Ukraine that the biggest source of culture shock came from how similar everything seemed. On the surface, surroundings and people look somewhat the same. But below the surface, Ukraine has a different culture and history and is different in many subtle ways. I am begining to see that "beneath the surface."

For example, the Sunday before Easter I visited the cemetary with my host family. Along with many families from the town, they took the day to care for the family plot, weeding and general sprucing up. There are no paid caretakers like there are in the U.S. To me it is a sign of a difference in lifestyle; not moving from where you were born and where your family has always lived. While Tanya and Galya were working I walked around the cemetary. I would have helped them, but they just fell to task without speaking, knowing what to do. I felt intrusive and slightly out of place.

On Easter I ate a lot all day, and later went with Galya to a friends apartment where we had an impromtu dance party. Speaking of dance parties, the pop radio stations play an international mix including Russian, Ukrainian, German, French, British and American pop music. Sometimes I'll be riding in a cab or shopping in the market and I'll get to hear a comforting bit of a familier song, such as Shakira, Madonna, or even (surprisingly) Tracy Chapman. I found a station with DJ's that speak in Russian (rather than Ukrainian) and has commercial's in Russian.

Thanks to everyone who has written. I love hearing from you! If I have not yet written back, I will soon.
(meanwhile, if you haven't seen them yet, take a look at my first pics from Ukraine!)

Best wishes for a happy and healthy summer. Love,

Delilah

I got sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer, and this is what I had to say...
(Keep in mind that I had consumed an entire glass of beer
at twice the alchohol per volume of american beer)

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