Culture Shock

Life here is just... indescribable. I start my days waking up to the neighbor's roosters at dawn, having a bowl of mashed potatoes with a pickle on top for breakfast, and walking 30 min. into town for lessons. Learning Russian is intense. We go for 4 hours everyday and learn through full immersion, but it's ridiculous how much I've learned. I know how to introduce myself, where I'm from, what I'm doing here, and basic small talk phrases as well as about food, the weather, and my routine. All in 3 weeks. I feel like I'd learn that much in a whole year if that! Understanding the locals is another story, they talk fast and in your face. Just the other day I found myself blankly staring at a babooshka (think grandma with a scarf over her head) who was yelling at me for not answering her question about the sausage she was pointing at. You have to mad respect babooshkas, they run things here. On top of Russian lessons, there's cross-culture lessons, technical lessons, and teaching classes at the local school. Add in Russian homework, lesson planning, lesson observations, a community project and it gets pretty intense. My days are always packed, but hey I'm learning a LOT.

My Language Lesson classroom

My town is pretty small, most people buy things at the street market, called the bazaar, on Wednesdays and Fridays. I've had to practice my Russian by going to the convenient store (shunned on by the locals) to buy food, but the alternative, the bazaar, is very intimidating. People barter for items and the atmosphere is chaotic. My host family is very resourceful. They buy meat and bread at the bazaar but they grow all their own vegetables and herbs right in their backyard; even grapes for homemade wine! They have a chicken coup for eggs and get dairy and homemade cheese from the neighbors. My host grandpa fishes and prepares them to eat right on the kitchen table, skinning their scales off and gutting their insides; quite the culture shock. I'm used to cooking rice in my rice maker and using packaged frozen veggies from the store haha. It motivates me to become more resourceful myself, at least by starting with an herb garden. Speaking of herbs, everyone in Ukraine drinks tea! And multiple times throughout the day! It's more of a socializing mechanism where friends get together and have something to do with their hands. So naturally, making tea is an art form, and my family has definitely mastered that trade. One time I asked my host babooshka for water instead and she said (in Russian) "why have water when you can have tea?!" and poured me another cup haha. Already I've helped my host babooshka make varenyky (with potatoes and cabbage inside), blinchiki (with cottage cheese and raisins inside), and borsche (below); very traditional meals in Ukraine. I love my new "family", they're great.

There are many recipes for borsche but it's made from beets typically with potatoes, cabbage, onion, garlic, and a dollop of sour cream

I've never experienced anything like this, I keep thinking to myself "is this really happening?" No one speaks English, everyone stares at you because they know you're American, and days are LONG (sometimes feeling like weeks crammed into a 24 hour period). I know it will all be worth it, I hope it gets easier though. My cluster mates, the PC volunteers I'm training with in my town, are really helping me through. They're some of the nicest people I've ever met, I'm so lucky to have them as friends. We all feel like we've known each other for years and it's only been a few weeks.

Peter, Brandon, Sam, & Colin

Peter never lets anything get him down, Brandon makes us laugh (most times unintentionally), Sam is tons of fun and down for anything, and Colin is a sweetheart. Unfortunately Colin went home due to health reasons and we all miss him, but I think it made our group even closer. I have reliable internet now so expect more updates :)