Jessica Strickland, PCV
Karla Libknekhta
building: 56, Apt. 4
Stakhanov, 94016
Lugansk Oblast
UKRAINE
вул. Карла Либкнехта, 56/4
м. Стаханов 94016
Луганська
UKRAINE
1-17-2010
Happy New Year! I hope that it is a year full of happiness for you all. My new life in Ukraine has been very busy, thus far. As you know training is over and I am now living at my permanent site in Stakhanov. I’m still deciding if I want to live in the dorm for two years or move into an apartment to insure my privacy. I am looking at a large apartment this week with my dear friend Tanya, so I will make my decision soon.
I had a severe case of chronic bronchitis for 3 weeks! It took me forever to heal. So I missed American Christmas, New Year, Ukrainian Christmas and Ukrainian Old New Year. I was sick for all of the celebrations.
But I’m happy to report that I am very well now and last week I finally visited the University where I will be teaching. My students are wonderful. I’m teaching 4th year college students—meaning this is their final year before earning their BA. And I’m also teaching the post-graduate students. They’re all very eager in the classroom and genuinely pleased that I am here. Which is a great relief! I am very fond of the English teachers at the University. Sasha, Anna, Svitlana and Tanya have all been very kind and welcoming. I am teaching one of Svitlana’s classes and two of Tanya’s. I believe I will also be teaching one of Anna’s English classes and lecturing occasionally at Sasha’s Country Studies class. I’ve already begun teaching and I’m having a marvelous time. I’m so thrilled to be here in Ukraine, teaching in Stakhanov, and a Peace Corps Volunteer once again.
Right now, my internet access is extremely unreliable. I’m hoping that I can have internet access in my home by my birthday. And according to my friend, Tanya, I will! I realize that many of you have sent emails trying to communicate with me. As of right now, I use the internet maybe once a week, and cannot always open my email. So please be patient with me. Trust me, as frustrated as you are with the lack of communication, I’m 10 times more annoyed! For now, I’m encouraging everyone to send letters. Well, I’m always encouraging snail mail. Nothing makes me happier while I’m away from home then receiving mail! As for my mailing address…It is in the above box. I wrote it in both Russian & English. The majority of Ukrainians do not speak English, so it is difficult for them to understand what the letters intended destination may be. I strongly recommend printing the address above and pasting it on whatever you would like to mail me. It will be easier for everyone, I believe. Later I will get a P.O. Box and that will make it easier for you to send mail. And, yes, for those of you who have asked, I am dreaming about things from home. Like peanut butter. :-) And I’ve compiled a “Care Package Wish List,” for those of you who are interested, and it will be updated as often as I can manage. Thank you to everyone who has already sent letters, cards and packages. I cannot tell you how much this means to me. And I’m in the process of writing everyone back; I promise a response will be mailed presently.
I shall write again soon! Take care always.
More to follow…
CARE PACKAGE WISH LIST
HEALTH & BEAUTY
• **Swim-Ear Drying Aid (found at Target or Kaiser)
• Clean & Clear Advanced Acne Spot Control
• Tylenol Cold (daytime & nighttime)
• Sudafed PE Severe Cold
• Imodium
• Mucinex
• Antibacterial Hand Gel
• Urban Decay Eye-Shadow Primer
• HALLS Cough Drops
• Robutusin Cough Gel Tablets
FOOD
• JIF Creamy Peanut Butter!!!
• Veggie Soups
• Peanut Butter Crackers
• Bisquick
• Corn Bread Mix
• Kraft Macaroni
• Cookie/Brownie/Muffin Mixes
• Vegetarian Chili
• Crystal Light—peach tea, lemonade, tea
• Baking Powder
• Taco Seasoning
• Any/All Spices!
• Hot Cocoa Mix
• Ginger Tea
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Baking Chips
• Peanut Sauce
• Sweet Tarts candy
Vanilla Extract
MISC.
• Febreze
• Coffee Filters (so I can filter my water from the tap)
• Books
• DVD’s
• iTunes Gift Cards
• Scented Candles
• Photos of family & friends
• Potato Peeler
• Can Opener
• Tide Stain Remover Sticks
TECHNOLOGY
• 1 TB External Hard Drive (mine broke)
• Electronic Book to read PDF files
CLOTHES
• Sweaters (XL)
• WigWam warm Socks (shoe size: 11)
• Thermal Silk Long Underwear (XL)
• Anything Warm! :-)
Subscribe To This Blog
Posts
All Comments
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Christmas Note from Ukraine
12-25-2009
Merry Christmas, my dear readers.
This is the first Christmas that I have spent away from home. But I am not dwelling on that fact, for I have too much to be thankful for. 2009 has been a year of uncertainty for me. Just a year ago I was in and out of hospitals and watching my dreams of Peace Corps be ripped out of my grasp. Never did I dream that the following Christmas would find me a Peace Corps Volunteer once again, this time serving in Ukraine.
As of Dec. 17, 2009 I am an active PCV. 113 Americans swore in as Volunteers in Ukraine for batch #37. We spent 4 days in Kiev, during record low temperatures and the beginning of one of the fiercest winters Ukraine has seen in a long time (or so we’re constantly informed.) After the swearing-in ceremony we all left my train or by bus for our sites.
My site is Stakhanov (S-ta-han-ov) in the Lugansk (Loo-gan-sk) oblast. Just an hour or so drive from the Russian border. Everyone speaks Russian here. This region is known as one of the most difficult to live in because of the air quality (it’s a coal mining region), economy and political beliefs. The fact that the Soviet Union has disbanded escapes the notice of some of the locals. I’ve only been here a week and so far have not had any trouble with anyone due to the fact that I am a foreigner. Of course, I have had bronchitis 5 out of the 7 days I have been here, and have spent little time outside of my dorm room. Don’t worry, I’m on the mend. It just takes time.
When I do go back to work I will be an English professor at Stakanov Pedagogical College and Lugansk University. I’m very eager to begin working and meet my students. I’ve already met 5 professors from the English department. They and 7 of my students greeted me upon my arrival. My students carried all of my many bags to my dorm room and the teachers welcomed me with a celebratory lunch. Yes I am living in the dormitory. My home is on the second floor where all the visiting professors stay. There is no one living here besides myself. I found it creepy at first, but since I have spent so much time here lately I have grown accustomed to the silence. The nice cleaning lady visits my floor daily. I enjoy speaking Russian with her and the lovely den mothers that work on the ground floor. They have all been very welcoming. And all are concerned about my health. They are such dears.
I have 2 rooms that I use. The first room is my living quarters and the second I use for storage and washing my laundry by hand. I have been informed that at some point the building will install washing machines…but that may or may not be within the 2 years that I will live here. We’ll see! For now, I am growing used to washing a little every day. I have my own bathroom, but the shower, living room and kitchen are common rooms. Like I said, no one else is staying here for now. I think of this floor as mine now.
And I’m not alone in Stakhanov. Another Volunteer, Patrick, lives only 4 blocks away from me. He is teaching high school. We were in training together and he’s a good friend. We’re both pleased to be sharing a site. We’ve already begun discussing plans the two of us would like to accomplish within both of our schools. The teachers at his school are just as eager to meet me as the teachers from the University. My good friend Jorge is only 20 minutes away and another PCV, Tessie, lives just 10 minutes away. Tessie has been here a year & a half now and invited everyone to her home for Christmas. But since I am ill, I chose to stay home and heal. I’ll meet her later, I’m sure. My friend Nozgol is 40 minutes away and Susan is an hour away in the city of Lugansk. I am surrounded by Americans.
Getting to site was quite the ordeal! As we were leaving, the bus taking us to the train station was stuck in a major traffic jam due to the icy road conditions. So we missed our train and spent 4 hours in traffic. It was a long 4 hours, because all of the Ukrainian counterparts were panicking. The PCV’s were much more relaxed about the situation. We knew Peace Corps would take care of the problem. The Ukrainians were not willing to be soothed by our blasé attitudes. My counterpart in particular was a challenge. I hope that improves soon so our working relationship will be one of prosperity. We left for the train station the following day very early only to have the drivers drop us off at the wrong location. The Peace Corps drivers had to come and help move all of our luggage. I alone had 7 bags! You can imagine all the luggage that 20 of us had. We finally made our train, but had to ride 3rd class because of the last minute purchase of our tickets. It was interesting… I had never ridden on a train before. Jorge, Pat and I all rode in the same car, along with our counterparts. I had fun getting to know Pat and Jorge’s counterparts. Very nice guys. But the car was packed! We had to sleep on the top bunks of the train. That was an interesting adventure. Lol! It was a 16 hour trip and when we arrived we only had 3 minutes to get all of our luggage off the train. My counterpart kept yelling at me to sit down and let the boys carry all the luggage. Uhh…yeah right. Jorge and Pat did not appreciate her attitude. I helped, of course. When have I ever done anything I didn’t want to do? As soon as I stepped off the train (with relief) I face planted right into the snow bank! Lol! Because it has snowed 3.5 inches in just 2 days at my site. Dragging our luggage through that was a challenge!
The second night of my arrival, some children threw a snowball and broke my outside window! That scarred me, to say the least! I ran downstairs to tell the den mother. But when I arrived I realized I couldn’t adequately explain the situation to her because I do not know the appropriate verbs in Russian yet. So basically all I said to her in Russian was “man”, “snow” and “window.” My acting helped fill in the blanks. She understood and walked upstairs to view the damage. The windows are double paned and thankfully the inside window was not broken, so I wasn’t cold that night. The following day 2 men arrived to fix my window. They were very kind and after hearing my cough told me to stay warm and eat garlic so I heal fast. Lol! I do love Ukraine!
My internet access is limited but I will try to frequently keep you all informed of my adventures in Stakhanov. Take care and happy New Year!
More to follow...
Merry Christmas, my dear readers.
This is the first Christmas that I have spent away from home. But I am not dwelling on that fact, for I have too much to be thankful for. 2009 has been a year of uncertainty for me. Just a year ago I was in and out of hospitals and watching my dreams of Peace Corps be ripped out of my grasp. Never did I dream that the following Christmas would find me a Peace Corps Volunteer once again, this time serving in Ukraine.
As of Dec. 17, 2009 I am an active PCV. 113 Americans swore in as Volunteers in Ukraine for batch #37. We spent 4 days in Kiev, during record low temperatures and the beginning of one of the fiercest winters Ukraine has seen in a long time (or so we’re constantly informed.) After the swearing-in ceremony we all left my train or by bus for our sites.
My site is Stakhanov (S-ta-han-ov) in the Lugansk (Loo-gan-sk) oblast. Just an hour or so drive from the Russian border. Everyone speaks Russian here. This region is known as one of the most difficult to live in because of the air quality (it’s a coal mining region), economy and political beliefs. The fact that the Soviet Union has disbanded escapes the notice of some of the locals. I’ve only been here a week and so far have not had any trouble with anyone due to the fact that I am a foreigner. Of course, I have had bronchitis 5 out of the 7 days I have been here, and have spent little time outside of my dorm room. Don’t worry, I’m on the mend. It just takes time.
When I do go back to work I will be an English professor at Stakanov Pedagogical College and Lugansk University. I’m very eager to begin working and meet my students. I’ve already met 5 professors from the English department. They and 7 of my students greeted me upon my arrival. My students carried all of my many bags to my dorm room and the teachers welcomed me with a celebratory lunch. Yes I am living in the dormitory. My home is on the second floor where all the visiting professors stay. There is no one living here besides myself. I found it creepy at first, but since I have spent so much time here lately I have grown accustomed to the silence. The nice cleaning lady visits my floor daily. I enjoy speaking Russian with her and the lovely den mothers that work on the ground floor. They have all been very welcoming. And all are concerned about my health. They are such dears.
I have 2 rooms that I use. The first room is my living quarters and the second I use for storage and washing my laundry by hand. I have been informed that at some point the building will install washing machines…but that may or may not be within the 2 years that I will live here. We’ll see! For now, I am growing used to washing a little every day. I have my own bathroom, but the shower, living room and kitchen are common rooms. Like I said, no one else is staying here for now. I think of this floor as mine now.
And I’m not alone in Stakhanov. Another Volunteer, Patrick, lives only 4 blocks away from me. He is teaching high school. We were in training together and he’s a good friend. We’re both pleased to be sharing a site. We’ve already begun discussing plans the two of us would like to accomplish within both of our schools. The teachers at his school are just as eager to meet me as the teachers from the University. My good friend Jorge is only 20 minutes away and another PCV, Tessie, lives just 10 minutes away. Tessie has been here a year & a half now and invited everyone to her home for Christmas. But since I am ill, I chose to stay home and heal. I’ll meet her later, I’m sure. My friend Nozgol is 40 minutes away and Susan is an hour away in the city of Lugansk. I am surrounded by Americans.
Getting to site was quite the ordeal! As we were leaving, the bus taking us to the train station was stuck in a major traffic jam due to the icy road conditions. So we missed our train and spent 4 hours in traffic. It was a long 4 hours, because all of the Ukrainian counterparts were panicking. The PCV’s were much more relaxed about the situation. We knew Peace Corps would take care of the problem. The Ukrainians were not willing to be soothed by our blasé attitudes. My counterpart in particular was a challenge. I hope that improves soon so our working relationship will be one of prosperity. We left for the train station the following day very early only to have the drivers drop us off at the wrong location. The Peace Corps drivers had to come and help move all of our luggage. I alone had 7 bags! You can imagine all the luggage that 20 of us had. We finally made our train, but had to ride 3rd class because of the last minute purchase of our tickets. It was interesting… I had never ridden on a train before. Jorge, Pat and I all rode in the same car, along with our counterparts. I had fun getting to know Pat and Jorge’s counterparts. Very nice guys. But the car was packed! We had to sleep on the top bunks of the train. That was an interesting adventure. Lol! It was a 16 hour trip and when we arrived we only had 3 minutes to get all of our luggage off the train. My counterpart kept yelling at me to sit down and let the boys carry all the luggage. Uhh…yeah right. Jorge and Pat did not appreciate her attitude. I helped, of course. When have I ever done anything I didn’t want to do? As soon as I stepped off the train (with relief) I face planted right into the snow bank! Lol! Because it has snowed 3.5 inches in just 2 days at my site. Dragging our luggage through that was a challenge!
The second night of my arrival, some children threw a snowball and broke my outside window! That scarred me, to say the least! I ran downstairs to tell the den mother. But when I arrived I realized I couldn’t adequately explain the situation to her because I do not know the appropriate verbs in Russian yet. So basically all I said to her in Russian was “man”, “snow” and “window.” My acting helped fill in the blanks. She understood and walked upstairs to view the damage. The windows are double paned and thankfully the inside window was not broken, so I wasn’t cold that night. The following day 2 men arrived to fix my window. They were very kind and after hearing my cough told me to stay warm and eat garlic so I heal fast. Lol! I do love Ukraine!
My internet access is limited but I will try to frequently keep you all informed of my adventures in Stakhanov. Take care and happy New Year!
More to follow...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)