A Trip to the Big City 16 March 2003

On Sunday I went to Kyiv w/ Ira, my host sister. She took me around to some pretty areas of the city and it is still amazing that I might live there. The metro here is deep underground and riding it involves taking a steep escalator that freaks me out. That combined with the fast speed of said steep escalator makes for an adventurous ride. Did I mention the crowds? Taking this escalator was an exercise in deep breathing, but the metro is clean and normal by my standards.

In Kyiv, we walked along a major street that is closed off on the weekend, the Khreshcatyk and also to the outside of a couple of churches and along a cobbled street that has a major tourist market. There are many old looking buildings and several major renovated churches and I’m excited to explore it ruther.

When we returned to Brovary, we went to a party that was for all of the PCT's (Peace Corps Trainees - perhaps much like the military, we have many acronyms) in our cluster (why did they name it cluster? I keep thinking of squirrels - is that from a cereal??) We met in the basement of one of these gargantuan apartment buildings here. We 7 PCT's were seated at the head of a long table heavily laden with food and drink.

One old tradition in Ukraine is to greet guests w/ an elaborate loaf of bread with pretty decorations on top and salt, both of which the guests eat. We were entertained by the musical stylings of one of the host mothers who performs Ukrainian folk songs with a group while wearing traditional embroidered dress. I kept thinking how we had traveled so far and how we were now, I don't know, rewarded for our efforts. Not so much by the food and music, but rather from all the effort that these people make for us. It is so hard still to fathom that these people take us in as strangers and treat us as honored guests, all on no merit of our own. I am humbled every day to be here, to be treated as I am. We are tremendously privileged to have this opportunity and I thank especially the American taxpayers for supporting us.

Much merriment, toasting and drinking of homemade wine and vodka ensued, from which I already have a headache (the wine, not the merriment per se). There may have also been dancing to loud Ukrainian traditional songs translated to pop music and a poor rendition sung of "America the Beautiful" but I will never tell our cluster's secrets.