What A Great Day...

Yesterday was a little bit awkward for me. Basically, most people in Ukraine get paid once a month and this society has not yet moved to credit, let alone online. That being said, everyone has one of the old style passbook savings accounts. So, every payday instead of cashing a paycheck, everyone runs to the bank to get their passbook updated with their current balance after their employer has made the deposit (I think the employer tells the employee which bank to use and then the accounting department makes the deposit once a month into everyone’s account). Anyway, last week, all of the librarians went to get their books updated only to find out they were shorted by a significant amount. When you ask the bank why, they direct you to the accounting department at your office, who said “sorry, we don’t have enough money to pay you your full salary right now. You will get the balance next Friday”. So, on Friday afternoon the librarians went to the bank to update their passbooks, and sure enough, still no money! So, they came back to work, collected their things and went home in protest. As much as I wanted to walk out in solidarity, the fact is that I don’t get paid by the library, and so, my commitment to my job was more important to me. So there I was, sitting by myself in an ultraquiet library- I would love to say “working diligently”, but the fact is that I was catching up on some emails and checking Facebook- which, as a networking tool has actually been an incredible resource for me. When friends brag about their projects or opine their challenges, I find myself applying them to my own ideas and projects (I call this justifiable rationalization). Then at about 4:55 a young woman walked into my office and asked a question in Russian. As usual, I don’t know if she is asking about the internet center or the reading hall (the questions all sound the same), so I clarify, “you want internet center?” “it is closing at 5:00, you need to come back on Monday”- then, with very wide eyes and in perfect English she exclaims “You speak English?? What are you doing in this town??” So, I told her about Peace Corps and what I was doing here. She asked “so what kind of projects do you work on?” and I was able to tell her about my park clean up the next morning. It was similar to the previous clean up I did, except I solicited all of my own donations of garbage bags, gloves, clean water, and brooms from local businesses. I invited people and managed the project all by myself. She said, “Where and when? My friends and I will be there!” So, I told her.

Saturday morning at 9:00 my clean up project started. Two of my English Club members came, along with four workers from the discotheque in the park, and sure enough Olga arrives with three others to help! She is fascinated by my volunteer status and wants to ask me many questions about life in America and what I will do in Razdol’noye for the next 2 years. Olga is an English/French translator by profession. She lives and works in Kiev and has relatives in Razdol’noye that she visits on vacation once a year. Due to a death in the family of the sauna owners, sauna was cancelled today, suddenly leaving my afternoon free. I asked Olga what her plans for the day were to see if her and her friends wanted to hit a bar tonight. Before I knew it, I had been invited to their house for lunch, then to the beach. I accepted and showed up to one of the tastiest lunches I have had in a awhile. Olga and her friends are very concerned with healthy lifestyles and trying to keep a clean body and soul. They are vegetarians who only eat organic food and are very strict on themselves regarding what they eat and the order of their meals so as not to upset their mind and soul harmony. The food was really great and they did not chastise me for not participating in their prayers. In fact, her relatives didn’t participate either. At this point though, right or wrong, I made the assumption that they weren’t drinkers. After lunch we headed to the beach, the same one I went to with Stas several weeks ago. Upon arrival, they pulled out a garbage bag and everyone actually polices the area of where the blanket was to be set for any litter on the sand! All the cigarette butts, bottle caps and little pieces of paper from cigarette packs that you probably wouldn’t notice unless you looked for them, all got picked up. They swam. I watched the bags on the blanket. They did some yoga on the beach. I watched them do some yoga on the beach. They read books. I listened to music. It was relaxing and a fun day. I am exhausted now and will get to bed early tonight as Lenara, Erin, and I will go to an historical village tomorrow with Stas. The bus leaves at 8:30am, returning at 5:30pm.
I already have an invitation from Olga and family for tea and cookies when I get home. I am looking forward to it. Gotta build those personal relationships.  

L-R Olga, Lena, Katya, Vadim, me