…And So The Time Has Come To Say Goodbye

Last week marked exactly the 10^th time I have made the trek from my site to the city of Kiev. I did have some appointments and commitments while I was there, but my destination was actually back where it all began a little over 24 months ago in the city of Chernigov. This time we had our COS (Close of Service) Conference that every group has as they start to wind down their time in country. We all arrived to the conference hotel around lunchtime on Tuesday and immediately fell back in with our old crowds. It was all about seeing your friends, catching up with people you know but haven’t seen in a while, and making small talk with people who you have just never had an occasion to be in the same conversation with. I have heard stories of entire volunteer groups to a country that are ten or twenty people. But ours started as 106- one of the biggest (if not the biggest) in any country. With the way that our training was set up, there were volunteers we saw every day, some we saw every week, some once a month and others who we just never saw due to proximity and circumstance. This conference was business during the day and party at night. The conference was designed to give everyone the information and tools they need to properly end their service. They told us about post-service job opportunities and medical insurance. They told us when we had to close our Ukrainian bank accounts and about getting a letter from our landlord confirming we don’t owe them any more money. There were some workshops that focused on job searches, résumé writing, and interviewing skills. And while all of that stuff was important, it was really all about the camaraderie we feel as a group to have made it to the end of this experience that most people will never be able to relate to. There is no doubt in any of our minds that we have all made some lifelong friends on this journey. As I said, we started as 106. Fifteen have ended their service for one reason or another during the two years. Of the 91 left, 14 have chosen to extend for up to one year. That means the rest of us will leave between May 15 and June 14. No matter what day we leave Ukraine, even though we will surely never meet as the full 91 again, I know there will be reunions of all sizes down the road and I will say, at this point, without a doubt I would rather go to one of those reunions than one for my high school. I took a bunch of pictures during the 2 days we were up there. Here are some of them…

 

 

Clustermates Sara and Patrick, two of my favorite people in the world...and Joe

 

 Kathryn waiting for the bus to Chernigov. The Peace Corps office in Kiev was wall to wall bags that day

Morgan, Elyse, Patrick, Simon, and Kym

 Cassi, Katherine, Mila, Matthew, and Kristen

Our fearless trainer, Iryna, she has done an amazing job with all of the training work that she does for all of the volunteers, not just our group. Really a kind soul

All of the Community Development (CD) volunteers with our Lead Specialist, Marat. He is responsible for locating and deciding which volunteer will serve where. He thought I would have a good experience in Razdol'noye, and he couldn't have picked a better place for me. Our group started with 28 and 25 are COSing. That's a pretty good rate!

Mike Dixon. St. Charles, Illinois. Historical preservation architect. Extendee.

Robin. She is one of the most well traveled people I have ever met.

Morgan and Kristen, front and center

A CD link (two clusters). Richard, William/Joey, Andrea, Brenton, Natalie, Pete, Anne, Janine, and Stuart

This was NOT a staged photo. I still have no idea what they were looking at.

Hayley, Simon, and Jesse. Good people, all

Grace and Hayley

Anne and Janine

Chernigov #2 cluster pic. Amy, Sara, Patrick, Noelia, and me. Yeah, I hope they are still in my life 10 years from now. That would make me happy

Rebecca, Beth, and Jenny

I've gotta hand it to Zena. I don't know her too well, but she was chosen "best MILF" in the superlatives presentation and promptly went and made her own crown...then asked someone what a "MILF" is 

Kristen and Megan

Group photo. It turns out that it is more difficult than it should be to get 91 people to not act out and all look at the camera at the same time for long enough to prevent blurriness. Also, FYI, I won a beer on a bet that I could name every volunteer first and last name

I have said all I need to say about this bunch

Tondraya posing for Chris, one of the real photographers in our group