Surviving the Marshrutkas

Making it through my first week in Ukraine felt like I made it through the first year. I survived my first solo marshrutka (google it) ride by using my old pal, Lenin. I deciphered the correct stop I was supposed to get off at by looking for his statue. Since they pack you about 200 deep in a bus that can only fit 20 ppl comfortably, I only had a sliver of window I could manage to see out of. But by golly, when I saw that old bastard raising his arm towards me, I've never felt so relieved. So it's been pretty smooth sailing on the marshrutkas since then (one morning we were crammed so tightly, I almost accidentally kissed a man).

I would have posted yesterday but our internet has been down for the past few days. I realized how ridiculously addicted I was with unlimited fast wifi. It was tough to go cold turkey wifi for the first few days, but I've made a TON more russian flashcards without my internet access. I also haven't had a chance to upload any of my new photos, so this will be a sans visual intrigue post.

Yesterday I finally got my first library card in Ukraine (which is also where I am now, and i think it's closing like, now)! It's beautiful old school lib that hasn't really been updated since the 1920's..except for the wifi part. I attended an English club with some fellow PCT and it ended up just being a massive Q & A session. They had a bunch of questions for us, including " When will Bernanke quit printing money?" and "What are the difficulties facing the middle class in America?". We asked questions like "Can we wave to a baby in the marshrutka?". All part of the cross cultural exchange that Peace Corps strives to implement.

The food choices haven't been too cray yet, but everything I've had to eat has been pretty damn good. Most of the meals we have come right out of my mom's garden in the back yard. It actually reminds me a lot of nana's cooking. I tried to save both of my hot sauces for when I actually get to my permanent site, but that only lasted for 3 days. No one else in my house has been brave enough to try out my hot sauce, but that's A OK with me.

Funny scene of the week: My brother Vannya running through the house the other night yelling, "куда?!?!" (pronounced 'koodah' and it roughly means 'where'). He was holding a dish towel and slapping it at any inanimate object in his path. After every slap, a "куда?!!". I sat completely still for a minute, wondering what could possibly be the cause of this odd Ukrainian behavior & hoping I wasn't somehow to blame, I finally realized he was on the hunt for a fly. Just being a two year old. He had no idea where the fly was, but he relished in his task of finding it.

Ok I'm being kicked out of the library now, I think...