Happy New Year!

Dear family and friends,

Here is a copy of an e-mail I sent out about a week ago:

I’d like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It’s not enough to simply write that, though. I’ve recording a special holiday message for you using my built in web camera. Please look below to see a four-minute video, which combines my holiday greetings with some quick news. :-)

As for my Christmas plans, they are as follows: Tonight at midnight I’ll be able to attend a Catholic mass at the church on the corner! I hope it’ll be by candlelight and we’ll sing carols! Why do I get to celebrate Christmas on the 24^th and 25^th? All of you thought that my Christmas was going to be January 6^th and 7^th, following the Orthodox calendar, huh? Well, Transcarpathia (the region where I’ll be teaching for the next two years) is a crossroads of many different cultures. That means that there are Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic and Protestants here. My “host family” is Roman Catholic! That is so familiar and pleasant to me!

Lastly, I wanted to include some Ukrainian into this e-mail. Here are my holiday greetings in my new favorite language!: Вітаю Вас з Різдвом та Новим Роком! [Vitaju Vas z Rizdvom ta Novym Rokom!]

Hugs, kisses and lots of love!

Matthew, “Матвійко”

A month already?!

(October 23, 2009)

Was it really just two weeks ago when I posted my last blog entry? Time really flies here and now I’m getting ready to celebrate my first month in Ukraine. I have more pieces of news in a two week span here in Ukraine than I would have in an entire season back in the States. The life of a Peace Corps Volunteer is extremely exciting and fast paced. I know that words cannot convey the complexity of this idea, but I must try. When I say that this is the most difficult think that I’ve ever done, I mean just that. I’m not exaggerating to make this narrative more interesting. Since my last post, I’ve spent a lot of time on the emotional roller coaster that I previously referenced. Sometimes my mood will go from depressed to elated two or three times in a day. But that’s normal and is all part of the cultural adaptation process. Last week was rough, but as I write this, I am well and am smiling. Each additional week brings more and more cultural success, which means that it’s easier and easier for me to live here. Culture shock and cultural adaptation are processes that do not happen overnight, not at all! The steps look something like this: 1) honeymoon stage (everything is new and wonderful), 2) cultural shock (it makes no sense why they do things that way), 3) cultural adjustments (well, it’s not better or worse, it’s simply different) and so one. I’m working through step three right now. :-)

Well, as you know, I have tons of news, tons of information, tons of stories to tell you, but the statistics say that your average attention span is seven minutes… I figure that I’ve already killed at least a minute and half of it! ;-) I’m going to start out by describing my daily routine, as a lot of people have asked about that. So, what does a Peace Corps Trainee really do all day?

I usually get up everyday around 7:30. Hot water is not a given here and so people shower less often. That doesn’t make them less hygienic, though. Our hot water tank has about two minutes worth of hot water and so I shower (Marine style) about twice a week. I do however wash my hair almost everyday. My host mother always makes breakfast for me, although I always assure her that she doesn’t need to prepare anything for breakfast. I can usually get away with yogurt, cheese, a banana and a nice cup of hot čaj (tea), although she always wants me to eat more.

We have lessons everyday except Sunday. We usually start around 9, although we’ll start earlier if we have any special activities planned for a specific day (like a field trip). Remember that PCTs are organized into “clusters” of about five trainees each. There are four other Americans in my cluster (which is Borova, the village I’m in). We have four hours of Ukrainian a day. These lessons are held at our LCF’s (Language and Cultural Facilitator) apartment. Besides the Ukrainian, we have security sessions (how to stay safe), medical sessions (how to stay healthy), cross cultural sessions (we learn about Ukrainian cultural under as many aspects as possible) and technical sessions (how to perform our PC job). We only have a half day of classes on Saturday and then the rest of the weekend is ours. What does this mean? This training period is busier for us than when we’ll be full fledged PCVs! So, I leave the house around 8:50am, have four hours of language, a two hour lunch break, another hour of something, maybe a field trip and then I’m home for dinner around 6 or 7pm. I eat with my family, chat with them over tea, watch the news with them, and then write in my journal, write letters and if I have time, work on my language homework. I don’t get into trouble for not doing it as long as I explain why in Ukrainian. The exercises in our language book are very elementary for my level of Ukrainian and it’s almost not worth my doing them – so I read books in Ukrainian, write letters in Ukrainian and try to converse as much as I can with whomever I encounter.

I have three specific pieces of news to tell: teaching, church and Kyiv.

So, I didn’t come to Ukraine just to learn the language and the culture. My primary mission is to teach English! Those technical sessions teach us about the Ukrainian school system and they furthermore teach us how to teach! I didn’t have time to talk about my experiences at school last time because I wrote my blog the night before I taught my first lesson. Listen to this:

“Good morning, teacher. We are very glad to see you!”

This is the chorus that I hear from my standing students as I enter the classroom and greet them. I have to admit, were it not for my students, I wouldn’t know what I’m doing here. They are my joy. My class is 11-v (v is the third letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, а б в), which is undeceivingly eleventh grade. They are some of the nicest kids that I’ve ever seen! The second week that I was here, we observed many English classes and this one was the one that was assigned to me. Borova is such a small community that I have my house cousin (host parents’ granddaughter) and my neighbor as students! They are eager to learn English from me and although quite shy at first, now they participate with much less reservation! I teach two classes a week (so far I’ve taught a total of four lessons) but that number will increase. The PC also wisely wants us to get experience with different grades, so the week after next I’ll also teach an 8th grade and a 3rd grade class! Most of my classes are observed and all of my lesson plans are approved ahead of time by our technical coordinator, which is great. She is so helpful and has really given us a lot of confidence to set foot in a classroom and teach! I have a long way to go before I teach a “perfect” lesson, but I’ve already seen that a lot of teaching is instinctual, feeling out the class, and I’ve been hitting a lot of nails on the head. :-) I’m really satisfied with my decision to become a TEFL teacher.

I didn’t go to church the first two Sundays that I was here. I have been reading the Bible, praying and listening to my Christian music, but that didn’t feel like enough. Finally, I got a sign. I ran into one of my students walking downtown and since we were walking the same way, we set off together. She was going to church for choir practice and I asked her which church she attended. Well, there are protestant churches in Borova! She showed me her church, which is very close to our LCF’s house! She told me that it was a Baptist church, and invited me to come on Sunday. I came and was in for a real treat. The service was very nice and I felt well there. That Sunday, two guests choirs from Kyiv had come to visit their brethren in Borova and their performances were inspiring. The service was very normal and included hymns, the choral numbers, poems, readings from the Bible and a sermon accompanied by some other talks. All in the all the service lasted from 10am until 12:30, which I found very long, but the point was that it was edifying to be there. I still need to visit the Orthodox church, but for now I think I’ve found my temporary Sunday home! It’s called Дім Молитви – Добра новина, or House of Prayer – Good news. I do really miss my Lutheran church, though… especially the music. I want to sing “Feast of Victory”, “Let the Vineyards be Fruitful”, “Lamb of God” and “Thank the Lord and Sing His Praise”… Too bad my hymnal wouldn’t fit in my luggage.

Yesterday was a monumental day. During the first three weeks, we weren’t allowed to travel, but that restriction has been lifted and yesterday my clustermates and I traveled in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine! We took the електричка (commuter train) into the heart of the city and from there we walked to Peace Corps headquarters, which is only about a ten minute walk from the station. What a city! I’m written nearly three pages about this trip in my journal and so you see it will be very difficult to describe this trip. I was very impressed with Kyiv. It is a modern city with beautiful classical architecture and many breathtaking churches. We walked around the city all day by foot and didn’t use any public transportation, so by the end of the day, I was exhausted. We visited a lot of churches, the main square (Майдан Незалежності = Independence Square), a huge bazaar and many other places. I guess the complaint that I hear about Kyiv is that there isn’t a lot of green there. It’s a busy, crowed city like so many other capital cities… I was surprised that I didn’t find a decent dictionary there, though. The one the PC gave us is massively insufficient for my grammatical needs (give me aspect!!!). And so after four weeks in a small village, a day in the big city was just what we needed.

I’m going to end this post with some housekeeping points. They’re very important, but I’m putting them at the end so as to not perturb the reading of my news.

-New password: First of all, the PC has asked me to put a password on my blog. This is because anyone in the world can read this blog and some of the things that I’ve said aren’t kosher enough for the PC. (Sentence removed). And so you will easily find out what my password is and continue reading my news!!! :-)

-My address: Please DO NOT write to me using the address in Kyiv. The US Embassy opens that mail and the PC takes at least two weeks to deliver it to us at our training sites. If you’d like to write me (you are more than welcome to :-), please use my home address at my host family’s. They are more than happy to allow me to receive mail here. The address has to be written in Cyrillic. If you don’t how to write in Cyrillic, just copy and paste the address, print it out and glue or tape it to an envelope. PS: So far, I’ve received letters at the Kyiv address ONLY from the following people – Natalka B., Solya, Olenka, Olya Kik and Dasha.

(address removed)

-PHOTOS!: I purposely saved this for last. I’d like to share some pictures with you both from Kyiv and from Borova. I put this last to thank those who have been patient enough to read my entire entry. I really appreciate your interest in my news and remember that I welcome your comments and I welcome your news, too! I definitely want to know what’s new with you all.

(photos links removed)

Well, that’s all for now. Take good care! Lots of love, Matthew

First news from Ukraine!

(Please comment on this entry, even if you don’t make it to the end! Thanks! :-)

Dear friends,

I must admit that finally having come the opportunity to use the Internet, it is difficult to know what to write. This blog has the most diverse audience of anything that I’ve ever written in my life and I want to use clear, neutral and respectful language. I will do my best to sum up the past two weeks right here.

First of all, I AM ALIVE AND WELL! My staging and pre-departure orientation in Philadelphia went off without a hitch – I was able to meet the other one hundred Peace Corps volunteers who were heading off to Ukraine and the bonding started immediately. I had my last American meal at Friday’s (appropiately enough on Friday evening) and then Saturday morning we were bused off to JFK Airport in New York City. To spare all of the boring travel details, the flight was long and uncomfortable. We arrived safe and sound in Kyiv on Sunday afternoon around 1pm.

What were my first impressions of Ukraine? Unfortunately it was a gray day as we walked out of the airport, but as our training coordinator happily told us, “A rainy beginning equals a successful adventure”. We spent our first two days at a Welcome Retreat at Desna in the Černihivs‘ka oblasť, about two hours north of Kyiv. This is a former Soviet vacation resort in a wooded area. It was beautiful there! As we traveled there, I noticed lots of flat fields and I smiled and thought of Natasha (Sheveleva) as I even spied large patches of sunflowers. There were lots of fresh produce stands along the highway and lots of people were walking and riding bicylces around for transportation. The cars on the highway were a mix of modern cars and old Soviet cars.

(Due to time’s sake and readability’s sake, I’ll be massively abrigding this narration.)
Our Welcome Retreat went extremely well. Peace Corps is highly organized not only within the States (pre-departure), but also within the host countries. Those two days were jam packed full of vital information about nearly every facet of Ukraine – history, food, traditions... We also received security briefings about how to stay safe. Let me just say that the American government makes incredible efforts to keep its volunteers safe and I feel that my support network here is actually more developed than back home. So please, don’t worry about me! I am in excellent hands. :-)

On Tuesday the retreat came to a close and we headed out to our respective training communities. There are about 100 volunteers and we were broken into training groups of five each. My four “cluster mates” and I were assigned to a small town called Borova for our training and so off we went! It was so exciting to read the sign for Borova from the highway and excitement continued to mount as we entered town! Our mini bus stopped in front of town hall, where a small group of people were expecting us. We unloaded our suitcases and anxiously looked into the crowd, wondering which of them could be our host family. Volodya, our language teacher and cultural facilitator, called our names out and then our families approached us to greet us with Ukrainian hospitality. My host mom came up to me and gave me a big hug. Most assuredly, a happy beginning to my training in this small community.

My host family consists of Al’bert and Olya, a retired couple. They are very kind, patience and fun people. Olya is a true culinary expert and most of my meals have been out of this world. Besides being my host parents, they are also grandparents and their two daughters and grandchildren come over often for meals, tea or just to pop in to say hi. I have a confortable room and cannot complain about anything in good conscience.

That having been said, I must say that this is the most challening adventure that I have ever undertaken in my life. There is zero room for exagerations here. Remember that I am serving in a third world country. Were it not so, the Peace Corps would not be here. I am well, I am healthy and I am happy (although it is true what they say: emotions do run like rollercoasters). I truly do love Ukraine and am thankful to be here. That doesn’t mean that the culutral adaptation won’t be very difficult. This, alas, is but a question of time. I cannot learn all about Ukrainians overnight. That’s why we have these three months of pre-service training before we start our real mission. Ukrainians and Americans think and act very differtly. In the States, I’m used to being very direct. I say what I mean and that’s what I mean. Here, people tend to say one thing, but mean something else according to cultural standards or body language. This will be difficult for me to learn. And yes, I’ve already been sick, moderately sick really (this is normal, all part of the adaptation), but a day of bed rest and expert (truly expert) care from the Peace Corps Medical Staff and I was on my way to a quick recovery.

Two more comments and then I need to close this entry. I don’t want to write too much and my posting this entry depends on whether or not I’ll be able to use the Net at a friend’s house tomorrow night.

A lot of people have asked me if I miss my family or the States. Well, truthfully it’s to early to tell. Let me put myself out there, though, and take this for what it’s worth. The one person whom I can truly say that I miss is Natalka from Lviv, Ukraine. She’s an awesome friend who basically taught me my elementary Ukrainian and I was in daily contact with her back in the States.

My last comment is about my biggest fear (before I left), or my biggest visible challenge (now during my service). I sure did hit the hammer on the head when I predicted that the most difficult aspect of my adaptation would be the food. I was worried about not liking it and about gaining weigh. Well, I’ve had some very delicous dishes and have been well fed! The quality of the food isn’t the problem (very fresh produce, a lot of it from their personal gardens). It’s the quantity. Ukrainian hospitality demands that a host takes excellent care of a guest. That translates to incessantly offering dish after dish of food. I haven’t been hungry for the past week. That is to say, I constantly feel full. Well, no need to worry, as my Ukrainian language improves I can explain more and more about my eating habits and as my understanding of Ukrainian culture improves, I can more and more politely (culturally sensitively) decline the dishes.

Thank you very much for reading this, my first post from Ukraine. More news to come and more news that will be better organized. For now, I have no Internet access and am just clammering to type these news onto my pen drive for when a ripe opportunity presents itself to jump online. Please comment on my post!

Also, please note that these are my personal views, and not those of the U.S. Peace Corps, either officially or unofficially. And if I haven’t managed to keep my language neutral, I will need to put a password on this blog to protect both the Peace Corps’ and Ukraine’ integrity (even though I love Ukraine and am highly devoted to the Peace Corps’ mission). Thank you for your patience and understanding. May God bless you all.
Matthew H. Eppley “Матвій”

My address in Ukraine

Where did the time go? I remember starting an approximate countdown half way through the summer: two months, a month and a half, 25 days... 15 days... and now!? There are no days left! I leave to start my grand adventure today. Now, that doesn't mean that this evening I'll be in Ukraine. Around 5pm my mom and I will leave to drive downstate. My Aunt Peg lives in Mechanicsburg (very near Harrisburg), which is where we'll spend the night. Friday morning, we'll meet my Nanny (grandmother) for breakfast at the turnpike entrance and then boom! Once we jump onto 76E, there is no turning back! My mom will drop me off at the Hampton Inn in downtown Philadelphia and then I'll report for duty and start meeting in person all of the other wonderful Peace Corps volunteers whom I've been meeting all summer on Facebook. I know that they'll be just as funny, good spirited and supportive in flesh and bones as they've been on our "Peace Corps Group 37 Ukraine" page. To continue with the itinerary, Friday afternoon we'll have several hours of "pre-departure briefings" and then by 7pm we'll have free time... to go to bed! Our bus leaves Philly for JFK International Airport at 6.30 Saturday morning. Our flight leaves New York City at 4pm, we change flights in Frankfurt, Germany, and then onward into Kyiv! We'll be in Ukraine's beautiful capital (the temporary image under the title in this blog, "Собор Святої Софії") by Sunday morning at 10. My first thought was, "Well, that's perfect timing for missing church!" I haven't missed a single Sunday all summer and finding a new church and perhaps learning all about Orthodoxy has been a big topic on my mind these past few weeks. So, that's the deal! :-)

Of course, I encourage you to write to me, if you wish. I promise to reply to all letters I receive! I'll try to give a brief description of my address. During the first three months while I'm at training, I'll have a temporary address (it's Peace Corps headquarters in Kyiv). Twice a month they'll bring our mail to us from the capital to our training site. So, my replies will be slow, but if you write me a letter, you can count on a reply from me! :-) Also, this address is only for flat envelopes (letters, postcards, pictures and the like). Peace Corps will reject any packages. Once I'm at my permanent site and start teaching in January, I'll have a permanent address, which will be able to receive all sorts of mail (including but not limited to chocolate chip cookies!). Three quick tips: 1) The address may look "tall", but if you put each peace of information on its own line, as I've formatted it, it'll make it easier for Укрпошта (Ukrainian post) to sort and deliver. 2, 3) Please date and number your letters - that way, if a letter gets lost, we'll take notice.

(Address valid from Sept. 25, 2009 - Dec. 17, 2009)

(address removed)

If you can write in Cyrillic, that will be the best way to address any correspondence to me. The English address is a P.O. Box at the central post office, whereas the Ukrainian address delivers the mail right to the Peace Corps' doorstep! ;-)

(address removed)

Although I am already packed, I still have much to do before my departure. I promise to write a post as soon as I have a chance, probably within my first week in Ukraine. Don't worry about me, but know how much I appreciate the prayers, the kind words, the loving support... May God bless you all! And to end this entry with a quote form Ambassador Kosh (from Babylon 5):
"And so it begins..."

Wecam test

Yes, it is true - you'll still be able to see and hear me while I'm abroad! :-)

Welcome! Ласкаво просимо!

Hello dear friends & family and welcome to my blog!

The purpose of this blog will be to keep you updated on my news in Ukraine.
Starting on September 25th, I will be deployed as a Peace Corps Volunteer to Ukraine. My mission is Secondary English Education. (I'll be a TEFL teacher.) I will undergo a three month intensive training course this fall, (October, November & December) and around Christmas I will be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer (before the swearing in, I am simply a "Trainee"). Afterwards, in January, I will begin teaching at my permanent site.

Well, many details are yet to come! I promise to fill everyone in as I go. For those of you that have Facebook (I assume that everyone reading this linked to my blog from Facebook), I already have several notes there about my experience thus far in the Peace Corps. Feel free to check them out if you have some spare time. Sorry, I am not shortwinded. ;-)

Thanks for the interest, love, support, friendship and patience in my Peace Corps decision and in my life! May God bless you all.

Love, Matthew


Disclaimer: The opinions that I publish here are my own opinions and do not reflect the official or unofficial views of the Peace Corps. Everyone who joins the Peace Corps has a unique and individual experience, some with more positive or negative aspects than others. Take me with a grain of salt! :-)