I'm on my way Home

Having been on haitus from the studio for the past two years I thought perhaps to make my reappearence here, as I will be returning home to America in about 7 weeks. I have been keeping another blog about my adventures with the Peace Corps in Ukraine but now I think it is a good time to segue back onto the studio blog.
http://peacecorpschick.blogspot.com/
I haven't had a lot of time to do any work in Ukraine (other than Peace Corps work, that is), but I did manage to keep up with the Cultural Book Exchange and following are a few pages I have worked on since I have been at my site in Novomoskovsk. All of the work I have finished here is based on the concept of language. I have had a difficult time learning Russian and it is perhaps the hardest thing about living in Ukraine. Not being very good at the common language in one's own community can leave a person feeling isolated and to combat this feeling I created these pages in order to express and overcome my frustration. I call this work "BabelRuss"

Peace Corps "Worldview"magazine

The National Peace Corps Association puts out a quarterly publication that I find in the office in Kiev every now and then, and every time I open the pages I am humbled and honored to be part of it all. Some of the volunteers have done work that I consider astounding. Take one woman, for example. There was a volunteer many years ago that was sent to an impoverished village in South America somewhere. This village didn't have a school and don't you know...she built one?  It was in a remote mountainous village not easily accessible from anywhere. Today this school still thrives and is considered one of the best schools in the country!

I read stories like this in Worldview now and again and I always reflect on my own service here in Ukraine. I start to wonder...have I done enough? Could I have done better? Could I have done something special and more profound for my community? I have done a lot of small projects here but nothing on such a grand scale as building a school and in fact, what I have done doesn't even cause the slightest ripple in the grand scheme of things.

But...

I have reached people. I have encouraged and promoted and instilled in a few people the power of believing that their lives can change for the better. I have reached out and given the gift of hope. It may not be a school and it may not be grand, but it is all I had to offer this time around. And I do mean, this time around. I am still young enough to serve as a PCV again, and not so old that maybe next time around, I can build that school.



Veronica, me and Julia

Countdown: Nine Weeks

It's hard to believe that I will be finishing up my service in just 9 weeks. It went so fast it almost feels at times like I have just arrived. I already know that leaving here will be bittersweet...I will be torn between the excitement of going home to the US to be with my family and friends and the sadness at leaving my Ukrainian family and friends. Many have asked if I will come back and this I cannot answer. Some day I hope to return, but without money for travel it will have to remain a dream.

I began looking for work back in October. I had hoped to return to university teaching and applied to over 30 schools and have not yet been contacted for work. I'm worried because I don't want to return to the life I had before I came. No work, no prospects, and no money. It saddens me that although I have many years of experience and 3 university degrees, I still worry that I will be left out once again. Art teaching jobs are scarce and extrememly competative and I've done all I can and will keep on looking but for now I am just 1 person in approximately100 looking to fill just one available space.

I have also been looking for work with the Peace Corps. These jobs too, are highly competative and there are not many I am qualified for but I would be honored to be able to work for this amazing agency. Working as a volunteer has been an incredible experience and I have so much respect for the people who run this agency. The amount of work that they do and the schedules they keep are just mind-blowing. The staff are all so kind and helpful and I don't think I ever worked any place that had people on the staff quite like this.

So, for now I will sign off with a few pictures of the people I will miss the most when I leave Ukraine.



Yaroslav

Max (with Julia)

Yuri



Yarik (one of my students)

Nik

Natasha

Julia

Valentina

Veronica

Alex

Arina and Natasha

Women's Day in Ukraine

Today is International Women's Day and they take this very seriously here. On this day people honor women of all ages. They actually close the schools...imagine that? I was out shopping in the rain this morning and everywhere I looked people were carrying bright beautiful spring booms. Tulips seem to be the favorites. I captured the spirit of the holiday at the flower market.