Finally.... A Real PCV!
On December 22nd all of my group were sworn in as real volunteers. It was a nice ceremony held in Kyiv attended by the US ambassador, and many government officials. There was press there, so perhaps I ended up on the evening news for once in my life, but I have no way of knowing for sure.
The ceremony was long and attended by the first time by our coordinators, which I did think was a rather nice touch. It was held where the first parliament of Ukraine met, which also was an interesting place. While most of what went on was simply apolitical and nice, there was one speaker who got all Ukrainian nationalistic, which left many newly sworn in folks looking around the room at each other like, "uh, is this really happening here?" While it is not my place to comment on my own feelings about what is going on here politically, I think that it important for those of you reading this who don't know to learn about the political scene here--it's somewhat similar to what we have in the states with the Northeast and West coasts (and the industrial midwest) versus the rest of the country (you know, the red and blue business). Except here in Ukraine, the choices are not as similar as Democratic candidate versus Republican candidate, it's a bit more Democracy vs. Communism, although that perhaps is also too harsh. Western Ukraine is fiercely nationalistic, speaking Ukrainian language and very much looking to Europe and America. Southern and Eastern Ukraine is more Russian speaking (which is why I am speaking Russian and also why I am surprised that I just got chastised here at the internet cafe when I asked the gentleman at the counter to slow down because I don't speak much Russian and he said that he could speak in English because we are in Ukraine and not Russia. Doh, I felt like an ass). The East seems to be interested in keeping ties to Russia, and the East is where most of the industry lies.
I'm not saying that one way is better than the other, or that one will succeed and the other will fail--I'm saying that the people right now are passionate about what is going on, and that it's an exciting time to sit on the sidelines and watch what is happening, which is exactly what we got to do during our ceremony. When the speaker said (in English) that Ukrainians should be looking to Kyiv as the capital of the country and not Moscow the woman next to me, from outside of Kharkiv, to the east, just threw up her hands and said "better!" in Russian to me. I saw one woman put her hands over her ears and from the above balcony where host families sat I could hear what sounded like applause.
Sometimes I wish that Americans could get so worked up over something that goes beyond capitalism versus capitalism...
The ceremony was long and attended by the first time by our coordinators, which I did think was a rather nice touch. It was held where the first parliament of Ukraine met, which also was an interesting place. While most of what went on was simply apolitical and nice, there was one speaker who got all Ukrainian nationalistic, which left many newly sworn in folks looking around the room at each other like, "uh, is this really happening here?" While it is not my place to comment on my own feelings about what is going on here politically, I think that it important for those of you reading this who don't know to learn about the political scene here--it's somewhat similar to what we have in the states with the Northeast and West coasts (and the industrial midwest) versus the rest of the country (you know, the red and blue business). Except here in Ukraine, the choices are not as similar as Democratic candidate versus Republican candidate, it's a bit more Democracy vs. Communism, although that perhaps is also too harsh. Western Ukraine is fiercely nationalistic, speaking Ukrainian language and very much looking to Europe and America. Southern and Eastern Ukraine is more Russian speaking (which is why I am speaking Russian and also why I am surprised that I just got chastised here at the internet cafe when I asked the gentleman at the counter to slow down because I don't speak much Russian and he said that he could speak in English because we are in Ukraine and not Russia. Doh, I felt like an ass). The East seems to be interested in keeping ties to Russia, and the East is where most of the industry lies.
I'm not saying that one way is better than the other, or that one will succeed and the other will fail--I'm saying that the people right now are passionate about what is going on, and that it's an exciting time to sit on the sidelines and watch what is happening, which is exactly what we got to do during our ceremony. When the speaker said (in English) that Ukrainians should be looking to Kyiv as the capital of the country and not Moscow the woman next to me, from outside of Kharkiv, to the east, just threw up her hands and said "better!" in Russian to me. I saw one woman put her hands over her ears and from the above balcony where host families sat I could hear what sounded like applause.
Sometimes I wish that Americans could get so worked up over something that goes beyond capitalism versus capitalism...
posted by Molly | 1:48 AM
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