I heart the Olympics

Last night, as my mom and I were watching those crazy speed skaters fly into walls and each other, I had a flashback to the first summer I was in Ukraine, watching the Olympics and lying prone, sweating like a pig (believe it or not, it routinely gets to 90 degrees in July and August in southern Ukraine) on Oksana's couch. Actually, other than the opening ceremony and the same rhythmic gymnastics competition, I saw very little of the Olympics. It's funny how where you're at when you're watching the Olympics affects what events you see; in Ukraine we saw a ton of these random events you never see in the States because Ukraine never qualified or stood a chance of wining medals in events that U.S. athletes excel at, where as Ukrainian athletes did well in competitions that the U.S. didn't do well in.

Last night I gave my first "presentation" about my experience in Ukraine. I think it went well, although the on-campus recruiter talked a really long time (longer than I expected, actually) and I didn't get very long to really to talk about my experience. I realized I'm going to need to find a way to be both realistic and positive about my experience in Ukraine. My service wasn't completely awful, but there certainly were parts that were. I was pretty damn sick my first year, I had nothing but problems with my school the entire time I served, my housing situation frequently sucked and there were times I was a mess emotionally. That being said, I met some amazing people--both Ukrainian and American--and was able to try different things and ended up finding meaningful work while I was there, in addition to discovering what I wanted to do after I left.

If I'm honest other RPCVs might dismiss me as bitter, plus I'll scare the newbies. But who am I helping by not being honest? Being a Peace Corps volunteer is a wonderful growing experience, but like most experiences that test your persistance, patience and resilence, sometimes it's a real challenge. Peace Corps is not summer camp. If you want to just chill out and relax for two years get a good job, work your ass off and stay home; don't join Peace Corps.