Saying goodbye to a friend

A couple of weeks ago my good friend Heather left Ukraine due to medical reasons. Before she left I went to go see her and say goodbye to her. Here in Ukraine, us volunteers often hear that we are members of what is called the "Posh Corps." In other words, that we have so many luxuries that other Peace Corps members do not have throughout the world, we are in a league above the rest. However, after visitng my friends Heather and Margo, who also lives in the same town, I can attest that they are certainly not members of the Posh Corps. 

Both Heather and Margo had water in their apartments for a total of 5 hours a day and neither had hot water. Also, I spent the night in Margo's apartment and it was by far the coldest home I have ever been in. Although I live in better conditions than both Heather and Margo do, it is still hard to be so far away from home and there is nothing posh about being 7,000 miles away from home.

 This is a picture of my friends Heather, Margo and myself. Margo is holding the box that Heather's birthday cake came in.

 

This is a picture of mini-caviar sandwhiches that were for sale in the cafe at a Super-Walmart esque store in Donetsk. Donetsk is one of the largest cities in Eastern Ukraine and I traveled through it on my way to see Heather. And on the way back I got an opportunity to see it a little. There are many nice and expensive stores, i.e. Dior and Dolce & Gabanam, and nice cafes, none of which I can afford.

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This is a picture of a church in Donetsk. The inside was very beautiful, but unfortunately I could not take a picture of it.Churches are not such a frequent sight as they are in Western Europe, but I relish every opportunity I can to see them. Although I am not particularily religious, there is something calming about being in a quite church, with incense, and being alone with your thoughts.  

I hope you are all doing well and I will try and update my blog more often, my internet connection is not the greatest, but there are always more tales and pictures to share.  Take care and if you have time, drop me an email.