On Wednesday the 31st of March, I will board a plane from Boise, Idaho and take a trip around the world to Ukraine.
I am sitting here and typing this post after I packed my bags. I am reflecting back to a year ago, when I returned from my two year adventure in Jamaica. I was planning on staying in Jamaica for another year but the pandemic brought me, and all of the other Peace Corps Volunteers across the world, back to the United States. I was only supposed to be back in the States for a few months and then ultimately return back to Jamaica with the Peace Corps. A few months turned into a year, and there is still no return in sight. However, a little over a year later and I will finally be boarding a plane, but I'm not going to Jamaica. This time I am going to Ukraine.
Its crazy how life works. I like to think of life as a book, and as one chapter in your story ends, another one begins. My Jamaica Joel chapter has ended (for now) and I have readjusted back into life as an American. I have worked some odd jobs to make money and get through 2020, working up to 50 hours some weeks. I learned about wine while working at a vineyard as well as a cellar help at Ste Chappelle and Sawtooth wineries. I worked at REI and met some cool people and got some sweet gear. But my favorite job that I got was working at Alyonka's Russian Cuisine the past six months.
Alyonka's Russian Cuisine is a restaurant started by Elena DeYoung, who grew up in Kazakhstan and then moved to the States. Elena is a fantastic cook and serves some of the best food I have ever had. The restaurant has one of the highest ratings in Boise (even though I served there). The stroganoff, borsht, shuba, and poppy seed cakes are making my mouth water just thinking about it now. I enjoyed working there, I met some cool people and I have made some lifelong friends.
Working at Alyonka's is what inspired me to look into traveling to eastern Europe. The kitchen is full of people from different countries and Russian can be heard on a daily basis. I started learning the language, and although I learned a few words and phrases, I am still a long ways away from any fluency. I feel comfortable in a multicultural environment and I want to learn more.
One day after work I was looking into job/volunteer opportunities in Russia and Ukraine. I found an opportunity to help teach English in Ukraine with an organization called Americana. So I messaged the organization and started talking with them. One thing led to another and now I am going to be boarding a plane in, as I write this, eight hours. I have a mixture of feelings, both excited and nervous for the trip.
I received two shot of the Pfizer vaccine, so I feel a little more confident in traveling. I took a rapid antigen covid test on March 29 and the results were negative, but it turns out I need a negative PCR test result to get into Ukraine. I took one this morning (March 30th) and I hopefully will get the results by the time I land in Ukraine. I called the embassy there and even if I have the vaccine I still need the negative results. So I am cutting it close lol. I definitely recommend reading the travel requirements carefully in advance so you don't make the same last minute scramble that I had to do.
I am fortunate that my friends in Boise have contacts in Ukraine. A friend of a friend will be picking me up from the airport there and helping me to find the train station. Unfortunately, Kiev is on lockdown due to a rise in corona virus cases. It appears that the city is mostly shut down. From Kiev I take a train to Chernivtsi.
I will be posting more about my travels so lets see what happens.
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