After a two hour wait in came Joe Biden. He gave a rousing speech about Ukraine and the tough decisions the politicians have to make and then thanked us for our willingness to serve for others. He outlined how 269 volunteers in one country can help build trustworthy relationships between countries. He then took time to shake everyone's hands and take pictures. He really was wonderful, personable, warm, and caring. I got to shake his hand and say "thank you for all you and the President are doing for our country" and he said "No, it is the president and I that want to thank you for all you are doing for our country." After the Bush years and the negativity it was outstanding to be praised for being volunteers and made me very proud to say "I am an American." I don't care about the political stuff – he just brought tears to my eyes and I was full of pride. I love positive people and I think optimism is a very indispensable trait. I believe it spreads and when people feel upbeat the world is a better place. This is what Obama and Biden do for me and what they did for the majority of the 129 Peace Corps volunteers who had the pleasure of meeting him this week. Thank you US Embassy and United States Peace Corps.
Peace Corps Volunteers "Robin & Jim Eleazer PC Blog" write: Vice President Joe Biden meets with Peace Corps Volunteers in Ukraine
Meeting the Vice-President
Jul 24, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Caption: Visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks after receiving an award from Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili, not seen, during a reception in honor of Biden, Tbilisi, Georgia, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden has told Georgia that 'America stands with you and will continue to stand.' Biden arrived in Georgia Wednesday from Ukraine on a mission to reassure both former Soviet nations that the United States will not abandon them as it seeks to improve badly strained ties with Russia.
(AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)
You never know what will happen from day-to-day while serving in the Peace Corps. And you also learn pretty fast that no plan is hard and fast. Last Saturday a group of volunteers in our region had a welcome picnic for us in Ivano-Frankivsk which is the main city in our region and about 45 minutes away on the мапщпут& #1082;а (auto-bus). It was a hot, sunny day and we spent it barbequing щащлйк (shish kabob) at the lake in the Shevchenko park around the man-made lake. This park has been beautifully landscaped thanks to EU money.
Out of the blue we received a phone call that said we were invited by the US embassy to come to Kyiv to meet the American Vice-President at a private reception for Foreign Service workers. Everyone was very excited and immediately started talking PEACE CORPS ROAD TRIP. Now being a little older, I was not so excited. You see it is 12 hours to Kyiv and that day it was close to 90-100 degrees. But being the good sport that I am and the fact that my husband REALLY wanted to go, I said alright let's go. One part of the group headed to the train station to make reservations, another made hotel reservations and we loaned money, so all could attend. Before long we received a phone call from the train group saying all the trains to Kyiv were full on Sunday. That is a little doubtful as there are many trains and they are large, however the others in the group felt that with a $50hrn bribe we would get on the train. Being the upstanding American citizens we are –the vote was not to bribe them but instead take a bus for the 12 hours (me being one not to fight the system said bribe-bribe-bribe if that is the way it is done) Anyway bus here we come. Quite an experience ten Peace Corps Volunteers and forty Ukrainians on a bus ALL-NIGHT-LONG. We arrived in Kyiv at 6:00 am and from there started a great tourist vacation. This was the first time since we joined the PC in March that we really had over two hours to ourselves. We have been on a merry-go-round. Training, language, meeting new people etc… for four months and now we are in Kyiv and ready to have fun. So we hiked all the tourist routes, saw the churches, walked artist row, cruised on the river boat, ate salmon ravioli, fresh Cesar salad, drank great red wine and feasted on tiramisu. A fantastic day!
Day 2 – up at 7am and ready for security at the Hyatt Ukraine. Pretty easy process considering this was the vice-president. Actually, I think it is worse in the American airports. The secret service just looked in our bags and waved the magic wand. After a two hour wait in came Joe Biden. He gave a rousing speech about Ukraine and the tough decisions the politicians have to make and then thanked us for our willingness to serve for others. He outlined how 269 volunteers in one country can help build trustworthy relationships between countries. He then took time to shake everyone's hands and take pictures. He really was wonderful, personable, warm, and caring. I got to shake his hand and say "thank you for all you and the President are doing for our country" and he said "No, it is the president and I that want to thank you for all you are doing for our country." After the Bush years and the negativity it was outstanding to be praised for being volunteers and made me very proud to say "I am an American." I don't care about the political stuff – he just brought tears to my eyes and I was full of pride. I love positive people and I think optimism is a very indispensable trait. I believe it spreads and when people feel upbeat the world is a better place. This is what Obama and Biden do for me and what they did for the majority of the 129 Peace Corps volunteers who had the pleasure of meeting him this week. Thank you US Embassy and United States Peace Corps.
Oh by the way, we took the train back and had a wonderful time. There were eight of us and we had a great picnic in our купе (train compartment). Another 12 hours home but we got to lay down for 10 of them. Not a bad way to travel.
