I Was Made For Loving Peace Corps

I remember hearing a story about putting a frog in a pot of cold water and putting the pot on the stove. The story goes that the frog would just sit there, not bothered by the slowly increasing heat, as if it had nothing better to do. Maybe it enjoys the warmth? Did anyone ever think of that? Well, ultimately, I think the heat makes the frog not understand anything. It probably forgot where it was or how it got there. It might have pondered for a second why it ever decided to sit around in pot of water in the first place - until finally someone's eating its legs. So, here I am in Peace Corps.

I'm in a group of 77 rockin cool kids, who are spread all across the age, state, and experience spectrum. I've met some really wonderful people and had some fantastic conversations. One particular highlight for me came from an endearing southern boy who requested, "Yellow, please" when he played a Wild card in our game of Uno. 

Food has been pretty okay. Eggs and chicken seem common. They serve salad with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all of which are a cabbage or beet base, supplemented with carrots and/or onions. At one point, I sat at a table with four other guys who had never before had beets! Welcome to Ukraine! In fact, I think I've had more vegetables in this last week than I had in all of 2016. I can already feel myself losing my hard-earned weight gains.

My anxiety has almost completely faded away as I slowly come out of my shell. I've so far gone through a very poorly executed staging event in DC and a pretty well done orientation in Чернігів to having just landed in the care of my host family yesterday. More to come on that. 

They picked me up in a car and as we pulled away from my new friends, KISS was on the radio singing I Was Made For Loving You! And like a frog in warm water, it felt pretty good. I think I want my epitaph to one day read: It's not as hot in here as I thought it would be.