A Number of Bullet Points

Dear readers:

From your humble narrator, the following are a number of bullet points about things I think, do and see while here in Ukraine.  They are in no particular order, and this is really just being used to fill some space, and buy me some time to put down something cogent about my trip to Egypt, and what I’ve been doing the past few weeks.  I’m even considering writing about a few things I had planned on writing about earlier, namely my trip to the Banya in town, and my trip to the Khmelnytsky Bazaar and the Medzhybizh Castle.  I plan on doing at least one of those before the end of this week, but we all know about the best laid plans of mice and men . . . But, I digress.  Some things which may never make their way into a post:

• This winter isn’t as bad as last winter.  But, I hate winter, for me this is like saying my sprained ankle isn’t as bad as a broken ankle.
• I really enjoy eggplant, and I have eaten a lot more eggplant in the last year than in the rest of my life combined.
• The lady at the post office has started letting me cut the line.  And, she smiles when she sees me, and is helpful!
• I don’t understand why postcards are more expensive to mail than Christmas cards.  It really boggles my mind, I cannot comprehend it.
• I love natural coffee.  I’m drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee right now.  I owe a debt of such immense gratitude to the people who have sent real coffee to me.  I’m excited for the time in my life when I can go to a coffee shop and get a cup of tasty coffee for $3.00.
• I’ve never drank as much tea as I’ve been drinking this past 14 months.
• I’m shocked when I hear of people not in my immediate family that read or have read my blog.  Thanks for reading, hopefully it’s worth and will continue to be worth your time.
• iTunes podcasts are incredible.  I get some phenomenal information from podcasts, and they have really been key in keeping me up to date with current events, both news and opinion.
• I’ve started using the word phenomenal far too much.  If you have any other words that will do its job appropriately, I’d love to heard them.
• I hate when I reread a post and notice a grammatical error.  I hate even more when I have used the wrong there/their/they’re.
• I hate when my feat are cold.  Right now my feet are cold.
• Whenever someone mentions going to the bazaar, the 90s song "How Bizarre" goes into my head, at least the chorus does.  I'll always defend 90s music, to the chagrin of some of my friends here.
• Sometimes I take showers just to keep warm.
• I may have the best shower in Peace Corps Ukraine.
• My shower head hangs over the bathroom, and there is a drain in the floor, so when I take a shower my bathroom is pretty difficult to use for a couple of hours.  This has caused me to make more informed decisions about my showering time.
• Continuing with the shower:  I have learned not to shower when it’s cooking time in my apartment building.  There isn’t enough gas to go around and the water never gets cold.
• My parents just sent me a winter hat, and I forgot how awesome it is to have warm head.  Prior I was just wearing sweet earmuffs.
• I read a good amount here, but I frequently take much longer to read a book than I want to.
• Half the reason I read books is so people will think I’m more intelligent than I really am.  That’s also the reason I put a list of books I’ve read on my blog.  But, if you want to tell me how learned I am you can feel free.
• I have fallen in love with the Republic of Georgia.  It has the best food ever, and its wine is pretty good, too.  I try to go to Georgian restaurants whenever I can.  I would go back there in a minute.  I read an article in Foreign Policy magazine and it called this “Georgia Syndrome.”
• I have a camera but I often don’t take it with me, or take it out.  I don’t know why, but I don’t really like taking pictures.
• I’ve gone mushroom picking a few times, and all the mushrooms I’ve picked have been poisonous . . . lame!
• I overuse the ellipsis.
• Ukraine has tasty chocolate.  My favourite is Milka.
• I just typed favorite with a u.  I didn’t change it because I feel I should be mocked for this.
• The Lead Specialist for TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) observed a lesson of mine last week, and told me she likes that I speak an almost British version of English.  I was really unhappy with that statement.
• I don’t think Keno Davis should be fired (yet), but I think he needs to learn how to call a timeout.  I’m really not thrilled with his coaching performance yesterday against Seton Hall.  If your team has been down by 16 – 19 for most of the end of the first half, and most of the second half, your team shouldn’t have 4 timeouts left with 4 minutes to go.
• On weekends if I don’t have anything going on I have to make an effort to leave my apartment.  Because of this, I don’t usually keep food in my apartment.  I feel really useless when I haven’t left the apartment all day.
• I still don’t like cats, especially my sitemate’s cats.
• I think dogs are awesome, even if my brother still thinks I’m afraid of dogs.
• I don’t think the US should support dictators (Mubarak in Egypt).
• When I drink I like to talk about politics.
• I’m really impressed with people who can speak foreign languages fluently, or close to fluently.
• I don’t like to cook.
• I usually cook pasta and eggs. 
• I sometimes go days without drinking water.  I think it’s because I’m cheap.
• I am afraid I am going to go home and be supercheap.  I really don’t want to be supercheap; that’s no fun for anybody.
• I’m happy that the Red Sea tourist resorts have been calm during the current unrest in Egypt.
• Getting a haircut here scares me.  I am always afraid I’m going to wind up with a mullet.
• I heard the ProBowl was yesterday.  Does anybody care about that?
• Many things in my life, and many trips I have taken revolve around American comfort/fast food.  With the exception of my fourteen hour layover in London, I have eaten fast food in every country I have visited since coming to Ukraine.  I also once took a train 4 hours just to go to TGI Friday’s.  It was delicious.
• America is severely lacking in kebab and shwarma stands. 
• Holubtsi, rice and ground pork in a tomato sauce wrapped by cabbage is delicious.
• My potato peeling skills are truly unremarkable. 
• If it’s cold enough, I will wear a scarf.  That is something I never thought I’d say.
• I still find males using scarves as indoor accessories unacceptable.
• Winter is much colder when you have to walk everywhere.
• Delivery pizza is something I miss.
• I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
• It upsets me that the lead singer of LFO is now dead.  More than that, I am upset by how he died.
• Agent Johnny Utah always gets his man.
• Sometimes entire days slip away from me, and I have no idea where they have gone.
• The English language has waaaaaay to many verb tenses.
• Saying “I don’t understand,” is an awesome way to get out of situations I don’t want to be in, and out of conversations I am done with.
• I like trains.
• Trains would be better if people were not allowed to eat salted fish on them.  However, I am frequently amazed by the type of meals people bring for the train rides.
• Coca-Cola tastes much better with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup.
• Recently there was a mouse in my apartment, and now when I see a shift in light, or something catches the corner of my eye, my first thought is that it could be a/the mouse.
• Ukrainian and Russian do not have articles.  I’m glad English has articles.  It makes it much easier to identify nouns, I think.
• Julian Assange should be punished severely.
• There is a Russian version of facebook called vkontakte.  I don’t have an account yet, but I want to get one.
• Peanuts are my powersnack.
• I enjoy making up words, both in Ukrainian and in English.
• Would Pete Meegan be cooler if he were Don Draper?  I think yes.
• Krakow is my favourite European city (I didn’t spell favorite like that on purpose).  Lviv is my favorite Ukrainian city.  Newport is my favorite American city. 

That’s a bit for you, for now.  Let me know if anything needs clarification, though I imagine this is all pretty straightforward.  I’ll put a proper entry up in the near future.

Be good,

Pete

Christmas Weekend December 24 - 28, 2010

Dear Friends:

I have a post about my Christmas activities, and whereabouts.  I do not want to enter it here, because it has some information I wish to control dissemination of.  If you would like to read it, please email me at peter.meegan at gmail.com



Pete

Roll On Rhode Island

Dear Friends, especially Rhode Islanders:

Please take a few minutes to read the inauguration address of our new governor, Lincoln Chafee.  I, personally, am very proud of the history of our state, and the ideals for which it stands.  "Rouge's Island," has never been a pejorative term in my opinion.  It is indicative of the independent spirit that is symbolized on top of our state house in the "Independent Man" statue.  The reading of this speech brought the Rhode Island pride oozing out of my pores, which was much needed after our Friars' disappointing loss on Tuesday night.  I enjoy the concept of getting back to the principles espoused by our founder, Roger Williams.  If I could take just one line from the speech I would take this:  "Because good business is about treating people right, just as good government is."  


The full text as given to the Associated Press, and appearing on the website of the Boston Globe is as follows:

Text of RI Gov. Lincoln Chafee's inaugural address

With deep humility, aware of the adversity we face but confident that, together, we will meet the challenge of our times, I am honored to stand before you as our state's 58th Governor.

I ask you to join with me in thanking Governor Carcieri for his service to Rhode Island over the past eight years.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that there are no second acts in America. Fortunately, he was not a political sage.

I believe a second chance begins at this very moment, not just for me, but for our wonderful state of Rhode Island and for each and every one of her citizens. Today, I humbly ask each Rhode Islander to join me in embarking on a new era of opportunity for Rhode Island.

I pledge to devote every ounce of energy I have to this task. Indeed, I will not rest until we reclaim the promise that lay in the heart of our founder Roger Williams some 375 years ago.

This magnificent building behind me is replete with symbols of that promise, from the great charter of 1663 that gave a king's blessing to our "lively experiment," to the flags that Rhode Islanders carried into battle against another king, in defense of our basic rights.

We were the first colony to stand up to the crown by signing the Declaration of Independence. And we were the last to ratify the Constitution as we prudently waited to be persuaded that America's standard of freedom was as high as our own.

Today, I ask all Rhode Islanders to join me in boldly reaffirming Roger Williams' vision of a "civil state," a vibrant, diverse community that is free of political, cultural and ethnic division. For if we rekindle the vision that created our heritage, there is nothing this state and her people cannot achieve.

Last November, we showed the nation what a civil state can mean. Angel Tavares was elected mayor of Providence. David Cicilline was elected to Congress, and Jim Langevin was re-elected. Each of these men have been bold pioneers in their own way, and are testimony to the open minds and hearts of Rhode Islanders.

Thank you for this vote of confidence; and most importantly thank you for your vote to embrace tolerance and individual freedom.

Our independence is written onto every page of Rhode Island history. When Roger Williams came to these beautiful shores in 1636, he instantly made this the most democratic place in America, simply by welcoming other dissenters, and by creating a new form of government that valued tolerance and consensus over orthodoxy and compulsion.

More than any settler of his time, he drew inspiration from the native peoples he found here, the original Rhode Islander, whom he admired for their self-government, their sense of justice, and their commitment to care for all members of their community.

A century earlier, the Italian explorer Verrazano had called attention to this place and its inhabitants, calling them "the most beautiful ... that have found on this voyage." He named this region "Refugio," an uncanny presaging of Rhode Island's destiny to become a refuge for those who think for themselves.

And over Roger Williams' long life, he set a lasting precedent for mutual respect, the very foundation of any civil society.

In his words, Rhode Island was like a ship of state, with many different types of passengers, free to worship and think as they pleased, but obligated to work to defend the ship from danger, and to follow a correct course to the right destination.

Today, I ask all Rhode Islanders, are we willing to re-embrace these principles as our guide in this second decade of the 21st century? I urge your answer to be a resounding "yes!" as we continue in an economy that forces many Rhode Islanders to face extraordinary adversity every day.

More than most states, we have known hard times these past few years. We have suffered for reasons that are all too familiar to all of us.

Let me be very clear. Our present condition has not developed overnight. It has been decades in the making and it is the shared legacy of Democrats and Republicans, business and labor, liberals and conservatives. Finger pointing and blame will do nothing to alleviate our situation.

In every segment of our society, we have tolerated something that Roger Williams did not -- a refusal to do the work necessary to correct our course, and an acceptance of a fractious society that emphasizes division over common purpose.

In short, our politics have not lived up to our ideals. That must change. The time of irresponsibility has ended.

Let us begin an era of political collaboration, of cultural and ethnic acceptance, of shared sacrifice and, most importantly, of faith and trust in each other. If we do, Rhode Island will most certainly prosper once more.

And so I say today to every Rhode Islander, the only way we can move forward is to move forward together.

Tomorrow I will rescind the so-called E-verify executive order. However well intentioned it may have been, it has caused needless anxiety within our Latino community without demonstrating any progress on illegal immigration, an issue I strongly believe must be solved at the federal level.

And I would hope that Rhode Island will catch up to her New England neighbors and pass a bill to establish marriage equality. I urge our General Assembly to quickly consider and adopt this legislation. When marriage equality is the law in Rhode Island, we honor our forefathers who risked their lives and fortune in the pursuit of human equality.

Rhode Island today must be as welcoming to all as Roger Williams intended it to be. Mark my words, these two actions will do more for economic growth in our state that any economic development loan.

Because good business is about treating people right, just as good government is.

Each part of our agenda is important unto itself. But our ultimate goal is to reclaim the vision of our founder. It is written in marble behind me: "To hold forth a lively experiment ... that a most flourishing civil state may stand."

Rhode Island has often led in reaching out to America's future, as defined by a sense of personal rights, or the economic opportunity represented by the new technology that fueled the Industrial Revolution. Today, we can lead again, reminding America what a civil state means:

-- A civil state means that personal freedoms are protected, different orientations are respected, and the dignity of all citizens is enshrined in both the law and in everyday practice.

-- A civil state means a fair safety net to provide for basic human needs, swift and fair judicial proceedings, humane prisons, well-run police and fire departments, good roads and bridges, and customer service versus customer suffering at our state agencies and departments.

-- A civil state means clean parks and athletic facilities, clean water and air, and proper stewardship of our amazing natural resources.

-- A civil state means a public education system that challenges our students in the right way -- with inspiring teachers, clean and safe classrooms, up-to-date textbooks, and the chance to lead better lives than their parents did. The Rhode Island we all want starts there, in those classrooms, and while we all want improvement in education, we must not dismiss what has worked as we strive for progress.

-- A civil state gives each able citizen an opportunity to work, build a career or launch a business. We must get Rhode Island working again and together we will.

-- And, a civil state means that responsibility flows in both directions. As citizens, Rhode Islanders deserve honest, reliable government -- but as users of services taxpayers must give government the resources to do its job well.

Some may think these are unattainable goals, but I say again that a spirit of collaboration for the greater good, fueled by confidence in our abilities, will mean there is nothing we cannot achieve.

We know who we are and the great tradition that has shaped us, the leap of faith that drove the settlers who came from around the world in search of a better life. They were people who were willing to take on any job to build a decent life for their families. All of their stories live on inside us. And the power of their example must sustain us for the task ahead.

Our state may be small, but our ambitions have never been. Our challenges are great, and our obstacles are many, but I promise you today that our great state will lead again.

Rhode Island's best days are still ahead of us. Let us today begin that journey to a better future. Let's get this right. Because even if Fitzgerald was wrong about second chances, he was right that we only get one chance to live the life we are given. Our time here is so short. And Rhode Island is so extraordinary.

The founders of this lively experiment believed so much in optimism and human potential that they gave the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations a very short motto: hope.

But mindful of the Book of Hebrews, they also connected this hope to the more grounded symbol of the anchor, reflecting an essential strength and realism that has always guided us, even as our ship of state has sailed for daring new horizons.

I might imagine Roger Williams reading his bible as he conceived his lively experiment and coming across this passage from the Book of Hebrews: "we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul."

With inspiration from our past, and confidence in our future, let us all walk together, with sure and steadfast steps, toward the promise of tomorrow.

Thank you.

As, I assume, is the case with the rest of Rhode Islanders, I am not happy with the current position of our state.  We are not where we should be, and worse than that we are lagging behind our neighbors in New England.  It's time to right the ship.  Hopefully, our newly elected officials will help us to do that.

HOPE,

Pete