The brave volunteers who jumped in the icy water
Late at night thirty Americans gathered around the edge of a small river somewhere in the woods outside of Rive. We were in the sanatorium Prolisok for the biannual language refresher, but we stood by the river to celebrate a Ukrainian holiday commemorating Christ’s baptism.
Traditionally, Ukrainians havewater blessedand bring it to their home. They also bathe themselves in rivers and streams, believing that jumping into the freezing water will give them good luck for the rest of the year. A few of the boldest volunteers decided that they would give it a try as well.
As they made their way out the hole that someone else had cut through the six-inch ice, the rest of us standing on the hill wondered if it was really a good idea to jump in. The first volunteer jumped in and was pulled out of the shallow water.
Laura gets ready to jump into the hole in the ice.
As they got out and started drying off they each shared the same sentiment. That they instantly regretted that decision. I stood on the shore watching as seven different volunteers plunged into the water. I didn’t care what they said, I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my towel or a change of clothes to the river and shivering in the cold as I dripped dry wasn’t my idea of a good time. Still, I enjoyed taking an evening off and celebrating the holiday with my friends.
My friends from training gather around a table during our last morning in Prolisok.
The whole adventure started with a midnight journey halfway across the country. I planned to get on a 2:30 a.m. bus that would take me straight to Rivne without any stops. I had asked the woman at the station earlier that day if the bus would be running. She told me that she couldn’t give me any information because it was a night bus. Unfortunately, the bus never came so I had to travel through Kyiv.
After about 9 hours, I arrived at the Rivne bus station. Usually, Peace Corps sends a vehicle to pick up volunteers as they arrive in town. A quick phone call told me that the van should arrive in about half an hour. I began to look for the other volunteers I would be traveling with.
Five us stood outside the bus station waiting for our transportation for about an hour and a half. Finally, the driver came and found us. Instead of the normal Peace Corps van, they sent the Peace Corps safari car. Instead of regular seats facing forward, the only seats were two long benches along either end of the car. We piled in, sharing seatbelts, and threw our bags in the middle. It was a comfortable ride until we stopped at the train station and picked up another six volunteers. In true Peace Corps style, we piled our bags to the ceiling, sat on top of each other and rode for an hour to the sanatorium.
The rest of the week was filled with classes during the day and playing games late into the night with friends. The weather was perfect and the last night there a beautiful blanket of snow gave us a beautiful sendoff.
TJ Wasik
January 31, 2011
It’s too bad you didn’t have a chance to go in the water, it’s so much fun to plunge into freezing water. We do it every year hear as a fundraiser for the Special Olympics.