Resolution или зарок

Just a few days ago, I decided to make a promise to myself and to some of my friends in Ukraine. That is, you will never again read the phrase "sorry I haven't written in so long" or any other similar phrase in any of my e-mails. This means that I will reply quickly, within a day or two, to all e-mails sent to me. There! It's been said.

Несколько дней назад, я пообещал себе и друзьям в Украине, что я больше не буду писать по электронной почте фразу «извини за то, что давно не пишу». Это обещание значит, что на каждый имэйл, который мне посилают, я буду отвечать за один-два дня. Вот и всё!!

Now I'll write a little update on my situation here in Chicago. First of all, I'm no longer a plague to my friend Katie, and I've found my own place. I found a guy online who was looking for a new roommate. The price was good (not too high) and when I met Nate, he seemed like a decent fellow. He also said he was rarely home, a quality many people find highly desirable in a roommate, since it creates the illusion (most of the time) that you live by yourself, while paying only half the rent. Another thing that caught my eye was the apartment's location. It's in the part of Chicago known as Ukrainian Village. This interested me for obvious reasons. I'll admit, I'm probably in the northwest corner of Ukrainian Village, barely in it, though there are a number of Poles, Russians and Ukrainians on my street. However, I'd say the majority of people in my little area are Hispanic, either from Mexico or Puerto Rico. Overall, I'm very happy with my new home. I'm also closer to a good friend of mine, Ryan. I'll be happier when I have more steady income.

А сейчас я Вам расскажу какие у меня новости, как моя жизнь в Чикаго изменилась. Важнее всего то, что я больше не живу у друга, Кати, как будто я ей какая-то болезнь. Нет. Я нашёл через Интернет парнья, каторый искал нового товарища по квартире. Арендная плата, написана в рекламе, была не очень высокая. И когда познакомился с Нэйтом, я понял, что он славный человек. Кроме того, он сказал мне, что он редко дома. Понимаете, многие люди считают, что это хорошо потому, что такое положение позволует человеку думать, что он живёт один. Можно так думать, и платить поменьше. Также меня интересовал район, где квартира находится. Она находится в этой части Чикаго, которую знают как «Украинская деревня». Очевидно, почему меня это интересовало. Но лучше сказать, что я едва в Украинской деревне. Мой дом стоит в самом северно-западном углу деревни. Есть на моей улице несколько поляков, русских, и украинцев, но большинство жителей из Мексики или Пуэрто-Рико. Вообще я довольно счастлив с том, как всё получилось. Теперь я ближе к хорошой мне знакомой, Раян. Буду даже счастливее, когда я буду получать регулярно больше зарплаты. ;-)


As far as the job search goes, I'm still looking, though it's looked a little more hopeful recently. Since moving to Chicago, I've volunteered some at citizenship workshops, where immigrants can come and get assistants with starting the application process of becoming U.S. citizens. At one of these, I met a woman who works with the AssociationHouse of Chicago, an organization that does a lot of work with the Hispanic immigrant community in Chicago. It's also located just a few minutes from my apartment. Well, this woman told me that there was an opening there and that she thought I would be very good in it. To make a long story short, this, in the end, did not work out, but it was still exciting to actually make a useful contact and apply for the position. I think she had been a bit misinformed, because I'm pretty sure the position had already been filled when I sent over my application. Oh well. My other bright news is that I had an interview with Rotary International. The position I appliеd for is as a Grant Coordinator. If I were to get that job, I'd be reviewing grants and helping people around the world successfully complete the grant-submission process in the area of disaster relief. The woman I interviewed with was very straight-forward in saying that the position is pretty much a "desk job" where you're pushing paper from one side of the desk to the other. Basically, I wouldn't be directly involved in changing the world which would be much more exciting and rewarding. BUT, this job could be a good starting point, or entry position, for someone like me who just getting involved in the non-profit sector. There's also a pretty good benefits package, including tuition reimbursement. We'll see. And I'll keep you updated. I left the interview with the impression that they will probably call me to schedule a second interview. Again, we'll see. In the meantime, I've come across two more open positions that look interesting to me. One is connected to the Art Institute of Chicago and the other is with the National Breast Cancer Organization in Chicago.

I hope all of you are doing well. Happy Father's Day!! I promise to post more soon, and I'll put up a Russian language version of this entry. Пока!!