I’m not going to lie; I’m in no sensible condition to form sentences right now. I’m currently struggling with a staggering deficit of sleep (a generously estimated 6 hours of the past 72),& a swimming surplus of emotions as I wait out my 4 hour layover in the Frankfurt airport McDonald’s. I’ll try to beckon [...]
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That’s just about what I’m working with right now. In less than that amount of time I’ll have left Yampil & with it the smiling faces of students, friends, and colleagues that I have come to love. In exactly that time I’ll be on an electrychka heading to Morozivka for one last potato-filled visit with [...]
At exactly this time next month I’ll be throwing mad bows & skipping off the plane before collapsing on the shiny linoleum of O’Hare in search of the optimal angle for kissing the floor. Isn’t that a pretty picture? Dignity & sheer delight don’t often coexist in my world, & something tells me I’ll be [...]
I feel like every single entry as of late starts with me marveling over how little time I have left, so I’ll try to spare you all of the “whoa” & “I just can’t believe it”s today as a special treat. Rest assure I’m feeling them though, especially when clarity sneaks up on me like [...]
Exactly two years ago today I left Home. I trudged through O’Hare in full sobs painfully aware of everything I was leaving outside the automatic doors, weighed down not just with the burden of goodbye, but physically with suitcases containing 700 some days worth of essentials. The thought alone still makes my stomach turn, & [...]
Months. Total. As in two months until my time on this crazy beautiful Peace Corps adventure is up. Just two months. Can you tell I’m having trouble grasping that? I will officially touch down in Chi-town on the afternoon of November 17 but our last few days in country have to be spent finishing up [...]
Photos by Alei Cook, Aug 28, 2011 – Making the most of our last summer in Ukraine. Hooray for Last Hurrahs, posted with vodpod
Proceed with caution, this sucker is lengthy. Really, probably more detailed than anyone other than Ash or I would hope, but we packed so much into just 2 weeks & in the wise words of Aerosmith (gag me) I don’t want to miss a thing. The Reader’s Digest version would be London was lovely, Paris [...]
Sorry for the sudden leave of absence. I’ve been kicking it like a kid in camp, & for all their merits third graders are notoriously bad at blog updating. It’s not for lack of hot weather happenings to update you on though. My regression into childhood has included days of turning cartwheels into a pool, [...]
Sorry for the sudden leave of absence. I’ve been kicking it like a kid in camp, & for all their merits third graders are notoriously bad at blog updating. It’s not for lack of hot weather happenings to update you on though. My regression into childhood has included days of turning cartwheels into a pool, [...]
I witnessed my last Last Bell ceremony early this morning & am now officially on Summer Vacay. Hence two posts in one week. So it begins. Summer days, while often schedule-less, are still worlds better than their cold weather counterparts as I’m able to type this sitting on a bench in the schoolyard outside in [...]
At exactly this time last week I was shoveling in my last plate full of spicy Turkish vegetables at a breakneck speed in order to make it on time to what would turn out to be my first of two accidental group dates for the evening. In other words, vacation was fun. The secret to [...]
…includes a beach, a birthday, & some big decisions. I’m within my last few days of being 23 & pretty excited for the shift I feel coming up. I’m bummed that I’ll no longer be able to sing along with Coolio during the “I’m 23 now but will I live to see 24″ part [...]
We came, we saw, we…well, OK we didn’t conquer but we also didn’t get last place so I’m counting it as a win. I’m happy to report that I’ve officially completed a running event & not only am I still breathing, but it was also a ton of fun. Who knew? The weekend in Beregovo [...]
Travel season is upon us at last & I am packed & ready to go. The span between Easter & the end of the school year is marked by consecutive long weekends thanks to holidays celebrating pretty much anything & everything. In Peace Corps volunteer code that means “It’s train time”. Last weekend’s adventure took [...]
This week’s post is dedicated in remembrance of Miss Madison Jean, my loyal friend, entertainment, foot warmer & truly the best dog a girl could ask for. After 17 years she’s as much a part of most of my childhood memories as Lukie, so letting her go is hard & weird from afar. That being [...]
Or” breakfast?”or “lunch?” for that matter are questions that I very rarely ask. As I’ve lamely admitted before, due to limitations in budget, convenience & culinary creativity I usually make the same meals day in & day out. While I realize it makes me sound like a bit of a drone, I’m pretty content with [...]
OK, here’s the thing: nothing all that interesting has happened since my last post, but I suck at journaling & am starting to feel the need for documentation of the daily in & outs of my time here, so I’m contemplating updating this weekly regardless. Which basically sounds like quantity over quality for my own [...]
But sadly not like Lil Wayne. Last week’s excitement over starting the job search may have been in vain as I think I’ve accidentally stumbled upon a potentially lucrative & rewarding career. My calling may in fact be to bring rain to desert areas thus enabling abundant growth & eradicating a little thing called hunger. [...]
While making breakfast this morning I glanced out the window & had to pause for a moment to figure out what was wrong with the picture. The months of winter have apparently made me grow accustomed to the blanket of grimy snow as its reappearance today didn’t even seem like an obvious change. Realizing that [...]
Recently spotted in Yampil: the lanky American meandering around the perimeter of town with her headphones. That sounds a little creepy, but I was quite thrilled that today’s sunny, warm weather made my podcast accompanied walks possible again. Aside from the chance to escape the confines my apartment & catch up with church services & [...]
It’s a big day today. Friday the 18th of February, 2011 is the long awaited milestone in my Peace Corps journey whereby I would no longer be able to go through a whole pregnancy away from home. Get excited. I should probably clarify that this was never a fear or even option before. The smoking [...]
Oh what a difference a few weeks make. The days following my return to Ukraine dragged along in a rather brutal bout of homesickness, but luckily I only made it to Day 7 of the ’10 Day Rule’ before I started to feel like myself again. Now almost a month out it’s much easier to [...]
Last month was bursting at the seams with so much potential for quality time with loved ones that wasting time on something as solitary as updating this wasn’t even a consideration. At the risk of sounding bratty, I am NOT sorry for the delay. Home was everything I had hoped & more. I was surrounded [...]
The waiting game is still in session but this week has brought even more nice surprises to ease the anticipation. I made it through Thanksgiving largely due to an hour or so on Skype and much-appreciated calls and emails from home. I can’t say I missed the turkey, but the selfish little kid in me [...]
Mrs. Klein- this one’s for you. I don’t have a whole lot to update you all on, but ’tis the season to be thankful, and with a mere 19 days until the Big Day I am feeling nothing but gratitude as of late to share. I think my residual good mood from the upcoming reunion [...]
It seems as though Ukraine has anticipated my upcoming visit home, is worried (like some of the teachers at school) that I won’t come back, & has adjusted accordingly by making my world remarkably livable as of late. The cold spell that had me fearing the worst has been replaced by a lovely, light-jacket autumn, [...]
56 days away from the best Christmas Break ever But who’s counting? It’s been a fairly anecdote-free few weeks so this will be a post for the visual learners. PC volunteers spend a sizable percentage of their time in transit & I just happened to find an informative little video detailing my personal favorite [...]
Ukrainians heart holidays, that much I know is true. Any opportunity to break out the valeyky stil (big table) and wine shots is openly welcomed which means that the standard bank holidays are supplemented with celebrating many a random category. There are ‘Name Days’ for every Sasha, Dasha and Pasha. For the sake of inclusion [...]
350 hours on public transport. 11 disco adventures. 258 Skype calls. 200 hours learning Ukrainian. 1.25 times through the Bible. 37 trips to the well to fetch water. 9 host family celebrations. 700 bananas eaten. 338 nights spent sleeping on a couch. 4 countries visited. 344 lessons taught. 15 pounds gained & lost. How do [...]
Rumor has it they’re the ‘tools of the Devil’ so my last few weeks have been filled with more attempts to avoid them. Feeling unproductive & far away led me to research many an option for trying to turn my free-time into something a little more beneficial. After failed forays into at-home Yoga Certfication programs [...]
I’m typing sandwiched between an oriental rug hanging on the wall and two Soviet-era televisions facing each other across the room which, as those of you who’ve Skyped with me surely know, means I’m back in my apartment. The bus from camp made it to good ole Yampil Sunday night so I’ve had the last [...]
Dear Readers, I’m embracing my inner twelve year old and drawing on every movie portrayal of summer sleepaway camp (mostly Parent Trap & It Takes Two) as I ‘write’ this letter home. Summer in Ukraine, aside from being beautiful, hot, & abundantly generous with fresh produce, is filled with summer camps. For kids this means [...]
Very quick update as I wait for my 16 hour train ride to my third camp of the summer. After the glorious that was Europe I strategically planned to fill up my time bouncing from one camp to another which has proven to be great for fending off the post-vacay homesickness but not so hot [...]
26 hours on a ferry from Corfu, Greece to Venice, Italy have provided us with ample time to log Mom’s second leg of the trip. Knowing us, this will probably have to cover the rest as I’m guessing we’ll be a little too sad to type from here on out. Lots & lots of great [...]
Sorry for the delay. I’ve been basking in the opportunity to talk to someone other than myself & have not wanted to spend one nanosecond at the computer. Now en route from Florence to Rome we happened upon a train that has not only individual seats but even a power cord rendering my laptop usable [...]
After a slightly grueling two weeks of mandatory but irritatingly ambiguous & under-regulated testing school is essentially out for summer I say essentially because we still have two weeks of ‘practicum’ which from what I can gather is kind of like summer camp where students only have to show up for 3-4 hours & have [...]
It might be a little late for an addendum to my baby book, but I’ve had another first: ushering in a year in a foreign land. My birthday was yesterday & to be honest I was planning on being a very reluctant reveler. As recently as Thursday in fact, I intended to boycott my birthday [...]
Today’s edition of the ‘Good News Weekly’ includes a wonderful discovery I made in the freezer of a small store this afternoon. Nestled in next to the carb explosions (dumplings stuffed with rice) and raw sausages, I found a drumstick type ice cream cone but instead of ice cream it has chocolate-cherry yogurt. I think [...]
On yet another walk around town today I did a little inventory of my current knowledge. I’m reminded pretty daily of what I don’t know: Ukrainian, the reasoning behind English grammar rules, how to convince people that I’m well fed/not cold/ect. While that list could continue for a depressingly long time, I also couldn’t help [...]
And with it everyone’s attitude. Strangers are nicer, the population seems to have tripled & I’m watching a beautiful sunset over the hills now at 8:00 pm. As a temporary citizen of Yampil I’m following suit & am happy to report having many a ‘I like Ukraine’ day as of late. The ankle length parka [...]
Christ is risen, yes indeed He is risen A week ago we celebrated the only Ukrainian holiday that I had really heard anything about, Easter, & that was the common greeting for the day (much easier to pronounce in English, btw). Pre-departure I knew alarmingly little about this country, but after a trip [...]
So one of the biggest changes in the last 6 months (yes, I made it to the 6 month mark ) is the amount of time I spend alone. Between the constant companionship that college provided & the endless joys of living with 2 little brothers & 2 dogs, days to myself were [...]
OK, so technically not all of my children but some of them at least. Darling, huh? I really do get a huge kick out of them & am so glad to be teaching 3 groups of 5th graders who haven’t yet decided that they’re too cool to unabashedly give each other high fives when I [...]
To all of those reading this who happen to be women, I congratulate you and give to you wishes of health and happiness. I feel it’s only right for you to hear this sweet but strange offering as I heard it non-stop this week in honor of International Women’s Day. This ‘global celebration of women’ [...]
As yet another addition to the growing ‘Things I Never Thought I’d Hear Myself Say 5 Months Ago’ list, I really love McDonalds. I’m at the tail end of a weekend in Vinnitsia (our closest city) and have been surprised, albeit pleasantly, to find just how many of my needs this fast food haven has [...]
Necessary precursor: I am fine & typing this sitting in a warm chair in my apartment. Reason for the precursor: I walked home from school today to see a crowd of people watching my apartment building & a fire truck that looked straight out of the 1930s. Everyone was of course gaping in the direction [...]
Happy Valentine’s Day I’ve developed a slight phobia of holidays as they seem to have potential to increase the homesickness factor, but luckily I think it’s just another unfounded fear because all is well. The kiddos gave me all sorts of cards with various creative ways of spelling my name (Alie, Elly, ect).
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How’s that for a self-explanatory title. I’ve been told that people are in the dark about the mechanics of my bathing process & am a little uneasy with all of the speculation, so consider this a tell-all. In an attempt to provide honest reporting while making a dent in my looming laundry task, [...]
One of the most common pre-departure conundrums I faced was convincing people that Ukraine is not Siberia despite the surprisingly prevalent association. I can just hear myself smugly saying “It’s actually warmer than Illinois” completely believing that to be the case. A few months later I now know not to say anything with even a [...]
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