Yesterday, I was walking home from school and a man that I don't know & doesn't know me stopped me and told me that I NEED to wear a hat. It is strange to me that someone would go out of their way to look out for a stranger. That would never happen in America.

I thought it was pretty warm compared to last week but I just got a call that it's too frosty and there will be no school until Monday!! (today is Tuesday).

"Ukraine's cold snap death toll rises to 63"

Sixty-three people have frozen to death in Ukraine over the period of severe frost, with 41 dying on the streets, eight in hospital and 14 at home, the press service of the Ukrainian Emergency Situations Ministry reported on Thursday.

Over the last six days, 1,146 people have sought medical aid for hypothermia or frostbite, and 945 of them have been hospitalized.

Hospitals were told not to discharge homeless patients even if their treatment was finished to save them from the cold

Overnight temperatures sank as low as minus 33 degrees Celsius (minus 27 Fahrenheit).

Some experts suggested the high death toll from the cold was linked to authorities' unwillingness and incompetence in dealing with the homeless.

Cold deaths were also reported in Poland, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria.

On another note. "February" in Ukrainian is translated literally to "misery." It is so cold! In Ukraine, if the weather is 20 degrees or more below zero the schools have to close. So, the good news about it being this cold is that I am on a mini vacation. No school Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday!

On my five minute walk to school today my hands were frozen, my nose was running, and my face was numb. We are going to have a shortened day at school tomorrow because it is so cold.

xo MelRose

Today I had a conversation with my neighbor in Russian. A REAL conversation. I understood everything and he even told me that he could understand me too. I walked away from that convo with a smile, which quickly vanished as I walked into a classroom of 12 screaming 10 year olds. Just kidding, even teaching today wasn't so bad.

xo MelRose

Today at school I was standing waiting for something with Alina. All of a sudden I turn my head to the right and two little girls are sitting there taking a picture of me with there camera phones. It was strange. Poor movie stars. I feel there pain. Then Alina started yelling at them saying she'll tale there phone away, they aren't supposed to have it at school, etc. Then the girls faces turned from smiles to shamefull pouts. Hopefully they learned a lesson.

xo MelRose

London was amahzing! I already want to go back. If you're ever in London go to Camden Town! It was so much fun. I think being in London made me even more home sick. I'm so home sick that I am literally sitting here on google maps looking at all the streets as if I was back home driving around. Getting on the plane from my connection in Paris to London was overwhelming. Everyone was speaking English and I couldn't contain myself. I walked and talked to my connection gate with a guy who was on both of my flights. And then, on my flight to London I talked the whole time to the guy sitting next to me. And actually, they were both really interesting. The first guy was French (I die.), but too bad he had a girlfriend. Ugh! I can't wait to be back home!! But anyway, London. I met up with Tiffany and her boyfriend (who is from Liverpool) and we did some major site seeing. We did a lot. We saw the Tower, London Bridge, the Queen, Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, National Galley (Van Gough, what upp!), Camden Town, Ice Bar, ate CHIPOTLE, and shopped of course. We also went to the Abbey Road crossing and that was awesome but finding it was half the fun. We decided not to ask directions because is seemed like a no brainer, seeing as how one of the tube stops is named "Abbey Road." We went to that stop and it was in the middle of no where. We asked a man working at a chemist shop if he knew where it was. He laughed at us. When we finally found it, it was dark but never the less we walked across it, many times, taking pictures, and getting honked at because it's a busy street. In the hotel I stayed at the night before my flight back to Ukraine, I took a long, long, long, hot shower, and had the best sleep of my life. I also did some grocery shopping to bring back food and tasting cheddar cheese again was like a bit of heaven. The weather was beautiful for the most part, the company was fabulous, the food was great, and I couldn't have asked for a better vacation.

xo MelRose

Today I have decided to write about my day. Just a random day while I live in Ukraine.

Today I woke up at 7:00 and got ready to go to work. I sipped my coffee, ate my banana, and I was out the door at 7:50 and in the classroom at 8:00. Today I taught 5 classes.

First, I had the 5th grade for two lessons back-to-back. Most of the children in this class are capable but it is a class full of boys. In case you didn't know, boys are much more rowdy than girls. A lot of the lesson is me, or the other teacher Zhenia, yelling at them to be quite and punishing them by making them stand during the lesson. Often, the girls in the class yell at the boys to shut up too. At the end of the second lesson, I heard some of the pupils singing "Let it Snow," which is the Christmas song I taught them last week.

After that class, I went home for a break until my next class at 11:15. During my break I came home and made some phone calls and checked emails. I am trying to get started on a project with my school regarding AIDS/HIV in Ukraine, so I worked on that a little bit.

At 11:15 I went to my next class, 8th grade, where Alina handed me the bus ticket she helped buy for me so that I can go celebrate Christmas with my American friends in another city (it was expensive, 119UAH). Before the lesson ended I waited for the previous one to finish, which was 2nd grade. I saw the teacher get mad at student for not sitting and the teacher threw the pupil's backpack across the room. I couldn't help but laugh. 8th form was boring because it is the end of the semester so the pupils are doing controlled work (aka finals), even though it is more like group work because they all talk and copy each other.

After 8th I went straight to my 4th form class. I talked with them for a bit: "What day is it today?" "What is the date today?" "What is the month?" "What is the weather like?" "Do you like the weather today?" etc. After that I went to another 4th grade class to teach them a Christmas song. I taught them Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I think they liked it. I learned from Tonya (the other teacher) that the only difference between Ukraine's Father Frost and American's Santa Claus is that Santa Claus wears a shorter jacket than Father Frost.

After that, I went straight to my 3rd grade class and my last class for the day. I teach this class with Alina and today we taught them the Christmas song Jingle Bells. Last week, I taught them Santa, Santa, High in the Sky (a British song I think) and Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

After the lesson Alina told me about a celebration the teachers will have at a cafe next week. It is at the same café where Alina’s wedding reception was. Alina told me she wasn't going to go because it is expensive but the principal is making all primary school teachers go. She also told me that I don't have to go if I don't want to because every dish will have meat or mushrooms; the two things I hate. I asked if it would be rude if I didn't go and she said it wouldn't be rude because it's expensive and I am not eating anything. But then her mom came in the classroom and asked if I was going. Alina said no and her mom was disappointed, so I changed my mind. I want to go anyway. I only have one year left in Ukraine and I want to spend as much time as I can with my wonderful Ukrainian colleagues. I got home around 2:00, ate lunch, vegged out, took a shower, laundry, and now I'm going to relax, have dinner, skype with my family, and hopfully fall asleep by 10:00.

xo MelRose

http://www.economist.com/node/21541092

AIDS in Ukraine:

December 1, 2011

TODAY is World AIDS day. And once again, UNAIDS's annual report shows that the situation in eastern Europe and central Asia is dreadful, offsetting some progress in Africa. Ukraine's HIV infection rate, 1.3% of over-15s, is the worst in Europe. Ukraine and Russia account for 90% of all HIV cases in the region. Fewer than one-fifth of Ukrainian HIV patients receive anti-retroviral treatment. Botswana and Rwanda manage more than 80%.

In both Russia and Ukraine the epidemic is driven by intravenous drug use, with addicts accounting for around half of all cases. Yet the Ukrainian government seems uninterested in prevention programmes. "There's a line in the national AIDS programme budget for prevention," says Andriy Klepikov, head of AIDS Alliance Ukraine, "but its value is set at zero".

Places like the Drop In Centre in Kiev's Holosiiv district are funded by international donors. The centre offers drug users tea, coffee and information, and is a base for harm-reduction initiatives such as itinerant needle exchanges. When I visited, eight patients on the local methadone programme gathered to air their complaints. They're grateful to the centre for providing them with somewhere to sit and chat, they say. They find the atmosphere at the state-run (but foreign-funded) methadone clinic hostile.

"Police are stationed nearby and they regularly search us," says Pavel Kutsev, the centre's chairman, himself an addict of 30 years. Drugs, the group agree, are a cash cow for the corrupt police: they take bribes from those they find in possession, they take a cut from the dealers, or even sell drugs directly. Drug users are also useful scapegoats for other crimes: "If you detain them without access to drugs they will sign any papers you want," says Kostiantyn Pertsovskyi at AIDS Alliance.

It's not exactly heroin that most Ukrainian addicts use, but rather cheaper liquid opiates made in the country. These are more dangerous than straight heroin: even if the syringes are clean, the liquid itself may be contaminated with HIV thanks to dirty equipment used by the dealers, or sometimes deliberate use of blood as a mixer.

So "substition therapy"—weaning users off opiates and on to controlled alternatives like methadone—is clearly crucial to reducing the risk of infection. But aside from the discouraging atmosphere at methadone centres, the programme is, participants say, half-baked. There is no co-ordination between methadone distribution and anti-retroviral treatment, notes Mr Kutsev. Patients are sometimes forced to make long and expensive journeys across Kiev.

Moreover, without the prospect of proper rehabilitation, methadone can be a life sentence. "My daughter injects drugs", says Oksana, a patient at the clinic, "but I would advise her not to go on methadone. The drugs she could potentially quit, but not this."

Yet funding for alternatives is a distant dream. Ukraine's government has recently agreed a co-funding deal with the Global Fund, an international organisation, worth $85m over the next two years, but AIDS Alliance says that the government's bit will be spent almost entirely on medical treatment rather than prevention. "They usually procure medicines at a higher price than they need to," says Mr Klepikov. His (widely shared, if unproven) suspicion is that kickbacks are at work.

The rate of new HIV infections in Ukraine is stabilising: it was up this year, but only by 1%. This improvement is largely the result of prevention programmes, says Mr Klepikov, who laments the lack of funding for such schemes. Another annual report published this week may help explain Ukraine's performance on HIV/AIDS. Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index showed Ukraine slipping 18 places to 152nd out of 183 countries.

"Black Friday reminds me of everyday during soviet times." -Tonya

about one time when one of her students needed her help filling out paper work to travel abroad and the student told her he didn't understand why they wanted to know about his 'sex.' When she looked at the paper the student had answered it with, "once a week."

and it, like all other seasons, arrived abruptly. I can't believe it's already winter. Summer flew by so so so fast and, for some reason, so did October. On Monday it was raining leaves and now all of the trees are bald. Walking to work I couldn't see the pavement under my feet; only leaves. This summer I did a lot of traveling. I can add 7 countries to the list of places I've been (Unless I count airports, then it's more). And I just have to wait a little longer until I meet Tiffany in London! This summer, I worked at an amazing summer camp (see below post) and have since started planning a summer camp for Zaporizhzhya with the other volunteers in the city. I went to the last camp in the Sumska Oblast with other volunteers that live near me and we all just got so inspired to start one close to our city so that the children at our schools can experience it. All of the kids at the Sumska oblast camp loved it so much that the few students that I brought from my school already have been asking me when the next one will be. It's an awesome feeling.

This picture doesn't really do the massive amount of leaves justice. Here you can see children raking and burning the leaves:

A couple weeks ago I went to my friend, Alina's, wedding. It was so much fun and so interesting seeing all of the Ukrainian wedding traditions. It started at her house at 8:30am. He fiancé came and had to buy his bride from the family and friends with chocolate, champagne, etc. Then after all of the "tests" he got his bride and the drinking of vodka began. We went to the ceremony where we took pictures and she signed the marriage certificate. Then, we drove to 3 different monuments in the city and while the bride and groom took pictures the rest of us drank and ate. Finally, we went to the reception at the cafe and all hell broke loose. It was awesome.

At the ceremony:

Me and the designated vodka pourers:

Yesterday, I recieved my care package from my family filled with so much goodness (MUSTARD!!):

My package was the perfect present to acknowledge that I am half way done living here. Like I said, it's gone by so fast but I do really miss home. I turned on my Michael Buble christmas album and opened the delicious package.

I love my life.

xo MelRose

Who would've thought I would ever be responsible for children for several days, and actually have fun doing it? Camp was so rewarding. I got involved in this camp through the working group I'm in, called MAC. MAC stands for Multicultural Awareness Council and our camp is called Camp Unity. We try to teach the kids about different cultures and how to have an open mind. For the most part, the kids were open minded which lead to a successful camp. The only bad thing were all the mosquito bites. Before this camp I knew I wanted to try to organize a camp in the oblast I live in and after this camp me and my fellow PCVs (in my oblast who were also at Camp Unity) were totally inspired. So, I now have that to look forward too for next summer.

After camp, I came home and was without electricty for about 24 hours. It started to get pretty boring so I made my friends hang out with me. Aw man, the hardships of peace corps.

in Kyiv & it was refreshing. I had some fun hanging out and meeting other pcvs. Although, there was a lot of dancing and singing which I wasn't too fond of. It was like being back in summer camp. After the refresher, I headed to Odessa with about 10 other volunteers. I stayed in Odessa for just one night and I wish I had stayed longer because Odessa is amazing. There was even a mexican restaraunt where I got to eat a quesadilla for the first time in almost a year (whoa, that's weird to say/write; I've been away for almost a year. Intense). I also ate the best falefel sandwich in Odessa. After Odessa, Linda had a thai food party at her place in Zap. That was delicious and very filling. And yesterday I watched my friend, Jakob, jump off of a bridge. I've heard of bungee jumping, but doing it in Ukraine, I was a little skeptical. But he lived to see another day. Also, yesterday was my father's birthday. He turned the big 6-0. So sad I couldn't be there to celebrate but I'm sure he had a great night with my mother and his friends!

xo MelRose

where Khortitsya vodka is produced. Supposedly, the owner of the factory also owns Absolut and Smirnoff. In Ireland I went to distilleries and breweries but it wasn't a tour of where they actually make the alcohol. This tour was of the actual factory. We got to see the lab and where they bottle the vodka. The room where they bottle it was the coolest part but I would not like to work in that room. It was a really huge, loud room where I saw a few girls whose jobs were to sit and stare at the bottles to make sure nothing goes wrong. We got to taste some vodka and then we got a free little bottle of it. The best part was that the whole thing was free and we can go back every week for free, if we wanted to.

GRAPES; they're everywhere!:

Apricot:

Apple:

Black/Redberry:

Pear:

Plum & I don't know what these little things are called:



in the last 24 hours. Last night, someone threw a few apricots at my window as I was skyping with Ashley, which scared the living shit out of me each time. Today I bought something to go over my windows so that hopefully nobody can see through my curtains now. 2nd thing: before I went shopping today, I pulled some cash out of the ATM and left my card in the machine. That was a pain to take care of. And I've always thought to myself, whenever I pull cash out, how stupid someone would have to be to leave their card. HA, I showed me!

ok, now lets see, I now have in my garden: apricot tree, apple, pear, plum, grape, blackberry, and something else but i'm not sure what they are called; it's like a grape but way smaller. Whenever I'm hungry I just pop outside and grab a snack. Or if I'm walking around I can pretty much just grab a snack anywhere because everyone has fruit trees. But I don't do that because, unlike my Ukrainian friends, I need to wash my fruit.

are awesome. I went to the beach a few days ago and it was so much fun. It's not like California beaches; more like Mexico. Beer & food tents everywhere, water slides right on the beach, men in speedos, and girls in thongs.

I went to the beach with my fellow volunteer friend, & she was telling me how she wants to do an environmental project for her community. Originally, she was thinking about attaching trash cans to all of the bus stops. But, her Ukrainian friend said it would not be a good idea because people will steal the trash cans to sell the metal for money for alcohol. That's why all of the bus stops don't have benches anymore as well. I guess in the states instead of metal, it would be plastic? No, but really, it's crazy what some people will do for a buzz.

xo MelRose

Idiots with Zoe Saldana & Kate Bosworth from Zoe Saldana

I've been going to a bunch of museums lately and I was thinking about stealing an audio guide, so i'm sure glad I watched this video first:

Audio Tour with Will Forte & Erinn Hayes from John Francis Daley

and I just realized it when my mom was here. She pointed out how strange it is that the bus drivers in Ukraine have a button to open the door to let people in but use a seat belt tied to the door handle to pull the door shut.

xo MelRose

Hold up. Is Marc Jacobs trying to start a skirt for men? I'm not sure how I feel about this:

Fourth of July is coming up, everyone. Everybody got their America hats on? Great. Fantastic. I bet it looks very flattering and cool. Anyway, Independence Day. Let's all honor our nation by going to a barbecue and eating overcooked hamburgers and waiting for our turn in the kiddie pool that our friend owns despite not having any children.

Also avoid these people:

1. Guy who announces he's made a "killer playlist" on his iPod but it's really just a collection of the same Sublime and Bob Marley songs he brings every year.

2. Guy who acts like he hasn't heard Bob Marley or Sublime in years and thus encourages the creator of that playlist.

3. Guy who won't shut up during the fireworks.

4. Guy who keeps talking about how the girls want to play Slip-n-Slide even though no girls have arrived yet. 5. Guy who feels the need to play bartender despite the only drink options being beer and the hose.

6. Girl who unexpectedly dominates in beer pong but doesn't understand the concept of beginner's luck.

7. Guy who brought his acoustic guitar but then acts like he forgot about it. And then when people ask him to get it, he's all like "Oh, don't make me sing." Then he grabs it and plays the opening chords to "Free-Fallin," which of course gets allllll the ladies to swoon, only to stop and say,"You know, I don't think I remember the whole song," when he totally does.

8. Dave.

9. Guy who dressed in red, white, and blue who was a hit at the beginning of the party but feels more and more uncomfortable as the night goes on.

10. Guy who passed out in the kiddie pool way too early in the party, thus ruining it for everyone.

11. Guy who still won't shut up during the fireworks

12. Girl who shows up wearing a bikini despite there not being a pool.

13. If there is a pool, girl who sits at the edge of the pool and then complains when she gets wet.

14. Guy who brings shitty beer, but only drinks the good stuff.

15. Jesus Christ, guy, just shut up and enjoy the fireworks.

16. Girl who says she LOVES flip cup, but then tells you she doesn't drink beer when she plays.

17. The guy who nobody knows.*

*9 times out of 10, this ends up being the host of the party.

& Europe was amazing. Highlights:

Paris- so awesome, I want to go back. I saw Johnny Depps house. Ate two snails. Attended a free wine tasting with real life Parisians.

Italy- most people were rude, except in Venice. I want to go back to Venice. I'm now obsessed with caprese; I ate it everyday and will continue to eat my Ukrainian version.

Ireland- Met many leprechauns; there was even a door for leprechaun staff members in our hotel. Also saw the most red heads that I've ever seen in my life. Had a shot of 12 year old bushmills whiskey and afterwards felt like Kanye West. Most people walking around Dublin were dressed like Where's Waldo. Ireland is a strange place.

I got back to Ukraine and went out for drinks with my American friends. A few times during the night, the waitress came over and said something to us. Each time, we discussed what we were pretty sure she was saying, but looking back, each time I'm pretty sure we were way off. She was probably telling us to leave, but we continued to sit and enjoy ourselves and she didn't ever come to repeat herself. Therefore, I am drawing the conclusion that I pretty much have a VIP pass in Ukraine because Ukrainians assume (probably a right assumption) that I don't understand and just give up not really knowing what else to do or they just don't want to even bother.

Happy 4th tomorrow my fellow Americans.

xo MelRose

relaxing, listening to this man's voice, and everything is groooovy.

Oksana gave me these from her garden &, omg, orgasmic! I hope my brother can try some when he's here in a few days because strawberries are his favorite. Speaking of, I'm too excited for them to get here!!

xo MelRose

because everyone uses it up to water their gardens. Oh well.

xo MelRose

in Ukraine. It's been busy and so culturally eventful. I have finished my first semester of being an English teacher. Teaching was hard, stressful, frustrating, but in the end so rewarding. I am in a great place right now and love what I am doing.

Tuesday- There was a fair at school. A bunch of tables were set up outside with the students and parents selling things from food to plants. I bought the most delicious blitz ever, with cheese and raisons. I almost went back for another but then it started to rain.

Wednesday- The students played games and hung out outside.

Thursday- Each grade has a ceremony and I went to the fourth grade ceremony. The students were so cute. The principal handed out awards and the children sang songs.

Friday- Today was what they call "The Last Bell." It was basically a ceremony for all of the students and a graduation for the 11th grade. There was singing, dancing, and 11th grade girls crying. One of my 11th graders gave me roses, which was so sweet. After the ceremony, all of the school staff went up to the nature to just hang out. We went somewhere about 20 minutes outside of the city into the woods and the spot was right on the Dnipro River. It was beautiful. We were actually hanging out at Yura's cabin. It was fun hanging out with all of the teachers singing, dancing, playing games, relaxing, eating, and drinking.

I can't wait until tomorrow, which is the party for the 11th graders.

xo MelRose

ps:

Less than 2 weeks until I see my momma and bro!

I downloaded the new Lady Gaga CD & wow, I love it.

will I go on a morning run and see a man herding his goats.