Peace Corps Journals

Freezin' my задницу off over here!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

2012-02-09 22:09:00

It's been a LONG time since I've updated. For awhile, I didn't update because there wasn't anything new to talk about. Then, I didn't update because I was really busy (both good-busy and bad-busy) it was hard to find the time to sit myself down and upload pictures and post something.

It also takes me a long time to post because at least 4-5 times while I'm writing, my thumb slips and hits the touchpad, and before I notice what happened I have already typed a few more words, only to look up and see that I accidentally deleted three or four paragraphs.

But, anyway, the last two weeks I didn't have any excuses- school was closed last week, and the basically this week (school was open but no kids showed up) due to temperatures around -20 to -30 C. It is freakishly, dangerously cold outside.

How cold is it?

Most schools have been closed on quarantine for the past two or three weeks, and some will still be closed next week.

The death toll is over 130, mostly comprised of homeless people. Some died in shelters and hospitals, but 64 bodies have been found just lying in the streets. I can't imagine being stuck outside in this weather.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16817162

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-03/east-europe-freeze-death-toll-exceeds-100-as-towns-blocked.html

An article on bbc (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16868194) has a funny bit at the bottom, where Ukraine's Emergencies Minister, Viktor Baloga, offers some unusual advice to fight the cold:

'His personal advice to keep warm, he added, was to "run 8-10km [5-6 miles] every morning and bathe in cold water, all year round" '

It's so cold that for the first time in 30 years areas of the Black Sea have froze. (Check the link out, the pictures are pretty cool!) Temperatures are supposed to hover around -30 C for this weekend, unfortunately, so it will be a good weekend to get some things done.

The extreme cold seems like it came all-of-the-sudden.. up until a month ago the winter was more like fall/spring- very mild temperatures and no snow; just mud. Lots of mud. Everyday was grey and muddy:

Yuck.

Now it is so cold you don't want to leave your apartment if you can help it.

Pretty! ...and cold.

On thing I'd like to point out from the picture above is that they don't plow the streets or shovel/salt the sidewalks here! Basically, walking paths just get formed from people walking over the snow, over and over again until it gets completely packed down. At which point the walking paths become hard, packed-down snow that is super-slippery. Many volunteers brought "Yak Trax" with them before they came to Ukraine. I scoffed at the idea, but in all honesty they are a terrific idea; these roads and sidewalks are very slippery even if you are just walking.

As for the cars.. well, they also don't plow the roads. It's the same deal that goes for the sidewalks- enough cars drive over the snow on the roads to pack it down until is is hard. And slippery. I was talking to my friend, Kip, about this not too long ago- it is funny to watch them drive on these very slick roads because they definitely slide when they come to a stop, but they KNOW just how far their car will slide until it stops. For example, I'll see a car come to a stoplight, and then the car behind it brakes, and then skids for 5-6 feet until it finally stops at a normal distance behind the first car.

I'm surprised that there aren't more accidents on the roads, but it seems like they are just used to how to drive in these conditions here, and without people plowing the roads.

I thought that the winters here would be similar to ours in Minnesota, but nope. Ukraine wins. Sure, the temp is cold, but the wind is really what puts the icing on the cake. I don't have a long walk to school, maybe 5-10 minutes, but when I arrive there are tears on my face, my nose is beat red, and it takes a few minutes for my mouth to thaw so I can talk normally again.

It has been nice to hang out in the apartment and be able to catch up on reading, study Russian, relax and watch movies. And, of course- sit down, upload all of these pictures and get everyone caught up with what's been going on. I actually have to start back in November (wow, it has been a long time, ha..)

Now that I've talked about what's going on recently, I'll go back to November when I last updated...

Ukrainian Birthday - Nov. 8th

I learned that birthdays are a BIG deal in Ukraine. They are almost like a holiday.

At school, the students and teachers knew it was my birthday, but I wasn't expecting anything. I bought a cake, some juice, and some other treats, and brought everything to school to share with the faculty. As soon as I walked inside the office, they faculty lined up and sang "Happy Birthday" (in English), gave me a little Cossack statue, a cake, and wished me good fortune, health, and love in the next year.

Ola presenting me a Cossack, cake and wishing me well (these kinds of things are awkward for me)

A funny cross-culture difference about photographs:

In America when we see pictures of Eastern Europeans we say things like, "Why don't they ever smile in pictures... are they angry??

When Ukrainians see pictures of us, they say, "Why do Americans always show their teeth in pictures..."

Faculty: "Now we will take a photo of you cutting the cake."
Me: "...ok."

That night I invited my two site mates over, the girls that I work with at a local NGO, and this girl, Yana, who I was dating at the time. Only my site mates and Yana came, and it was a fun/funny time. I mentioned that birthdays are a big deal here, right? Yana showed up looking like she was going to prom. Her hair looked like it took a lot of time to do, she had a very fancy dress on, a very expensive mink coat, and had glitter in her hair and below her neck. Us guys, on the other hand, didn't get the memo and were just wearing jeans and sweatshirts.

Thanksgiving

Since Mattison and I live so close together, the other volunteers in our oblast and us decided to have Thanksgiving here in Konstantinovka. It was nice to see some of the other volunteers who I haven't seen in awhile, and also to meet a few new ones. But the best thing about Thanksgiving was of course, the food!

Group photo! Donetsk Thanksgiving 2011

News Years and Christmas

I was surprised to find out that New Years is a bigger deal here than Christmas. I think it's because religion isn't as big of a deal here, or as I've heard Ukrainians explain (or joke?) that religion died with the soviet union. But the people that do celebrate Christmas, do so on January 7th according to the Gregorian calendar like most Orthodox Christian countries.

New Years in Ukraine is weirdly similar to our Christmas in the states; they have a New Years tree (Christmas tree) and have Father Frost (Santa).

Here are some pictures from our school's New Year's concert:

New Year's tree or "yulka" (юлка)

Some of my 8th form students and their homeroom teacher

Getting ready to do...something....

My 9th and 10th graders performing. Colya is dressed up as Father Frost on the far right.

Poster in our cafeteria

Besides the holiday events at school, they were also keeping me busy at the NGO that I help out at. They talked me into performing again with Anya, this time at the New Years concert at the palace of culture. At first I was a little annoyed because they never asked me, the director just told Anya to tell me what we would be doing. I have told them numerous times that I don't sing or dance, at least not on stage, but I guess in the end it is good publicity. The kids also think it's really cool that I am willing to do perform with them. I never promise them greatness, just that I'll try my best. We never do any complicated dance moves but it's still really hard to memorize!

So without further ado, I give you the second performance by Ukraine's next big power duo, Anya and Joe:

Post-concert (before the paparazzi could mob us)

Our dancers. How 'bout them bows?

After all of the New Years shenanigans were out of the way, I made a trip back to the Kiev area to visit my host family. I had been meaning to visit them for awhile but it is a 14-hour train ride there so it's hard to make that work on a weekend. But, we had two weeks off for winter break so I took the opportunity to head to Obukhiev and get spoiled with good company and home-cooked meals.

Christmas dinner!

Above is a traditional Ukrainian Christmas dinner. Apart from some traditional dishes, it is also customary to set garlic at each corner of the table to keep away bad spirits, and to set an extra plate and glass at the table for those who have passed away and can't be here to celebrate with us. I don't remember the type of candle that is at the table, but is a special kind that is bought at the church. We carried the flame back from the church with us, and a lot of the food that is on the table was blessed by a priest at my host family's church.

I went with my host family to the Christmas service and wow, it was really cool. The church had pained walls and ceilings, and decorated with many old paintings and pictures. There were candles all over the place, and people would come inside and light a candle and sometimes blow one out. I wish that I understood more about what was going on. There were two girls who were on a balcony singing hymns with the priest. It was sort of strange how the service worked- the priest would come in front of everyone and lead a hymn, and then go to the backroom (where there was a huge cross, a bunch of candles... I couldn't see what was back there all too well) for 5-10 minutes, then come back out again. It was a very long service (almost 4 hours) but very interesting at the same time.

Sauteed mushrooms and boiled potatoes

Galuptsi, a traditional Ukrainian dish.

Dumplings

I forgot the name of this, but it is a traditional Christmas dish made with apricots, rice, raisins, and (I think) almonds.

It felt great to go back there. It felt strangely..comfortable. What I mean by that is, the first time that my group and I saw this town was in the middle of the night and we were dropped off with a family we had never met. Everything about this town, and Ukraine in general, was so strange, scary, and ...foreign. Everything we saw was so crazy and different- the marshrutkas, language, clothes, stray animals, the soviet apartment buildings that are stacked together and all look the same, etc. We were afraid to approach people and talk to them (as was our frequent assignments during language training) and it was easy to get lost.

But returning to this place felt very familiar. I've found that over the past 6 months nothing really surprises me much about this place anymore. Hard to explain, I guess, and right now I can't think of any examples. I just know that I feel adjusted and comfortable here, and if I brought friends or family here it would absolutely would trip them out, ha.

Above all things, the best thing about returning to Obukhiev was that I could actually communicate with my family this time! During training we were learning Russian from scratch, so especially for the first month or two it was a lot of "Yes", "No", "Please", and "Thank you" (and a TON of pointing). But I've been keeping up with my Russian and have a tutor so my skills have improved quite a bit. It was awesome to be able to talk to everyone, and they all complimented me on how much better I spoke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From New Years until now I've been teaching my classes and trying to think of a project to do at site. I also had some unpleasant things happen, like either dropping or getting my wallet stolen. It was a pain in the butt to replace the ID card that Peace Corps gave to me because I had to go to the police station and file a report. Then, maybe a week later, some idiot called us and said that he found my wallet and would give it back for 1500 griven. We laughed at him, told him that I am a volunteer and don't have any money and that I already replaced everything in the wallet. Then he offered 1000. Then 800. Then 700. And so on, until we got to 100 griven but then he wanted to do some weird exchange involving a taxi so we wouldn't see his face. We just told the police station what happened, and left it at that. Live and learn, I guess. I was bummed for awhile, but one thing I've learned from my experience is to not sweat the small stuff because things can always be worse.

I also finally broke things off with the Ukrainian girl I was dating, for more than a few reasons. It was a cool experience though.

I guess that's it for now. Well.. I do have a lot of pictures from around town, school, and from when Kip visited this past weekend, but I will wait to post them. he he

Changes are being made in Ukraine!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Let Life Come To You - Dave Bise

2012-02-09 21:48:08

Dear Family and Friends, I am writing you to ask if you can help me fund a grant I have submitted to the Peace Corps Partnership Program. I have the privilege of teaching in Ukraine at the Kazanka Gymnasium and Boarding School. This specialized school instructs 125 students with 60 of the students being residents [...]

Yet more cold

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Hitting the "Reset" Button

2012-02-09 17:52:08

For the first time in 30 years, the Black Sea froze in Ukraine. That’s how cold it is here. What’s been going on since my last post? Well, a friend of mine braved the weather and visited me (a long overdue visit it was, but she had motivation to come, since I had a gift [...]

Surprise package!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine something frosty.

2012-02-09 16:00:00

After work yesterday, I went by the post office with hopes of finding something waiting for me. What I found was a surprise package from my parents that included some Valentine's Day goodies for my kiddos!!!

My kids will sport some Snoopy and friends Valentine's Day cards...

And because no Valentine's Day celebration is complete without these guys: conversation hearts

There were a few other treats in my package...including some pretzel M&Ms (which may or may not already be gone...). AND, some unprepared popcorn!! I'm excited to try making it on my stove :)

Thank you Mom and Pops for the lovely surprise! I was hoping that my kids might get some American treats for V-day! Happy Thursday!

Livin L'viv-a Loca

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Strannik

2011-09-05 09:45:00

After about a bagillion hours on a train, I get into L’viv around mid-day, and Natalia gives me the basic walking tour. L’viv is AMAZING. I mean, this is a beautiful city. Very Eastern European. I’ll let you guys look at the pictures to see everywhere we went. Some things I will tell you though is that L’viv has a company that’s sole purpose is to essential make theme restaurants, and cool touristy type things. Whether this is the shops that make chocolate in the window, or the S&M restaurant, this is an incredible company. We all know how I feel about “themed” things. I am way too corny sometimes.

There is no explanation for most of the things I see in my life. People wonder how I become addicted to my lifestyle, and I’m sure many people question how much actually happens. These four days are in a way a condensed version of my travel luck and experiences. Each day held something new and mind-blowing.

Day two, Natalia had to work, so I was running around solo. I followed the walking tour in the Lonely Planet, and had really jumped into tour mode. I hiked up a mountain… drank lots of coffee… saw lots of churches and statues, climbed a bell tower, and everything really. I was even teetering with the idea of doing a ghost tour… till I learned how much it cost. But needless to say, after the tour I’m pretty tired. I’m not just tired, I really need to pee. So I decide it is time to go checkout the Art Gallery.

The main palace doesn’t look to have anyone in it, so I wander over to the side building where there were a crowd of well… hippy artists I think would be the best description. I wander in through the smokers, and find the restroom. As I come out, I notice there is a large projector screen set up, and people are filing in. I figure… meh, what the heck, lets check out what crazy art movie they have. It was a bunch of comedic shorts with subtitles in English. Score. Though mildly offensive to Americans, an overall riot in general. Mind you, this is also the first time in Ukraine that I found myself in a crowd of people my own age. Apparently they do exist, and I made some friends. Then we went outside, and the creators of this video decided to shoot fireworks from their pants.
…..

Yeah… I thought that was a good place to stop. Let that sink in a little. Unfortunately that isn’t even the end to that day.

The night life in L’viv is intoxicating. I’m not talking the disco tecs or anything like that… I mean the cultural night life. A DJ set up in one plaza, and main square was alive with folk musicians, and salsa dancing.

I ended up not going home until sometime around 11ish… I was totally hooked on L’viv.

My day still didn’t end at home. Natalia, her sister, and I hung around, ate, and played us some Ukrainian scrabble… hand made by me… so hard… so very hard to play scrabble in a different language.

I had a late start the next day… really I just wandered around drinking coffee and hot chocolate. Hung around the history museum, where everyone thought I had no accent, didn’t understand why I didn’t understand what they were saying, and decided I was clearly Polish. There were hundreds of brides doing their photo’s at this time. Hundreds. I’m surprised I didn’t see any fights.

Then suddenly people were massing in front of the Shevchenko statute. Not just people… guys… lots of topless guys. Doing push-ups… and feats of strength. Natalia and her sister met me there. Shock and awe.

Then we headed to a cemetery, where I learned just how much I like taking pictures in cemeteries. I could have spent a whole day here.

And then out of nowhere, it was Sunday. We all slept in, and regrouped a little, and decided we were going to the ballet. The most bizarre, close to naked ballet, we had ever seen. It was awkward. It was kinda about Adam and Eve… but in a weird and trippy sort of way. I did like the Opera House though.

On the way out, we saw break dancers, and the most incredible Carpathian band… Don’t worry, there is video. We had dinner at the S&M restaurant, Café Masoch… and by dinner I mean dessert. We watched some customers get whipped on the way out. And I got to hear stories about one person who was chained to the wall for her meal. I love life experiences.

Rather than head back, we then went to another theme restaurant: Krivka. The idea of this place is that it is dedicated to Ukrainian nationalists who fought against Russian in WWII. Obviously this is pretty controversial because if they were fighting against Russia, they were fighting with Germany. But it’s all about nationalism to them. You need a password to get into the underground bar. And you have to do a shot as well. If you speak in Russian, the lights will go out, someone will take you back to the kitchen, and the rest of the restaurant hears a shot fired. And we got to take pictures with old style guns.

My train left sometime in the middle of the night… Not going to lie… I was sad to say goodbye to L’viv.

Click on the picture below for the video!

Recipe: Leftover Mashed Potatoes & Cooked Cabbage? Make Pyrizhky!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Wherever I am, you are there also

2012-02-09 14:16:24

For Michelle’s birthday bash last weekend, I made a very large pot of mashed potatoes that five of us couldn’t finish. While mashed potatoes are tasty, leftover ones get dry really fast and are hard to reheat without a microwave. I also had some left over cooked red cabbage, so today I decided to attempt [...]

frosty lessons

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine iea Abroad

2012-02-08 19:02:34

It’s cold, and it’s my last official winter here. (What’s hard about the cold here, is not the brutal temperatures, but that when you’re inside, it’s cold, and you go outside to sit on a cold bus, only to possibly enter a cold building (luckily that’s not always the case)) Lately, without much triggering at [...]

Baked Egg Boats And Lessons In Cooking In A Ukrainian Kitchen

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Kate's in Ukraine!

2012-01-28 17:43:10

I want to marry a man who cooks. I don’t have much natural skill in the kitchen, and I definitely don’t enjoy cooking for one, but its so much more enjoyable when you cook with someone who has expertise! [And … Continue reading →

I’m Lost, But I’m Hopeful Baby (A.K.A Mid [Peace Corps] Life Crisis)

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Kate's in Ukraine!

2012-01-25 10:19:50

Life has been crazy this month, going home and coming back and traveling so much its made my head spin. But I’ve been home in Sokyriany this whole week, trying to get back on track with lesson planning and such … Continue reading →

Getting from A to B to C to D

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Strannik

2011-09-01 09:41:00

After two and half weeks, it was time to leave my site again… please note, that had been the longest I had stayed at site… It was actually really productive time, and I got a lot of ideas down, and projects started… now I just need to get a translator…

Being the kind of traveler I am, or just person in general now, I try to stretch things to my advantage as much as possible. So if the opportunity to go to a conference arises, I take it. If that conference happens to be in the West from Monday-Friday, I see that as an opportunity to travel in the West for two weekends. And if I’m doing that, I may as well have one of my friends in the West who happens to be going back to the states to bring me back a new Kindle. And hey… my Language teacher Natalia lives in L’viv (big city in the west)… how convenient. All of this spells brilliance, as long as we ignore the logistical nonsense that is Ukrainian transport.

The Plan was this: Go to L’viv Thursday-Sunday, Go to Kamanyets Podilskiy (for PEPFAR Conference) Monday-Friday, Go to Vinnitsa to visit Lindsay Saterday-Sunday… and then back home again.

I will try to keep stories about my train tickets short... despite the logistical failures, they didn’t affect much more than my sleep, but they do warrant their own post. I planned early. Mistake. This just meant a longer time for me to stress over things. My OCDness about believing I should know the trains I wanted to take, their times, and how many stops between stations before going to the train station proved to be my mental undoing. First day I showed up at the train station, perfect details in hand, written out, so I couldn’t screw them up. Checked and double checked the details (google hath failed me). Then it was my turn… 20 minutes later, and a huge line behind me, the teller is yelling things to me as if I would understand better. The trains I wanted didn’t exist. There was, however, a single overnight train, but she thought because of my detail, I HAD to have those trains. When finally we got it settled, we were talking about the date, and I was lost. Why? Because she chose to tell me the date in Russian. Then everyone in line was yelling the Russian word for September, which is embarrassingly like September, except where you are waiting to hear, “Veresen”… I decided to try for my other tickets later.

Another train did not exist, but one ticket was purchased. This ticket turned out to be for the wrong day in the end; I wanted an overnight train, but it didn’t leave till 1:50 a.m. Early hour overnight trains get confusing. Also no train exists between L’viv and Kamanyets Podilskiy, and no one could tell me how to get from point A to B. After a week or two of stress, I decided I would have Natalia help me out with things.

This seemed to work out, I had tickets purchased.

I ended up having to take the train from L’viv to Hemendilski (so not the correct name)… then grab a taxi, to the bus station, where I just barely caught the bus… and to my relief, another PCV was there. Whew.

Then on the way out of KP, I looked at my ticket to Vinnitsya only to discover again, it was for the wrong day… I had to change tickets.
Then to make things more interesting, rather than staying in Vinnitsya, I ended up just going to Lindsay’s site… by bus, on my own. But more details about that at a later time.

Ukrainian gov’t serves it up cold

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine The Borderland Chronicles

2012-02-07 09:45:50

By now the world is well aware of the cold snap that’s descended upon Europe and swallowed it up. Eastern Europe has been hit particularly hard. More than 100 people in Ukraine alone have died in the past 10 days, after temperatures dropped well below zero. Some died in hospitals from hypothermia, but most simply [...]

Здивований

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Слова

2012-02-09 09:12:00

zdvovaniy- surprised After so much time in Ukraine, I can still be surprised. Sometimes my surprise is not so good (like the recent frigid temperatures), but more often it can be really pleasant and be a cause for reflection. Last … Continue reading →

Russian Language Camp..Learning styles..

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine La Morena Americana...in Ukraine

2012-02-09 06:10:47

So last week I headed North, back to my old training town Chernigiv. About twice a year, Peace Corps gives volunteers the opportunity to ‘refresh’ their language skills. I was pretty excited, as I wanted to know how much I’d improved since June 2011. Six months at site, immersesd, w/ about 4 hours of tutoring… [...]

Empty Promises To Myself

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine there's beauty in my soul...

2012-02-08 18:49:00

I told myself when I was in America, that once I got to site, (which for me is in Crimea) that I would update my blog semi regularly. That I would give people the chance to have this journey with me, see what I see, feel what I feel, and to an extent just know what Peace Corps service is like. So I will start updating again. I promise (and it helps that now, after 2 months at site I have steady internet access) Life here is so much different that I could have ever imagined. I would say my BEST advice to all Peace Corps Applicants and just those who have not yet started your service is just to expect nothing and you'll always be surprised! I will write more later, but I leave you with some of my apartment...

Hi Welcome to my apartment! Sorry I look so homely I'm in my house clothes.

This is my Sitting Room. And the couch.

This is the air bed on which I sleep and the dresser with all of my things and the Arabic I'm learning.

This is the other half of my sitting room. And my sole book case.

This is my Foyer, now isn't it big?

This is my bathroom, such roomy digs!

My new washing machine.

Come on over, my table seats many!

And my kitchen has this shelf full of goods and plenty.

My washing area and store where I cook all my delights.

My precious fridge, which I rob at night.

My balcony door, which is in my kitchen too.

I live on the fifth floor, boy what a view.

The buildings across from me, their my neighbors too.

Welcome to my home, I hope you had fun too.

I'll see you later, I tata to you!

The Freeze is On!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine The Pecking Order

2012-02-08 10:32:00

Last week the lyceum where I teach closed its doors for 2 days due to extreme cold. I didn't have a clue as to the exact temperature inside the classrooms, but it felt like it was edging on 55 degrees. This week is more of the same. The school closed the doors today and will remain so until Monday morning. The buildings are old and they have really big windows so all the cold comes in right through them. I watched the news from home about the 100+ homeless people in Kiev freezing to death. I had thought it was always cold here like this but I was told that this is the coldest winter on record. I think the fact that it is so windy here makes it feel even colder.

It's fine with me that the school is closed, as I am still fighting a virus in my sinuses. I haven't been able to hear very well for the past 3 weeks. It sounds like I am wearing earplugs or swimming underwater. I am heading up to Kiev tomorrow to see the doctor to try to fix the problem, although everything I have read on viruses states that they usually have to run their course. Bummer.

Other than the hearing loss, everything here is still pretty good. I am getting to know the English teachers at my school on a more personal level and I couldn't be happier. Previously it was purely professional but the tide has changed so I feel more a part of my school now. We started to have teacher meetings every week to figure out what we are all working on and to synchronize the lessons. Everything is running a lot smoother.

I am working hard at my projects and have begun a new one. My latest project will bring the English teachers of Novomoskovsk together for an English club every Saturday at 4pm, at School #1. This will be starting on February 18 with the first session set aside as a social time with tea and snacks. We will get to know each other and decide what we want to dicuss. I know some of the teachers want to simply practice their English speaking skills, while others are wanting to talk about teaching methods and ideas. I have a feeling it will be my most successful club to date.

On a lighter note, you will no doubt have noticed the change in the blog's background. I did my laundry today (by hand, of course) and hung it up to dry in my bathroom and I thought it looked so funny I decided to share it. Here is a better picture. Welcome to my world people.

Way-Back-Wednesday #19: ski trips!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine something frosty.

2012-02-08 09:09:00

I was feeling particularly lazy yesterday (I think it's this weather...) and didn't post a blog entry. I had all of my English clubs though for the first time in quite a while and my voice was pretty shot by the time they finished. ~~Screaming~~ talking to my third formers really takes a toll on my vocal chords, especially when I sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes with them for 45 minutes. My voice always hurts after my first day of English clubs because I go from talking not very much, to talking consistently for 5-6 hours straight. I will repeat something I've said for a while now: I don't know how teachers do it. For all of my teacher friends and family, you get an extra pat on the back from this girl in Ukraine :)

So, in anticipation of my upcoming weekend activities, I simply had to do a Way-Back-Wednesday post about some previous skiing experiences I've had :) The first ski trip that I went on was during my senior year of high school. Growing up in Alabama, skiing is not really a convenient option for a weekend getaway (people go to the beach instead). I don't think I really even knew what skiing was until I moved to Oklahoma. So, finally during our senior year of high school, Amy, Karen, Emily, and myself decided to try skiing for the first time. Unfortunately, I don't have those pics on my computer because it was before the days of digital cameras. Shocking, I know. Mcfarlin, my church, takes a youth ski trip sometime in January or February of every year. We signed up for the trip and the rest is history. I was hooked!

Aspen, Colorado--2008

Scott (my old high school youth director and then boss!) and Lydia

one of my dear friends and ski buddies, Bennett!

front row: Schlegel, Lydia, Allison

back row: Scott, Mark, Pirtle

Monarch, Colorado--2009

Maggie, Allie, Rylie, Lydia--these girls will all be SENIORS next year which blows my mind.

Braden, Tino, Bennett, Lydia, Chris

That year was Tino's first time skiing...I couldn't get the videos to upload of him skiing for the first time, but let's just say they were pretty epic :)

Scott and Lydia

Winter Park, Colorado--2010

Rylie, Maggie, Lydia

Lydia and Scott--nice beads Scott...how'd you get them?

Schlegel, Lydia, Pirtle

And to end the Winter Park ski trip, a nice trip to the ski resort hospital!

The last day of the youth ski trip, we ski and leave the mountain around 3 pm. At 2:30 pm, I got a phone call from Scott informing me to meet him down at the ski resort hospital. Having no clue who was hurt, I shuffled over to the hospital and found Connell with a broken wrist. I got to watch his wrist be set by a {very large and in charge} woman doctor and a {tiny} male nurse. It was super cool in a way that makes me never hope I never break my wrist...

Pat's Peak, New Hampshire--2011

my crazy-hat-guy of a brother. We had no problem spotting him on the mountain...

Jilly and Lydia (you can read more about the ski trip in New Hampshire here)

That about sums up all of the ski trip pics I have on my computer here in Ukraine...

Oh, and I did find one picture from my first ski trip :) I don't know why I have this one scanned, but it's obviously a gem of a pic. Amy borrowed her brother's ski bib, which came with a handy flap (I think for camping?). We were all so excited that first year that we just had to try on our ski apparel the night before we skied.

The one and only, Amy Carruth.

Word of the day:
to ski--кататься на лыжах

And per special request, the phonetic pronunciation: katatʹsya na lyzhakh

Getting Ready

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Roaming With A Hungry Heart

2012-02-07 23:41:56

I have slowly been accumulating items for my upcoming move and I actually have a decent sized pile going. I decided that, unlike last time I moved across the world and packed the night before, I would do it … Continue reading →

The One Where I Talk About Television

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Sassyhacksaws

2012-02-07 17:58:55

Just because I stopped trying to write about television, doesn’t mean I stopped watching it. I still follow a slightly unhealthy amount of shows (HIMYM, TBBT, The Office, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Community, Mad Men, and Game of Thrones). Here are some thoughts I’ve had lately. Has CBS forgotten about Ted? Call me a romantic, but I miss having episodes about him. It’s like Future Ted forgot his own narrative. Try and … Continue reading →

veneer

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine thoughts

2012-02-07 14:34:00

I just feel like I need to post something, so here goes...

I've been kind of bored and the weather got the best of me for the past two weeks. Not necessarily as bad as last year, but definitely felt quite contained inside the apartment, and as a result, stuck inside my head. Lately, I've been hearing about truth. It is so easy to believe whatever is said to me, but am I at fault if I do not question what I hear? Maybe even questioning it adds to the fire. I decided that the best way to fix what I need is to get out of my head and into "now."

I haven't been traveling much since I got back from Israel. I'm quite happy about that decision because I had not been at site for a while, and wanted to spend time here relaxing, working and focusing back on school.

I am proud to announce that I have begun two major projects, one more justice focused and the other cultural focused. The first (click the link to see it on my school's website!) teaches students at my school about the power of one and the power of many - while individually we can make small changes, when we combine our forces and have the same goal, we can make a real difference. We are collecting coins (just) and at the end of the month, all of this money will be donated to an organization of the students' choice. The second is a chance for 8th form students at the school to learn about different countries around the world through various English discussion topics. They will learn about different countries around the world, and I will be the "American in Residence" and teach them about American culture. Both projects will last until the end of the school year.

пока.

No school until Monday!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine MelRoseXO

2012-02-07 07:38:00

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).

The first successful flyby of Mars occurred in 1965

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Ketchupfrommars's Blog

2012-02-06 22:26:11

In the last few weeks, I have been asked several times by both Americans and Ukrainians, “Aren’t there little tiny holes in condoms that make them ineffective and useless against pregnancy and STDs?” Answer: “Some people claim that condoms have tiny pores or holes in them through which sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV can [...]

MAKE it happen. Please.

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Alison is servin' with the Peace Corps in Украина (Ukraine)!

2012-02-06 18:00:39

February 6, 2012 Alison Cumbow Peace Corps Volunteer TEFL in Ukraine akcumbow@gmail.com Dear Faithful Blog Readers, I’m writing to you all specifically for assistance funding a very important Peace Corps Partnership Project. This project is in collaboration with 17 other volunteers and eight Ukrainians from around the country to conduct a summer camp in east [...]

Walking on water...

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine something frosty.

2012-02-06 17:07:00

Okay, so it's not really water. It's ice. But, you get the idea. I finally captured a man on the solidly frozen river going ice-fishing! I only had my iphone with me.

If you click on the pic, you can make it larger...

School was back in session today (was it bad I was hoping for another snow day?). I felt like I was in high school again...waiting for "Norman Public Schools" to scroll across the bottom of the tv. Incidentally, when schools here close, I think it's solely a word of mouth type thing. Maybe a hand-written sign on the door.

Last week when schools were cancelled, Olena asked me if I wanted to go buy some hot dogs or cottage cheese for cheap. I politely said no thank you (two things I hate...not to mention I couldn't buy hot dogs for my doggies because they freeze in my fridge). After she was gone, I realized why she was asking me that {very odd} question. School #4 (literally how schools are named here) sits right next door to my work. Because the cafeteria had already purchased food for the week but they were having to cancel school, the food would be bad by Monday when school resumed. Olena came back very excited to have hot dogs for her doggie and cottage cheese to accompany her blinchiki (crepe-like food).

The sun was shiny and made my walk to work quite pleasant. I tested out my ski jacket for my upcoming ski trip at the end of this week!!!!!!! Words can't explain how excited I am to shoop down the mountain. You can guess what this weeks way-back-Wednesday post will be about... :)

Hope nobody had a case of the Monday's. Toodles!

Words of the day:
on time--вовремя
during--во время

Is is just me or do those words look ridiculously similar? It's all about accent marks in Russian.

Snow: We Got It

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Alison's Updates

2012-02-05 21:43:00

Novi Sad, known for summer street cafes, is covered in snow.

A pond, frozen and covered in snow, makes for great sledding.

post 5 february

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine me-crane/ Ukraine

2012-02-05 16:50:00

If you had to guess what it was that finally prompted me to write this blog entry, which of the following would you choose?

a) A successful return from a mostly successful trip from Moldova

b) My apartment being flooded while I was away

c) The beginning of a new semester of classes at the university

d) Supercold temperatures prompting week-long school closures

e) Running out of internet and being unable to activate a new round of service

I mean, really, all of those things led up to it, but now it’s the fact that all of my recent picture uploading, job searching, and actual work have left me with only dregs of internet—probably barely enough to post this entry, should I finish it tonight.

In fact, no rush. I think I’ll work out for a bit and watch an episode or two of The West Wing, and then I’ll be back. Just kidding. Right?

First, though, it's finished! A Day in the Life of Ukraine! Take a look HERE to see the map, click the links, and read the stories! You'll see 111 entries, submitted from all over Ukraine-- teachers, students, Peace Corps Volunteers, and more-- all telling the story of December 13, 2011. Enjoy! Woooooo!!

MOLDOVA!

So I went on an adventure trip to Moldova! Although your first question most certainly will be, ‘And did you sample any Moldovan wine?’, it seems likely that your second question will be ‘Why? After all the nice things you just got done saying about Ukraine, why run away now?’ Fair enough.

In fact, the trip to Moldova was designed to… extend my stay in Ukraine! Due to changes in Ukrainian laws, foreigners living in Ukraine need to go through a new process to obtain visas. For me, and for the other 16 or so extendees of Group 37, this means that we have to go to a Ukrainian embassy—yes, outside of Ukraine—to apply for a new D-1 visa, then return to Ukraine and begin the regional registration process. So, about 26 of us in this situation gathered in Kyiv, then piled on a bus and headed to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.

The outcome of our trip was general success. We all left Moldova with D-1 visas. Hurrah! The process, though, was a little rough. When the expectation of a 12-hour trip turned into the reality of a 22-hour trip, however, some stress was admittedly experienced. The basic problem was that the diplomatic discussions and agreements hadn’t trickled down to the staff at the border crossing, and so they were concerned to find so many people with expired visas attempting to leave the country. As a result, they didn’t want to let us cross the border. Catch-22ish indeed. We wouldn’t be trying to leave the country if we didn’t have expired visas. What can you do, kick us out? As we discovered, some time between our 3:30 a.m. arrival and our noonish departure from, they could make us wait. And wait. Finally, the agreed-upon solution, negotiated by some elsewhere-but-important upper-level entities and our fearless guide/ PC staff member Sasha, was to interview each of us and to have us sign documents acknowledging that we were wrong to have expired visas and that this was our official warning never to do it again. Okay!

The rest of the trip, including our actual time in Moldova, was fine. I’m used to seeing lots of wide open spaces in Ukraine, but the countryside in Moldova seemed even more wide and open. Orchards, vineyards, and fields stretched expansively, covering the distance to Chisinau. Chisinau itself was a fine city, not too big, but nice for a day or so of walking around in. We drank bubble tea, ate nachos, saw the biggest bazaar, took pictures, and went souvenir shopping. Many of the souvenirs were similar to those we might find in Ukraine, and I had to laugh when one vendor suggested that we might like to buy some pysanky. “We live in Ukraine,” I told her. She laughed. To be sure, we made a strange group—speaking English to each other, half of us speaking Ukrainian, half of us speaking Russian, none of us really sure about the bright-colored bills and their values. In Moldova, people speak either Russian or Moldovan—which is actually Romanian, but just called Moldovan in official documents. It was sort of surprising to realize how much I could understand of what people were saying, but a good boost. However, the fact that their largest cell phone company seems to be called Moldcell--? I'm not sure I can support that. I have allergies, you know.

The trip back was an expected and uneventful 12 hours, and landed us in Kyiv for more information about the visa registration process. On the date they were issued, our visas were good for 45 days. So, within the remaining time, we need go to through a slightly complicated regional registration process, with the help of our regional managers, local counterparts, landlords, and multiple governmental offices. There’s some stress and nervousness involved in this process, but hopefully all will be well.

FLOOD!

When I came back to Lutsk, I found that my apartment had recently been flooded. Pipes, hoses, or othersuch had conspired to flood my apartment with hot water while I was in Moldova. The building staff became aware of the situation due to its effects on the two floors below. My floors had mostly dried, but I found wet papers, clothes, and very clean shoes. A high-water mark can be found a few inches above the floor throughout my apartment, and I immediately commenced an open-window/ space heater campaign to try to dry it all out. Unfortunately, the next step was the rippling of the floor in my living room and bedroom—the two rooms with hard-wood floors. Now parts of the living room floor show gentle swells, but the bedroom floor has a sort of mid-Atlantic ridge running from door to window. The building staff have been wonderful, super kind and understanding, and have comforted me to no end by repeatedly telling me I’m not to blame. This is the only good thing to come out of this experience—to know that people I don’t really know very well were willing to step up and support me when I was in a bad situation.

SUPERCOLD!

I can only say this so many ways: it’s been supercold this past week. Yes, there was a little more snow today on top of the ice and snow already, but the cold itself has been the real problem. Schools were closed for the week. News reports suggested that more than 100 people died as a result of the weather. Forecasts in the negative degrees forced me to realize, as my friend Andrew pointed out, ‘The closer you get to -40, Celsius and Fahrenheit are almost the same.’ Brrr. Seeing your breath is one thing. Seeing your breath freeze on your scarf in front of your face is another. Feeling your nose hairs frozen solid when you rush out to get the mail is another. Still, should be up to 0 soon, so maybe we’ll all be able to stop camping out in our kitchens and by our space heathers.

NEW SEMESTER!

Not too much to report in the new semester just yet, but lots of plans for good things to come! Writing Beyond Reality is coming to Lutsk (and Rivne! Andrew!), a spring film fest is in the works, a Valentine’s Day goodies-and-crafts fair is happening next week… I’m teaching master’s students in Applied Linguistics and first-year Ap Ling students in Country Studies. I think it’ll be a quick semester, not just because it’s my last (oh no!) but because the schedule is squished to make sure the summer is clear for Euro-2012, the big soccer championship to be held in Ukraine and Poland this summer. Woo! For some schools and universities, this means more Saturday classes, or, as in ours, longer days. Normally there are 6 ‘lines’, or class slots. This semester, there are 7. So, for those lucky enough to have a 7^th line, this class starts at 6 p.m. and ends at 7:20. There’s only one of those on my schedule for now, thankfully.

AND…

We’re also now working on Camp ACT—Action, Creativity, and Teamwork! It’s a regional camp for students entering grades 8-11, and will be held [hopefully!] in Shatsk in early July. We’ve already built our staff—half American and half Ukrainian—and they are indeed, as Vitalik pointed out, a dudical crew. There’s a lot of great energy and plenty of good ideas—and I’m especially excited that almost all of the Ukrainian staff members are students from my university, many of whom I’ve worked with on previous projects. This may actually be my favorite thing about this camp so far, but I have a suspicion I’ll continue to like it more and more.

So, until I run out of internet again… :)

Winter

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine From Bama to the Borderland

2012-02-05 16:22:00

“A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.”

-Carl Reiner

This is something that Mr. Reiner and myself have in common. Snow is something I've become quite accustomed to over the past few weeks. It came quickly and it came with a vengeance. Having never really been around much snow, I found myself to be somewhat excited about it. When it fell, it turned the scenery into something from a Christmas movie. The snow is beautiful, but the cold is not. I'm not talking about the pleasant kind of cold where you break out your favorite scarf and boots. I'm talking about the kind of cold that hurts your bones. The kind where frost bite is an actual worry as opposed to something you had heard happened to world famous explorers. It's so cold that school was cancelled for almost a week through most of Ukraine. That's a big deal in a country where snow is just a part of life. Over 100 people have died from it throughout Eastern Europe and half of those were in Ukraine. Many of them were elderly or homeless. Thankfully, Ukraine has set up over 2,000 shelters to try and alleviate this horrible problem.

Well, that was an uplifting intro, huh? In all honesty, I am fine. Although my apartment is quite chilly because the heating is set for the entire building, I'm making it. I am staying warm thanks to multiple layers of thermal underwear and the ingenuity of the snuggie that was so thoughtfully left behind for me by my site mate, Jessica. I knew what I was getting myself into when I found out I would be going to Ukraine, so I find myself laughing (a little) about how unprepared I was for this weather. Honestly, I don't think that there is anyway that a person who comes from a place where 50 degrees is considered cold can prepare for something like this. It had to come with experience, and boy do I feel like I'm getting that experience.

I've actually been quite a busy bee since my last post. Things at school have picked up a lot, so that is keeping me pretty busy. I co-teach 2-3 English lessons a day with my wonderful counterpart, Olya. The classes are for 2nd-6th grades and they are a hoot. Each week, I teach the 3rd grade classes an American song. So far, we have done "If You Are Happy, and You Know It", "The Hokey Pokey", "10 In the Bed", and several other ones that I can't recall right now. They love it and so do I! I also spend two afternoons a week at The Children's Center, which I would compare to a YMCA back in the states. There are a lot of arts and crafts, plays, and general silliness. I also have been filling my time working on projects. I am about to start writing a Partnership Grant for some some radio equipment for my school, but more on that another time. I'm busy and happy.

What else is new....

Two weeks ago, I attended what is called a language refresher. This is a kind of camp held by Peace Corps that basically serves as a quick re-cap over the language. It also serves as a big motivator for people like me who haven't been studying like they should. They have classes during the day and different activities at night (These activities include dance lessons, card games, clay and jewelry making and several others). It was held in Chernigiv, which is the city that I trained near. I actually got to go and see my host family for the first time since September. I was welcomed with kisses, calo, and vodka. A really good homecoming in my opinion. I also got to have the first sledding experience of my life. When I say sledding, I of course don't mean with an actual sled, because this is Ukraine and they have invented more fun ways of doing such old activities. There updated version of a sled includes large plastic bags with small chair cushions stuffed inside. I went with my host sister, Sveta, and her friend Max. They had more fun than I did because they got to laugh at me hiking through the snow and falling up the hill that I was suppose to sled down. (If you know me at all, you know that grace has never been of my best attributes. Add snow to the mixture, and you've got yourself a comedic routine.) I learned that snow is exhausting and sledding is hard work. By the end of the adventure, I was a wet mess with cold toes and a happy heart.

Oh, hey. Did I mention that I'm going to Greece? Because I am. Jesse and his dad have invited me to go to Greece with them at the end of April. I'm not going to lie. I cried when Jesse told me. I'm sorry, but getting to go to one of my dream travel destinations with the love my life was just too much for my emotional scale, so tears were in order. Knowing that I'm going to a Mediterranean paradise with my sweetheart and his wonderful father at the end of April is definitely going to help these cold winter months pass by.

That's all I've got for you right now. It's cold, but the love and happiness I am feeling is keeping me pretty warm. Cheesy, but true.

Here are some pictures of my latest adventures. Hugs and love to all of you.

Snow

My host family's house

Me after my first sledding experience.

This little sweetheart made me a pair of beautiful earrings at his language refresher. What's not to love?

Winter

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine 800 Days of Pysanky, Potatoes, and Peace Corps

2012-02-05 13:57:32

As many of you have heard, Ukraine has been hit pretty hard this past week with snow and painfully low temperatures. My school is not very well heated, and so when it dropped to -25C (-13F) on Wednesday, our administrators … Continue reading →

Kyiv New Years 2012 - Peace Corps Ukraine

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine YouTube Videos matching query: "peace corps" "Ukraine"

2012-02-04 19:21:40

	Kyiv New Years 2012 - Peace Corps Ukraine forgot the cardinal rule of not to make noise as the videoer due to being so close to the mic	From: allstar28chs Views: 4 0 ratings
	Time: 00:37	More in Travel & Events

Calvin Inspired Peanut Butter Dilemma

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Sassyhacksaws

2012-02-05 12:25:17

I’m proud to say that I’ve read every single Calvin and Hobbes strip I can get my hands on. I think the comic has wisdom to it beyond all of our years. We can learn something from each one of the strips, even if it’s simply that we need to laugh at life a little more. However, today I present you with this strip: It’s seems silly, but this is something I try to live by. … Continue reading →

The many different lives of PCVs...

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine something frosty.

2012-02-05 12:19:00

I've found that some of my best times of brainstorming future blog entries comes at inopportune times. Sometimes I'll make a note on my phone, or try to ingrain the idea in my brain, but it usually never comes to fruition. As I was just cleaning up my kitchen, a topic flickered through my head. I finished doing the dishes and decided to sit down right now and type it up. I'm also {highly} procrastinating going out to run errands like I need to.

Late last night as I lay in bed (quite bored out of my mind), I decided to sign onto facebook chat. I never use fb chat but decided to see if anyone was online. One of my sweet high schoolers (Rachel) messaged me and even said, "Whoah! You're on facebook chat?!" Ha. See...I never get on that thing! But as I looked through the people online...lo and behold, my favorite curly red-head was on! I couldn't believe it. The red-head I'm talking about is Mr. Darren Downing Gore.

One of my last nights in Norman before leaving for the PC...

I met Darren when I moved to Oklahoma in 2001 and no matter the distance between us, I can always count on a good chat (and a good laugh) when I talk to him. He has a rather hectic schedule right now because he is going to Physician Assistant school at Baylor and going through rotation's at the moment. So, I was super excited to see him online at a time where we could both chat for a minute. Turns out he never uses facebook chat either, so was it pure coincidence we both happened to be online at the same time? I think not. Somebody up above was looking out for us :)

I wasn't planning on making this a picture montage, but Darren and I have been on many an outing together and well, some of these pics are just too good not to be posted. This is totally not the direction the blog post was supposed to go today, but I'll get to the point in a minute! Let's call this a decade of Darren, shall we?

Probably gonna kill me for some of these, but I'm 5500 miles away, so he can't do very much :)

Darren, David, and Mark--circa 2001 BASIC retreat

Anna, Darren, Lydia--circa 2002 choir tour to Florida

bored on the charter bus...who knew that a person could fit in the overhead compartments?

Yep, he'll definitely be mad about this one. This was sometime during high school at youth one night.

Dinner theater 2005--Darren, Karen, Lydia, Swenson

Prom 2005--Bert, Lydia, Amy, Karen, Anna, Rose, Darren

Graduation 2005--Darren, Rose, Amy, Lydia, Kevin (Darren's brother-in-law!), Anna, Swenny

Choir Tour to Disneyland--2005

Disneyland 2005--Darren and all of his girls :)

Mission trip to Seattle--summer 2005

Lady Liberty, Darren, and myself--summer 2006

Birthday celebrations--2007

Tacky Christmas Party 2007

Opies Reunion--2008

Happy New Year! Love Amy cheesin' in the background--2008/2009

Mexico 2010

My hot date to Jacey's wedding--2010

And last but not least, he came to surprise me at my going away party...we're both doing the "Darren smile" :)

So, that photo montage was completely off subject, but I had fun finding all of those pictures on my external hard-drive and on my laptop. Back to the topic of my chat with Darren!

Darren has a friend from college (Katie) who happened to leave for the Peace Corps about a month or two before I left. She is currently serving in Tanzania, Africa, as a teacher! The story for how I came across the fact that Katie was leaving for the Peace Corps is somewhat creepy (or really creepy as Darren would inform me). I went to post something on Darren's wall in early 2011. Katie had just written a note on his wall informing him of her blog and that he could follow her service through that. She didn't mention the PC once in that post, but the lingo was some of the same PC lingo that is used worldwide. I found her blog and facebooked her...never having met this girl. Okay, okay...kinda creepy on my behalf. BUT, I love reading about her adventures in Tanzania and thinking how utterly different every PC experience is.

Katie must have a sense of humor very similar to Darren's because anytime she posts something on facebook, I typically laugh (or gasp if it has to do with an African animal encounter in her house...). One of her more recent posts on facebook said: "not too happy about this bat that has taken up residence in my pit latrine...". Wow. She's fighting a bat in her "toilet," while I'm fighting to keep my apartment semi-warm with temps still in the negatives.

You can find Katie's blog here, with the most recent post detailing a snake encounter in her house. Oh, Ukraine...I'll take your cold weather any day over the bugs and animals of Africa :)

Darren is probably shaking his head at the fact that I would post all of this, and I hope Katie isn't too weirded out since I have never actually met her. BUT, what else could I write about on a Sunday afternoon? Congratulations if you read all the way to the bottom. Молодец! Or good job... :)

... 58, 59, happy new years!?

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine BACK IN THE USSR

2012-02-01 20:30:00

highly recommend not having the audio up too loud

some "woo girl" decided to scream right by the mic

yes... ukraine does a "count up", and yes, we were just as befuddled.

i guess i shouldn't have assumed that everyone partakes in a count down but come on, who would have ever though, a count up? in retrospect, it does actually make more sense, with seconds adding up to the new year. oh ukraine, you always surprise me.

kiev had they're electric ish in order because it was a led central.

but honestly, in the words of the famous barney stinson new years in kiev was "legen...dary".

by the end of the evening, I ended up finding a few things...

i found my twin

i found my sitemate

i found my cluster

i found a sparkler

i found fireworks

i found a mask

the day after was also a site to see. i'm not quite sure if kids here actually believe in santa when you can find 20 of them roaming around khreschatik

best new years hands down

Russian Language Refresher

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine something frosty.

2012-02-04 19:58:00

I've been the laziest person ever today (literally: eating, reading, and watching tv shows. kind of embarrassing). BUT, everyone needs a day like that now and then in my opinion. I chose today.

part of my lunch today: a modified version of this recipe

That recipe called for Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese, neither of which I had. Instead, I used lemon pepper spices, garlic salt, and regular salt. Pretty delish. And simple!

Back to the topic at hand: Russian Language Refresher. A week ago, I was in the snowy city of Chernigov with 50-some Peace Corps Volunteers. The goal? To practice, improve, and motivate our Russian at site. I enjoy speaking Russian in Kirovograd. Well, in Ukraine for that matter {sidenote: if someone had told me 15 years ago that I would be studying Russian and enjoying it, I would have laughed in their face.}. So, I was very excited to get to go to language refresher. It's a great time to see your friends who lives far, far away, and I was hoping that it would be motivation for me to actually study Russian at site.

Every day consisted of a few lessons of your choosing. I chose a class on perfect/imperfect verbs (very helpful), gerunds and verbal adverbs (horribly unhelpful to me because I can't even tell you what those are in English...), and verbs of motion (incredibly helpful and needed!). OH!! And one of my favorite classes: Russian cursive.

Russian (and Ukrainian) cursive is truly an art. Students learn cursive starting in the first form and study is for SIX MONTHS. Generally, it is incredibly uniform (for boys and girls alike!) and simply beautiful.

The reason it is hard for us to learn is because many of the cursive letters look the same with a crazy amount of loops.

This picture floated around facebook for a while and made most PCVs here in Ukraine laugh and shake their head. The first word says Militsia (police). I can't tell you what the second word says. Maybe something about listening?

This is my attempt at writing some words in cursive. As my sweet teacher told me, "Your letters are dancing..."

Every letter is supposed to be at the same height and at the same slant. And then you have to remember "connectors" which separate similar looking letters. Sigh...in time :)

During the evenings at language refresher, you could choose different "fun" classes to attend. Arts and crafts, jewelry making, chess, dancing, etc...and all of these lessons were taught in Russian. I chose to remember how to do knitting and re-learn the art of cross-stitch.

My turtle!

The last morning of language refresher, Catharine (a fellow K-grad oblast volunteer!), Jenny, and myself were working on our cross-stitch projects. One of the PC staff members came over and asked Catharine if she had just started hers the night before. In all actuality, Catharine had started hers three days before but hadn't had time to work on it outside of class. It gave us all quite a good laugh :) This picture was taken moments after that minor slip-up :)

Catharine, Jenny, and Lydia

Courtney and Anne in the back

much better! Anne is working on her knitting as you an see...

Also offered as one of the "fun" classes was a basket-weaving class. One of my sweet friends Theo took the class and worked on her basket on the marshrutka ride back to Kiev...

The inside of a nice marshrutka {note: this is not what the city marshrutkas look like in K-grad)! Meredith (with the brown curly hair) is also working on her basket :)

The last night of refresher a small talent show was held. I'll let these videos speak for themselves. On the video below, if you click on the red part that says "youtube" you can watch a larger version of the video. Enjoy!

I honestly can't tell you what they're saying in this video, but this is a very common Ukrainian song :)

As a joke, someone signed up Nathan and Richard to count to 1000 in Russian. They were pretty good sports about it...

Word of the day:
turtle--черепаха

twas a village christmas

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine BACK IN THE USSR

2011-12-30 18:10:00

with the american christmas season come and gone, ironically as I write this post which will have had its "post date" altered, ukraine feels more like our traditional christmas for many reasons.

my project will all my
english clubs

it finally started snowing
ukrainian christmas falls on the seventh of january
christmas trees (or new years trees) go up around the twenty eighth of december
stores in town have lights and santa paraphernalia
і тд.

however, that doesn't mean I can't bring / force some "early" holiday cheer to the students in my school. a lot of our american traditions for christmas and new years are combined in ukraine, which makes distinguishing between the holidays much more difficult for myself during the holiday season.

that sadly took about 25 minutes to perfect

the 25th ended up being pretty low key. with just a small"ish" gathering of local friends over some chilled beverages, tunes of christmas carols, white elephant exchange, and intense discussions over the super powers. it was just enough america to get you back in the holiday spirit for the evening even though outside that apartment door the holiday spirit hadn't picked up yet.

the big finale before holiday break, schools put on a play of sorts where santa and his granddaughter are the main star. kids dress up in costumes (not quite sure why) and go hybrid carol / trick-or-treat for money or candy.

holla back дід мороз

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine BACK IN THE USSR

2011-12-30 18:58:00

cultural update

ukraine and russia's bedazzled santa clause (дід мороз - father frost) with his granddaughter (снігуронька - snow maiden) who takes style tips from queen amidala are the stars of the new years and christmas holiday season here in ukraine.

Myrhorod rang in his arrival with a free concert that i accidentally fell into - молодець мені

i will have these skillz mastered

Its so cold that...

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Journey of my life

2012-02-04 12:06:00

Its so cold that...

the snot freezes in your nose.
tears are semipermanently on your lashes.
the smallest gust of wind makes you contemplate why you dared exit your warm house.
any exposed skin is numb in a moment.
your fingers and toes are stiff when you come inside and often painful.
three pairs of wool socks MAY keep your feet warm.
crossing the street becomes a hazard not for the vehicles but the ice rink you have to traverse.
I wonder if I will remember what warm sunshine is like.
when you hear 30 people have died in the last two weeks from the cold, your surprised the number isn't higher.
schools are closed (-25 C or more/-13 F).
people tell you to stay home from work and not to go out on the street.
people don't ask if you are cold but if you are frozen. (That is the direct translation people!)
braving the market for necessary food is more like wandering in the tundra.

I could go on people but lets just say it was cold, still is really but hoping it comes out of the ridiculous area soon. I have been surviving for sure but my toes are argueing a bit. I bought some really good boots for traversing all the ice (they just don't really plow here and salt is a "foreign concept") but they are not the best for warmth. Yet this cold spell will pass soon I hope. Actually one of the main reasons was that we got about a week of mostly clear skies but a significant drop in temperatures so it was not a fun week to leave the house in.

Okay, enough about the cold. I wanted to re-enter the world of blogging. I am sorry to say that for a number of reasons last fall went by without much word. But I am starting this year off right. I am on my way! It is already February and to say that January flew would be an understatement. I got to start the year off right with a much needed (for my mental health) trip back home. Coming to America! I was so excited I had to fight back some tears at customs. Honestly there was this video playing with all these pics of America and people talking about being American and I got a little chocked up. I was feeling a little ridiculous though so I had to control myself. I considered kissing the floor in the terminal as well but thought that might be a bit too much. It is funny, but I never imagined that being here would make me appreciate the USA so much. I am honestly so much more patriotic now. It is true not just for me but most PCV's feel this way. We talk about it sometimes about how living in a place that is so different in many ways has changed the way we see our own country and usually for the positive.

Sure we miss things, that is a given but it is more than that. It is a kind of sense of where one belongs. The phrase "my homeland" is really applicable. For Ukrainians, homeland is a really important thing. They place a strong emphasis on their identity as Ukrainian. They are the people of Ukraine. They say this with hands on their hearts and fists in the air, passion in their voice and mist in their eyes. They love their country and even though they hate all the troubles and would love to get rid of all the politicians, this is their homeland. They value tradition. In fact it is their traditions that really give them a lot of their identity.

Being surrounded by this for so long and being asked about American traditions, I have come to love and appreciate the things that make me an Амеріканка (Amerikanka). I love that this is often a really hard question to answer. American traditions: hamburgers, bbq, apple pie, Thanksgiving and Santa Claus sure but also tacos and burritos, bowling, chinese food and sushi, piñatas at kids birthdays and St. Patrick's Day. Its all American. We don't have one culture really. We are this hodge-podge of traditions and ideas, of beliefs and desires.

One thing I do pretty regularly is watch the online broadcast of NBC Nightly News. Brian Williams and I are really good friends (oh Brian). I love it because it make me feel at home but also because it has been great for keeping up with what is happening in the world. Lately, I have been watching a ton of stuff on the nominations race. I don't think I am going to make the effort to vote this year and I am fine with that but it is fascinating to hear from Ukrainians about the race. The local news stations here have been covering the race and it is fascinating. I don't know what things will look like when I get home in 10 months but I know my view of home will be different and I hope it will stay for the better.

Love to all my friends at home and remember how lucky you are to have free elections and a voice in your government as well as the ability to go buy your favorite burrito! (Oh Chipotle if only you delivered to Ukraine!)

Laura :)

Conversations: An Ode to Peace Corps (well, an ode of sorts)

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine I Hear America Singing

2012-02-03 21:53:46

I’ve got a lot of good friends in my life. They trickle in from different sources – childhood, high school, college, study abroad, camp, Peace Corps – and they’re all really difficult for me to explain. You see, I love all of these people equally, but I love them in different ways. These differences aren’t [...]

Success!!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine something frosty.

2012-02-03 21:18:00

It's the little things in Ukraine that bring us (PCVs) big amounts of joy. I already posted an entry today, but I was too excited to share my small (yet large!) success with the blog so that I could read it again later and remember how elated I was.

Do you remember this blog post from a while back? Well, I have tried to make chocolate chip cookies about 4-5 more times since then and every time, they haven't been like home. Maybe it's wishful thinking that they would taste exactly like the break-n-bake cookies that I've made faithfully for the past 5 years. I could get the cookies here to taste good, but they simply don't fluff up like my cookies in the states did.

I found this recipe on pinterest the other day. Since schools are "quarantined" right now (ie, too cold for kids to go to school), I told myself I would try to make these cookies sometime before Monday. Mission accomplished!! And man, was the mission accomplished well!

I present to you, my snickerdoodles :)

I might have eaten three {or four} for dinner...with a giant cup of {almost too cold} milk.

It's a guessing game anytime you cook or bake in Ukraine. Until you master a recipe, there's always room for error. This recipe, I'm proud to say, I mastered on the first attempt: a rarity! I did have to alter the ingredients and oven temp and time in the oven though. I'll explain that in a minute.

First though, I need you to drool a little bit.

Good?

So, Lydia's PCV alterations to snickerdoodles. Cream of tartar was nowhere to be found in K-grad. After googling "substitutes for cream of tartar," I learned that there is not really a substitute. Well, crap. The tartar acts as an acid which activates the baking soda in these cookies...which makes them rise. It suggested adding baking powder instead of baking soda and cream of tartar altogether. There was a formula you had to do for how much...but this is what I ended up putting in:

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

And it worked lovely! I baked these in between 150-175C (closer to 150C) in my toaster oven for about 5 minutes. Then, I rotated the tray and baked them for a few more minutes. When they started puffing up, give 'em a minute more and voila!

I want to take these on the ski trip. We'll see if they last that long... :)

Making trax...

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine something frosty.

2012-02-03 17:35:00

I had to venture out of the house today. I had my usual for breakfast, read a lot, watched the newest episode of the New Girl (hysterical), then had leftover chili and cornbread for lunch (in my new lime green bowl my parents got me for Christmas!):

It's been on my mind lately to try a few new recipes from pinterest. I am currently in the process of making homemade "Lara bars" (recipe here). I wanted these bars to eat as a skiing snack for next weekend when I'm shooping my way down the mountain. But first, I had to get a few ingredients. So, off to the store I went.

After my dad posed the question, "What are you walking on most of the time now?" I decided to document it today. The answer is ice or black ice, 98% of the time. The main roads are cleared. Sidewalks? That's a negative. So, for the first time ever, I decided to bust out my YakTrax (care of the Carruth fam!). Talk about inventive!

I didn't slip or slide once on my 20 minute walk. I watched other people slip and slide, but not yours truly. I did get a few funny looks (as always) because of my attire, but that could have been because I was wearing light brown boots, which are NOT labeled as "winter boots" in Ukraine. Or because I had on a white and teal ski hat, a pink scarf, and a red purse. I kind of looked like a rainbow exploded on me. And my mittens (these babies) always get stares. However, I was toasty and that's all that mattered.

Along the way, I stopped and took a few pics. You're welcome :)

The frozen river...I've seen men ice-fishing on this all week but I guess these temps have made them go inside...

This is one of the icy paths. Sometimes the sidewalks are covered in a layer of sand or dirt, as I think they've done here. However, it doesn't alleviate the fact that there is still an inch+ of ice...

A close-up of the ice. Every one of the divots you see in the ground is from a Ukrainian ladies high heeled boot. My YakTrax made quite an interesting impression in the ice as well but I forgot to take a picture...

I couldn't find cream of tartar sauce on my excursion today :( hope that I can make snickerdoodle cookies without it! I also managed to buy prunes instead of dates to make my Lara bars. BUT, I'm still making them with the prunes. Fingers crossed the turn out decent... :)

And if you are interested in another article/video about the weather here, BBC did a story on it today. Watch here. Happy Friday! And good luck, Team Hobart! Missy is ready to greet everyone at the Frost household tonight :)

Darien Book Aid, And Another Way You Can Help!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Kate's in Ukraine!

2012-01-20 16:11:02

Today I followed in the footsteps of many Volunteers before me and applied for this wonderful little thing called Darien Book Aid. This organization out of Connecticut supplies any volunteer with a twenty pound box of books for free! All … Continue reading →

Recipe: Soy-Poached Chicken

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Wherever I am, you are there also

2012-02-03 12:42:40

We often stumble upon the best recipes when we’re not actively looking for them. With two thawed chicken breasts in my fridge, I was going to cook them today with the rest of my red cabbage. However, I just happened to be reading Mark Bittman’s most recent column in the New York Times and it [...]

Ukrainian brides and the fabled stiliagi

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine The Borderland Chronicles

2012-02-03 11:56:52

A ‘stiliaga’ – the Soviet Union hipster of the 1940s and 50s. I came across two very interesting articles this week pertaining to elements of Ukraine’s past and present culture. The first, “A foreign affair: On the great Ukrainian bride hunt“, published in Harper’s Magazine, follows a man who goes undercover to learn more about [...]

My Grant Is Officially Open!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Kate's in Ukraine!

2012-01-17 10:09:09

Before Christmas, I was working frantically on getting my grant written and submitted to Peace Corps, and its been approved! Peace Corps just posted it online, so now its open and ready to be funded—this is where you come in! … Continue reading →

the call

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine something frosty.

2012-02-02 22:22:00

It was -30C (-22F) when I woke up this morning. Brr!!

As I lay in bed this morning all nice and toasty, I didn't want to get out of bed and into my cold(er) room. Last night, I used one of my brother and sis-in-laws Christmas/birthday presents. A hot water bottle!

I have the red one :)

I've never had one of these things, but holy cow was it phenomenal! When I get in bed, my toes are usually freezing...so I tucked this down at my feet and let it warm up my toesies while I read my book (Chasing Harry Winston). More on the book in a minute.

I conducted my morning like normal. Made hot water for my instant coffee. Cut up a banana and ate it with yogurt (note: had to thaw the yogurt first because my fridge is frozen...). Turned on my computer and checked email and facebook. And then, my phone rang.

It was Olena, my counterpart, on the phone telling me the most glorious news ever: I didn't have to come to work today! "See you Monday," were the last words we spoke. Yippeeeeeeeee! That meant that my day became a LOT more productive, at least in the scheme of things that needed doing at my apartment.

Important things first...I tried this video that my brother posted on my blog yesterday. Turned out to be an epic fail from my window, but it's still cool to watch the lady do it!

Eventually, I started making veggie chili (I base it off this recipe but definitely can't follow it to a tee. Half of the ingredients aren't available here...). Tastes pretty darn good if I do say so myself! Watched the newest episode of Glee. Cleaned up the apartment. Thought about showering and then decided it was too cold. Then decided it was time to go to the store. But first, let's take a look at the weather (this is tonight and tomorrow's forecasts, but they were basically the same):

current temp right now: -24C

gonna get down to -29C in the morning but it will feel like -30C. Wowzers.

So, I decide to go to the store. Kishenya is my favorite store in Kirovograd but it's a marshrutka ride away. I wanted to go yesterday but didn't think I could physically wait for a marshrutka in these temps, so I opted for the grocery store that's across the street from my apartment. I'm pretty spoiled, I know.

There are a number of marshrutkas I can take to get out to Kishenya. Instead of waiting for one that I was positive would go there (I had already been standing outside for 2-3 minutes), I saw the #5 that I knew went out to another store nearby. I assumed that it would go down the street that Kishenya is on.

I assumed wrong.

Let me state that marshrutkas are not easy to see out of to begin with. But, when the windows are completely iced over on the inside of the mashrutka, it makes it really hard to see out. It was literally like riding in a big box with a tiny hole to see out of the front. I had to guess where we were half the time. We stopped a few times and let people off and more people got on. Eventually, I figured we had to be getting close. And then, we stopped. Everyone started filing off the bus and I could tell that we were at the end of the line...and nowhere near Kishenya.

I had to laugh at myself for not waiting for a marshrutka I knew would go to Kishenya. At this point, I was by some apartment buildings and could see EpiCenter about 500 yards away. Head down, hood up, hands in my pockets, I started walking. Let me add that the first breath you take outside literally makes you cough because it's so cold. My eyes were tearing up. I wasn't all that cold, just feeling incredibly stupid because I wasn't patient :) I stopped in EpiCenter and looked around, mainly just to warm up. EpiCenter is kind of like a Home Depot, while Kishenya is like a Wal-Mart/Target.

Not sure how far EpiCenter and Kishenya are away from each other, but I had a revelation sometime along the walk (it's probably half a mile if I had to guess). I had heard talk of people saying their eyelashes froze...but I didn't understand what they meant. About halfway through the walk, my eyelashes felt weird and wet. And then they started sticking together. It is SUCH a weird feeling. It must come from the fact that my eyes were tearing up like crazy and I'm sure the wind doesn't help the situation either. Whatever the scientific reason, by the time I got to Kishenya, my eyelashes were icy and white-ish. I didn't have a camera or I would have taken a picture of this phenomenon.

While at Kishenya, I bought a rolling pin. I have really been wanting one (instead of using a bottle of hairspray in a ziploc bag) and decided that I will truly use it in the next 17 months. I plan on making homemade wheat thins sometime tomorrow or Saturday (recipe here!). We'll hope they turn out well :)

Back to the book I'm reading. This is the first book book I've read since I have had my Kindle. I picked this book up in the Peace Corps office last weekend and thought I would give reading a real, physical book a shot again and give my Kindle a rest.

It is SO weird to be reading a real book. My fingers instantly try to hit the "next page" button. Or even worse, there are words every page that I want to look up the actual definition for. Can't do that with a real book :( Don't know how I feel about this because I absolutely love having real books on my shelf and picking them up to look at them. Read the plot. See what other books the author has written. It's so strange now to have it all electronic. BUT, I'm very thankful I do have the Kindle because without it, I wouldn't have read as many books as I have (somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 since I've been gone?).

I am tired and cold and ready to curl up with my hot water bottle and my real book :) goodnight blog readers!

Bomb Shelters, Bracelets and Basket Weaving - Winter Russian Language Refresher

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Джингер (the Jinger)

2012-02-02 21:24:00

Last week, I went to the winter Russian Language Refresher camp. Peace Corps traditionally has 2 language camps each year (for both Russian and Ukrainian) and this winter, the camp was held in Chernigov - a city/oblast center in central Ukraine. There were approximately 50 PCVs there, and we spent several days studying Russian grammar and practicing our Russian speaking/listening/reading/writing skills. I also took another Language Proficiency test (affectionately known as the LPI) and scored at the Advanced Low level! I'm glad that my Russian has finally moved up from the Intermediate High level, although the teacher who did my evaluation told me that I would have scored a higher except I tend to only speak in the nominative case and use only the masculine form of adjectives... aka my grammar needs some serious work. But oh well, at least I've made some progress - I'll keep trudging away at the grammar!

Cases... the bane of my existence.

The different elective "clubs of interest" that were offered each day.

We also had the chance to participate in some cultural activities such as touring the bomb shelter (бомбоубежище) located in basement of the building that we were staying in. During Soviet times, many cities prepared bomb shelters in main buildings and actually trained their citizens on what to do in case of bombing.

Following everyone into the bomb shelter!

This door is curved, which was designed to withstand the impact of a bomb hit.

Look how solid this door is!

The bunk beds.

So for example, in that building they had prepared to withstand bombings by installing things like a filtration system and a small water tank. The filtration system consisted of a simple input/output system that would clean incoming air and then eject the outgoing air. Or maybe it was vice versa, I could have misunderstood the explanation in Russian. These cranks were designed to run normally on electricity but could also be manually worked if necessary.

Theo cranking the output valve.

Pushing the input valve.

The water tank.

They also had bathrooms and showers down in the basement - they rerouted the sewage pipes for that basement bathroom to go 200m below the ground (when the city's sewage system was normally only 10m below ground) just in case everything collapsed under the weight of bombs. They also had beds down there of course, although I didn't see much in terms of entertainment... I wonder if they ever had to actually use that bomb shelter during bombings.

Bathrooms.

Power switches for the bomb shelter.

Another interesting club that I attended was the hand-made club.... where I made some bracelets! Other people learned how to knit scarves, cross stitch, and embroider in the traditional Ukrainian style.

Linda and I with our bracelets.

Knitting.

Cross-stitching.

Earrings!

The figurines from the salty dough club!

Along with the theme of Ukrainian cultural lessons, Volodiya tried to teach the boys how to do the male part of the traditional Ukrainan dance. The male part is very physical and difficult to master, which made it amusing for the girls to watch. Katya had already taught the female part of the dance during dance club :)

Chest out, shoulders back, and open your arms up wide to the women!

And kick... while your friends got your back.

Next, you can try to do it by yourself (the trick is to do it without falling).

And my favorite lesson that I attended at Russian language camp.... basket weaving! Volodiya gathered a bunch of willow branches and taught us a basic weaving technique that he learned from his mother. He told us that she used to weave baskets to carry things like food back from the market in their village. Of course, none of our baskets look as smooth and professional as Volodiyas but it was still awesome to actually produce a basket from sticks!

So many sticks...

Starting the base from 2 long and 2 short sticks.

See... our bases are starting to look circular.

(The next day) evolving into baskets!

Still working on the baskets (I'm weaving around a waterbottle for structural support).

Almost done.. most of us are finishing up the handles.

Ta-da! The finished baskets!

I also tried to organize a Talent Show at the end of our Russian language camp, but unfortunately not very many people were interested in showing off their talents. I wish I could have sang (like the summer, when I adapted Lady Gaga's Bad Romance into Russian) but I had a sore throat all week and almost lost my voice... so I was barely able to speak, let alone sing. But we still had some really fun talents!

Mysterious as a Sphinx....

Sphinx, sphinx, sphinxxxxxx.....

Music club with Sergei and Helen.

Counting to 1000 in Russian with Nathan and Richard.

The Sphinx team plus Andrew!

I had a fantastic time at Russian Language Refresher camp, and I really hope that I'll be able to go to the next one in the summer... though it will be much harder to get selected as a participant because I'll be one of the oldest groups of PCVs in Ukraine by then. It's so weird to think that I'm considered one of the older (and therefore more knowledgeable and experienced) PCVS now! One of the most interesting things that happened to me at this camp was that several group 41 PCVs came up to me and introduced themselves and told me that they read my blog before they came to Ukraine - its amazing to feel like people actually take the time to check out whats going on in my life and follow my blog! Thank you to all my readers out there :)

Article in the Kyiv newspaper today:

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine MelRoseXO

2012-02-02 19:58:00

"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!

What I Did Today

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Sassyhacksaws

2012-02-02 17:37:04

School was closed today, so I spent most of the day doodling on my computer. This is the result: Not my best work, but for less than a day of work, not my worst.

Tiago and the Legend of Ukraine

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine YouTube Videos matching query: "peace corps" "Ukraine"

2012-02-02 10:22:57

	Tiago and the Legend of Ukraine This movie is my answer to the following questions: 1. What is Ukraine like? 2. How could you stand to live there for 2 years? 3. What will you remember most about Peace Corps? Enjoy.	From: simulacrumsquared Views: 53 3 ratings
	Time: 08:57	More in Nonprofits & Activism

Lessons Learned at -25

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Ukraine Dispatches from Ukraine

2012-02-02 16:52:31

It is -25*C (-13*F) in Ukraine. The past week has been so cold that more than five minutes spent outdoors freezes your nose hair. Friends in California like to point out that they are a full 70 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer than … Continue reading →

Peace Corps Journals

Freezin' my задницу off over here!

Changes are being made in Ukraine!

Yet more cold

Surprise package!

Livin L'viv-a Loca

Recipe: Leftover Mashed Potatoes & Cooked Cabbage? Make Pyrizhky!

frosty lessons

Baked Egg Boats And Lessons In Cooking In A Ukrainian Kitchen

I’m Lost, But I’m Hopeful Baby (A.K.A Mid [Peace Corps] Life Crisis)

Getting from A to B to C to D

Ukrainian gov’t serves it up cold

Здивований

Russian Language Camp..Learning styles..

Empty Promises To Myself

The Freeze is On!

Way-Back-Wednesday #19: ski trips!

Getting Ready

More Links

The One Where I Talk About Television

veneer

No school until Monday!

The first successful flyby of Mars occurred in 1965

MAKE it happen. Please.

Walking on water...

Snow: We Got It

post 5 february

Winter

Winter

Kyiv New Years 2012 - Peace Corps Ukraine

Calvin Inspired Peanut Butter Dilemma

The many different lives of PCVs...

... 58, 59, happy new years!?

Russian Language Refresher

twas a village christmas

holla back дід мороз

Its so cold that...

Conversations: An Ode to Peace Corps (well, an ode of sorts)

Success!!

Making trax...

Darien Book Aid, And Another Way You Can Help!

Recipe: Soy-Poached Chicken

Ukrainian brides and the fabled stiliagi

My Grant Is Officially Open!

the call

Bomb Shelters, Bracelets and Basket Weaving - Winter Russian Language Refresher

Article in the Kyiv newspaper today:

What I Did Today

Tiago and the Legend of Ukraine

Lessons Learned at -25