Recap

Busy week.

Sunday: church festivities

Monday: 2 classes and dinner with Radik and Sofia. This was absolutely precious. Radik is one of the leaders at our church, and he and his wife have been wanting us to come to dinner for a while. Unfortunately, when they started inviting, Rachel and I were getting sick. Then came the American teams. So, we were just now able to go. We had to take a bus out to Розсошенци, which is kind of like a suberb on the far reaches of Poltava. We got there early and had to wait at the bus stop for about 20 minutes until Radik could come get us. We had the sweetest time blundering through English-Russian-Ukrainian combos, watching videos of their wedding, and playing with their baby. Before we left, they prayed for us and gave each of us a handmade basket or coaster.

Tuesday: Migraine. Bad one. I spent the morning recovering from that before going to teach a class for 20-somethings at the Academy. That evening, Hannah, Rachel, and I went to SMS Club for the special 4th birthday celebration. There was food involved, so we were happy. We followed that up with a sleepover at Ira's and Tanya's. So much fun to be had! Here are the highlights from that adventure:
1. Rachel and I shared a bed that a) was slightly smaller than a full-size bed and b) squeaked LOUDLY...but just on Rachel's side of the bed. So, she spent the whole night concerned about waking Hannah and me up.
2. Well, the girls' grandmother (we'll call her Babushka) had no such concerns. Around 1:00 am, I wake up and realize that someone is walking through our room. I start tapping Rachel to make sure that she sees it too and that it's not just in my head. We realize that Babushka is walking across the room to close the door onto the balcony. Weird... Well, after she exits, I get up to go to the bathroom. While I'm gone, Babushka sticks her head back in the room and starts speaking Russian to Rachel. Rachel, of course, shuts her eyes tight, lies stills, and prays that I don't jump or scream if I bump into Babushka on the way out of the bathroom.
3. Tanya busts in on one member of our party whilst that person is changing in the bathroom. Oh the adventures!

Wednesday: McDonald's! Bazaar. Teaching at one of the schools. English club at church. We had an excitable bunch. The lesson was a good lesson, conceptually. It played out badly. However, after the lesson, we had almost all of the students stick around to hang out and talk. A few went with Hannah to play ping pong, students from one of our schools stayed to chat with Rachel, and I got to know some Iranian students that have begun coming. It was great!

Thursday: Thursday mornings are dreadful. Why? Because we have an 8:oo class and that means that the public transport is practically unbearable. You CANNOT breathe, move, think on those vehicles in the mornings. On a vehicle that Americans may put 50-60 people on, Ukrainians cram, smush, smash about 100-110 people. It's terrible... Classes went well, though. We played a lot of games. It was a hit.

This weekend, we're spending Easter with the Rays. Next week, though, we'll spend Orthodox/ Ukrainian Easter here with our Poltavans.

The SMS Club Leadership Team

Maya. Love her.

Masha. Short Masha, actually. There's a tall one, as well.

Now, do not be fooled. This may look like colored streamers. It's not. That, my friends, is toilet paper. Scented and multicolored.

Roma. He's always like this.

Anya. Aren't her eyes the prettiest?

Vitaly. He's holding a copy of the New Testament that everyone was given in honor of the 'birthday.

These girls... me, Hannah, Rachel.