Best of Both Worlds

New blog!

2010-07-04T17:38:00.002-05:00

Well, friends, although I had to leave Ukraine, I realized that I don't exactly have to leave the blogging world. So, if any of you are interested in following the progress of my reentry and readjustment back to the US, you can follow it here. I won't be posting much more on this site, but I will do my very best to keep everyone up-to-date on my new site. Thanks for all your support over the past two years. It's been so much fun!

The Actual Goodbye

2010-07-01T07:45:00.005-05:00

Sunday morning (last Sunday, of course) was about zero percent fun. Amiee and I had to finish cleaning out the very last remaining pieces of our lives from the apartment (did you love the dramatic effect I just threw in?) and turn over the keys to the landlord. Then, we headed to the train station (in 2 taxis...too much stuff) for the 7:40 train. When we got there, several of the guys from church were already waiting for us- to help us with our luggage. While we waited, more and more friends arrived to see us off. It was so very very kind.

The whole gang...plus our suitcases. Oi. Those suckers were almost the death of me.

Waving from the train. That was awful.

This is my last post about life in Ukraine, but it won't be my last post. Never fear: I will keep a running update of the life of a reverse culture shock survivor. Get excited!

Goodbye party

2010-06-30T08:32:00.008-05:00

The night before I left Poltava, my friends had a WONDERFUL goodbye party for me! It was so much fun! Throughout the night, we played Erin Jeopardy, I had to complete several tasks in Russian, Maya played her bandura, Amiee sang, and I was able to visit with many dear friends. They also presented me with a fantastic scrapbook that they had made to commemorate my time in Ukraine. I'm so blessed with such wonderful friends.

Surprise at how many people showed up!

Part of the crew

Waiting for permission to eat.

Vova giving instructions.

Part of the American contingency.

Tanya, Maya, Ira, me, and Amiee

Nastia giving instructions about how to play Erin Jeopardy. They did such a GREAT job!

Maya and her bandura.

Amiee singing "For Good", accompanied by a translation of the words for our non-English speaking friends.

My official certificate for completing my Russian tasks. It included a stamp- something that you have to have for every document in Ukraine. I just shivered thinking about all the stamps I've had to get...

My cake!

The cake had a background of the American flag, a heart in the center, a map of Ukraine (colored with the Ukrainian flag), and the words "Think of Us." Sniff.

"We miss you already!"

Olya, Amiee, and me. She made Amiee an angel and had her mom crochet me a scarf.

The Kryvabok sisters: Oksana, Alina, and little Sofia.

Mariana and Kolya and the scarf they gave me! Mariana rode the train in from Kharkov (2 hours away) just for this!

Pillow from Dasha- it's a model of these stickers they have that indicate women drivers. Ha!

Amiee and Dashenka.

My scrapbook. It's amazing! If you live near me in the States, come see me and I'll let you look through it!

Showing the scrapbook to the group.

Seeing my scrapbook for the first time. I LOVE it!

Amiee and Victoria- she came in from visiting the village just for my party!

Group shot!

Nastia wore her US shirt that I'd given her. Presh.

Ukrainian faces.

American faces.

Sweet friends: Tuesdae, Victoria, Kayla, Amiee, and Nataly.

I have the most wonderful friends and love them very dearly! I miss them so very much.

Backing up a few days...

2010-06-29T05:24:00.004-05:00

Last Friday, we had Girls' Night at the Rowlands'. Before Girls' Night started, Felesha said she wanted to show me something she'd gotten at the bank when she went to exchange money. Why is this interesting, you may ask? Oh, because they gave her 100 grieven in 1 grievna bills! That's somewhat akin to getting $100 dollars in $1 bills. That stack was huge! The up side? They'll never have to scrounge around for 1 grievna bills to use as bus money. :)

Robby's rigging for the movie...

...wax paper screen. Molodets, Robby!

Tuesdae and Page getting the food ready.

Day in the Park

2010-06-24T15:57:00.002-05:00

Amiee and I ended up spending a lot of today in parks, which was a lot of fun! Nataly invited us to hang out/go for a walk/ride bumper cars/ride a ferris wheel/eat ice cream this morning, and it was GREAT! The weather was really pretty, and we always love hanging out with Nataly.

On the ferris wheel!

This afternoon, we had lunch with the Rowland/Mindy/Kayla clan (and Nastia) and then visited a different park than we did this morning. We had a super-fun photo shoot with Mindy's amazing photography skills. The real pictures are on Facebook...these are just a couple of shots with my camera.

The part of our crew that is comprised of sisters: Tuesdae and me on the back, Page and Amiee on the bench.

The older-younger sister looks.

Lamp post shot.

Just being our normal selves.

This evening, Nastia and our friend, Lena, came over for a while to visit and chat. I got no photographic evidence of this visit, so you'll just have to trust me. :) Tomorrow: last landlord visit, Maya's bandura concert, and Girls' Night at the Rowlands'!

This is the hard part...part 2

2010-06-23T16:06:00.003-05:00

Today, Amiee and I spent 4 hours visiting with Ira, Tanya, and their family(Oksana, Andrei, and Anya). Their mom, Oksana, is a FANTASTIC cook and invited us over for lunch. She served goluptsi and pelmeni, which happen to be my favorite Ukrainian foods. They were wonderful, of course. While we were there, there came up a massive storm, so we got to stay longer than we might have otherwise. We were also there when the water and electricity went out for an hour or so. Oi! Apparently, a power source for the water and electricity for that part of town caught on fire! And, I'm pretty sure we saw it! We (Ira, Tanya, Anya, Amiee, and I) had been watching the rain from the window and saw a HUGE cloud of black smoke billowing into the sky. Not everyday that that happens.

We had a sweet time of visiting and chatting. It was great to be able to visit some with Anya, as well. I hardly ever get to see her, but when I do, I just love the time we have. It was difficult to say goodbye to Oksana and Andrei. Oksana was literally the first Ukrainian that I met in Poltava. They are very dear to me and will be greatly missed.

Ira, Anya, Tanya, Andrei, Oksana, Me

The girls! Top: Anya, Tanya; Bottom: Ira, me, Amiee

Sweet, sweet gifts: lined jewelry box and a handmade card. I totally teared up while reading Ira's card. Oh goodness...

Last English Club

2010-06-22T13:23:00.004-05:00

Tonight was my last English club, and thankfully, it was loads of fun! We played a couple group games (Gorilla-Man-Gun and Outburst), Minute-to-win-it games, I talked for a while, and then we broke into smaller groups based on ability level. It was so great to have more than just me to run English Club! There's so much more you can do with a group of people to run things. I was able to share a little bit about my life story and how much I've learned about the grace, joy, hope, and peace that comes from having a relationship with God. I also got to make a fool of myself by playing one of the Minute-to-win-it games. :)

I found this little tribute to Union hanging out on the tables!

This was one of the Minute-to-win-it games...Alina was a ROCK STAR!

She finished the whole game within the minute without dropping a single piece of pasta!

Lyosha made the best faces- even if he didn't finish the whole game.

Rapt attention

Sergei's look of disgust when his carefully-gathered pasta fell off.

The goal was to get the cookie from your forehead to your mouth, using only your facial muscles. Yeah...it was HARD!

Amiee's imitation of the faces you have to make.

Pasha's turn

Felesha encouraging Nastia

Then I got roped in!

Victory!

Oh yeah! And, I did it the fastest. :)

Sharing.

These are announcements. Vova calls this an "Alabama PowerPoint." Apparently, he heard me say that last year, and it stuck. Oh my.

This is the hard part...part 1

2010-06-22T00:55:00.004-05:00

This is the week for saying goodbyes, unfortunately. Amiee and I invited two of our friends (Ira and Tanya) over to hang out last night. We visited for about 2.5 hours, eating brownie "sundaes", listening to Amiee sing, and answering interview questions for an article Tanya is writing.

These girls are so special to me, and I will miss them terribly when I leave. They have been such encouragers to me and have become such wonderful friends. Too bad most of you haven't met them; I know you'd love them. :)

Amiee, preparing for the impromptu concert that the girls begged for. :)

Ira and Tanya LOVE when Amiee sings "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera and "Memory" from Cats. They love it so much that they videoed her performance for future viewings.

Tanya, Amiee, Ira

Tanya, me, and Ira. Love them so much.

A walk down my street

2010-06-22T00:31:00.004-05:00

A few days ago, Amiee and I chose to walk home rather than ride the bus for the last two stops. I took a few pictures along the way- it dawned on me that I won't be seeing all of these sights on a regular basis any more. So, here are a few snapshots, for your viewing pleasure:

Last Sunday service

2010-06-21T13:14:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was my last church service here in Poltava. It was a very "I'm REALLY going home in a week" kind of experience for me. I was sweating bullets near the beginning of the service because I knew that I was going to be asked to say something in front of the church. In preparation for this experience, I got Nastia to help me translate what I wanted to say into Russian (my Russian is just not that awesome). The whole time I was up there, my hands were shaking, which meant that my Bible and the microphone were also shaking. Oi!

I survived, though, and didn't even break down crying. Victory! They gave me gifts from the church, in hopes of preparing me for my future life: an apron, a cutting board, a rolling pin, and an herb grinding apparatus. It was so kind of them. It was a great time of reflection and prayer for this special church that has been so influential in my life.

They also asked Amiee to sing. It was beautiful! She had very thoughtfully had Nastia translate the song and put it on a PowerPoint so that our Ukrainian friends could at least understand what the words of the song meant. They GREATLY appreciated it! Wish you could have been there.

Cultural Experience

2010-06-19T15:04:00.003-05:00

Today involved a lot of pre-departure preparations, which were zero fun. Tonight, though (very much like last night), involved spending time with friends! My friend, Tanya (of "Tanya and Mariana"...my cooking friends), came over with Nastia for a little while. We visited for a little bit at my house and then joined her in town for a free, Ukrainian film festival. It was held in a very beautiful building that I've always wanted to go into but never knew what it was for. Score! We got there for the end of one movie and then all of a documentary. It was so fun! The first movie was pretty depressing as far as American standards go but very culturally appropriate, so I let the depression go.

The second movie was a documentary about a celebrated Ukrainian film director named Sergei Paradzhanov. It was hysterical- it was all so absurd and crazy (which was apparently much like his personality)! Thankfully, it had English(ish) subtitles so that Amiee and I could follow along. Parts of it were actual people, parts were cartoon, and parts were a mixture of the two. Here are some of my favorite lines:

1. "He was the man who turned a watermelon into a melon and the latter into grapes."

2. "They made me swallow the rubies, diamonds, and emeralds to hide them from the police. I skipped school the following day so that I could return the valuable gems to my parents."

3. "I am an Armenian of Georgian origin who spent time in jail in Russia for Ukrainian nationalism."

Amiee, Tanya, and Nastia outside of the cultural center.

Just waiting for the movie to start.

The whole place looked like a palace, so of course we had to pose! We tried to do the exhibitionist stuff while Nastia and Tanya were turned away...

Oh yes. It was delightful.

Friends

2010-06-18T15:15:00.004-05:00

Today, I had to spend a lot of the day doing things I didn't want to...like packing. This evening, however, I was able to spend time with some of my very favorite people: Amiee, Victoria, Nataly, and Nastia! We had mini photo sessions around Poltava, since the weather was so nice. These girls (minus Amiee) are some folks that I will sorely miss when I head home. Aren't they so cute? I think so. :)

Nataly, Victoria, Amiee, and me

Long-arm shot! I think the other people around us were highly entertained while we attempted this picture MANY times. I kept cutting off Amiee's head. Sorry, Ame.

One of my very first Ukrainian friends.

Faithful blog-followers should know this girl. She makes appearances in my life on a daily basis. Bless her.

I love this one! They're so cute.

On a different note, here are some facts about my remaining time here:

1 last English club

1 last church service

3 suitcases to pack

4 bus tickets to buy

Pelmeni and vareneky to eat (there's no limit to the eating)

MANY dear friends to visit

TOO many goodbyes to say...

I'll let you know how things go!

Back in the Saddle...for about 10 days

2010-06-17T14:07:00.006-05:00

Sadly, friends, I am in the last little stretch of my time in Ukraine. I just got back from a conference in Kiev, and on the bus ride home, I made a list of things I must do before leaving. It's looooooong!

Shots from around Kiev:

Bandura (traditional Ukrainian instrument) player in the courtyard of St. Sofia's cathedral.

Tower at St. Sofia's

St. Michael's

My goal is to update the blog once a day between now and my departure/ return to the US (June 28). No promises, but I'll put forth a good effort. Any requests?

Quick recap of my week in Kiev:

1. The building that part of our group stayed at had no water for about 3 days. That's way too much like camping for my tastes, y'all! We were a little yucky for a few days in there...

2. My friends and supervisors celebrated their 15th year living in Ukraine!

Linda and Mike Ray

3. I was able to visit with many dear friends from different parts of Ukraine, as well as different parts of Europe.

Visiting with Wendy, my Budapest-visiting buddy

4. We got to spend a day in Kiev just visiting. That's doesn't usually happen for me.

Freedom Square- site of the 2004 Orange Revolution

Flower clock in Freedom Square

5. We received a lot of encouragement from Scripture and heard about how our universal God is blessing around the world. You just can't beat that.

Soccer Clinic, Day 4

2010-06-10T14:45:00.004-05:00

We had a very good wrap-up day. Unfortunately, unlike the other days, I failed to hand my camera off to someone else, so I have fewer pictures than usual. Tomorrow, we leave for Kiev, and I won't be able to update from there. If I find any leftover posts that MUST be published, I'll take care of it after my conference next week. Here are some that I did manage to capture today:

Rachael, Katy, Inna, and Nina

Girls PROUDLY posing with their newly acquired medals.

The guys and their new bling.

So proud!

Badly photographed group shot from the Levada camps. They're all wearing the jerseys we gave them and were so proud of them!

"Hello, My name is Jerry. Meet my Ukrainian son, Jake."

Rachael and Stas checking to see who's tougher. Rachael might have won.

It's been a fantastic week! Truly. Thank you for tuning in for the fun and sweatiness!

Soccer Clinic, Day 3

2010-06-09T14:52:00.006-05:00

Another one down!

Things are still going wonderfully. A few on our team are dealing with some allergies, which hasn't been fun for them, but they're taking medicine and being true troopers.

Our daily camps follow a pretty simple pattern:

1. The kids begin with stretching and warming up.

2. They are then divided into 4 groups.

3. Three of the groups go to one of the 3 soccer stations and one group goes to the Bible story station.

4. After 20 minutes at each station, the groups rotate to the next group.

5. For about the last 45 minutes, the kids are divided into teams for scrimmaging.

In between, those of us not participating in the actual soccer part of the clinic do registration, run around setting up water stations, chase runaway soccer balls, and help pass out prizes/t-shirts.

I'm trying to include pictures of all the aforementioned activities :).

Rachael and Kyleigh visiting with a new (English-speaking) friend.

Top-notch ball chasers!

Tuesdae, Amiee and Rachael visiting with some girls who didn't want to play soccer but definitely wanted to practice English.

Katy being sporty! She threw in many a soccer ball for this particular drill.

Craft time! They take their crafts seriously around here and very much enjoyed this one. Thanks Mom and Mrs. Val!

Awesome action shot! This was captured by Rachael who had custody of my camera for a while.

Neat story: We met 3 hearing-impaired boys on the first day of clinics in Levada. It took quite a lot of persuasion for them to decide to join us. They loved it and have continued to return. Some of our Ukrainian friends from church remembered that they have a friend who has been studying sign language to assist with the deaf ministries at another church in town, and they asked him to come help. So, he joined our little friends and interpreted for them around the clinics today.

Disciplinary push-ups for bad language.

This is what happens when you say to Pasha that you have to go do another job and will he please man the water station. That water station was not left in Pasha's charge again, needless to say.

It was a great day! For those of you out there from Whitesburg, we'd appreciate your prayers for the team's health. The allergy-afflicted are feeling quite yucky... Thanks for tuning in!

Soccer Clinic, Day 2

2010-06-08T12:53:00.006-05:00

Done! We finished Day 2 successfully!

Some of our group are struggling with some allergy issues, but everyone is plowing ahead. The kids are loving every minute of it! Here are pictures from the day:

These guys wanted to help me with registration. Alona (yellow shirt) was actually extremely helpful several times. They labeled themselves "managers."

One of our translators, Nikita, explaining a game to little Yarik.

I included these two pictures to make a point: Jake (one of the Alabamians) looks SO much like a Ukrainian guy that even the Ukrainians can't tell! Jake is the one in the top picture, but it's so crazy to me how Ukrainian he can look. The real Ukrainians are loving him!

I'm not sure if you can see or not, but the kid in green is in the midst of doing push-ups. He and another boy got into a little skirmish before the clinic started, and Pasha (one of our friends from church) had them both do push-ups.

This was my new friend.

Soccer Clinic, Day 1

2010-06-07T13:04:00.006-05:00

Soccer Clinic, Day 1: Check.

Things went so well today! Between the camps in two different locations, we had around 80 kids/teenagers attend. I'm betting we'll have more tomorrow...we gave out free t-shirts today. :)

Pictures from the day (with intermittent fun facts, of course!):

Morning stretches/warm up. I opted for the job of photographer...

...mostly because of activities like this! Good job, Amiee and Rachael

Bible story station. They did Noah's Ark, and after the story was told, the kids got the act out the story. Such fun!

Hannah and I turned into water wranglers. Those suckers are hard to manage, let me tell you.

Dad giving instructions to his and Mrs. Val's group.

Mrs. Val overcoming language barriers and directing traffic.

Action shot...can you see it?

We put the tarps down for the Bible story station, but it was windy and needed backpacks to hold down the corners. I went to fetch backpacks and returned to find Kyleigh and Nastia creating their own method of holding down the tarp. Geniuses.

This isn't a picture to demonstrate how tired the girls were; this is actually Rachael telling a story. In her station in the clinic, they did an activity where anyone who missed kicking the ball in turn had to do push-ups for the number of times that the ball HAD been kicked. Rachael missed kicking it once and started to get down to do push-ups. Before she could, one of the Ukrainian guys got down and did her push-ups for her. It reminded all of us of how Jesus took our punishment for us. Neat story.

Go team!

Baptism Day!

2010-06-06T14:33:00.005-05:00

Today was a really special day- Baptism Day! My good friend, Nastia, along with several other friends, were baptized in the river. It was a GREAT day for baptism! The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, and it was just so nice. We sang several songs, and one of the church elders gave a charge to the baptism candidates.

Nastia and me before the service.

Nastia and Zhenya. So goofy.

Ira and me. These are our excited faces!

Getting ready...

After Radik led us in singing, he bent down to corral one of his daughters. As he was doing this, the other daughter sneak-attacked from behind!

The charge to those being baptized.

Round 1: Alona and Olya.

Round 2: Nastia and Alla.

Yay!

Zhenya is so cool that he gets two baptizers.

Nastia getting a rose from a little friend that she tutors in English. Presh!

Stay tuned for Soccer Camp, Day 1!

Happy birthday to Rachael!

2010-06-05T14:36:00.005-05:00

Today was Day 2 of the team's stay, AND it was Rachael's birthday! Happy birthday to Rachael!

Rachael walking into her "surprise party." Amiee totally had her blindfolded beforehand.

Rachael posing with her signs.

Amiee leading us in morning devotions.

At the beginning of the day we sang for Rachael, had cupcakes, and had a time of prayer/blessing over her. We also spent time this morning preparing fliers for our two soccer camp locations this week. After lunch, we hit one of the neighborhoods and posted/handed out fliers and prayed over the soccer field. Following that, we totally did the touristy things around town: monastery, exchanging money, souvenir shops, monuments, pictures...you know. The Rowland/Kayla/Mindy clan joined us for our activities, which greatly added to the fun! Here's some documentation of said adventure:

Everybody working on fliers. See all those suitcases? That's just a fraction of all the donations that were sent for the camps!

See, we're all veterans of the touristy stuff, so we hung back and took pictures of ourselves: Page, Felesha, me, Amiee, Pam.

Nastia doing her tour guide thing at the monastery. She's so good at it. Such a pro.

One of the buildings on the monastery compound.

Girls from the team hanging out in the galushki bowl. It's a must, of course: Amiee, Rachael (in the spoon), Jillie, Katy, Kyleigh, and Sarah.

Kayle and Tuesdae.

Amiee and me.

Part of the girls- at the white rotunda (Jillie, Katy, me, Kyleigh, and Amiee.

Look who showed up! And, we matched (yes, I'm wearing purple- even though it looks gray)

The Alabamians have arrived!

2010-06-04T15:36:00.002-05:00

That's right: there's another group of Alabamians in Poltava! They arrived today with all of their luggage (thank you, Lord!), which was PACKED OUT with zillions of donated soccer paraphernalia. The Lord has provided so much for this project!

What is the project?

Glad you asked. This group of volunteers will be leading soccer clinics 4 days next week in 2 different areas of town. We'll be in the Sady region of Poltava in the mornings and in the Levada region in the afternoons. The Ukrainians who come will be participating in soccer drills, scrimmages, and Bible storying during the resting/watering rotation. It'll be fun. I'm excited! (even though I, personally, have zero athletic ability). I pledge, here and now, to do my best to get good pictures.

Stay tuned!

I love a good jaunty Russian song

2010-06-02T08:02:00.004-05:00

At church this week, we sang many jaunty tunes, but this one that we sang during the offertory was my favorite. Amiee and I wanted to do some "Fiddler on the Roof" dancing but refrained, given that we were in a Baptist church. :) Enjoy!

Mysteries...

2010-05-31T08:51:00.003-05:00

The other day, Amiee and I had lunch at the Rowlands'. Page and Amiee ran across to the store and bought a loaf of bread. The bread was really good, but we found this on one of the ends.

That's right: there was a moth baked into the crust. HOW did he get there? Don't worry...we made Robby eat that piece. :)

Another conundrum: pukh. That's what the Russian word for this cotton mess is. When the cottonwood trees bloom here, the air is full of what looks like snow, but it's really cotton-y seeds of allergens floating around. After floating, these little guys land and make it look like the ground is covered in snow again. It's quite a mystery as to how so much can be produced. I took pictures of a small area coated in pukh.

Thus the need for allergy medication.

More belated birthday!

2010-05-31T08:27:00.002-05:00

Victoria and Nataly came over Friday night and surprised me with belated birthday wishes! They made a wonderful cake, brought balloons, and a sweet, sweet present. They brought Amiee some chocolate, in honor of her graduation, as well as a little bell- the last (school) bell- which is a Ukrainian tradition.

We visited together (and with Page...she was here, too!), and Amiee showed them pictures from her graduation. Of course, we had to take pictures. Thank you, girls! We LOVED it!

Page took this one- it was before we thought of using self-timer.

Whole gang! (Page, me, Victoria, Amiee, Nataly)

Hello World. I just love your surprises.

2010-05-27T06:59:00.003-05:00

Today started with a bang. And sparks. And smoke. And a power outage.

My UKRAINIAN-PURCHASED hairdryer fried itself. And the electricity in the apartment. This was very poor timing because we were supposed to be meeting the Rowlands at the Transport College to teach a couple of classes (yes, I had my big, official farewell a few weeks ago. Little did I know that I'd be back...). My landlord has never shown me where the breaker for the apartment is, and I'm totally sketched out by electricity over here, so I haven't gone exploring.

The electricity going out meant only one thing: I had to call the landlord. Dun dun dun.

I braced myself and called his house. Thankfully, his wife is more adept at understanding my telephone Russian (it's much MUCH more difficult to speak and understand over the phone) and told me he'd be right over. I really like her.

He was here in about 5 minutes, and I contritely explained my situation. I then proceeded to enable him to open the breaker box- with the use of one of my butter knives. The positive outcome of this situation is that I now know where everything is and how to break into it. Victory.

The pesky fiend.

We actually made it to class on time (whew!) and had a very good first class and a mediocre second class. We then got to go upstairs for tea with the director and deputy director of the school. Whilst there, I found a subtle tribute to my alma mater hanging in Igor's office. Yes!

Oh yes. UU.

Teaming up!

2010-05-26T09:03:00.004-05:00

Part of the Rowlands are here! That brings our Poltava team up to 5 people (we'll be getting 3 more next week)! We've already gotten to work, too.

Ira had talked to me 3 weeks ago about visiting her classroom and interacting with her students (she teaches classes of 5th, 7th, and 9th graders at a local school. However, because of the change of flights and the jetlag, Amiee and I had to pass on going yesterday. The Rowlands went yesterday, though, and we joined them today. We did 3 classes at Ira's school and one at a school across town. In two of the classes, we did rotating game stations, and in the other two, we played "America Jeopardy." Both went over really well, and we were able to invite dozens of kids to the soccer camp we'll be hosting in a couple of weeks.

Here's a funny from today: One of the "questions" in Jeopardy was to name 3 famous Americans. The answer? George Bush, Barack Obama, and Madonna. Wow. Of all the famous Americans...

Rachel: I saw the girls from Saturday English club at the second school today. Nina came up to me to specifically ask about you and asked me to tell you hello. So...Hello!

We're so glad that the Rowlands are back! It's so great working with them again. :) Tuesdae, we are waiting for you!

Ira asked Amiee to sing, and Amiee did a BEAUTIFUL job of "God Bless America." In fact...

...this was her rapt audience. Boy on the right was videoing her on his phone.

Page, facilitating Guess Who.

Here's one of our friends (Ina- black sweater)! She was SO excited to have us in her class. She was super surprised to see Amiee and me; we were last minute additions, per the Rowlands' invitation.

Team Yellow. They actually won the competition.

Felesha working with Team Fresh Cucumbers. Yes, they named their own teams.

Group shot! Minus me...I'm behind the camera.

Belated birthday wishes

2010-05-25T12:36:00.004-05:00

My friend, Nastia, was out of town on the day that the rest of the youth celebrated my birthday, and I didn't get to see her before I left for America (because my travel plans to Kiev were changed at the last minute...sheesh). So, today, she came by for a few minutes to give me a gift. She brought me some beautiful flowers, some cake made by her aunt (I love her aunt's cake!), and a set of tea cups. Not just any teacups; teacups that I've been borderline coveting since I first saw them. Apparently, this particular set was ubiquitous during the Soviet Union and EVERYBODY had them.

Flowers. So pretty.

Well, there is a set in my apartment that belongs to my landlord, and I think it is just so cute. Nastia has heard me talk about how much I like that set forever, and on my birthday, she gave me a set.

This is the set that lives in my living room. I just think it's so cute. Mine looks just like this (only, Nastia already had it wrapped in bubble wrap, and since I'm leaving in the next few weeks, I thought I'd just leave them wrapped)/

She's so super. Many thanks to Nastia!

Favorites

2010-05-25T08:31:00.002-05:00

Some favorite things from my time at home:

1. Casa Blanca Mexican Cantina!

So, this isn't a great picture of me, but it was the day after I got home...which was after 30 straight hours being awake. I don't do well with a lack of sleep. It was a fantastic Burrito Casa Blanca, by the way.

2. Driving my car! So liberating...

3. Hanging out at my house with my family.

4. Being there for Amiee's graduation.

Amiee pinning on Mom's corsage before graduation.

5. Seeing so many of my family and friends.

6. Wal-Mart.

7. Being in on news as it happens! Amiee's friend, Hayley, got engaged the night I arrived.

Hanging out with Hayley at a local bridal gown boutique.

8. Worshiping in English at church.

9. Eating Mom's roast, lasagna, and taco soup.

10. Sleeping in my bed. :)

So much fun was had! I loved being home with my family.

Congratulations to Amiee!

2010-05-24T11:28:00.004-05:00

The reason for my trip back to America was my sister's graduation. It was so great to be there for her graduation and graduation festivities! I got to see all of my family and extended family plus tons of friends. SO much fun!

Amiee and I both graduated from a home school cover, and yes, it is a real graduation (all of you naysayers stop rolling your eyes- it's legit). It's done very tastefully. Amiee gave a beautiful graduation speech that made everyone cry. She also chose to have graduation dinner at Rosie's, which totally made life complete (for those of you not from the Huntsville area, Rosie's is a Mexican Cantina that makes all of your Tex-Mex dreams come true). Here are some pictures from the event. Enjoy!

Amiee giving her speech.

Amiee and some friends from church at Senior Sunday.

Katie and Amiee: friends since 2nd grade. Presh.

Public Service Announcement: Don't travel with Erin and Amiee

2010-05-24T07:24:00.002-05:00

Ok, I have quite a few updates to post, but I'd like to write a little about the ridiculous travels that Amiee and I had over the past few days.

Originally, Amiee and I were supposed to leave the US on Friday, fly through Munich, and arrive in Kiev on Saturday. Simple, yes? Not so much.

We got all checked in and were comfortably waiting at our gate in the Huntsville airport, with the monitors telling us that our plane was on time when I went to the bathroom for just a couple minutes. Upon returning, I found that the monitor had been changed and was informing us that our flight had been delayed by an hour and a half. That wouldn't work because our connection time in Chicago was only going to be 45 minutes. This little incident resulted in our being reticketed for Saturday flights instead. Spending an extra day at home was, by no means, a bad situation. Apparently, all flights in and out of O'Hare were on hold because of terrible thunderstorms. Yikes!

On Saturday, our flight was delayed, yet again. This put us in a very similar situation as the previous day. We did make our flight, though. Mom helped us work out the kinks...it was a little hairy. When we arrived in Chicago, though, we literally had to run- "Home Alone" style (did you like that, Bradford?)- to make our flight. We ran up panting and gasping, just in time to board.

The flight itself was ok; we got to watch a great movie (Extraordinary Measures) and got about 4 hours of frequently-interrupted sleep. When we arrived in Frankfurt, however, we weren't allowed to deplane. Why? Because there had been a medical emergency mid-flight, and the paramedics were coming to retrieve the sick person. It took 20 minutes before we even started to deplane. When we landed in Frankfurt, Amiee and I had about an hour and 20 minutes before our next flight (remember that). However, we really needed to hustle because we hadn't been issued our boarding passes for the last leg of the flight and needed to go check in.

We scurried to get on the shuttle buses that transport passengers from the plane to the airport (European airports do that a lot more frequently than American airports). The ride to the airport was SUPPOSED to take about 2 minutes.

It didn't.

About 45 seconds into the ride, we had an accident! Our driver had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting a luggage truck that tried to zip in front of us, and everyone in there (about 100 people- it was a 2-part bus) went flying. We fell into each other, onto the floor, into windows...I slammed into Amiee, she fell into the guy behind her, dominoes-style. Several people were injured, and the ambulance came so that more paramedics could check on things. We were on the bus for another 20 minutes before they put us on a different bus. They didn't immediately move us, however, because quite a few people had to fill out damaged luggage reports because their rolling carry-ons were damaged during the accident. Amiee and I were starting to sweat because we only had 30 minutes to make our next flight.

When we finally reached the building, we discovered that we only had about 25 minutes to change terminals, go through security, find our gate, get our boarding passes, and get on the plane. We started sprinting. Literally sprinting. Our backpacks were weighing us down, but we made time. Frankfurt has the looooongest hallways and many non-functioning escalators. Thankfully, we hit security during a lull and made it through in record time. Seriously? We had to run to catch 2 out of 3 flights.

When we were checking in to get our boarding passes, the gate agent had to call the plane to have them wait on us. Yikes! In a stroke of good fortune, the plane was overbooked, and we got bumped to business class. Make that "business class"- it wasn't incredibly fancy, but we got a tad more space, slightly better food, and the nice flight attendant.

To end our travels, we had some positive things happen like getting through immigration in 5 minutes, having Amiee's bag arrive in about 15, and getting on an earlier-than-expected bus to Poltava. By the time we got home 5 hours later, we were ex-hausted. It was nice to see Nastia and to get home and not be cramped up in a small space or running everywhere. Also, it was nice to finally be able to hydrate; because of all the running and close calls on the flights, we never had time to buy water- and you know how they serve you the tiniest cups of water on flights.

Whew. Glad to be home.

Birthday Eve

2010-05-10T12:52:00.005-05:00

I love birthdays. I've had fantastic birthdays over the years, thanks to my mother, friends, or roommates. I've celebrated on at least 4 different continents and have super memories of each- the 4th grade limo ride, the Yemeni hefla, the surprise Senegalese movie, the kidnapping and trip to Lambert's, last year's surprise party with 30+ people crammed into my bedroom. Such good times.

This year, I'll spend my birthday on a bus, traveling to Kiev. I'm heading home this week to be at my sister's graduation (I'm not moving home this week- just visiting). I was kind of bummed about spending the day traveling and figured that I probably wouldn't be able to celebrate at all with my Ukrainian friends. Why, you may ask? Well, in general, Ukrainians have a superstition about celebrating birthdays before the actual day. I think I heard that it shortens your life or something. The point is that they usually don't.

Today, the youth from our church had a picnic (yesterday was Victory Day- sort of like Memorial or Veterans' Day- so most people had today off). I'm not at all outdoorsy, so trekking out into the woods was kind of a sign of how much I love my Ukrainians. I had a good time hanging out, visiting, watching the athletic ones play soccer. Near the end, though, we were about to eat, and I started to notice little subgroups forming. They were looking sneaky and suspicious, but I didn't give it much thought until Vova had the crowd gather round. I thought we were going to pray over the food, but Vova actually gave a little birthday speech, gave me a card from the group, and a bunch of the girls sang a song that they wrote for my birthday! It was so sweet and unexpected. I also got a bag of some of my favorite snack-y foods. It was super. I love my friends.

On the trek to the woods. It was a pretty good hike out there.

This dog followed us for a couple of miles and then hung out at the picnic with us. We named it Rex...only to discover that it's actually a Roxy.

Girls playing volleyball.

In the distance: boys playing soccer.

Where I spent most of my time...

My birthday postcard.

The message. Trust me- it's presh.

The words to my song.

Yes! Bag o' treats.

Собачье сердце

2010-05-08T00:50:00.003-05:00

"The Heart of a Dog"

This last week, I spent the night at Ira's and Tanya's. I've done this several times over the past couple years, and it's always fun. This time, Tanya pulled out a Soviet-made movie that she'd found that included English subtitles. The movie is called Собачье сердце, which means "The Heart of a Dog." It is an adaptation of Bulgakov's book with the same name. I'd never read it, but now I'd kind of like to. For some background on the story, click here.

The story is a satire on the Soviet/Communist lifestyle. It was really interesting for me to compare things from that movie with things that I still run across today. The story, though, is about a brilliant doctor/scientist who has been experimenting with transplants among humans. He then decides to attempt a new project wherein he will transplant human organs (from a recently deceased person) into a dog (I am extremely squeamish and had to avert my eyes for this part...). Weird side effects begin to take place, and shockingly, the dog begins a transformation process into a person. He becomes uncontrollable and slovenly and crude and is an embarrassment and burden to the doctor and his assistants. Unfortunately, though, the doctor begins to have his tenuous control over his creation taken away from him by the government and is left with a big mess. In the end, however, he and his assistants resolve the issue, and things end well.

If you have a chance, read a little about this book. It was really rather illuminating for me. Weird, but illuminating nonetheless.

Basically, if it could go wrong...

2010-05-05T11:42:00.003-05:00

...it did.

I just had one of those nights. And, it HAD to be my last Intermediate English club. My lesson plan revolved around watching an episode of 'Burn Notice' and following it with carefully chosen discussion topics. I should have know: technology and I are not very often friends.

The first hurdle to overcome was the fact that the room we always meet in had been taken over by another group for some kind of meeting. We then relocated to a secondary room...which was also housing a meeting. Really? Yes. Vova and Tanya graciously agreed to move their meeting into the computer room so that we could use Room #2. While Stas was setting up the projector, however, we encountered our series of issues.

From previous experience, I knew that my laptop and the projector at the Christian Center were not compatible, so I planned on using the church's computer. Stas set everything up and turned to me for the movie, which I had in DVD format. He informed me that the disc drive on the computer wouldn't work but that he'd check for another laptop in the building that might work. I pulled out an old standby activity to use with the class until Stas returned...to say that no other laptops were available.

So, we decided to move to the computer room (kicking out Vova and Tanya yet again) to watch the movie of one of the larger screen computers. Surprise! The computer won't read the disc. Of course.

At this point, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with something to do to keep us going, because did I mention that half of those present spoke pretty good English and the other half almost none at all? Always a challenge.

Well, Nastia came to the rescue with a program that, when downloaded, will allow Ukrainian computers to play American discs. Whew! So, with 15 minutes of English club time left, they say that they do, in fact, want to watch the episode. We do. We go over time, and I had to rush the discussion part.

However, I was able to give some gifts from my heart before we left. This was my last English club teaching by myself, so I gave copies of the New Testament to my students, as a way of expressing to them how much I want them to have the same hope that I have. I don't know how many of them will read it, but I pray they do. It's so important to me, I want them to know the same peace that I do.

So, maybe the evening was salvaged after all. :)

Sunday afternoon

2010-05-02T13:31:00.006-05:00

The church I attend here meets on Sunday afternoons; I don't even have to be there until 1:00 pm. I'm getting quite used to it and will probably have a bit of a shock when I get back to the States. After church today, Ira and I played with Radik's and Sofia's daughters (Vlada and Yehva) for a little while, which was so fun! I haven't blown dandelion fuzz in ages! The best part is that neither of them care how wretched my Russian skills are.

Vlada

Yehva and Vlada frolicking.

I found these outside the Christian Center.

Later this evening, I went with a bunch of friends out to a nearby village. We walked for probably a solid hour, but the sights were so cool that I hardly noticed. Come morning, I'll probably really wish that I'd stretched beforehand. We walked out to a dam/beach/area where people camp. Some of us needed to return a little early, and we just barely made the bus! We ran the last little bit and jumped on right as the bus was pulling away. I caught a look at the driver's face, and I promise you- he was laughing! I'm pretty sure that he started pulling away just to watch us run.

The beginning of our trek.

Getting out towards the village.

One thing I love about houses here: they're painted in really fun colors. On this particular outing, I also saw 2 purple houses, 1 pink house, a fire engine red house, and several hunter green houses.

Village church. It's fancy.

The dam. The safety bars are SO not safe. Those things are WOBBLY! Yikes!

Things I'm starting to realize I'll miss, Part 2

2010-04-30T11:43:00.003-05:00

Some more things I'll miss...I think...

1. Having to be smart. Now, Ukrainians probably think that I'm not smart at all, given the fact that it takes me forever to understand what they're saying and that I often look dazed and confused, but actually, I have to spend a lot of time being smart. How is that, you may ask? Well, I have to do WAY more math while living here: currency conversions, metric conversions, etc. I won't necessarily miss the math part; I pretty much hate math. Despite that, I'm 100% convinced that I use significantly more brain power in this country than I do in the States.

2. Wordsmithery. I think I just made up that word, but here's what I mean: I teach English. I spend a lot of time explaining what words, phrases, and idioms actually mean. I've become a thesaurus and a dictionary and a translator (from English to Understandable English). I am much more careful about choosing the right words and being careful which idioms I use (because, some of them are too much work to explain). My brain is always on "high alert" mode in the word department.

3. The ability to play dumb (while actually thinking more than I usually do- see #1). This is an invaluable asset. At this point in my sojourn here, I actually know what's going on more often than those around me think I do. I understand a lot of conversations that people don't realize I'm hearing and read more signs than people think I can. The ability to play dumb, though, is priceless. Often, people will go out of their way to help you if they think you're dumb, or they'll just give up on trying to make you do something and will do it themselves. When solicitors call, I have my line memorized and ready to roll, and don't those solicitors hang up in a flurry! It's fantastic.

4. Having a regular "vegetable lady" at the bazaar. She asks me where I've been if she hasn't seen me in a while and is really happy to help me pick out my tomatoes and whatnot. She's precious and smiles at me.

5. Ukrainian mama-made Ukrainian food. Yes, I've learned how to cook several dishes, but y'all- it is NOT the same. I'm just saying. Nothing like Oksana's goluptsi. Mmmm.

Things I'm starting to realize I'll miss, Part 1

2010-04-29T13:18:00.002-05:00

As my departure looms closer and closer, I'm really aware of the things that I never realized I would miss. It's a strange list, especially given the things I've tended to rant about in the past. But, from my heart, here goes:

1. Singing worship songs in Russian and Ukrainian on Sundays. It was frustrating for the first two weeks, while I was a) learning to read, b) trying to keep up with the words on the screen, and c) trying to figure out how they force so many sounds out of their mouths in such a short amount of time (this one still gets me occasionally). But now, I love it. I take videos of the songs all the time, because I want to be able to replay them when I get home. I'll miss that terribly, even as I'll love being able to worship in my own language.

2. Bus rides between Poltava and Dnepr. I know I just wrote about this recently, but it bears re-mentioning. Part of the reason I love it is because I know something happy awaits me on either end: in Dnepr, it's the Rays, who are like my family, and in Poltava, it's Home.

3. Having friends over for true quality time- cookies, snacks, tea, talking, laughing, going through pictures, learning about each other's lives. Some of my best memories revolve around times spent like that. I love Friday nights, because that's when I get to spend fun times with Vika and Natasha, eating, chatting, looking at pictures on Facebook, listening to music.

4. Sleepovers with Ira and Tanya. I love those girls and how much fun we have spending the night in their apartment. I'll always remember the time that Ira translated an entire Soviet-made movie (2+ hours), or the time we had cold fish paste on toast for breakfast.

5. The small space of change between the seasons. The seasons here seem to change exceedingly quickly, but for the couple of days in between, there's this cool sense of anticipation. I don't even mind it in the winter. It's just neat and somewhat mysterious.

6. The challenges of everyday living. I don't really love everything about these challenges, but there's definitely a sense of accomplishment when you successfully get everything from the bazaar that you set out to. Or, when you do things with duct tape that would make MacGyver proud or when you discover crazy culinary substitutions to use when you can't get something. OR, when you conquer the fruit flies by the use of common household products. Very satisfying (check with me in a couple of days- I'm sure I will have had a failure that makes me regret writing this one!)

7. The convenience of public transportation. I have a love-hate relationship with this one. However, though, on the whole, it's really convenient to know that you don't have to worry about putting gas in your car or finding a parking place.

8. Walking all the time. It's nice to have built-in exercise...especially if you're me and really abhor exercise. When I'm walking, though, I don't seem to notice. I've literally walked for miles here and didn't realize I was exercising.

9. Roaming around Poltava with Nastia. Actually, I spend a lot of time with Nastia. So, basically, I'll just really miss her being in my daily life (and by daily, I actually mean every single day).

10. Tackling the weekly project of creating new ESL lessons. Sometimes I dread this one, but often, it's like a puzzle. I love puzzles. It's fun to think about my students and their specific needs so that I can tailor lessons for them. Of course, more often than not, I have the privilege of totally changing my plan on the fly...

I'm sure I'll build on this post in the upcoming weeks as more and more things I'll miss make themselves known.

Erinochka, I have to hug you often now.

2010-04-27T14:57:00.003-05:00

Tonight, I went to SMS club at church (a youth get-together sponsored by Salvation Church once a month). Nobody translated for me, which was actually kind of fun, because I understand so much more than I realize. If I have translation, though, I tend to tune out the Russian.

The theme tonight was about loneliness ("ah-dee-no-chest-va"). Loneliness is definitely something I've dealt with quite a lot while I've been here- mostly during the winter months. I'm surrounded by many friends, but sometimes, just living in a culture that is not your own makes you very lonely. My sad language skills thrust me into isolation, as does my limited knowledge of Ukrainian culture (I'm pretty convinced that I could live here for years and years and never fully understand things). However, God has taught me so much during the lonely times. Those dark and lonely winter months taught me so much about how God is truly my constant confidant and friend. I have gotten to the point where I seem to tell Him every thought, no matter how inconsequential. There were several days this winter when I was so overwhelmed by culture, so lonely without a fellow American, so depressed from the grayness and the snow and the ice, and just so...alone...that I would just cry. But, looking back, I can see that it was in those moments that I truly felt the reality of His presence.

So, during the loneliness talk tonight, I had a good time of reflection. Then, as if the Lord wanted to remind me how not alone I am, Ira came up and gave me a hug. This may not sound important, but she's not really a hugger, so I truly appreciated it. I hugged her back, and she said, "Erinochka, I have to hug you often now. I'm running out of time and know that after you leave, I'll want to hug you and you won't be here." It was such a wonderful reminder of the dear friends that I've been blessed with.

I'm uploading a video of a song that Maya and Slavik sang tonight. It's one of my favorites of the truly Russian praise songs. I hope you enjoy it!

Dekanka

2010-04-26T14:04:00.006-05:00

After returning from Dnepropetrovsk (yes, I realize that this "vacation" series is getting long...it will end soon, no worries), I was able to tag along with a group going to visit a nearby town called Dekanka. This group of American volunteers was suffering from the same volcanic ash plight as I was; they were also stranded- only they were stranded NOT in their country of residence. Bless them.

Dekanka has a very colorful history, but it is most noted for its ties to the author Gogol. Nikolai Gogol is renowned for being a famous Russian author, but he was actually born and (so Ukrainian rumor has it) buried in what is now Ukraine (wikipedia disagrees, but I mean, who really knows?). Click here for a little Gogol history. One of his more famous works that, in my experience, a few more Americans have come across and read is Dead Souls, which is a satirical work about serfdom in Russia. Click here. Anyway, Gogol is important to Dekanka because he was born in the greater Dekanka area, and his mother named him after the patron saint of Dekanka, Nikolai.

Dekanka's history also includes World War II activity, repercussions from the great famine that swept the nation under Stalin's rule, and casualties from the conflict between Russia and Afghanistan. This town is so small, it's sort of amazing to me how many men were involved in the wars. The Russian writer, Alexander Pushkin, reportedly made friends with the daughter of the area's nobility, and gained a lot of material for his works from the fascinating stories she told him of her family's history. It was a neat little town, and I wish I could go back on a non-overcast day; they have a "forest" of lilac bushes that I'd love to see!

This arch was constructed for Catherine the Great to walk through. She liked to make a real entrance, so they tell me.

St. Nikolai Church; the one that Gogol was named for.

The bell tower. I thought this view was just so pretty.

This babushka was hauling water out of that well as if it was nothing. I was impressed.

I thought this was a cool windmill. Found out later that they used this in the production process of a local brew.

After posing with this engine, I found out that this, too, was involved in the aforementioned process. Oi.

Bus Ride Home

2010-04-25T10:36:00.001-05:00

"Vacation" week presented me with many, many opportunities to spend time on public, cross-country transportation in Ukraine. What a blessing...

Actually, I don't really mind bus and train ride so much. The only thing that really starts to get to me is the soreness and stiffness that sets into the joints after the first 3 hours. I really do enjoy watching the countryside go by, checking out little microcosms of Ukraine. There's so much to see on those long drive: villages, landscapes, large furry creatures that wander through the streets, men and women peddling their wares on the sides of the street, brightly painted houses with thatch roofs, grandparents riding their bicycles to the market, endless numbers of outhouses (in all states of repair- or disrepair), gardens, cemeteries, magnificent or quaint Orthodox churches. There's so much.

I even discovered this year that spring and summer are not the only interesting times to drive through the country. Last fall, when I journeyed to Dnepr for Thanksgiving, I was completely fascinated by watching the leafless trees, checking out the neat designs that God crafted into their branches. I literally sat and watched the trees for hours of the drive. I think it's my version of "stop and smell the roses." In the winter, the entire face of the country is changed by the snow. Watching the falling snow on those drives is beautiful...even if you don't care for snow.

Well, Tuesday was quite possibly my last opportunity to savor the trip between Dnepr and Poltava. It was a lovely day, so I kept my camera out, trying to catch pictures of some of the things to be seen on the drive. Unfortunately, I got a little too caught up in watching and failed to capture some of the best things I saw, like the little lady sweeping her yard with her foot-long broom, the herd of chickens that escaped their yard and were being frantically chased down, the cow walking solitary down the road, the beautiful Orthodox prayer chapel made completely out of wood, and the salmon-pink cottage. Here are some of the shots that I did get, though (sorry that most of them are blurry- moving vehicle, you know):

The fancy calendar that was mounted in front of my face on the journey home. Happy little tiger.

The reversed sign on my way home. I was actually going Dnepr-Poltava, even thought this sign says Poltava-Dnepr. Don't be confused, friends.

One of the churches on the way home. I like the crane in the background.

Church and cemetery.

This was just so Fiddler on the Roof. Love it.

Oh, the sights in Dnepropetrovsk!

2010-04-24T02:00:00.004-05:00

Monday in Dnepropetrovsk was magical.

Why, you may ask? Because the sun shone the WHOLE day! It was fantastic! The Rays and I went out for lunch and a walk along the river before stopping at McDonald's for ice cream. Such a great day! Here are some shots from around Dnepr. It's not terribly exciting, but I kept forgetting to take pictures...

I was just really impressed with how tall this building was. I'm easily amused, I guess.

This tree is covered in ribbons and locks, which couples put on there to symbolize their relationships. Aw...

Up close picture of some of the padlocks. Here's hoping they don't break up (because they throw the keys in the river- how will they get the locks off in case of a break up emergency?)

So, underneath the Love Tree Of Locks is a bench. This bench includes metal artwork of love birds AND this fancy stork, carrying a baby bundle.

Found these little statue-friends. I'm not really sure what they are, but I liked them.

Church out of the city

2010-04-23T05:57:00.005-05:00

After my brief sojourn in the faraway land of Kiev, I hopped back on a bus and traveled 8.5 hours back to Dnepropetrovsk for a few more days with the Rays (if anyone wants to do the math on my bus/train time thus far: 4 hours from Poltava to Dnepr, 6 from Dnepr to Kiev, 8.5 from Kiev back to Dnepr). Bright and early Sunday morning, we loaded up and headed out of the city to visit a church that the Rays have been in contact with for several years.

The town we visited is, by no means, a village, but it's considerably smaller than Dnepr (not hard to do since Dnepr is the 3rd largest city in Ukraine). The town is called Marganets (clearly, that's the English transliteration), and there is much beautiful countryside to be seen between Dnepr and Marganets. Of course, I only know this because of the ride BACK to Dnepr- I slept pretty much the whole way TO Marganets. Something about long bus rides always does that to me the next day...

The church service consisted of two sermons (Mike preached one of them- in Russian), exactly 2 congregational hymns, several songs by the Rays, and approximately 1 jillion songs by a visiting women's ensemble from another church. Whew! Lots of songs. Lots of songs. After church, we were invited to join the ladies' ensemble for lunch in the church nursery/fellowship hall.

Crazy fact about Erin that should be inserted here: I am allergic to potatoes. I can't eat them. I used to be able to, and I used to love them, but now I can't eat them.

Vital fact about Ukraine that should be inserted here: The potato is the staple food item.

So, at lunch, I had to pick around the potatoes, which sparked questions about why I don't like Ukrainian food. Oi.

We finished off our evening with movies and popcorn back at the Ray apartment, AS WELL AS a skype-ed in viewing of my sister, Amiee, giving her senior voice recital. She was fantastic! This is something else I would not have been able to see/hear "in person" had volcanic ash not interfered.

The Rays, singing in Russian. Such talent.

More singing.

Posing with the primary pastor, visiting pastor, and ladies' ensemble.

This is a video of Mike and Linda Ray singing in Russian. The song is "I am the Lord (Do Not Fear)" by Grace Community Church in Nashville, TN (clearly, it's been translated into Russian :). Enjoy!

"Vacation"

2010-04-22T06:59:00.005-05:00

Or "How Volcanic Ash Thwarted My Plans And Left Me In Ukraine After All".

I've had quite the adventure this week. Before I start with the misadventures, let me quickly list the things I am thankful for:

1. I was not stuck somewhere in transit through Europe during all this volcano fun.

2. I was able to hang out with Elizabeth and later the Rays, who made the disappointment process way more fun.

3. I was able to face my week being thankful that no one was hurt by the volcano and that things are clearing up...slowly but surely.

That being said, here's how I started Phase 2 of my "vacation":

My original plan was to meet my friend, Breanne, in London. We were then going to Salzburg, Austria for the "Sound of Music" tour. Let me tell you- I was SO excited! I haven't seen Breanne in ages, she had planned out a fantastic Austrian adventure, and then we were going to do some of the London sights post-Austria. It was going to be fantastic!

I left Dnepropetrovsk (where I had been with my supervisors...it's about 3.5 hours south of me by bus) on Thursday, headed to Kiev where I would stay with Elizabeth until my flight on Friday morning. Needless to say, I never did get on my flight.

In a magnificent effort to cheer me up and give me a "western culture" experience, Elizabeth devised a plan. We had dinner at T.G.I.Friday's. SO good! Later, we had tea (in her fancy china) and cookies (er...biscuits). We watched "Sherlock Holmes" (so British, right?) for the good British accents. I hummed songs from "Sound of Music" along the way. We took an extended (2-car) trolley bus to the bus station; Elizabeth pointed out that it's sort of like a double-decker bus. We realize that was a stretch, but hey, what's a girl(s) to do?

I then headed back to Dnepropetrovsk to spend a few more quality days with the Rays, which included a viewing of "The Godfather, part 3", a Sunday out of the city, and lots of quality conversation. I'm sorry that I couldn't spend my quality time with Breanne, but I'm glad I had friends who were willing to take me in and take care of me in my blue state-of-mind.

Me, Sveta, and Elizabeth. Sveta is Elizabeth's language helper, but oddly enough, she was actually one of my very first Ukrainian friends 3 years ago. It was so cool to get to see her- which would not have happened if I'd made my flight!

Oh, the fanciness! The tea was fantastic, and the china made it much more elegant.

Ok, this picture probably will not mean much to many of you, but here's the story. Ever since I arrived here, Ukrainian friends have gotten me to attempt to pronounce the name of this city. It's RIDICULOUSLY difficult to say, but slowly, I have mastered it. I was on the train the other day and glanced out the window at one of our 2-minute stops, only to see this sign! I had to snap a quick picture. If I were to spell this name out in English, it would look/sound something like this: Dnyeh-pro-dzehr-zhinsk. It's 16 letters long. Yeah. It's hard. You can be impressed, if you want.

More to come! Stay tuned.

Thanks, Iceland

2010-04-17T01:09:00.002-05:00

Well, my vacation has been derailed. I had lengthy discussions with Travelocity last night, only to determine that they can't even think about rebooking me until Friday, April 23...which, incidentally, is the last day of my vacation. I'm rather disappointed, to say the least, but I'm planning to make an adventure out of this week, despite it all.

I'll keep you posted.

I'm sorry...did you say "volcanic ash?"

2010-04-16T06:21:00.003-05:00

Dear faithful blog readers,

Please forgive me for my lack of blog-iness recently. I've been out of pocket for the last week and have now landed myself in a very crazy situation.

For a couple months now, I've been planning my vacation week- to be spent in London and Salzburg (Sound of Music tour). I was supposed to leave this morning for London. Surprisingly (and I mean, for real, surprisingly) a volcano in Iceland chose to erupt, thus altering my plans.

Seriously? A volcano in Iceland?

Well, said volcano sent a lot of ash into the air, effectively halting travel throughout Western Europe (apparently, volcanic ash is really bad for planes). Ergo, I am waiting it out in Kiev, thinking about my incredible good luck (and by that, I mean awful luck) in traveling. If you doubt my uncanny ability to find/cause travel issues, please consult Ben about the Great France Fiasco of 2004. I still have an aversion to Charles de Gaulle.

I hope that you, loyal blog fans, have not given up all hope on me. I will be back to blog effectively another day. Until then, I'm pondering volcanoes and their dispersal of ash into European airspace.

Yours most sincerely,
Erin the Stranded

My landlord sounds like the Don*

2010-04-08T15:45:00.006-05:00

It's true. My landlord currently sounds like the Ukrainian version of Don Corleone. It's kind of creepy. I love "The Godfather" (the first one...the other two are just not the same) and think that Marlon Brando is fantastic with his distinctive voice and speech pattern.

HOWEVER

It is just not the same when "the don" turns out to be a quite elderly Ukrainian man (whose Russian is garbly even when his throat isn't infected and raspy) who, quite like those people who raise their voices in English when trying to speak to a native Spanish-speaker, gets extremely close to my face, talks extremely loudly, and gesticulates to the extreme.

Tonight, he kept pressing in to make his point. I kept stepping backward (reverting to my American upbringing of 'personal space')...until I was right smack up against the refrigerator and had no escape. He kept getting closer to explain something, but I was no longer able to follow along. This is when I just focused on his similarities with the Don:

1. raspy voice

2. putting on the pressure to make his point (Made him an offer that he couldn't refuse)

3. old and a little grumpy

4. intimidating as he gets up in my face (think "Sonny"...scary!)

5. Also...he repeated his message 6 times (kind of like when the Don repeats the same advice over and over to Michael, in an effort to warn him of impending betrayal). Should I be concerned?

If he keeps up the intense Godfather antics, I'm going to have to go to the mattresses. I'll take my cannoli with me, thank you very much!

*This post is for Dad, Mike, Kat, Amiee, and Brad.

And just when I'm at the height of my annoyance...

2010-04-05T05:13:00.002-05:00

...something especially nice happens.

So, I think my cold has morphed into a sinus infection. I feel awesome. And, by "awesome", I mean awful. Can't breathe normally, coughing, throat hurts, head hurts, ears hurt. You know the drill. It's not the kind of thing that keeps me in the bed, but it's the kind of thing that makes me grumpy and tired and want to lay my head down on any available surface.

Last night, the water in my building was shut off. I don't know how often this happens to most of you reading my blog, but let me just say, it annoys me to no end. I had a lot of experience with this in Africa, which has turned out to be a blessing- I at least know how to cope with it. Let's make a quick list of activities that a lack of water affects:

1. Drinking water. Thankfully, I always keep about 5 or so bottles of filtered water ready to roll (I drink a lot of water).

2. Toiletry water (i.e. brushing teeth, washing face, washing hands).

3. Dish washing water.

4. Washing machine water.

5. Cooking water.

6. Bathing water.

7. Toilet-flushing water. Yes. This is the worst one, in my opinion.

The lack of water situation happens more in the summer UNLESS there is some kind of building/remodeling going on, which seems to be the case today. Either way, to any of you who have stayed in Dom Erin here in Poltava and have giggled when checking out the "water balcony", I give you Exhibit A: my current waterless situation.

In reaction to my time in Africa, I began storing bottles of "reserve water" on one of my balconies. It does look kind of funny to see bottles and jars full of water hanging out on the balcony, but I'm really thankful for it today. It becomes really important to be able to flush the toilet after almost 24 hours.

Anyway, my annoyance has continued to grow all day today, as I mindlessly reach for the tap to wash my hands or dishes- only to remember that there is no water. I've been mentally grumbling and growling and allowing my irritation to grow until...

Maya and Vova stopped by. A group of friends are having a picnic today, but because of the fever I had going on last night, I decided I should probably pass on an outing. I let Maya know, and a few minutes ago, I answered the door to find Maya, Vova, and a beautiful flower waiting for me. They came to say "get well" and that they'll miss me on the picnic. Suddenly, my water situation doesn't seem quite so terrible. (Check back with me in a couple of hours...I might be back to growling)

Христос Воскрес!

2010-04-04T12:02:00.004-05:00

Воистину воскрес!

I heard these Easter greetings approximately 193857 times today- which is fine by me! Translation: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! What better greeting to share?

I really love Easter; it's a holiday celebrating the most glorious gift ever given! Therefore, I REFUSED to let the nasty cold I've acquired to keep me from going to church today. I've spent the past 48 hours sniffing, coughing, sneezing, sleeping, and being generally grumpy and discontent. This morning, though, I took a billion mg of cold and cough medicine, packed my tissues, and trekked off to church.

I'm so glad I did. It was fantastic to celebrate Easter with my Ukrainian brothers and sisters in Christ. We sang special Easter songs, watched a children's performance, and listened to a poignant sermon on the resurrection of the body. It was a service full of hope and encouragement.

During the course of the service, we read about the curtain in the Temple- how it tore from top to bottom when Jesus died. Symbolically, this tore down the barrier between God and Man, abolishing the need for a human mediator. This brought to mind the beautiful Orthodox churches throughout Ukraine that each include an ornate iconostasis. These decorated walls separate the main part of the church (where worshipers gather) from the consecrated area where the priests alone are allowed. Every time I see one of these amazing structures, it makes me sad that so many people in our world don't realize that we can have a personal relationship with God- without needing a human mediator.

After the service, I promptly returned home to crash and load up on more medicine. I also sorted through my various Easter gifts: a bag of happies from my family, a beautiful Easter mug from Mrs. Linda (that she brought to me from Budapest!), jelly beans from the Kinards, and an Easter cake (paska) from Tanya and Ira. Thank you, everyone!

From the Brassarts. We (Amiee and I) get lambs every year. And, yes, that is a coloring book on the bottom. That's righ: I'm 24 and love coloring.

Hungarian mug from Mrs. Linda!

Jelly beans from the Kinards (right, Rach?)

Easter cake from Tanya and Ira. Best one I've had while in Ukraine.

Then, as a cap to my otherwise lovely day, the water in my apartment was shut off. What fun! If you know me at all, you know that camping- in any form- is not my thing.

Happy Easter!

Union Day 4

2010-04-03T06:34:00.003-05:00

Unlike most of our student projects, the Union group conducted evening English clubs Monday- Wednesday. We usually do them Tuesday- Thursday, but because this was Passion Week, we readjusted the schedule so that everyone could attend Maundy Thursday services (commemorating the night Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper among Believers). So, our last day, we were in classrooms, but we didn't have English club that night.

My group had a two-hour break in between our two classes on Thursday. Nastia and I took the gang around Poltava, showing them the sights. I forgot to take many pictures- sorry!

This team was fantastic. They were such troopers through all of the obstacles and were able to accomplish a lot of work. It was a privilege to work with them!

Elizabeth and Elena (professor)

My group and their favorite class of the week!

Stealing the Lada! Good thing the Ukrainians convicted these guys on Mystery Night- they were right!

Union Day 3

2010-04-02T02:41:00.004-05:00

Day 3 arrived, as did a slough of coughs and runny noses for the group! They were such wonderful sports, and I didn't hear one single complaint! They loaded up on cold medication, packed their tissues and cough drops, and headed into the fray. Those of us at my school (Team A/ Team Rock and Roll) introduced a new lesson on Day 3, which was excellent, seeing as we had a "repeat class" of students from Monday. Thankfully, on this day full of coughing and nose blowing and exhaustion, the Lord provided necessary energy to make it through class, and my team had a class cancellation, which allowed for some rest/down time! And, our second class of the day only had 3 students!

Evening program #3 was another "coffeehouse" night, full of conversation and games. The students- American and Ukrainian- were able to spend a lot of time visiting with our new visitors and friends, making connections. It was an overall great evening!

Pamela and Cassie discussing "happiness" with one of the groups.

Kevin, leading a group in discussing "fears."

I took this picture merely to capture the fact that the sun was still up at 20 til 7!

Some of the gang!

Union Day 2

2010-03-31T01:03:00.009-05:00

Here are the promised pictures from "Mystery Night." Sometime in the future, I'll write about how that worked (on my ESL blog). If you're truly interested, check in on that one. Overall, Mystery Night was a success!

Vaidim made this slide to set the mood. I LOVED it! I was the spelling consultant for "mystery."

John scratching his head, frantically searching for the right answer in his alibi.

Becky and Melissa, trying to sound like they were innocent...

Dr. Fant, telling his side of the story.

Semi-group shot.

Vaidim and Slavik, manning the media station. Bless them...I'm microphone simple, and they had to explain things quite a few times.

Of course, the Americans were convicted of the crime and had to pay the price! The price was a rendition of "I'm a little tea pot" (complete with motions) and a valiant attempt at repeating an exceedingly hard-to-pronounce Russian word. Such good sports!

Classroom Day 2: Melissa's and Pamela's group were very avid learners- they took notes the whole time!

Group shot. You can see Pamela in the red, Dr. Fant (brown coat), Cassie (black shirt), and John (blue shirt).

A copy of our extremely professional-looking lesson plan!

Team A eating blenee for lunch.

Posing in front of the opera house.

Evening theme 2: American holidays

Post-holiday visiting, hanging out.

Evening program 3 will be Coffeehouse night. The team is doing a fantastic job, and I haven't heard one single complaint about the crazy schedule or the colds that are popping up! Couldn't ask for more!

Union Day 1

2010-03-29T07:00:00.005-05:00

Today was the Union group's first day in the classrooms. I went with one of the teams, and boy, did we have adventures! They were such troopers, though, and just rolled with the punches.

We were scheduled to have 3 classes today. When we showed up, the administration had decided to combine two English classes. Problem: too many students + teeny tiny space. So, they asked us to divide into two groups. Thankfully, we'd experienced this two weeks ago with the Auburn group, SO I'd prepped the Union group during planning last night, encouraging them to bring extra supplies. Good thing! I split off and went with Cassie and Pamela, while Mrs. Linda and Elizabeth (co-worker from Kiev) stayed with John and Melissa. They did a fantastic job of conquering the nerves that accompany that first lesson, showing great flexibility in being split up, and in thinking on their feet! Our lesson was on sports, and we got some great mileage out of it. Tonight, we'll be hosting our first English Club of the week: Mystery Night. I'll try to get some pictures to post for tomorrow.

Pamela and Cassie leading a game of Hangman- you wouldn't believe how intense Ukrainian Hangman players can become!

Pamela, Nastia, and Cassie after The Great Crazy Class Split 2010.

Our team.

John, rocking it out with the vocabulary words.

Some of our materials/flashcards. I LOVE hearing Cassie say "pom poms" in her Michigander accent!

The students picked their own team names. Yes, this is what they picked. Ha!

Melissa working with her group.

A sort of aerial shot of the classroom. For our third class, we had WAAAY more people than would actually fit comfortably. We squeezed and scrunched and made it work. Go team!

Mrs. Linda visiting with some of the professors. They love her. Who wouldn't?

Oh, Hangman, what a lifesaver you are!

Union has arrived!

2010-03-28T15:34:00.004-05:00

Union is here! They arrived last night and have done a great job adapting so far. We'll start working in the classes tomorrow and have a busy schedule this week! I'll try to do a good job of keeping everybody posted about the week.

Palm Sunday service at church. They were so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Team Transport! (l-r) Nick, Becky, Kevin, and Kayleigh.

Team Cooperative: (l-r) Cassie, John, Pamela, and Melissa

They're all bright and enthusiastic and have fantastic attitudes. Please pray for stamina to make it through this hectic week!

Candid...Action...Whatever we should call these...

2010-03-26T16:50:00.004-05:00

Mrs. Linda accompanied me to my regularly-scheduled Transport College class. She very kindly took pictures of me when I wasn't looking. So, here are some action shots of me!

I am- at this moment- predicting comments made in reference to my mouth being open. I WAS teaching, so I have a reason. :)

Action shot of weather vocabulary.

Margarita and me...the vitamin d-deficient, hasn't-seen-the-sun-in-5-months me.

After that, I helped Mrs. Linda with a project she was helping with: Flat Stanley. We needed to take pictures of Flat Stanley in Ukraine so that he could be sent back to his creator in Louisiana.

Mrs. Linda explaining the concept of Flat Stanley.

The guys posing with Flat Stanley.

Flat Stanley and the train to Kharkov.

Flat Stanley and the bus to Ognivka.

Post for Page (she'll know why!)

2010-03-24T08:50:00.002-05:00

This post is in honor of Page (others will most definitely sympathize).

Here's a little factoid about Ukrainian (and Slavic, in general) culture: personal space does not exist. They laugh in the face of personal space.

I've written in the past about how crowded the buses are. Personal space is just not an issue. You can be spooning a stranger on a crowded bus, and no one will even give it the first thought. It's a very overwhelming experience for Americans, because we have almost no frame of reference for it. The same goes with lines in the store; people crowd you. This is mostly because cutting in line is all the rage- you have to guard your territory. They do not mess around. For Americans, particularly those from the South (where public transportation is a rarity), this contributes to culture shock.

Ukrainians just don't understand our issue with it. They make fun of us for the panic-stricken looks that we assume when we're being crushed and can no longer breathe. It's a harsh, harsh world.

Any way, I was watching a movie today and noticed the name "Pasha" in the opening credits. I knew there would be a Slavic man, because "Pasha" is the diminutive name for "Pavel", which means "Paul". Sure enough, the bad guy was Russian mafia. The best part of the whole thing was when the Russian mafia guy was closing in on an American character, and the American said, "Dude, please. A little personal space?"

I nearly died laughing. Personal space = biggest joke of the Slavic world.

Just a typical trip to the grocery store...

2010-03-23T06:08:00.002-05:00

I finally had to bite the bullet and go to the grocery store today. I just went on Saturday, so I was hoping to make my supplies last for at least a few more days. No such luck. So, I packed up my reusable grocery bag (if you don't take your own, you have to buy a bag there. And, you bag your own groceries, fyi), gathered up all the trash in the apartment (there's a dumpster near the store, so I never go to the store without taking the trash out...which happens every other day or so), and headed out. The good news is that the temperature is up to 37, the snow is melting, and the sun is starting to shine. The bad news is that it's EXTREMELY muddy.

I arrived at the store, grabbed my basket, and froze. Two men with ladders were blocking my way. The only way into the main part of the store is through a teeny, tiny turnstile, and the ladders were wedged in between the bars of the stile. I stood there for a second, feeling dumb and awkward and trying to figure out how to get in. I looked around, trying to catch the eye of someone who might offer advice or sympathy and got nothing. While I was rooted to my spot, pontificating, the men casually finished whatever they were doing and moved the ladders. I dashed through as quickly as possible before they noticed that they'd may my way more convenient.

I went about my business and headed to the check out line. Whilst standing in the checkout line, unloading my items onto the counter, Ladder Man comes and stands behind me. I realized that he was looking at me expectantly. He didn't say anything- he just stood there, making a face that said, "You're in the way, missy." I shuffle a few inches forward, and he shuffles behind me. The lady in front of me was paying, so I didn't really have anywhere else to go. I shuffle two or so more inches, and Ladder Man nudges me further with his ladder, until he has it in exactly the spot he wanted (blocking all of the customers standing behind him by effectively creating a barrier). There I was- jammed between Paying Lady and Ladder Man with no way of moving forward or backward.

The crazy part was that NO ONE found this situation remotely out-of-the-ordinary. Really, folks?

I live an unusual life.

Great Stories from Auburn 2010

2010-03-21T03:51:00.001-05:00

We had a great week with Auburn Group 2010. They were fantastic in the classrooms and did a stand-up job in the evening programs (Mardi Gras, Game Night, and Coffee House/Conversation Night). The students loved spending time with them, and they have done a lot of path-paving for future groups and projects. There were some great stories from this week, that I'd like to share:

1. There were 7 project participants who were returning folks from last year. This goes a long way with the students: continuity. Steve, Renee, Rachel, Allison, Courtney, Rachel, and Priscilla all came last year and then again this year. They ran into many students and faculty who remembered them and were excited to see them.

Melanie, Courtney, Rachel, Allison, and Priscilla

2. Micah joined us this year; his brother, Nathan, was here last year and the guys loved him. Micah also became extremely beloved and has quite a following of boys. It was neat for them to see a family that loves Ukraine.

Micah and Andrei

3. Rachel (Kauffman) came with the group last year. Over the past year, she developed a Facebook friendship with Dasha. They've kept in touch and were able to spend some quality time together this week.

Rachel, Dasha, and Lesya

4. Like Micah, Josh followed in his brother's, Justin, footsteps. He wasn't originally planning to come, but because of a last-minute cancellation, he willingly stepped up and filled the position. He spent gobs of time talking to new Ukrainian friends and investing in them.

Josh, talking with Vitaly and Ivan.

5. The new folks on the trip- Austin, Josh, Micah, Brian, Hannah, and Melanie- did a great job jumping in and adapting to the classroom setting. They were all very encouraged by the story of Sergei. Sergei met Micah's brother, Nathan, last year and came to every event that we held. Since that week, Sergei has become incredibly involved in the church and its activities. This week, he tagged along to many of our classes and post-class activities, just because.

Sergei, hanging out with Austin.

6. "Is that boy Ukrainian?" From day 1, I had Ukrainians talking to me about Brian- asking if he was Ukrainian. He just has that Ukrainian guy look, and he plunged into Ukrainian culture headfirst, including eating salo (pig fat). He was a huge hit, and they loved him.

Brian playing a violent game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Pushkin.

7. Rachel returned! Rachel served here for 4 months last year and made plenty of relationship of her own. The Ukrainians were THRILLED to see her again. So was I!

Nastia, Rachel, and Maya

8. I'm so pleased with the outcomes of this week. Thanks for keeping up with our progress!

Rays, Rachel, and Erin- reunited.

Auburn Day 4

2010-03-20T03:34:00.001-05:00

For Auburn Day 4, I tagged along with Rachel's group to the Agrarian College. Rachel and her group were fantastic; they hadn't used the Transportation lesson yet, so I got to participate in that lesson yet again. I'm SO a pro at transportation now.

Rachel preparing the Jeopardy board; such flashbacks to the zillions of times we played this game last year.

Hannah (far left) and Priscilla (middle) with the girls they worked with in class #1.

Team Agrarian College: Mike, Nastia, Rachel, Hannah, Brian, and Priscilla.

Hannah, winning the crowd over with pictures and stories about her family.

Our evening program wasn't thematic or overly structured but was totally fantastic. We had "rotating conversation coffee house" night. Or something along those lines. We were able to spend a lot of time getting to know the students. It was great.

Tanya, Rachel, and Ira. Friends.

Allison (far left) and Courtney (orange scarf) hanging out after English club #3.

Josh spending time with Ivan and Vitaly.

Priscilla visiting with new friends.

Rachel (the other Rachel), Dasha, and Lesya.

Brian skillfully working the crowd (with Nastia's help, of course).

Miss Renee with her new friends.

Me and Maya being ourselves.

Our team: East Central Ukraine. Woo hoo!

Sushi

2010-03-19T15:41:00.004-05:00

This is quite possibly THE most overdue post. Ever. Since my vacation was somewhat thwarted and I'm still in the midst of adventuring, I thought I'd go ahead and put it up.

Approximately 1,000 years ago (or the middle of March), I had a sushi-making adventure with Nastia, Mariana, and Tanya. Now, I realize that it is zero percent cool for me to make the following statement, but I'm going to make it anyway: I don't like sushi.

I just don't. I think it's the seaweed that I take a major issue with. For this particular batch of sushi, it was the seaweed and the raw, pickled herring that was brought to put inside the sushi. My apartment smelled for days.

Anyway, the girls came over, and under Mariana's sushi-ing expertise, we made sushi. It was fun spending time together and laughing- even if I didn't love the end product. :)

Nastia, slicing the homemade pickles. Yes, mother, I ate homemade pickles on SUSHI.

Mariana, skillfully handling the rice. She's a pro.

My handiwork: crab.

Our basic setup.

Precious friends.

She's so cute.

200th Post!

2010-03-19T02:44:00.001-05:00

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my 200th post on the blog! I thought that- for this very special occasion- I would reminisce over some of my favorite posts/situations that have occurred while writing this blog.

1. Remember apartment #1 and the catastrophes that befell me?
2. Registering inPoltava: always a joy.
3. Most infamous story.
4. First volunteer team from Auburn. War Eagle!
5. Celebrating Easter.
6. Fellowship at church.
7. The Great Birthday Celebration 2009!
8. The 100th blog post.
9. Volunteer team from HUNTSVILLE!
10. Best Worst bus stories of the summer.
11. All-night graduation party.
12. Amiee stayed for 2 months!
13. Huntsville volunteer team #2. Click here.
14. Roma's and Tanya's wedding.
15. Jumping the train with Kat.
16. Meeting Olya's grandfather.

Auburn Day 3

2010-03-18T09:11:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures from class yesterday. I think I have some pictures from the evening program (game night!), but I can't find them currently. Enjoy!

Nastia, monitoring progress.

Rachel, hanging out with girls who have come to ALL of our events.

Brian, doing his thing- making friends.

Me and Rachel: I've MISSED her!

Comparing his Vorskla pullover with a "bumper sticker" bearing the same crest.

Sergei and Rachel; student and teacher reunited.

Me, Margarita, and Rachel.

Auburn Day 2

2010-03-17T02:50:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday, I went with a different group to another university in town. Bless their hearts- they were such troopers! When you teach ESL in a foreign country like Ukraine, you learn a lot about flexibility, BECAUSE your plans frequently change several times before you accomplish your goal (and often, a few times in the midst of accomplishing your goal). Such fun.

During the first class of the day, our team of six was split into two groups, leaving only 3 Americans per class of 20 +. My group ended up with only 2 sets of the activity materials, so they had to juggle "small" groups of about 10-12 people. They handled it like champs, though. They recycled a lesson they had used the day before, because they had a different class that morning.

The second class, however, proved to be a surprise: one of the professors they had worked with the first day decided that he liked their lesson so much, he wanted to bring his class to them again. Good thing they had packed another lesson packet just in case! They had brought along the Transportation lesson plan, which, thankfully, I was already familiar with. While they played an introduction game with the Repeat Class, I went into stealth-mode and organized the materials so that I could casually hand them off to each group member, allowing them to seamlessly transition into the next activity. Score!

The "Repeat Class". The lesson ended up flowing very well, despite the surprise.

Ironically, the English class was held in the German Studies room.

Our third class of the day was just full of challenges to be overcome. We didn't have a room initially, and one of the teachers ended up kicking a large class out of a classroom so that we could have their room. Once inside, there were no markers to be found for the white board. Once one was found, we discovered that it was permanent (of course, this was discovered after the Americans had written their names on the board!). This presented a challenge in how to play Hangman or Jeopardy. While the Americans worked on activities with their small groups, I began MacGyvering a Jeopardy game on the board. I'm including a picture. These were my only supplies: strips of paper and a box of crayons.

The partially-finished Jeopardy board.

Courtney and her group. After they finished their small group activity, Courtney pulled out pictures of her family, which the girls loved.

In the evening, we invited all of the students to come to an English Club event. Whenever we do these events, we try to choose themes that demonstrate some aspect of American culture that Ukrainians may not be familiar with; this year, we chose Mardi Gras (appropriate elements, of course). We played several games, introduced our adaptation of a King Cake, and had a mask-creating competition. After that, Andrei spoke to the group for a while and invited them to return to our other events this week. I'll be posting some details about the actual lessons here.

Katya and her mask.

One of the students wanted some clarification of "Laissez les bon temps rouler," so Brian obliged and wrote it down...on his own arm.

New friends, Uri and Anya.

Micah and his new friend (and Vitaly to the right).

Me and the mask made with a new friend, Leeza.

Showing off the Mardi Gras beads: Zhenya, Vita, Vika, and me.

Auburn Day 1

2010-03-16T09:39:00.000-05:00

Monday was the Auburn group's first day in classes. I joined one of the groups and had a great time with them! They conducted a lesson on transportation (for details on that, click here) and did a great job. Here are a few pictures that I took (and a couple that I borrowed from Melanie...). Enjoy!

Rachel with her group of Matchers.

Melanie.

Micah. His brother, Nathan, did the exact same thing last year! It runs in the family.

Facilitating a serious game of Hangman!

Micah becoming friends with Sergei, who Nathan met and befriended last year.

The girls with Margarita after class: Rachel, Margarita, Renee, me, and Melanie.

"Tourist-ing" after classes: Micah, Rachel, me, Melanie.

Auburn has arrived!

2010-03-14T16:12:00.002-05:00

A team of students from Auburn are here for a week of intensive English classes and evening events! I'm very glad that they'll be here, and so far, we've only had one snag- one piece of luggage hasn't yet arrived/been delivered. It does have supplies for some of our activities later in the week, so we'd like it to come. :)

Today was spent joining our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in worship, which is always a neat experience. We had a group meeting to hammer out plans for the week ahead, and things seem to be pretty well under control. Dinner, a little more planning, and off to bed!

Mrs. Kinard: Rachel is fitting back into place as if she never left! I'll try to keep you posted!

Hopefully, there will be pictures to come over the next few days (as long as I remember my photographer duties...)!

Tour of my 'hood

2010-03-12T06:49:00.006-06:00

I got this idea from my friend, Breanne. She lives in another part of Europe. She did a really neat post about her everyday journey. I thought I'd follow suit...only, mine begins at the bus stop (plus one picture on the trolley), which is very near my house. Not as cool as hers, but I thought you might like it anyway.

Sorry this is so blurry; it was on a moving vehicle, and the ticket lady was shooting me furtive glances. Usually, public transportation is too packed-too-capacity for any kind of photography.

This is a shot from the trolley of a pile of snow that has turned black and solidified. Pretty, right?

This is the building across the street from the bus stop. It's the prettiest one in the whole neighborhood...and no one lives there. It's been under construction the whole time I've lived here. There is, however, an operating toy story in the bottom.

The bakery across the street(ish) from my apartment. I sometimes stop in there to get lunch items (Ukrainian-style). The name of the bakery is something like "Home Cookin'" in Ukrainian.

Gigantic pothole. It was nicely iced over for months, but it recently thawed and is causing problems again.

This is the cutesy entrance to a local restaurant. It's designed to look like the roofs of houses out in the villages.

4 foot mountain of snow near my house. It's so gross.

Breanne included a picture of her country's cute mailboxes...Here's one of ours. Not as cute.

Playground outside my building entrance. The cats hang out at this swing set.

My entrance (the second door- the first one is the door to a utility-like closet).

This is a shot from my apartment door, down the stairwell. Now, after taking this, I thought, "It's too dark...I won't include it." Then, I thought, "But, it's very realistic. It's always dark out there." You're getting the real deal here, friends.

Hope you enjoyed your mini-tour. You're so Ukrainian now.

Say something in Russian!

2010-03-10T09:30:00.002-06:00

I did a post a little while ago about Ukrainian food. Another comment I get from home is "Say something in Russian!" I thought that I'd provide a crash course (of sorts) in Russian.

The thing about studying Russian is that you can't really study it the same way you would a romance language. Just because you learn the conjugations, don't be fooled into thinking that you can conjugate any verb based solely on that knowledge. There are a lot of irregular verbs. Also, whereas English uses syntax (word ordering) to indicate part of speech, Russian uses declensions (the changing of the endings of words) to do that job. So, you can put words anywhere you want in the sentence, but you have to use the correct ending. Get it?

I've decided that, unless you're going to live here for a long time, it's more practical to learn questions, answers, and phrases. It helps quite a lot; it saves you a lot of time, trying to stand there and conjugate things in your head.

So, for your enjoyment (or at least, your education), here is some Russian for you:

1. здравствуйте: This is the formal way of saying hello (for your elders, neighbors, professionals, people you don't know).

- pronunciation: ZDRA-stvwee-tyeh

2. Привет: This is the informal way of saying hello (friends, students, small children).

- pronunciation: pre-VYET

3. Как тебя зовут?: What is your name? (this is the informal version)

- pronunciation: Kak teb-YA za-VOOT? (to make it formal, substitute "VASS" instead of "teb-YA")

4. меня зовут_______.: My name is_______.

- pronunciation: men-YA za-VOOT _______.

5. как дела?: How are you/ how are things?

- pronunciation: kak de-LAH?

6. хорошо: good/well

- pronunciation: KHA- rah-sho (be sure to roll your "r")

7. Да: Yes

- pronunciation: DAH

8. нет: No

- pronunciation: NYET

9. Спасибо: Thank you.

- pronunciation: spah-SEE-bah

10. пожалуйста: 1. Please 2. You're welcome. 3. Here, you are. (as in, when handing something to another person)

- pronunciation: pah-ZHAL-sta

11. Я не понимаю.: I don't understand.

- pronunciation: Ya nyeh pah-nyeh-MYE-you.

12. Я не говорю по-русский.: I don't speak Russian.

- pronunciation: Ya nyeh gah-vah-RYOU pah-ROO-ski.

13. Я из Америки.: I'm from America.

- pronunciation: Ya eez ah-MEH-ree-kah.

14. извините: Excuse me.

- pronunciation: eez-veh-NEE-tyeh

15. Приятно познакомиться.: It's nice to meet you.

- pronunciation: Pree-YAHT-nah poz-nah-COH-meet-tsa

16. Pадa вас видеть.: I'm happy to see you.

- pronunciation: RAH-ah VASS VEE-dit. (This is the formal version; you can substitute "teb-YA" for "VASS" to make it less formal)

17. Сколько?: How much?

- pronunciation: SKOL-kah?

18. Где туалет?: Where is the bathroom? (This means the toilet room, which is usually different/ separate from the sink/tub room.)

- pronunciation: gh-DYEH twah-LYET?

19. Как сказать по-русский _________?: How do you say in Russian_________?

- pronunciation: Kak skuh-ZAHT pah-ROO-ski?

20. Помогите мне пожалуйста?: Could you please help me?

- pronunciation: Pah-mah-GHEE-tyeh MNYEH pah-ZHAL-sta?

I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this AND that you have been practicing saying these phrases out loud for the enjoyment of those around you.

Eat Mor Chikin

2010-03-09T07:59:00.005-06:00

For those of you not from one of the great Southern States (or from one of the states that has imported CFA), my heart bleeds for you and your lack of Chick-Fil-A, the most wonderful eating establishment in the Union.

I love basically everything about it: the chicken (sandwich, strip, or nugget form), the tea, the salads, the wraps, chicken salad sandwiches, even their Coke is special. It makes my soul sing.

In January, the Great Chick-Fil-A Experiment occurred with marvelous results! The chicken strips and nuggets were fantastic (albeit a little salty, due to the fine-grain salt that was used) and photo documentation was a part of it. A couple weeks ago, some Ukrainian friends were visiting, and we were looking through some of my pictures. The girls saw pictures of the chicken and decided that we should make them together. So, last Saturday, we did!

Tanya, Mariana, Nastia, and I went over to Mariana's apartment and recreated the Great Chick-Fil-A experiment with equally wonderful results.

They were a little skeptical that I was forgetting ingredients (don't worry, I wasn't), but they played along nicely.

This is a picture of the real thing.

This is our rendition. Pretty close in appearance, I would assert.

Our spread: strawberry tea, nuggets, chocolate, and cookies. Our sauces: soy, tartar, and ketchup.

Waiting to eat! Tanya and Nastia.

Hostess, host, and me: Mariana, Kolya, and Erin.

Great fun was had by all! Our next project? Borsch! Apparently, they want to give sushi a shot, too, but I'm not so sure...

Happy Women's Day!

2010-03-08T04:33:00.006-06:00

*Disclaimer: This may turn out to be a rather long post. If you stick around for the duration, may I recommend acquiring yourself a snack first?

Today, March 8, is International Women's Day. It is a major holiday in Ukraine, and I LOVE it! I wasn't able to fully appreciate it last year, because I was extremely sick with the flu. This year, however, I've gotten to participate and am a very big fan.

Women's Day is prominent in Central and Eastern European countries, especially, because it was created as a Socialist Party holiday within the Soviet bloc countries. It has become an international holiday since then. In Ukraine, it's celebrated as a mix of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day, the difference being that you do not have to be a mother or in a romantic relationship in order to fully benefit from it. ALL women are celebrated simply for being women. How great is that?? To read basic information about Women's Day, click here.

My Women's Day celebrating began Friday night. I lead an English club on Friday nights (for more info, click here), and three of my students brought me a tulip as a Women's Day gift. It was beautiful! Following English club, two of my friends, Victoria and Natalie (those of you who read this regularly probably feel like you know these girls), brought me a present of pomegranate-scented body wash.

First gifts! Tulip and body wash.

Yesterday, though, was the real celebration. The men at church made a very good job of celebrating us women. The sermon was an instructive, encouraging message for women, taught from 1 Peter 3:1-7. While many women can find things to begrudge and dislike in this passage, Nicolai Romanovich taught more about how women have significant power to influence and that we must be wise and use our influence in a holy, God-honoring way. Then, they gave every woman there a bar of chocolate. Good plan? Why, yes, I agree!

That evening, the young men of the church invited us young women (of which I'm one of the oldest) to a Masquerade. We each had to wear a mask (which I borrowed), and when we arrived, we found that the boys had done a fantastic job of planning! Before we even entered the building, we had a short show of flame throwing and fire breathing (one of the guys is a part of a Cossack guard that ceremonially guards the local monastery; he has a lot of cool training)! All of the boys were wearing masks and most were dressed as if they were from "Phantom of the Opera."

The evening included baked, sugared apples and chocolate; poems; songs; one rap; videos; dramas; a sword fight; prayers; and encouragement. I loved watching the boys demonstrate to the "sisters" how much they appreciate and value us. It was just lovely and extremely thoughtful. I'm sorry that some of my pictures are blurry; many of them were taken in the dark.

Ira and her "pretty-in-pink" get-up.

Some of the men: Vova, Zhenya, and Pasha. Zhenya was slightly frightening...

Dasha in her beautifully-made mask.

Brother and Sister: Vitaly and Olya. I had thought about wearing sunglasses, and everyone had laughed at it when I suggested it. However, they all loved it in this case. Geez...discrimination.

Artyome, Zhenya (the girl version), and Vaideem. Don't the guys look impressive?

Tanya and her friend, Ira.

Pretty Nastia.

The chief and me. Chief = Maya

Nastia, Pushkin, and me. I can't decide if he looks like Captain Hook or a Musketeer. Which do you think?

My friend, Olya. I love her because she never makes fun of my Russian and is very encouraging.

For your edification:

1. For more information on Women's Day, click here.

2. Some girls I know from college have a blog (along with some other women), wherein they think and write about what it means to be truly feminine females in a world that tends to think of it as a weakness. To check it out, click here.

3. In a similar vein, for the gentlemen out there, click here for a website created for you!

Today, I encourage you to think about the women in your life who have influenced and encouraged you. Here is an EXTREMELY short list of some of those women in my life: my mamichka, Susu, Mrs. Romine, Mrs. Linda, Mrs. Twila, Mrs. Tidwell, my auntie, my grandmothers, my friend Kat, my friend Karen, all of the roommates I had throughout college, Ira, Nastia, Mama Mac, Wendy, and my favorite sister Amiee (don't think I'm rude...I only have one, but she is my FAVORITE!). There are many others. I'm so thankful for you all. Happy Women's Day!

I'm not an idiot. I promise.

2010-03-06T06:07:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine who also lives in Europe posted something genius recently. I laughed in sympathy as I read it and thought about all the different scenarios in which I have felt like a complete idiot. I always feel the need to shout, "I'm not an idiot! I'm just not a native!"

So often, I'll go to the store, ask a question, and find myself fixed with a stare that clearly says, "I have no time for you, you idiot girl who knows nothing about anything in life." The reason for this is merely because of my language skills and my nationality.

Last night, I was visiting with some friends who speak EXCELLENT English. They spent some time last summer interpreting for some groups that came to Poltava to conduct medical clinics. I asked them what they thought about their interpreting experiences. In the midst of all of the positive, excited comments, one of the girls mentioned to me how her feelings had been hurt by one of the Americans who criticized her accent. I felt quite indignant on her behalf.

I have a challenge for you:

Be very kind to foreigners.

Just because they may not speak your language or perhaps speak it with an accent does not mean that they are unintelligent. They may very well be incredibly smart, capable, successful people in their home countries. Living in Ukraine has increased my capacity for compassion. Next time you encounter a struggling foreigner, please keep in mind how you would feel if you were dropped into his or her home country.

Remember Abraham and Lot and their fortuitous encounters with foreigners. Always be kind.

Conveniences NOT to be taken for granted, part 2

2010-03-04T03:43:00.003-06:00

My friend, Mindy, reminded me of something else I won't be taking for granted: being able to buy as many groceries (or whatever else) as I want, knowing that I'll be able to get it home. Many grocery stores here don't even have push buggies, because there's no way anyone would bother using them. You can only buy what you can carry home. I'll be quite excited to know that I can use a vehicle parked in the parking lot with which I can transport my purchases home! Sometimes I dream about being about to drive again- with my vehicle full of my purchases that will last me longer than 3 days!

On a similar note, I'd also like to add that I'll be happy when I'm not stashing my precious rations of American goodies. Please read this EXTREMELY accurate description of hoarding, provided my a friend of mine who also lives in Europe. Wow. So realistic.

Conveniences NOT to be taken for granted

2010-03-03T08:13:00.001-06:00

I will be a far more grateful young lady when I return to the United States. My time in Ukraine has taught be that there were so many things I took for granted. I will list a few for you:

1. Clothes dryers.

Goodness me. Everything has to be line-dried, and that can sometimes take forever. Or, if you choose to do quite a lot of laundry on one given day, you may find all of your doors, door knobs, chairs, and other available surfaces draped with damp laundry. If you need your jeans or t-shirts to be shrunk a little bit to fit you, good luck! Oh yes, I will hug the first dryer I see.

2. Ziplock bags.

You can't buy them here. I hoard and stockpile them. I bet you've never really thought about how often you use them! Try going for a week without them. It's crazy to realize how handy those things are.

3. Dishwashers.

I am very thankful that my parents taught me to wash dishes at a very young age. However, I am EXCEEDINGLY tired of washing dishes all the time. Not too long ago, I decided to pile all of my dishes up until the end of the day. This is not very attractive, but I'd rather do it once than 3 times. Since there's only one of me, I feel that it isn't worth it to wash so many dishes. Lately, I've taken to using the same bowl for breakfast and lunch (this occasionally goes for forks, too). I know that makes me sound like a slob. I'm fine with that. If you object, you are more than welcome to come take over k.p.

4. Free refills.

They don't exist here.

5. Bathrooms that you don't have to pay for (and that come with toilet paper).

Many, many times, public bathrooms require a fee. Often, these bathrooms are equipped with non-western toilets. You should ALWAYS carry toilet paper or tissues with you, because you will often find the bathrooms ill-equipped.

6. Signs and Directions printed in English

I don't think this one needs any explanation.

This is, by no means, a comprehensive list. There might be a part 2 coming in the near future... It will most likely depend on my frustration/humiliation level. I'll keep you posted.

Awkward and uncomfortable

2010-03-02T04:13:00.003-06:00

I had an awkward and uncomfortable moment today. A friend of mine came over for a short little visit, and we ended up having a chat about kids. One of our friends just had a baby, so we were chatting about the difference in American and Ukrainian child-rearing mentality. My friend meant no offense by what she said, but I was rather embarrassed by the interaction.

Her: "I think that we are raised differently because of how we view things. Maybe we're different because Ukrainians aren't used to having as much money."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Her: "Ukrainian children are treated strictly; our parents won't let us touch things in the house because they're afraid we'll break them. Like vases or some furniture or picture frames or valuable things. Americans give their kids more freedom."

Me: "Why do you think we're so different?"

Her: "Well, I remember one American family that came here one time. They were letting their son play on one of the pews in the church, and the child broke the pew. The parents just said, 'Don't do that. We're sorry...he's always breaking things.' I think that Americans aren't as worried about their kids breaking things because they don't have to worry about the money. I think that they often don't think things are as precious as we do. They might not see a big deal in have to pay to repair a pew, but it costs us a lot."

I agreed that many people don't discipline their children as they should, but I did tell her that my parents were very much on top of that with my sister and me. However, I had to acknowledge to myself that often American children aren't taught to value things as precious. Most of us are so used to instant gratification and our independence that we don't think to value fully the blessings that we have or to regard boundaries.

Many thanks to the parents out there who take care to teach their children respect for property and to value the blessings in their lives. I often feel that I have to defend my country to people here, based on misperceptions that folks gain from movies. This time, though, I couldn't do anything. It IS true that we often don't value things as precious. I'm going to make a conscious effort to be more intentional about valuing things in my daily life.