Internet Explosion

This week I have had Way Too Much Free Time!! I've filled it with a lot of reading, a bit of traveling, and a lot of web exploration. I have officially started using twitter. (My Profile.) I never thought I was the tweeting type, but it's something to pass a little bit of time . I still don't exactly know what the point is, but maybe I'll figure it out over the next 18 months. Two other websites have been taking up my time, B Kontakti (the Ukrainian facebook) and stumbleupon.com.

Stumbleupon.com is incredible, and the worst thing to happen to productivity since facebook. It is a website that you sign up for, tell them what topics you're interested in, and it takes you to websites you might be interested in. You click a thumbs up if you like it and a thumbs down if you don't. The site uses your preferences to narrow the criteria for sites you will like. So far I've seen some awesome photography, read an article about a guy who got mugged then took his attacker out to dinner, and watched a few mediocre but interesting videos. Basically the internet is the best time killer ever invented! Thanks Al Gore.

For those of you who don't know, my mom, sister, and I love the Bachelor/Bachelorette! My mom and sister always watch, and I catch episodes as often as I can. My guilty pleasure is absolutely reality tv, and this show has a special place in my heart. I have been following this season (also courtesy of the internet) and things are just starting to heat up. For those of you in the know- Go Chris L! Poor Frank got screwed having the first one-on-one and got all jealous and crazy with it. He's my gut reaction favorite, but seems a bit unstable at the moment. Haha I feel like I know these dudes and my opinion changes every week.



July should be a much more productive month.

Strawberry Fields Forever... or at least the next month.

Yesterday I went with my counterpart to gather wild strawberries. We walked to an old orchard that was communal during the soviet era to hunt and peck for the tiniest strawberries you can imagine. They are considered a delicacy here, and people say that if you eat them for for the time that they are in season you won't get sick for the rest of the year. I felt like a cave woman out foraging for my cave family. My take was not great. For every one I put into the bag I ate at least one, but it was fun to be out in the sun doing something so simple. (Rhyme much?) Later in the evening Anya made my baby strawberries, some normal sized berries, and cherries from our tree into fresh compote. America I have a question for you... Why the hell don't we drink compote!? It's the greatest stuff on earth!

Aside from that I have been living a way-too-low-key existence. However, I just got a GRE prep book from a friend and plan to start studying soon. (Stupid GRE!) I haven't done much math since my sophomore year of college so I am NOT looking forward to this. But, since I have all this time I should use it to TCOB. Wish me luck.

Patriotism...

For most of my life I have not been a very patriotic person. I mean, I say the pledge of allegiance and sing the national anthem, but if asked "Hey, are you patriotic?" I probably would have laughed and gave an exceedingly witty retort that dodged the question.

My opinion has changed in my eight months abroad. It has become exceedingly clear to me that America is an amazing place. We have managed a lot in our short history, some of it exceptional, other parts not so good. When I was younger I would hear stories on the news about something happening in my country that I didn't like and think, I would love to live in another country...disassociate myself with this maddness.

The point is that this is simply not possible. No matter where you go in this world you will always be "the American" or at the very least an American. The deeds of your homeland will always reflect back on you in subtle ways. That in mind, I've changed my tune. I have to love America because I am America. Without love for your country there is no reason to try to make it the place you would like reflected back on you.

There is nothing better than summer.

My first official summer weekend kicked off with an overnight train ride to Kyiv. I didn't get much sleep, but that didn't stop me from enjoying my morning at the Peace Corps office. On the fourth floor of the office is the volunteer lounge. There are comfy couches, a computer lab, and a lot of books for volunteers to trade. It's a great place to relax and meet new people. After a few hours my friends Thomas and Emily got to town.

We headed over to the Pinchuk Art Centre to see the exhibit Sexual Transcendence. It was really interesting. There were a lot of different types of art there, sculpture, performance, video, collage, painting. One video was pretty disturbing actually, but the rest was excellently laid out and thought provoking. Here is a short article about the exhibit if you're interested...Sexual Transcendence.

Next we headed to Maidan (Independence) Square, one of the most famous sights in Ukraine. There we met my friend Alie's mother and grandmothers who were visiting from Chicago. It's always fun to see the parents of your friends, it's a whole new insight into them.


That evening we went to Morozivka, my training site, and spent some time with our host families. My host sisters and I had a little feast, drank a bit, and headed across town to the local bar only to find that it had just closed. Oh well, better luck next time.

Sunday was lake day! It was so hot here this weekend that we could no longer avoid the urge to go swimming. My host family lives on a small lake, so we started off the day there roasting fish and sausages over the fire. As far as I know Tanya and Gallina have lived in the same house all their lives and I found out that they had never swam in the lake! We decided to go for it and I quickly found out why it's not the hottest swimming destination. The muck at the bottom went literally up to my knees... gross. Still fun though. Later we went to another, nicer lake and swam some more. I love going back to visit my host family. They really are my Ukrainian family.

What's Goin' On

On the joyous occasion of my internet acquisition I think I'll do a full update. It's been a while. First of all, I'm sure you're all wondering what this glorious photo looming above the text is. Ponder no more... yesterday, after getting some counsel from my dad, I decided that my sweet peas needed something to do. So I built them a playground... or really some sticks and string to climb up. Garden projects are always so satisfying. Especially ones which involve instant gratification. Speaking of the garden, strawberries are going nuts. Here there are two varieties of fabulous strawberries, clubnike, your average berrie, and sunitsu, a tiny wild strawberry that tastes more like artificial, starburst flavor. Needless to say they taste like heaven. The cherrie tree is also coming into season.

Freddy is growing up into a fine young dog. He bites a lot less now, probably because he's too hot to do that much activity. We go swimming in the river from time to time, and the kids from school love to play with him. The two most adorable kittens in the world are also getting bigger. They lived in the house for about a week, but are banished out of doors again. Our ducklings have transformed into ducks. In no time flat we'll be eating duck al' orange (I probably spelled that wrong, eh). An endless stream of chicks continues to flow through the farm. Now we have two mamma hens sitting on eggs (as opposed to the others that we got at the bazaar). Gotta love fuzzy babies running around.

School is done for the year. (Technically we're feeding the students breakfast on Monday, but basically it's over). To celebrate, I'm taking the overnight train to Kyiv tonight to meet up with the four people that I trained with. Emily, Thomas, and I are going to an exhibit called Miniature Kyiv and then something called Transcendent Sexuality (I think it's an art instillation). Considering the source (Ukraine) this should be interesting. During the soviet years a very popular phrase was "there's no sex in the USSR." Basically it was taboo, probably even dangerous to acknowledge that sex even existed during that time period. Needless to say there are some subsequent sexual hang-ups.

I'm very happy to report that I am 24 now and still tickin. Anya (the lady that I live with) threw me an awesome birthday party, and four of my friends, and my Ukrainian family came over for a huge Ukrainian feast. I learned to make cabbage rolls, we drank moonshine (typical), and danced at the outdoor disco until the wee hours of the morning. It was a fabulous way to get older.

That's life... I'm a happy girl. The sun is shining (I can prove it with my first, and hopefully last, wicked sunburn of the season), the strawberries are tasty, and I'm having an adventure.

Who Can Take a Rainbow Sprinkle it with Dew? The Internet Man... That's Who!

I am officially connected to the world wide web!!! The man came to my house today and in 35 minutes I was surfing the net! It's a beautiful thing. I will write a longer post after my LAST teacher's meeting of the school year!