Monday, December 13, 2010

T-3 Days to the Airport

Time is crawling by as I wait to leave for my three week vacation to America. Yesterday I went Christmas shopping in Xmelnytsky, so that helped pass the day. I got a lot of awesome little treats for my people back home. I still need to find a few other gifts, but I'll be doing that in Kyiv while I'm waiting to go to the airport. To kill the time I have been listening to a lot of music. Here is a link to a Rodrigo Y Gabriela video. They are two Mexican guitarists who play the most incredible music you've ever heard. That has been the happy soundtrack to the last seven days of my life. Now I'm off to teach the third graders : )

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Wrote a Poem

So I've been really into making up words lately. This is something that has come out of that phase.

Badldy Business

Tridldida and Trodldidu
hadldy badldy business to do.
They widldy didldy out to the street
and kabudldy Stadldy down to
his knees.

"I lidldy vidldy! Don't vodldy lu!
I have a zibzda to midldy ru!"

"We kudldy less you
fodlry ku!"
And they shmudldy Stadldy
three times in the shklu.

The hudlie ran red with his
ctadldymu as he tidldy,
"Fadldy tedldy, zimzamza bu!"

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Fall turns to Winter


I haven't posted in a long while, and a lot has happened. First of all, I will be traveling to Michigan for Christmas and New Years in nine days!!! I can't wait to get home, even for a little while.

October ended with a bang- Spalloween. My friend Becky hosted a girls weekend for Halloween. We ate delicious food, painted our nails, did face masks, and watched Hocus Pocus. It was a wonderful and relaxing few days.

November was LONG! The change of seasons dragged me down a little bit. It is now getting dark at around 5pm, and the streets are covered with ice. A visit from my friend Lauren helped to lift my spirits, however (pictured above in our awesome hats). Here are the hilights of her trip; hung out with Totya Anya at my house, went to the disco and met some fun Ukrainians we nicknamed Charlie Brown and Uncle Fester, stayed in Lviv for two days, drank beer at two underground pubs, spent the day in Kyiv, ate awesome food, said goodbye : ( It's funny how some friendships just pick up where they left off no matter how long it has been since you've seen each other. I have no doubt in my mind that Lauren will be one of my bestest best friends for ever and ever.

December brought Thanksgiving oddly enough. This past weekend my site mate Becky and I hosted ten volunteers for an all out feast! (If there is one thing I've mastered here it is the art of the feast.) We had American classics like cranberry sauce in a can, green bean casserole, stovetop stuffing, and pumpkin pie which were sent to us by our fabulous friends and families back home. The centerpiece to it all was a ducken. You heard right- ducken. We stuffed a duck with a chicken and it was delicious! We hadn't set out to do this, it just felt right in the moment.

That's about all for now. As the Ukrainians say, I'm sitting on my suitcase. Counting down the days to my visit home.