Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Fast Flying February



February absolutely flew by! I traveled every weekend but the last, and got back into the groove of teaching. It's hard to even remember what I did all of February. The goal was really just to get through that oh so pleasant of winter months.

One weekend I helped out at a seminar for teachers that my friend Julia planned. The next my oblast (like a state) had a meeting to plan an event that I seriously can't wait for. We are having a day-long Around the World event for students. I am planning the opening activity and coordinating logistics. The third weekend I spent at my friend Little Ira's birthday party, and visiting with friends in a village called Shargarod.

March has officially started with a bang. I attended my first party for teachers. We were celebrating the 8th of March, International Women's Day (which happens to be today so Happy Women's Day to all you awesome ladies). There was a HUGE table overflowing with food and drink, and a dance floor full of teachers. I was at the party from 2:30pm until 9pm and there were no signs that it was stopping anytime soon. I feel much closer to the people I work with now. Getting to see each other cut loose a bit always helps.

Because of this holiday I'm on the fourth day of my weekend now. I spent Saturday at Simon's birthday party. I had never met him before, but us American's have to stick together over here. It was great to get to know some new people, and the sloppy joes were nothing to sneeze at.
The next day I met up with my traveling buddies (Alei, Katelin, Becky, and Kacey). Our mission- check two of The Seven Wonders of Ukraine off our lists! We went first to a little town called Hotine. We stayed with one of the older volunteers named Janet and her friend Meegan, then in the morning went over to see an AWESOME fortress. I was told that it was where French taunting scene in Monty Python was filmed, but that is in no way accurate I'm disappointed to say. It was so cold, but we were just about the only people there, and it was really easy to imagine life there back in the old days. They haven't made the fortress all touristy and I hope they don't start.
Next we went to Kaminets Podillsky to see their even larger fortress. It was great to walk around in, but the highlight for me was getting to shoot a cross-bow!!! Overall it was a great trip.

In a week and a half I have my spring break!! I am going with my traveling buddies to the Carpathian mountains. We will spend three nights at a spa for about $70 each. You can't beat that. Here's some info about the spa. We were sold when we saw the indoor pool and hot tub.