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 : )

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!"

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.

Halloween Party with the Kiddos

On the docket-

-bobbing for apples

-mummy wrapping game

-singing songs and telling stories

-pumpkin carvings

A year over and over a year to go...

This was written by my friend Emily (the blonde in the middle of the group shot of the people I trained with), but I couldn't agree with the sentiment more. I have officially been in Ukraine for over a year. In some ways it feels like the time has crawled, in others like it has gone by in a wink. Thank you to everyone back home and in Ukraine who has supported me through this. I couldn't do it without you!

One year of being away from home, one year without a washing machine, one year without a dishwasher, one year in a world where things move a little slower and everything is planned one day in advance, one year of being a complete fashion disaster, one year leaning a new language and new traditions, one year of learning my limits and just how far they can be stretched, one year of self exploration, one year of being thankful for what I have, one year in a land so far away, one year of dirty trains, B.O. and littering, one year of being totally out of shape, one year of receiving the most flowers I have ever received in my life, one year without driving a car, one year without a cell phone that has unlimited minutes, one year without Mexican food, one year without chocolate chips, one year of squatting over the toilette, one year of new bizarre foods, one year of being misunderstood, one year of being famous, one year of extreme weather, one year with a different economic condition, one year of high high’s and low low’s, one year with new friends and family, one year of extreme patience and flexibility, one year of trials and errors, one year of victories and defeats, one year of gains and losses, one year of laughs, one year of tears, one year of new life lessons, one year of sharing, one year of love, one year of vodka, one year for the books, one year to be proud of, one year to be thankful for and ONE YEAR I WILL NEVER FORGET!

dip dip dip

My site mate Becky and I are constantly working on recipes that use only Ukrainian ingredients to make delightfully familiar food. This was today's masterpiece...

Eggplant "Parmesan" Dip

1 egg

3 small eggplants peeled

1/2 head of garlic chopped

2 small onions chopped

1/2 cup mayo (or until the consistency seems about the same as artichoke dip)

salt, pepper, and italian seasonings to taste

A bunch of cheese- parm and some other white cheese, mozzarella if you've got access, grated (half to mix in, half to put on top

oil to coat saute pan

Cut eggplant into long strips, coat saute pan with oil and saute eggplant until soft, mix with other ingredients in baking dish, cover mixture with generous layer of mozzerella, cook in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is beginning to brown. You could probably replace some of the mayo with something else like sour cream if you were worried about the fat.

This stuff turns out incredible. It's like eggplant parm that you can spread on a cracker or a pita chip!

A Ukrainian Wedding- feet washing and wheelbarrow rides!

I have officially attended a Ukrainian wedding. Everyone should do this at least once in their lives. Here is a break down of the solid two day nuptial bonanza.

Day 1- The day kicks off when the groom comes to the family home of the bride and (symbolically) gives the father money and gifts in exchange for his daughter's hand in marriage. Then we proceed to the government building where vows are exchanged and the marriage license is signed. This is the portion that most americans would recognize. Rings are exchanged, the traditional "here comes the bride" music is played, etc. Finally we end up at a restaurant where we sit at a HUGE table filled with food and booze (a bottle of wine and fifth of vodka for each six people that is constantly being refilled). Once you are so full that you can't imagine eating one more piece of sausage the dancing commences. Fun Fact- Ukrainians dance in one large circle around the dance floor all night long. See video for more info on that.

Day 2- The second day of any Ukrainian wedding is bound to start out a bit more tame (possibly due to the amount of booze the guests imbibed the previous day). You kick things off at the church ceremony. This particular wedding took place at the Ukrainian orthodox church. It was very beautiful inside, although I did not understand a word the priest said because they speak an old school mix of polish and russian (or something like that). Then you head back to the restaurant to continue the drink-eat-dance cycle three more times (three is a big number in Ukraine). Throughout both nights you see a smattering of different traditions. I'll tell you about two of the more delightful ones. First, the groom has to wash his new mother-in-law's feet and calves with beer, vodka, and mustard! After this has happened he has to try to get her to put on a pair of delightful rain boots. Her job is to make this as difficult as possible twice and then on the third attempt she succumbs, wears the boots, and they share a dance. On the lucky occasion that one of the newly weds is the last child in the family to get married the parents get loaded into a wheelbarrow and dumped unceremoniously into a puddle (or any available body of water from what I understand). They then have a hilarious dance together to celebrate their truly empty nest.

In closing- Ukrainian weddings are awesome.