Ivan, a favorite kid from the second session.

This Babushka was so nice to us and even though we couldn't understand a word she said, we thought she was really nice to give the cat and dog a ride in her stroller.

Hannah, Mourning the death of Michael Jackson at a tribute stand on the side of the street.

Haley, Holly, Aubrie, and Hannah in Mirinski Park

Hannah and I in front of St. Sofia in Kiev!

P.S.

Our internet decided to crash on Friday and only geared back up again this morning. So, we haven't posted in a while, but we shall very soon.

Weekend Report: Issue 3

This is just a side-note to the weekend, but I felt, despite the personal humiliation I will undergo, it was worth sharing. And I blame my little brother. Mark is kind of a weirdie sometimes, and I felt the whole weekend that he should have been there because everything we saw would bring out the best of his imagination. Since he wasn't there, I felt the need to act in place of him. So, without further ado, in the caves near Hotin Castle, this is my impersonation of Mark's impersonation of Gollum.

Weekend Report: Issue 2

So, Friday evening, after having dinner with our kids for the last time, shedding a few tears and saying many more goodbyes, we jumped on the bus headed for Kiev to catch a train. We were all pretty cheery, looking forward to spending the weekend away from Kiev and away from Boyarka. While walking to the train station, we made several stops, most noteworthy being a stop for ice cream cones--dipped in chocolate. While trying to find the right platform at the station, we ran into one of the kids from our camp! His name is Phil, and he is super cute. He was one of the younger kids so I never taught him, but boy, can he dance! We caught our train with a few minutes to spare and found that it was unbearably hot. Unfortunately, the windows refused to lower, no matter who tried to pull them down (I'm thinking mainly of the rather large fellow that sat on one of our benches while his seat nearby was occupied). Oh, it was so so hot! The car we were in was a sleeper car, but it was a cheap sleeper, so our compartments didn't have doors, and one of the beds was across the aisle next to the other window (parallel to the train tracks, rather than perpendicular like the other beds...make sense?). The car was full, too, so not only was it hot, but it only got hotter as more and more body heat was emitted. We were all sweaty and gross. Bleh. Haley, Branda, Dena, and I shared a compartment, while Aubrie, Holly, Mykaleen, Julieanne, and Sarah shared the one right next to us. We talked for a bit and watched the countryside go by for a bit, but we were too hot to do much else, so we set up the beds (we were all given clean [and somewhat scratchy] sheets) and went to sleep. Sort of. It was so hot, and the train stopped several times to let more people on that I didn't really get much sleep afterall. We were awakened by the train lady at about six a.m. and our train pulled into Kamyanets Podilsky at about seven or seven thirty. Tanya, our coordinator, had arranged for one of the managers of the hotel we were staying at to be waiting for us on the platform. ...well, to make this long story a bit shorter, he wasn't there and so we had to figure out first what the name of the hotel was and second how to tell the taxi drivers to take us there. There was a young guy at the station who stopped and helped translate; his English was just good enough to help us. Thank heavens! So, after having to pay that extra money for the taxi, we arrived at the hotel to start the next charade. They found our reservation in the computer, but the price they told us it would be was almost three times as much as we had originally been told. Not cool, since this trip was already going to cost more than I could really afford. Oh yeah, and check in time wasn't until three...it was eight at the time. Being semi-loopy from the train ride, I couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh or if I wanted to cry...I didn't do either because in the fifteen or twenty minutes it took us to figure things out (by calling Tanya and having her talk to the hotel people) I couldn't decide which one would feel best. We got checked in and took a few minutes to change our clothes and settle in a bit, then headed out again. We were hungry, and we knew that if we took a nap right then, we'd sleep all day. Kamyanets Podilsky is a very cute, very old town. It was first mentioned (in writing, I'm assuming) in 1062. The architecture in the town was charming, although many of the buildings are undergoing restoration, so we couldn't see them very well. One of my favorite things about the town was the landscape it was built on. The Smotrych River flows right down the middle and has carved a wide canyon right through it. There is one main bridge (at least that I saw) that spans the gap. Down in the canyon are huts and farms. On the higher levels are the more city-esque areas. There are lots of churches and cobblestone streets. The highlight of the town, though, is the castle. It's very picturesque. This weekend made me think a lot about Marky Poo (my little brother). I imagined him (being the dork that he is) running around in the castle courtyard like a spy, climbing up the towers and hanging out the windows yelling, "The enemy approaches! Hold your positions!" I could just see him hiding behind the walls, dodging between between the parapets, scurrying up the ladders, jumping off the ledges, and all sorts of other adventurous silliness. I felt the urge to do the exact same thing, and I'm sure if it was just Mark and I in the castle...well, it would be epic. The Ukrainians think we are crazy enough as it is, so I surpressed the urge as best I could. I did climb to the top of the towers, though. I felt very surpressed, though, because there were lots of hills and trails to explore...and across from the castle was a circular stone platform with big rocks circling it. Um...that was a terrible explanation, so I will just refer you to the picture. It was very Narnian-looking and I just wanted to spend the day roaming around in it all. After exploring the castle, we were pretty tired. We stopped at an "American" pizza place for lunch, and it was really good, actually. After that, we went back to the hotel for a nap. The absolutely fabulous thing about this hotel was that we had semi-personal space. Only two people to a room, instead of our usual nine. It was so amazing to only have one person to share a bathroom with. I got stuck with Haley, of course. Sigh. Baha, just kidding, I wouldn't share a room with anyone else. After our nap, we went straight back to the pizza place for dinner. We stopped by the castle again, to see it in the different light and without all the tourists around. Very beautiful. My memory is failing me, because I can't remember if we did anything else after that other than walk around for a bit. I think we went back to the hotel relatively early so we could get a good night's sleep. Oh! I forgot one very important part of the day. Heh....I'm not sure I should share this because it may freak some of you out, but just keep in mind that Haley and I are on top of things and know how to be safe. So, when we got to the train station and were waiting for the man to show that never did, we saw a Ukrainian (an Ukrainian? That sounds funny to me for some reason) get off the same train as us. One carried a keyboard, another an accordian, another a guitar. One was Uzbeki (we found out later) and was on crutches. Several of the others sported a mullet (did we mention how hideously popular mullets are here? They are starting to grow on me, frighteningly enough. Maybe I'll cut my hair into one...) We ran into the same group when we were at the castle, and again about three more times. More details about them when we write about day two. I will just leave you knowing that they don't know how to find us, they were very nice, and very un-creepy. P.S. my camera was having issues this weekend. On the first day I ran out of battery and on the second day I ran out of space on my memory card. Sigh. So, once again, Haley will have to post more pictures (my camera decided to be unavailable just as things got interesting, so the best pictures will be on Haley's camera).

Weekend Report: Issue 1

This weekend was quite eventful, so I think we may have to post about it in issues. First of all, I want to say another sumthin' sumthin' about my kids. Only because we had to say goodbye to them on Friday and had to greet a whole new batch of them today. The new kids are fine. They're great. Whatever. I just miss the old ones so, so bad. It's hard to believe how fast I fell for those kids. It's a little scary to think how wrapped up I can get in their well-being after only two weeks; I'm always thinking about their futures and if they will always be so sweet and if they will always know the things they know now (like how to be good people). It makes me so sad to think about the trouble some of them may get into in the future, or the hardships that will come their way. It makes me want to cry thinking that I will most likely never see any of them again, or even get a letter or an email from any of them. I just want to know that they are happy and doing well. It makes me a little terrified of parenthood; if kids that aren't even mine can torture me with their love after only two weeks, what will having my own children do to me?! If I could have children like Cute Dima, Roman, Julia, Lera, Yuriy, and all the other wonderful kids, I'd be so super happy. It wasn't very fair of me to get these new kids and only be wishing for my old ones. I'm sure these kids will be fabulous, and in two weeks when we have to say goodbye to them too, it will be just as tough. Hard to imagine, but I suppose that's how it will be. All these partings are hard on the heart!! It is definately a comfort knowing we are all children of Heavenly Father, and just because we have to say goodbye for now in this life, it doesn't mean we won't meet up again in the next. It's the only solace I can find (ahhh haha pathetic I know) while looking at all these new faces and only wishing for the familiar ones.

Boyarka/Lady School

This model of car seems to be the most popular around here...can anyone tell me what it is?

Boyarka Train Station--yet to be used by us because we don't have the timetable for it. sigh.

A few of Boyarka's pack-o-mutts. Most of them are really friendly and some of them are super cute. Don't worry, I am far too paranoid about getting ringworm to pet any of them.

Lady School has these funny mushroom-looking shaders that we get to have class under when we go outside. It's nice to have the outdoor option.

The grounds of Lady School--very cute and well-kept. A pleasant surprise when we first got here, since the rest of the town is kind of a dump.

More Lady School grounds.

Some of our boys playing on the "football field" at the school.

Seems like every pole, fence, and door is plastered with adds--new ones piled over old ones.

Boyarka sidewalk--its green, which is super nice, but its also dirty and a little stinky. Not as bad as Kiev, though.

Downtown Boyarka!! Woot! The big silver building is sort of the main store. Right behind it is the track Haley and I run on every morning (well, Haley runs and I sort of...shuffle.)

Polar Opposites--Spawns of the Devil vs. Angels

Alright. Deeeeeep breath. In....out....in....out. Whhhewwwwww. I think I will tell first about the evil devil make-me-homicidal children. To get it out of my system. So it doesn't stew inside of me. So I don't spontaneously erupt into a flaming mass of angst and fury. The culprits are Dima (NOT my cute wonderful Dima--Devil Dima), Maryika, and Kate. Rrrr. RRRR! These three are the usual miscreants, along with a few others that join in now and then. Devil Dima thinks he is the most important person in the world and that nothing anyone says contrary to that should have the privilige to grace his ears, so he will totally ignore it. According to him, he is always right, he is the smartest kid in the class and doesn't need to listen, and if he decides to listen, it is because he is feeling particularly gracious at that moment. His parents spoil him and do everything for him and don't listen to anyone who says he is anything other than a wonderful, perfect little angel. ... ........... sigh. And then there is Maryika. Maryika is a female version of Dima. Both of them speak Russian like crazy. I'll tell them (nicely first, then progressively more stern and pretty soon there is nothing left to do but grab them by the shoulders and yell it at them) to stop, and they roll their eyes and say, "No Russian, only English." And then turn right back around and speak Russian again. They are pros at ignoring the teachers. Kate will come up and give me hugs and want to chat and be all cuddly, but she does what she wants and doesn't listen to anyone either. She rattles off in Russian all the time, too. Sigh. Basically, I am just hoping and praying that none of them decide to come back for another session. Or I might just have to call a hitman. Something tells me that in this part of the world that wouldn't be too difficult. Alright, I've had enough angst for one day. I need to think about wonderful sweet tender adorableness. I need to think about my favorite child in the entire camp--Cute Dima (as opposed to Devil Dima). Last night we did our Farewell Spectacular, and it was super fun. We all dressed up in craziness and did our hair and makeup a bit wild. We sang a silly roll-call song and did a goofy leg dance (one person on the floor is the legs, the other sits on top of them and is the rest of the body...silliness all around) and then each of our classes got up and performed something. Some did songs, some did dances. My class did a round of Boom Chicka Boom, and then my Cute Dima sang a song...let me just tell you. The day before when we were deciding what to do for the show, he asked if he could recite a poem "in the English language" and I said of course! When we were practicing later that afternoon, he said he didn't want to do his poem at practice because it was a surprise for the show. Hmm...suspicious...but okay, Dima, you are my favorite boy ever, you could ask me for my soul and I would probably give it to you. So, then we are at the show...it's Dima's turn. The kids are being roudy so I wait til they are quiet to give him the microphone. I sat down on the side of the room and Dima starts his song. Set to the tune of "Dashing through the Snow" he sings "Hannah is beautiful of all." I wish I could remember all the words. I recorded it, but my camera cut it off in the middle of it. One line said something about how all of the American girls are pretty, but Hannah is Beautiful of All. Oh, and he started by saying, "This is a song I wrote for my favorite teacher." It was the most tender thing I have ever heard. I LOVE that boy. Such an unbelievably sweet boy. I will show any who want to see it my recording of his song (I can't upload it to the blog due to technical retardedness on my part). It made coming to Ukraine worth it though, because it was the most hilariously sweet thing ever. Honestly, if I met someone that was just like Dima only older (sort of a lot older...like fifteen years or so older...) I would be madly in love. He is just too sweet for words!

This is the Bell Tower at the Monestary

This building looks really cool and really old. Well, it is cool but it actually was built in 2000. The original was destroyed in World War II and so it was reconstructed.

Hannah and I on some cool steps at the monestary.

These are all of the girls in our group. They are so awesome! We had to wear scarves on our head to be respectful when we went into the monestary.

Hodel and Tzeidel from Fiddler on the Roof.

A Quick Note On Dimitri

I know, I know. I have already told you all about my kids, but I just wanted to tell you about my sweet Dima again. He was unbelievable today. We were playing "down by the banks" after we finished with the lesson, and usually the boys cheer for the boys and the girls cheer for the girls. Duh. Well, everyone was out except Julia and Yuriy. The other girls were off twirling or something, meanwhile all of the boys were yelling "Yuriy, Yuriy, Yuriy!" Except tender little Dima. He cheered for Julia, since no one else was. It was DARLING. We played again, and it came down to him and Julia. He totally let her win. He did it pretty discretely, but he TOTALLY let her win. Then, we played it again (they love it...I have no idea why...) with Holly's class while we waited for her to get things ready for a different activity. They were all sitting on benches in a circle, so I just knelt down outside of it to play while we waited. Dima, bless his wonderful little heart, got up, found me a chair, and brought it to me. I LOVE him. I hope he is always so sweet.

Weekends Blow.

Okay, not really, but this weekend was so much harder than the entire week was. At least for me. The last two days seemed like they would neeeeeeeeeeeever end. We did lots and lots of awesome, sweet things. On Saturday we saw the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, which is an orthodox christian monastery. The caves underneath, where the monks once lived, now serves as their tomb. The environment in said caves is such that the bodies are highly preserved. Some of the glass caskets had a hand showing out of the burial robes so we could see the state of the bodies. Definately dead. But, there was still skin and fingernails and tiny hairs on them. We had to wear scarves on our heads and carry a candle with us because it was so dark. There was a continuous line of people going in, some stopping at each tomb to pray and kiss the caskets. Gross. I was surprised none of the scarves caught on fire with how many candles were wandering around down there. Afterwards, we went to a service in the church there. The chanting and the choir and the swinging incense balls were very mystical. Like you see in the movies. Sure didn't feel the spirit, though. The bells in the tower also went off while we were there, and they were amazing. They start out very slow and monotonous, but before long, there are many different tones and they are going super fast! It was fun to hear. Of course, this was about when my camera decided it was tired and didn't want to work anymore(Haley was generous enough to share her camera with me, so all of the good ones, of the really cool stuff, she'll have to upload to the blog later). We went home after that, to try not to be excessively late for dinner. An hour and a half isn't excessive, is it? Yesterday we went to church in Kiev first thing in the morning, then we went to the head teacher's apartment and made a cake, a much-needed treat for us all. After that, we had tickets for the ballet, which unfortunately fell on Sunday. We saw Cinderella, and it was very beautiful and enchanting, but I think I've had my fill of ballet for a while. There's just something about it that feels a little too much like miming. It was very beautiful, though. The biggest problem with this weekend was how much time we spent travelling. It took AGES to get into Kiev! Saturday we missed our train in the morning, so had to catch a bus (after having walked a good twenty minutes or more to the train station) and then another bus to get into town. We had to take the metro, and Aubrie and I got left behind again because Aubrie's metro card wouldn't work. We finally got through and found the others (we have a problem with making sure everyone gets through the checkpoints like that. We're getting better...). It was a lot of time spent on buses, and most of the time I was standing. Bleh. Yesterday was worse, though. It took forever to get to church and we were twenty minutes late. Then, it took forever (more buses, metro, and walking) to get to the apartment. It wasn't too bad getting to the Opera House for the ballet, but oh my heavens. Getting home...not fun. Some girls got pretty distracted taking pictures, so we were waiting outside for them for at least twenty minutes. This caused us to miss the early train. We were going to try to catch a train that was half an hour later, but apparently it doesn't stop in Boyarka (it was the express/more expensive train) so instead we had to wait for two hours to catch the 11:05 train. All the weirdies take the latest trains, and sure enough, Haley, Sarah and I were pretty well surrounded. Two weirdies in front, facing us (one with crazy hair and two swords...) and three that smelled like cigarettes and had at least two beer bottles each. They didn't give us much trouble and we pretty well ignored them despite their pitiful efforts (they could say about five words in English: yes, no, hello, goodbye, and beer). When we finally got on the train and got to Boyarka, we found that the buses had already stopped. The buses between cities stop early, but the buses within the cities usually run a lot later. Nope. They weren't running. So, we got to walk down the scary streets of Boyarka in the middle of the night with all the drunken creepers and wasted sketchers (our new word for those that are sketchy). It wasn't the most comfortable half-hour walk. We finally got home and the sweet, wonderful cooks had left dinner for us. The cute old-man guard let us in and turned on lights for us. The helper-people at the school are so good to us. The cooks, the guards, the cleaning ladies. Love them. Anyway, I have found that I much prefer life during the week than life on the weekend. I missed my kids, and I could certainly do without public transportation. Hopefully next weekend, when we go to Kamianets Podilski, will be less crazy.

This is part of my home class. They are so great!!

I have to admit that I do kind of have a few favorites. Sasha is so awesome!! He always gives me cool pictures and his friends all come wisper to me that "Sasha, he love you." I feel so special.

Another favorite! He speaks English fluently and I especially love his mullet. The mullet seems to be the favorite and most popular hair style in Ukraine. Hannah and I are currently having a competition to see who can capture a picture of the best one!

I first week of teaching has gone really well! I love my kids...(most of them) and they are sooo sweet! They draw me pictures all of the time and I have received some very nice portraits titled "Haley." The hardest part about teaching is how to tell a student who loves you so much, to stop pushing, scratching, and hitting the other students without being horribly mean. Honestly I would love to let the other kids just hit back, but then things get out of control, especially when I can't speak Russian. The most succesful activity we have done is painting pictures out of colored frosting. Anything involving food seems to be a hit.

.....

.... p.s. I am still finding glitter EVERYWHERE.

I LOVE my kids

I just have to put in a little note about my class--they are SO cute. I have five girls and five boys. They are all so sweet. I know I talked about them before, but AH! Especially my boys. I will miss all of my boys. My Kostia is so great; he speaks such good English and is always telling the other kids to stop speaking Russian. We've been doing a points system where they can earn up to five per day, and whoever has the most at the end gets a surprise (probably cupcakes or something). Even if my class doesn't win, though, I sort of want to sneak them a surprise, because I just LOVE them. They are pretty good at listening to me, and we have so much fun together. They are trying so hard to speak English and it makes me so happy. They struggle a bit, but help each other and work together. Vlad, Dimitri, Kostia, Yuriy, Dimitri, Ann, Maria, Julia, Ann, and Zhenna--love them!

No Russian, Only English!

We are exhausted, and we've only taught two days...but we're having so much fun!! What a job this is; the kids arrived Monday morning in droves. I will let Haley tell about her teaching experience, but here's how the day went for me: We started out all together in "The Pink Hall" which is a cute room painted all pink. We met with the Ukrainian teachers and the kids were introduced to us. We did some last minute prep, talking with some of the directors to make sure we were all on the same page, then went to lunch and met with our kids! I am in the older kid rotation; we have four groups of about ten students each. Haley is in the younger rotation; there are five groups with about ten each. The older kids meet seperately from the younger kids for "opening," so I don't see Haley too much during the first part of the day. We usually teach from 10am to 2pm, but on Monday, since the kids arrived around 8am, we started at 2pm and ended at 6pm. It was a little crazy starting out, getting our "home groups" together and singing some songs and laying down the rules. We split after opening and took our home groups to our classrooms where we each did an activity/discussion with them. In my room we made name tags and just got to know each other a little bit. After thirty minutes, we rotate so we each get all four classes once every day. Never again will I use glitter with forty children. Or two. Or any. Except maybe my nephews. I am still finding glitter in random places, and the kids were covered in it all day. After four rotations, we all met together with our classes to play games. We had a whole hour to fill, so it got a little crazy...we played a huge game of down by the banks and fruit basket. By the time we were done for the day, we were all so overwhelmed and exhausted. Today was lots of fun; it was nice to have class in the morning. Opening was a little disorganized, but still fun. Lots of songs. We're doing a theme for each session (we have three two-week sessions), and this session is Under the Sea. My group is the Sting Rays! They are so great. There aren't too many problem children in my group. I have five boys and five girls, ages eight and nine. Zhenna, Julia, Maria, Ann, Ann, Dima, Kostia, Vlad, Dima, and Yuriy. I LOVE my boys. They are so sweet and so smart. Yuriy struggles with his English, but the other boys and even some of the girls help him out. A lot of the kids (in general, not just my group) will try to help each other using Russian, which is against the rules, but my kids usually just help them with really simple English. It's fun to see their teamwork. Kostia is always telling them, "No Russian, no Russian!" Russian is against the rules. Dima, Kostia's twin brother, is very smart and very sweet. I love their little accents and to see them trying so hard to use their English. Most of my group is really smart and surprisingly good and English for their age. There are a couple of older boys, Roman and Zhenia, who are practically fluent. They are hilarious. It's fun to be able to really talk to them. They are...thirteen? Roman's cute, Sammy. They both are. Sometimes its reeaally hard to get the kids to pay attention and participate (The Killer Whales had a hard time focusing today) but in general things are going really well. I'm having a lot of fun. It's definately challenging to accomodate all different levels of English learners in planning and executing lessons. The kids are so cute, and I've gotten more hugs in the past two days than in who knows how long. I love it when the kids say my name. Soooo cute. It's hard to believe we've already finished two days of teaching...we only have eight more lessons with these kids! I will miss a lot of them, but there are a few I will certainly not miss. I will miss my boys, but Maria...I will probably be able to let her go without much of a fuss. Zhenna too will leave with few tears on my part. This is SUCH an experience. It is so fascinating to learn about the culture and the people here. The funny things that happen on a daily basis, like trying to shop for groceries when everything looks so different and everything is written in Russian, are so fun to enjoy with Haley (and the other girls). I've been yelled at in Russian a few times, and the cute cute ladies that clean the school will talk to us in Russian even though they know we don't understand. They are generally smiling, but who knows what they are saying! The cooks are also great. They are so good about putting up with us. I brought three big groups of kids in from playing outside to get drinks and they were so sweet about the little-person invasion I forced on them. I heard a lot before I came that the people here aren't friendly and generally don't like American much. No one on the street will smile at us, but the cooks and the cleaning ladies, who at first seemed really unfriendly and annoyed with us have turned out to be so sweet. They smile at us (and laugh at us, but as far as I can tell its all good natured) and it is SUCH a welcome sight. It is so different from home here, but I am starting to really love it. I know I will be happy to come home, but I know when I am home I will miss Ukraine. One thing I KNOW I will miss is our bedding--it is covered in Disney Princesses.

We miss Scotland!

Mel Gibson as William Wallace. We found these pictures in a shop at Lochness.

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Haley doing a fantastic inpression of the Lochness Monster!

• This is the real deal! Look at the Puff!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  My Scottish summer home in the Highlands