More Odessa

Hannah and I in front of the opera house before seeing Carmen!

The Girls at the beach in Odessa. Hannah is putting on a great face for how sick she felt!!

Tomorrow is our last day of teaching...

Sorry its been a while since we've posted. Haley always makes me do it anyway...

We're wrapping up our third and final session tomorrow--part of me says THANK GOODNESS. And part of me is somewhat melancholy at the thought. This session has been tough--the younger kids are less focused and the older kids...well, let me put it this way: we are expected to not only teach but entertain a gaggle (ten or so) thirteen and fourteen-year-olds for four hours every day. ....

Ukraine has been so fabulous. It really is such a beautiful country. The green fields and smatterings of wild flowers give it color that contrasts with the more drab, dirty streets and buildings. Many of the buildings are quite colorful themselves, actually (there's a yellow one near the school in particular that I know SOMEONE would appreciate...). There are some beautiful traditions and interesting idiosyncracies about this place that have been fun to discover. However...

I am ready for home. Being away and in a country like Ukraine, with some of the less appealing idiosyncracies and frustrations and mindsets, makes me so appreciate America. Even more than that, though, it makes me so appreciate familiarity! There simply is nothing like home. We still have many adventures to come, though! Tomorrow our group starts dispersing. Two girls are headed to Poland tomorrow afternoon. The next day, two more girls head to Italy and one heads home, and then at o'dark thirty on Sunday morning the rest of us leave, two to France (us) and three to Egypt. It'll be so strange (and quiet) to only have one roommate, after having nine for the last six weeks.

We aren't really sure about our internet availability in France, so enjoy the last few posts while they last ;)

Odessblehhhhh

So, six of us went to Odessa this weekend, and it was quite the trip! We really had a great trip. The train rides were...less than restful. Those overnighters are killers. We survived, though. Sound sleep is one hundred percent impossible on the third class overnight trains. We left at six and got into Odessa at about...six. But that didn't stop the train people from waking us up at quarter to five. Lame. The train always makes me feel sick, but as we left the train station, I felt particularly out of sorts. We went to McDonalds for breakfast (I can only manage McDonalds when I am in countries like China and Ukraine) and I kept feeling worse and worse. We didn't have a place to stay for the night, so we set out to find a place before doing anything else. We walked around quite a bit before finally finding the perfect place. It was relatively cheap and very close to the beach. It was called OK Odessa...heh. It was definately OK! Anyway, I still felt pretty nasty; my stomach was killing me. Walking made it worse, so thank heavens we took a break before heading back out! After a quick cat nap we headed to the beach. I felt pretty much right as rain until we'd been walking for a few minutes, and then my stomach started hurting like crazy again. I had to sit down for a minute because it was pretty overwhelming. We went to Arcadia Beach, and it was crow-how-ded! Sooo many people. We found a spot, way up on the sand and close to the sidewalk. We settled in only to find that we'd picked a spot right by some creeper guys. They were annoying for a while, but then a really nice Ukrainian English teacher next to us told them to leave us alone. She was super nice. So, we laid in the sun for a while. Some of us got in the sea (The Black Sea) but I didn't because I wanted to wait for my stomach to calm down. Well...it didn't. Pretty soon I knew exactly what was coming. I asked Haley if she knew where the bathroom was, and she said she thought it was just up around the corner and we could go try to find it. I said nope, I'm not moving until I know exactly where I'm going. I asked her to ask the English teacher if she knew, and she said she'd show us. So, we start walking. Well, to make the story a wee bit shorter, I didn't make it to the bathroom. I pretty much puked my guts out into a nice little dirt patch. Multiple times. And what happened when I tried to make it to the bathroom, which was about thirty steps away? Yep, did it again right outside the door. So, after making sure I wasn't going to do it AGAIN, Haley walked with me up the hotel, where I spent the rest of the day sleeping and resting. Sorta lame. When I woke up, several hours later, I decided that I needed to make the most of my hotel imprisonment. So, I went on a photoshoot in our little room. The girls all got back around five thirty, and told me we had tickets for the Opera and needed to get ready and go! We had a rather expensive dinner (35 grivin...which is like, five bucks...which is a lot here...) and then went to the beautiful, beautiful opera house (By now I was feeling lots better. Still a little unsettled, but pretty good, especially since we were going to the OPERA). The Odessa Opera House, apparently, is one of the most famous in the world. And rightly so. Ah, it was so, so beautiful! Haley and the girls told me that since we got our tickets so late, we had seats way far away. I totally bought it, and when we went and found our BOX SEATS...it was amazing. Those girls--that was an awesome surprise. The only tickets they had left were the best ones in the house. Haley and I got lucky--we were in different boxes, but they were right next to each other and our seats were only seperated by a wall. We saw Carmen, and it was awesome! Kind of a strange story, but the music was so, so beautiful! It was in French, but with a Russian accent, so I could barely understand anything, even when they were just talking. Oh well! The next day we slept in a bit. It was raining, which was a nice change from the heat. We went to the beach, and due to the rain, it was practically abandoned, which was AWESOME! We didn't swim because it was cold, but we did put our feet and legs in. It was so nice!...minus the garbage everywhere. It was really beautiful with the unsettled sky and the taller waves. And fewer nearly-naked people. We spent the rest of the day walking around beautiful Odessa. It's a really charming city with different colored buildings and fun streets. We had the most fabulous ice cream. Bubblegum, but not like Baskin Robins. This was...phenomenal. The best ice cream ever. We all got it twice because it was just so good. We walked down (and back up) the Potemkin Stairs, we saw all sorts of famous statues and monuments, and got a taste of what Odessa is all about. There definately is loads more that we didn't see, but we all felt pretty good about what we did see. The train ride back to Kiev was another doozy. We got on the train to find two rather large women sitting in our seats, with about eight bags between them. Something they had with them smelled awwwwwwful. Aubrie described it (remarkably well) as such: 525 fishes in a vat of rotten milk with a fat man with B.O. thrown in. We got in at six thirty this morning and took a bus back to Boyarka. We showered, got ready for the day, and taught for four hours. And then what? Took a three hour nap.

A Typical Day at Lady School

I was thinking about how we usually write about more...momentous events, but that's not really the bulk of what we do over here. So, here is the rundown of a typical day here.

I generally set my alarm for about six thirty, allowing myself a good half hour to wake up. Around seven, Haley and I start legitimately stirring. Most of the time it isn't by choice. Every morning starts out nice and cool and quiet. The noises slowly pile up until it is impossible to stay asleep any longer. Whether its a fly buzzing in my ear, someone sweeping obnoxiously loudly outside our window, people yelling, dogs fighting, or the music they turn out (right outside our window and SUPER loud), the peace doesn't last long. It isn't too long (usually) before we are up and ready to go for a run. Well, in my case, its more of a pathetic half-jog half-walk. Haley has to run circles around me most of the time. We come back and do a little bit more working out (Haley works those abs for like an hour. I last maybe ten minutes). We usually don't have to wait too long for a shower, since we get back later and everyone else has already showered. Usually. We have breakfast at 9:30, and start teaching at 10. Haley's rotations are a bit different, since the has the younger groups. There are four teachers (equalling four classes...) in the upper group. We teach for about thirty-five minutes for two rotations, then have combined class with another teacher, then do two more thirty-five minute rotations. At 2 o'clock, we're done teaching and we all go to lunch. Frequently we are so exhausted from teaching that we take a nap after eating. At 4 o'clock we have a glorious thing called middle dinner. Usually its just a fruit, juice, and a cracker (or cookie. Or better--a yummy wafer!) but we love it. Only two hours later is dinner, at 6 o'clock. After teaching and before bed, we do a variety of activities. Napping is one of the most popular. We go for walks around Boyarka, sometimes we go into Kiev, we read, write in our journals, email people, sit around and talk (rarely, with ten girls, do we run out of things to talk about), occasionally play with the kids, plan lessons, and chill. We do a lot of chillin'. Usually its just so hot that doing much of anything doesn't sound like much fun. The last few days, though, its been cool and rainy. A nice change, except that the rain makes it really humid. In the evening we sometimes watch movies or go exploring again. And that's about it! Four hours of teaching is a lot, but it leaves us lots of free time. I keep wanting to work on my book, but I'm afraid Haley's and my computers (uh, grammar check please??) are popular and we usually don't get tons of time on them. Hmm...maybe I'll go work on it now while everyone is busy...

Wha????

Some sad news. Since these children are not our own, we allow ourselves favorites. One of our favorites, from the very beginning, was Zhenia. He was scheduled to come to all three sessions, which was such a wonderful thought. We knew it'd be harder to part from him at the end of six weeks, but to know we at least had one kid we could count on to be awesome was comforting. Zhenia was so much fun to just sit and talk to. He has a good heart; he's influenced a bit by his friends, but he's smart enough to know how stupid is too stupid. At the end of this last session, we found out that Zhenia would not be allowed to come back. Why? Well, because one of the girls had chicken pox when she came to camp, and so they asked who had had chicken pox already and who hadn't. Zhenia hadn't, so they told him he couldn't come to third session. Not because they were concerned for his health, but because they thought that he was a threat to the other children...wha????? His mom even came to the school to try and make them let him stay for the whole time she paid for. To no avail. It's been hard to have class all day and not see Zhenia once. I miss him terribly.

Wrapping Up 2nd Session

I know we still haven't posted about Hotin Castle, our band friends (who we are NOT following around Europe, for those who may be wondering), or anything else that happened last weekend. Check that. Two weekends ago. It blows me away how fast the time is going. Haley and I will be home in three weeks, which seems so, so soon! After getting mostly over the homesickness part of our trip and really settling in, I'm starting to feel frantic--like there is so much I want to do here still! We've had a fun week, including dancing in the rain, a face-mask seance, break dancers in Kiev, a Michael Jackson tribute (with candles, gloves, sunglasses and all). We went on a walk the other day and discovered parts of Boyarka we didn't know existed. Boyarka isn't a prominent town by any means, but its actually rather large. We went to the forest near the school for the first time. Had we realized it was so close, we would have been going a lot more. It is so nice to run on the trail (ALWAYS with a buddy, Dad) and smell the pine and breathe the fresh air. It beats the track we've been running on by about a thousand times, or more. The only downside of the forest is that some parts are rather sandy. There's nothing worse than running in sand. Bleh. Anyway, the point is, I am so loving it here. I miss home, of course, but it is such a blast to be here with nine awesome girls my age, teaching fabulous kids. Speaking of the kids, it happened. Sigh. Try as I might to not get attached to this new session (mostly because I was bitter about losing the first session kids) it happened. My class is so, so darling. I have another wonderful Dima. There are four boys in my class, and they are all unbelievably sweet. We had our hard days, but we had so, so much fun. Dima is hilarious, and breaks out in wild-man dancing on a regular basis. He gave me his special football bracelet tonight and told me he was going to miss me. Sasha has a temper, but is so great most of the time. Oh man, can that boy DANCE! We had a dance-off so the teams could earn more points for the competition and Sasha ruled it. He surprises me with his tenderness. He comes off as a bit of a punk, but then he says things like, "I will never forget you" and other such things that make me want to take him home with me. DEN! My Den is such a gem. He is one cool cat. He is fluent (all my boys are, really) and said to me the other night, "I wish we could just talk and talk and talk, but I must go to my room." Later, after they did their show that they do several times a week, I was sitting by him and he said, "Now we can talk and talk and talk!" We are pals. He's making me a friendship bracelet. And then there's adorable Matwei! Mat is...ah. So precious. He is a lot more shy than the other boys, but underneath that gentle facade is a goofball as big as the rest. He randomly will make a goofy face and it cracks me up. He's so helpful and always listens in class. On Wednesday we did a "Spectacle" show for the kids, a farewell hoo-ha if you will. The next morning, on our way back from our run, Mat stopped me and said that he loved the show, and that "it was beautiful." He is a tender soul for sure. I have two girls in my class too, but they were pretty much doing their own thing the whole time. Didn't get as attached to them as to my boys. They were cute, too though. One thing that surprised me was how attached I got to all the teenage girls here! There are about eight of them that are all twelve and thirteen. I love Sammy, but when she and her friends get together...whew! It can be a little much teenager-ness. These girls definately have their drama, but so many of them are so, so sweet. Surprisingly so. Liza, Marina, Zhenia, Marta, and the list goes on. Thankfully our boy Zhenia (we had two girl Zhenia's this session, as well as our boy Zhenia from last session) will be here next session, along with Jason Secret (a definate weirdy. His real name is Yegor, and he's pretty sure he's the coolest thing in the camp, if not the world). It was definately a different feeling with this group, but we love them almost as much as last session (last session was hard to beat, so that's saying something). It was interesting with these older kids, because they are on the verge of leaving childhood and entering teenagerhood. I'm praying for them lots that they'll make good decisions and keep being the good kids that they are. Or, in the case of some, wise up and quit being drama dorks. It feels weird to say goodbye to them already. I swear they just got here. Den said he didn't think he could come back for the next session, but that he'd come visit and bring his baby sister so I can see her. Sasha said he "maybe, maybe, maybe" can come back next session, which would be SO wonderful. These kids. Ah.

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.