“I survived a Ukrainian Easter Extravaganza”

The two people who witnessed and encouraged a crazy amount of food consumption on my part (my friend Tanya and her mom)


Can't have Easter without Peeps (thanks momma perrone)!

This past week I have ate more food than any other week of my life. Ukrainians drag out any holiday for an extra few days to week. All week long, I have been celebrating Easter with my host family, fellow teachers as well as one of my Ukrainian friends. To make you understand, think about eating a Thanksgiving feast dinner for 6 out of 7 days. I have been running a lot this week but I still don’t think it comes anywhere close to balancing out the mass amounts of paska (traditional Ukrainian Easter bread), sausage, egg and potatoes salads, mashed potatoes, homemade cheese, cookies, cake and candies that I have consume either willing or by force of a Ukrainian woman.

This week was alright. My patience is running a little thin with being promised new living situation and no results. And frustration mounts when I get to school for my classes and one of my classes of 11th formers all decide to play hooky and not show for classes because of the holiday. Still looking to feel at home with my job of teaching but sometimes it is hard.

On the upside, the weather has been warming up. So the long walk to school in the morning is now really enjoyable. It is also great to see a lot of sunshine, does a lot for my sanity. There were some points this winter when I thought that warm weather and the sun where never going to show.

This Friday, I met up with returned FLEX (it is a exchange program run by the US government for foreign students from all around the world to study in the states for one year) students to develop and arrange some volunteering at a local orphanage. The idea is to pair one volunteer with two returned students to have a couple of English clubs and activities planned for each week. It will mostly get off the ground in mid May. I’m excited to get the chance to work outside of the school.

That’s pretty much about it. Hope the weather is warm where you are and that turkey jello is not being forced on you at any meal. Keep lookin’ up, friends.

Facts and Numbers as of May 11
127: letters I’ve sent home to the good US of A
90: letters I’ve gotten here in Ukraine
18: episodes of Grey’s Anatomy that I watched from this current season
14: miles that I ran this week on the track by my house
12: number of paska a woman has to sample before she will have the fortune of getting married that same year
10: shots/toast during a typical feast of celebrating Ukrainians
7: roughly the weeks until I’m an AUNT!!
6: days until I run a 10k in the Carpathian Mountains
2: times I ran in the rain/drizzle this week
1: the shirt I need to say “I survived a Ukrainian Easter Extravaganza”
½: the amount of a piece of Ukrainian salt fish I tried. Not my thing, tasted like a very salty, and fishy piece of beef jerky
0: times I’ll shower/bath today because there’s no shower on God’s day. I thought cleanliness was next to Godliness…
?: days until I will get a flat or new host family to live with for the remainder of my service

3 things I’m glad I brought with me: my running shoes, computer and ipod
Food I would like to be eating right now: bowtie pastry doughnut things from Kroger’s
What I’m getting use to: the unexpected and always changing school schedule
What I’m not getting use to: the Ukrainian system of standing in a line or should I say not standing in a line
Moment I regret: during a mid-freak out destroying a half a big of peanut M&M’s that I was waiting to share with other volunteers
If I could be dinning anywhere for dinner tonight: home for my dad’s meatloaf and huge salad
Random moment where I thought to myself this is a great experience: walking past a house and seeing someone blow out the candle on top of the paska with their family sitting around the table
Biggest frustration: classroom management
Biggest challenge: staying positive and energetic
Overall Low of the week: knowing that I’m missing out on moments at home with family and friends
Overall High of the week: Becoming a lot more self-aware