Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day

2 reasons I can't run: 1)snow/ice covered sidewalks and roads 2)packs of stray dogs around my hood.

Happy Belated Valentine’s Day readers of No Humdrum Life!! The title of this blog is a Liz Lemon quote from my beloved 30 Rock. Giving a shout out to Anna Howard Shaw who was a Women’s Civil Rights leader, Happy Birthday to her. This Valentine’s Day I was quite popular. By that I mean, I got a Valentine from my pops via snail mail and photo email Valentine from my nephew, Leo. Love them both, but it would be nice to get one from a boy that I’m not related to.

This week was another winter weather land of snow and freezing temperatures. Earlier in the week, it was super bitter cold. I was walking to school on Tuesday and I was so cold I almost started to cry. I seriously was so frustrated for forgetting to put on my long underwear. I was too far on my walk to school to turn around and go home so I just cursed the Ukrainian weather gods all the way to school. For those who think Peace Corps in Ukraine is Peace Corps Light, I suggest to you to come visit and have a 30 minute walk across town when the temperature is right around 0 Fahrenheit while the wind is blowing in your face. Godspeed.

Class Work February 16th, 2011: If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would you go? What would you do? How long would you want to stay? Who would you go with? (First ten minutes of class given to my 10th form class to complete this task) A kid's answer, "I go in the Poland. I eating fruts, drink beer and sleep. I wanted go in the magazine." Well hell if the school will fund the trip I will be the chaperone. I would love a trip out of Ukraine to eat fruit, drink beer, sleep, and then go shopping. Maybe spring break?!?


Disclaimer: Other volunteers thought we should take a photo for my dad after hearing two road rage incidents where another driver flipped him the bird.

Thursday was the first day I have ever shot around or really played any sports with my students. The 17th marked the 6th anniversary of my high school basketball team winning the Sectional Championship. It was one of my favorite high school games for the obvious reason that we finally hurdled the obstacle of winning a sectional and secondly our grey ghost fan section. I swear there wasn’t an extra seat or at least that is what it felt like. At the end of the game, I had a pass to Jessie on a fast break and our student section went crazy. I had never felt such an adrenaline rush quite like it.

Oh, the good ole’ days! So to celebrate this holiday, I thought why not when I saw the door open to the sports hall and kids shoot around. It was funny, because I swear there was a student from almost every class who came into the gym, sat along the side and just watched. I want to think I impressed them, but the fact I was shooting with a boy’s ball that had probably been kicked like a football one too many times which made it lopsided didn’t help me get into a rhythm too fast. None the less, it was a good shoot around for the sentimental reasons.


Yes, I should have been named Donna after my pops for my frugality.

That night I also hosted a breakfast dinner party. I had a group of PCVs come over to enjoy pancakes, French toast, and scrambled eggs prepared by Val and myself. Eventually, my Ukrainian tutor showed up later to enjoy a dinner with the craziest bunch of Americans this side of Kivertsi train tracks. The photo is because I tell a lot of stories (imagine that) about home to PCV friends. So when we went to take this picture it got brought up how my dad gets super pissed about getting the finger from anyone when driver or really in general. So dad I hope you enjoy the fact I got you 9 “birds” for Valentine’s Day.

Today’s weather was cold and snowy. I have friends coming to visit in two weeks time. I really hope it thaws out a little or at least enough so the sidewalks can be non-yaktrak needed. Nothing else to report. Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day as well as week. Miss and love you all.

Kate

Your Friend is from America, Yes?

Awesome mural in Lutsk.

This week’s title is brought to you by the local apple selling man in Lutsk. Melissa and I were walking past him headed to the bus stop. He had heard us speaking English and asked Melissa if I was from America. She responded, “Yeah, and me too.” Melissa’s Ukrainian is so good, plus her attire doesn’t scream American so she is often taking for a Ukrainian. (She doesn’t wear earmuffs or tennis shoes with yak-tracks)

Favorite Appropriate or Inappropriate Behavior of the Week: the last two lessons of the day at my school being canceled so the entire teaching staff could walk over to a different school to celebrate a birthday for one of their teachers.

Hmm…what to tell you about this past week. I was under the weather for the majority of the week. Battling a lingering cold and also getting use to my TB medication, nothing too horrible. It is just that I feel a little nausea in the morning from taking my daily pills. Ukrainians take health very serious, so my counterpart insisted that I take Thursday as well as Wednesday off from school to feel better. So my school week was a very short one with only teaching on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.


Blue skies from my courtyard.

I have been back in Ukraine a month now and I’m starting to feel in a groove with teaching. I must say that I enjoy my schedule it logically makes more sense than my previous one and I have more classes with groups of students I genuinely enjoy to teach. Classroom story of the week comes from my 5th B class.

When I walked into the room on Monday morning, all the kids were asking me if I spoke Ukrainian (my school really only wants me speaking English to the students/which means students don’t know my level or if I speak Ukrainian at all; well sometimes I say sit down, be quiet or homework in UKR) Anyhow, I walk in and one of the boys asks me in Ukrainian do I speak Ukrainian. I say back to him in Ukrainian I understand a little. Then I tell the class to pull out their notebooks and write the day and the date. They start begging me to speak in Ukrainian. I keep speaking in English please take out your notebooks and write the day and the date. The boy asks me again and I respond “Not now” in Ukrainian without even realizing it. For whatever reason, the class finds this hilarious and laughed for a good while before I was able to get them under control. I at one point started laughing from their enthusiasm at me saying one short phrase in Ukrainian.

Shout outs of the Week: Happy 202nd Birthday President Abraham Lincoln, no one quite rocks the top hat and beard like you. Another Birthday, but not quite as old as Abe, Val-my awesome site mate; so glad to have you in Kivertsi with me. Happy Anniversary to Erik and Tobey on your one year wedding anniversary. Congrats to Kristin and Chad Rickey on the birth of Baby Charlie!!!


Melissa (featured PCV) and Myself two weekends ago.

At the beginning of the week, I could see the ground and the temperatures were right around the freezing mark. I was getting excited to think as soon as I got over this cold I could start running in preparation for the 10k that I want to run again in late April. I was walking to school on Friday thinking oh I can stop wearing such warm clothes. Wishful thinking- by the time I got out of school at noon the ground and disappeared. Snow and frigid temperatures are back. Booo!! I am hopeful that this February won’t be as bad as last. The previous year, we had some canceled school days because of -30 Celsius weather (-22F). I’m really hoping to avoid that level of cold in my bones this February. Oh, how spring can’t get here fast enough.

Alright I’m going to wrap this up so I can start some hand washing of a week and half worth of laundry. I hope everyone has a great Sunday as well as Valentine’s Day. I must say that it is one of my least favorite holidays, but maybe a secret admirer will come out of the Ukrainian woodwork. I’ll leave you with a short interview of my friend and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer Melissa. I’m going to do this for the next following weeks with different volunteers. Keep an eye out. Miss and love you all.

Kate


This is my Ukrainian dwelling place.

SUNDAY MORNING WITH VOLYNSKA VOLUNTEERS / MELISSA

1. Describe yourself in 5 words
creative, enthusiastic, awkward, hopeful, self-entertaining

2. Favorite and least favorite thing about Ukraine
favorite: people, and then food// least favorite: icy sidewalks and pessimism

3. Title of your PCV Autobiography
Eating Oranges in the Dark

4. 3 survival tips for a PCV in Ukraine
1. Say yes to as many reasonable invitations as possible., 2. Be flexible., 3. Try a little harder sometimes, but just relax, sometimes, too.

5. What Americans don't know about Ukraine, but should...
Ukraine is not part of Russia. Ukraine is not always cold. Ukrainians-- especially young women-- are very stylish, and don't even dash out to the corner shop for bread without looking good. Sweats and hoodies? Nope! Also, many Ukrainians are pretty multi-lingual, and speak Ukrainian, Russian, maybe Polish, maybe something else. Most Ukrainians know more about America than Americans know about Ukraine.

Practicing for Pregnancy

Not only do I get hardcore drugs, but a coloring book as well.

I get to practice the habit of consuming no alcohol for 9 months because of two letters… TB also known as Tuberculosis. I had a TB skit test done two weeks ago at language refresher. So this past week at my medical check-up, I got the drugs that will get rid of the TB in my body. Now don’t get to worried about me, I only have inactive TB which means I was exposed to a person with active and Peace Corps takes the health of volunteers pretty serious which means I get super preventive care.

So let me break down my week by the days for you.

Monday & Tuesday:
Normal days at school. They actually went pretty well, but it could have been me in a really good mood because I knew I had a 5 day weekend coming to me. Tuesday after school before getting on the overnight train, Val and I decided to make some authentic potato pancakes. We were successful and also successful of flooding my kitchen floor.

Finished the pancakes and then Val decided to rinse out a bowl before we started to feast on the meal. She rinsed turned off the water, then turned me and asked, “What is that noise?” Well somehow a pipe that brings the warm water to the sink from the bathroom broke which caused a Niagara Falls situation under my sink. The first think I yelled was “Oh my god, we need a Ukrainian!” Before running to the hall way, the thought of turning of the water came to mind. I went into my bathroom and switched it off. Not too much water came out, but enough to be mopped up and ringed out in a bucket.


Val and I cooking moments before flooding my kitchen.

I called my counterpart to let her know of the issue before headed to the train station at 8:30pm to catch the overnight train to Kiev. I got my train without any problems. Boarded, made my bed, and then climbed up into it to read for the rest of the night.

Wednesday:
Rolled up into Kiev around 6:05am. I got off and waited in the huge train station for one of my other PCV friends to show up. Ashley arrived by 6:30am which we decided was a perfect time to indulge ourselves with McDonald’s breakfast. A bacon egg and cheese has never tasted so good. Finished up and took the 10 minute walk to the Peace Corps office. I dropped my stuff off in the PCV lounge and then got a nice hot shower before my long day of medical checkups.

10am X-rays to make sure I don’t have active TB in my lungs. I got X-rays at Ukrainian clinic. Hmm…how to explain this interesting experience? Nerve racking to say the least in a normal situation and then when you add on top of that the language barrier even more stressful. They printed my X-rays and then a woman came into read them. She was super serious and unfriendly. With how she was concentrating in certain areas on, I was only imaging the worst things especially with how much she wrote down on paper for me to deliver to the PCMO doctor. Leaving the clinic, I was positive I had active TB and was going to get sent home from Peace Corps.


RM Oksana, Myself, Melissa and Ben (PCV newbee in a village only 30 mins away from Kivertsi).

I got back to the office with X-rays in hand to finally talk with the doctor about the TB issues as well as my normal check up. The PC doctor first told me my X-rays were fine and from then on I was a lot more relaxed. She had read the X-rays, took blood, urine sample, and conducted a full physical. Oh, good times. When that was over, I only had a little over an hour to navigate the marsukas of Kiev to get to my dentist appointment. By the time I got there, I was worn out to say the least. I almost feel asleep in the chair waiting for the dentist to come in. Overall, I’m glad to have my teeth cleaned, but it also was the most intense and bizarre cleaning I have ever had. It felt like my teeth were being sand blasted with salt water.

After the very long and intense day, I headed to the hostel with Allison, Aidan, Sam, and Ashley. It took us a little while to find the place, but eventually we got there and dropped our stuff. Then we headed just a block down the street to have Azerbaijani food. MMMM…nothing like having ethnic food at ever possible chance. I had a delicious soup and a great chicken dish. After, we found dive-y bar to have a few or possibly many drinks at to celebrate my diagnosis of inactive TB. Let’s just say there was me, some shots, classic Barry White and me putting on a show for all the Ukrainian patrons to see featuring Aidan and I’s slow dancing skills.


What can I say the Kivertsi Girls are goofs.

Thursday:
Thursday morning was definitely a slow one. We got back to the Peace Corps office around noon. There I pretty much hung out with other volunteers until they caught their train or bus out of town. I did get to watch Discovery Channel, National Geographic as well as other American shows since the office has cable TV. For dinner, Jon and I hit up a local Chinese restaurant oh was it so damn delicious. I wish ours in Lutsk was that authentic. I enjoyed one more hot shower before catching my overnight train back to Kivertsi which departed Kiev at 9:10pm. Finished the book I was reading before going to sleep and got cozy for a pretty comfortable night’s sleep.

Friday:
Got into Kivertsi at 6:05am. I walked back to my flat. Unpacked my bags, tried to clean up around the place. Later in the afternoon, I headed over to Melissa’s place in Lutsk. The Volyska crew (my local PCV friends) got together for a pasta dinner (Dominic, Jon, Melissa and myself). We pretty much just had a nice laid back night.


Out Melissa's flat's window at night.

Saturday:
We met our new regional manager at a local pizzeria for lunch. She seems super on top of things as well as nice. I’m looking forward to working with her in the future. After lunch, a group of us head back to Melissa’s to hangout for the afternoon. Laura and Andy (Rivne Oblast which is roughly 1 hour directly to the east of Lutsk) came to go out for dinner. Laura also found out she has TB like me at language training so this was our last hoorah for awhile with the group. We went out for a nice Ukrainian dinner and then chilled at Melissa’s flat for the second night in a row.

Sunday:
Woke up a little before 9 today. Melissa being the great hostess she is made everyone a very nice spread for breakfast. We all got moving around 11:30 to get back to our own sites. This afternoon, I have just been trying to relax and get some things done around my flat. For the most part, I have read and watched a movie (Finding Neverland with Jonny Deep and Kate Winslet; 2 thumbs up). I got a bit of a cold so just trying to have a low key Sunday before another crazy school week starts tomorrow.

Well I hope everyone has a great Super Bowl Sunday. I’m pretty sure you can guess which team I’m pulling for. Love and miss you all.

Kate

Listen to Teddy...

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."- Teddy Roosevelt

Well last week was my first full week back at school. It actually went smoother than I initially thought it would. I got a new schedule for this term, because there is a new teacher for the younger students (2nd-4th form). I must say that I love my new schedule. Mondays and Fridays are light and the middle of the week I have more classes which makes the cold walk across actually seem worth it.

On Friday, I got to teach the 4th graders. They are super fun, because they are just so excited for me to be in their class. They asked the teacher if I was going to be teaching them when I first walked in the room and when she answered yes they all started screaming while jumping up and down. It is one way to be greeted warmly.

The cutest thing happened after I finished co-teaching the lesson. A little girl came up to me and asked if I knew something. I could understand the “did you know” in Ukrainian, but I was confused with what. I asked the new teacher and she told me that the little girl was asking if you know her grandmother (by name). I told her I didn’t think so. Then the girl said “but she lives in America you don’t know her?” I said sorry that America is a big country. “I thought you would know her,” the girl disappointedly responded.



One of the thousand of icicles around town. It gets a little warm and then really cold the next minute. The sidewalks are like bumpy ice skating rinks.

Another funny and not so brilliant on my part was when I went into teach my 10th form class. As I walked in the student greeted me with the normal “good morning teacher.” Then as I’m making my way across to the desk that is in the corner everyone (literally everyone) was staring at my crotch. Apparently, when I was in a hurry this morning I had tucked in my shirt, belted my belt, but forgot to close the barn down. Oh good times! Forgetting doesn’t really surprise me that much as the fact I walked all the way to school in freezing temperature and didn’t notice a draft.

Speaking of freezing temperature, the weather is cold as you would guess. The think the part that is driving me a bit crazy is that one day it will be freezing cold and the next day decently warm for Ukrainian winter. The problem is that the ice/snow will melt a little, but then refreeze which makes the town like one big lumpy ice skating rink. I’m so glad my pops sent me yak tracks. They truly make a world of difference. The teachers at my school think they are great idea. Maybe, I could make a little money on the side marking up the price by $10 and reselling. Too bad the shipping costs would be ridiculous.



Val (my new PCV sitemate) and our first attempt at Spanish rice.

Friday, I hit a new mile stone. I’m in the 200 letter club (I’m the founder). I sent #199 and #200 to my dad and Kimberly. Then #201 just went out today to the lovely Sandra Christ formerly known Wischmeyer forever known as “Swimmer.” Wonder if I’ll make it to the 300 hundred mark by the time I COS. I would say there is a good chance of it. And for my 201 sent, I’ve received 170. So my great family and friends please keep the letters coming. My mailbox loves the lovin’!

Well this week is going to be short teaching week. I have four lessons tomorrow and then in the evening catch an overnight train to Kiev. Woohoo for mid-service medical checkup. I’ll be there until Friday morning when I arrive back to my town by another overnight train. Alright hope everyone at home is happy and warm. I hear Illinois might get a lot of snow dumped on her. Now before anyone shovels go for a 30 minute walk when it is windy and you will know what every morning is like for me. Miss and love you all.

Kate



WARNING: Don't sleep on wet curly hair...this is what you will look like in the morning.

Colder Than a Bucket Bath

Convincing other PCVs that jumpin' in is a good idea.

Howdy all! Oh how the last week has been an eventful one. Tuesday morning, I headed to a Soviet Retreat to study Ukrainian for week. There were around 55 PCVs in attendance and many Ukrainian Peace Corps Staff. Each day we had numerous sessions about different topics as well in different groups.

It was great fun; because I got to see a lot of PCV friends I hadn’t seen in awhile as well as meet new people. I tried to change it up with people I would sit with at meals to really be a social butterfly. On Wednesday evening after dinner, I got back to the dorm we were staying in to hear about people who wanted to go jump in the river. It didn’t take much convincing and I was in thin long underwear ready to get my polar bearness on.


Me sprinting for the shore for a towel post polar bear dip. Coldest thing ever!

We all gathered outside. Took some before photos and then walked down to the river. The river was frozen accept for a little sliver right at the bank that was only a foot deep. I’m sorry, but I wasn’t about to roll around and get all sandy in freezing water. If I’m going to do a polar bear dip/dive I’m going all out.

While everyone was watching the crazies roll around in the little open water, I had my eyes set on a fishing hole square that had been cut in the ice. I took my coat off and then went out on the ice slowly. In my “expert” opinion (after jumping up and down on the ice a few times), I was convinced there was no danger, I started to persuade people to come out and jump into the little hole.

My beloved cluster mate, Laura, was the first to take the plunge. It was sort of funny, because she was in all white long underwear and looked as if she was coming to be baptized. This started the jokes of me saving the souls of the sinful Ukrainian PCVs’ souls. Around 10 PCVs took the leap of faith. I was the last to jump in. I asked from a countdown from 10 in English for the group. It was around “4” that I thought “what the F am I doing,” but the peer pressure worked as I jumped in screamin’ at the top of my lungs.


Story time with yours truly.

I had ice baths up to my knee/thigh in college, but this was by far the coldest thing I have ever experience. After my head broke the service, I started doggy paddling thinking swim to the shore and get out. My good friend, Kelsey was yelling at me to grab her to be pulled out. Oh how the shock of it caught me off guard. Overall, I would say all PCVs should take a polar bear dip once in their service. (keep an eye out for a video to be posted on facebook)

I was surprised with how much I enjoyed the language refresher, but eventually Friday morning rolled around and it was time to pack up. Peace Corps had hired a small marsuka to take us to Lutsk since there were a decent amount of us. I grabbed a 107 back to Kivertsi to have some down time before our collaborative meeting on Saturday.


Dana, Maggie, Theodora, LCF Katia, Me and Emily. The group I studied UKR with.

Saturday morning, I was slow to rise with it being so freezing in my flat (heat not working again). Eventually got moving met up with Val and Ben (closest and newest PCVs to me) and we jumped a marsuka to the University in Lutsk. There gathered around 24 PCVs from my oblast and two boarding ones.Collaborative meeting is to share and discuss information about all different topics that are relevant to youth development, community development and TEFL volunteers. It is also nice to get to meet a lot of new people. (PC Ukraine brings two groups of volunteers a year; they get placed to their site in Dec. & May) So this last bunch of volunteers just got to their sites before American Christmas.

The meeting went really well. After we broke off in two groups, one headed to a pizza place while the group I was in hit up a Chinese restaurant a little further from the center. After dinner, I headed back to Kivertsi. Once at home, Melissa and I got talking on the phone about how we were losers and thinking of going to bed really earlier. We settled on it would be more fun if she came to Kivertsi to chat, watch Toy Story 3 and spend the night. It ended up being true. We hung out until late last night, made a small breakfast this morning before she headed back into Lutsk.


The snowy drive back to Lutsk. We had a brief warm spell; waiting for April weather now.

Now I’m just jamming out to my Christian worship music and waiting for my Ukrainian friend Tanya to call me, because I’m suppose to go over to her house for dinner. Oh, how I love her mother’s home cooking. I’m also going to put some “Friends” episodes onto her new desktop computer. Then later tonight, I plan on screaming at my computer screen while watching the digital updates of the Bears Packer game. GO BEARS!

Well I hope everyone at home is well and warm. It is strange to think just a little over a week ago I was in America. I’m sure these next months until the fall will fly, so I’m trying to absorb as much of this experience I can. Really lucked out to be 1 of 404 American Peace Corps volunteers in Ukraine. Miss and love you all.

Kate

"Dude You're Going to Have to Push Me"

Me, Merc, and Elite 8 Team.

It is Sunday morning here in the lovely Kivertsi, Ukraine. A cloudy winter day, but relatively warm compared to last winter at this time with a high of 34 F. I just got done taking my first bucket bath of 2011. It isn’t so much that I mind the bucket bathing process as how cold I feel when doing it. Luckily the temperature in my flat isn’t that bad compared to how chilly it was when I left to visit home.

Anyways, I’m back. The flights here weren’t bad at all. I realized that I prefer to have a window sit so I can prop my head against the window. The flight from Chicago to Warsaw I was on the aisle and the head rest didn’t pull up which ended up in me not being able to nap that much which was frustrating. But my connecting flight from Warsaw to Lviv had the adjustable head rest which meant I fell asleep before takeoff. I did however think the plane was crashing when I woke up surprised to have slept through the whole flight and was startled by the landing.


Me and Swimmer shopping on State St. down town.

I got my bag, grabbed a quick taxi to the outer bus station, bought a ticket and the bus departed less than 15 minutes later. Again, fell asleep on and off on the 3 hour bus ride back to Lutsk. Arrived to Lutsk around 6:30ish hopped bus 15 to Melissa’s part of town. Melissa greeted me with a big hug, warm bowl of soup and delicious biscuits. Glad I made the stopover in Lutsk I think coming back to a cold, empty flat would have been a bit depressing.

I went to bed a little before midnight and slept straight through until 10am. When Melissa started talking to me to wake me up, I was a tad confused to why my sister was at my dad’s house waking me up. Oh, wait I’m back in Ukraine. We might up with Val, my new site mate, and then headed to the center to meet up with the boys. We all enjoyed catching up over tasty Ukrainian cuisine.


Rockin'Out in Da Bears Apparel.


After we headed back to Melissa’s place, Val was nice enough to help me get all my bags back to my site. We probably stood at the marsuka stop for thirty minutes. The 103 came but since it was decently full and stops on the other side of the stairs in town I opted to wait for the 107. Around 10 minutes later a 107 comes along. It was so full and saw us standing there with my huge bags that it didn’t even stop. Then probably another 15 to 20 minutes another 107 comes along.

The driver motioned for us to go to the back door. So imagine me with my close to 50lbs hiking back pack on stepping up two feet to get on to the back of a very, very crowded bus. There was only one handle that was on my left side. I tried to hoist myself up, but only get half way there. I would run out of umpf to make it. I turned back to Val and was like “dude you are going to have to push me.” With a little help from my friend, I made it on. Since I still had my back pack on, it didn’t allow much room for Val to get on. I’m knocking into people and apologizing, but people at the back of the bus didn’t seem too phased by it all. I only wish I had moments like those on video.


Tob and I getting down with Kinect, oh how crazy technology is.

I got back to my flat. Unpacked my bags while visiting with Val. We made an easy dinner and she peaced around 6ish because I was so tired. I got a second wind around 8 then couldn’t fall asleep until 1am. Woke up around 9am, cooked eggs for breakfast, took a bucket bath, now just chilling until Val comes over. It isn’t even noon and I’m already for a nap. We are going to run some errands are town and maybe watch a movie later in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, I’ll swing by school to say hello, but then Tuesday morning I’ll head to a nearby town until Friday for a language refresher with my local volunteers. It is nice not to be thrown straight back to the wolves (Ukrainian school children). Hopefully I will easily transition back into my Ukrainian life.


Can a kid get any cute than this, I think not!

It is so crazy how you board a plane, ride for however many hours and then you step off in a completely different world. I had a great three weeks at home. It was a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but none the less a good time. Seeing my family and friends was definitely the best part of it all. But here are the high and low lights of the trip for me.

Some of the many highlights:
Leo Walker (the cutest little man to ever exist), taking funny photos with my brothers and sister, laughs in my sister’s theater, seeing all the high school teammates, Cherry Lounge, shots with RA crew, driving, mini chocolate doughnuts, Mexican food with Pat and Swimmer, and really just all the small moments of hanging out with family and friends.


Fun morning of taking random photos with Kevin, me posing at the old railroad station in Chilli.

Few of the low lights:
The Bears lost, not getting to see Theran, not having enough time to visit everyone the amount I wanted to, and having to board a plane knowing it will be around 11 months until I’m home again.

Well I’m going to hang with Val this afternoon and probably nap a little too. Hope everyone is well. I had a great visit in America. Thanks for making it special. Here is to a great 2011 in Ukraine for me and in America for you. Love and miss you all.

Kate

(Sorry really too tired to proofread might do it at a later date; still a little jet lagged right now)

The Thoughts in My Head

Best way to start the day: Mr.LW and Titka Katya time.

2:25am. I should go to bed, but have lots to say. Glad to be home yet at the same time overwhelmed. Sometimes in a good way. Sometimes in a bad way.

Cottage cheese is better than I remember. Underwear out of the dryer are so soft. I love DA BEARS more than I thought. It is nice to 'realize to read' again. Love being small town and bumping into people around town and they welcome me back.

There are a shit ton of kinds of toothpaste. Seems like overkill. Walmart: minor freak out. Babies don't stay babies for long. People still laugh the same. The Schmidt kids do the best photo shoots: quick look Ukrainian. M&M and theater gift card is an awesome white elephant gift.

Beating someone off the line at a stoplight is priceless. Rubber chocolate doughnuts are and will always be my favorite. American beds were made for me. I should be beat for my hot water consumption, but I finally feel clean.

I love having alot of tennis shoe options. Beer tastes so good. And I have no desire to drink any of the 4.5 liters of vodka that I illegally brought into America. I wake up and don't know where I am. Touch phones are too advanced for me (sorry if you accidentally get called). When a baby reaches their arms out for you, there isn't quite a feeling like it.

First week has been a good one dispite not feeling caught up on sleep. Hope the days slow down a little, but excited to see more important friends and family in my life. Keep lookin' up. Chicago get ready because here Schmidty comes!

Kate

(my dad's computer doesn't have spell check sorry for the mistakes)