a quick note from poland!

howdy yall... i am on my handy dandy kindle in my hotel room in karpatz, poland. this is a beautiful ski village resort... google it! as the charm of aspen village with the beautiful mountains all around. the trees are changing colors now too which makes for sme pretty scenery. i have one of my sweet pcv friends along wth me on the trip. kym and i are both having a great time thus far. we go to dresden, germany tomorrow. one day we will go to prague. and another day we will go to a giant indoor waterpark. i cant remember what other cities we go to...theyre all in a new foreign language to me!

perhaps the besst money kym and i spent thus far was around seven dollars each. wht did we find you ask? we walked into a convenience store and were greeted by the following american treats (none of which are available in ukraine!!!!!): cheetos, cinnamon toast crunch, and wasabi peanuts. we looked like kids in a candy store. we had a few of the high school age ukrainian girls from my center with us who must have thought we were freaks for being so excited over food. as we quickly opened our bags outside of the store to share with the girls, oneof them informed us, 'You know this food is not very healthy.'kym and i looked at each other and died laughing at what has been one of the funniest moments of the trip. we are well aware of how unhealthy this food is...but it truly was like christmas morning when youre five years old. seven months is a long time to not see some of your favorite things...so we indulged :)and believe it or not, my stomach now hurts from eating someof my american treats. sigh. totally wort it though :)

let me backtrack a little and tell you what we havedone the past few days. on saturday we toured around lviv...seeing all sorts of things i remember from my previous trip there seven years ago. it was a VERY cold day and makes me terrified for when winter ctually gets here. in the late morning on saturay... we were walking through the central square. the opera houseis located there along with a statue devoted shevchenko. while we wandered along...kym and i both saw a person sitting by the statue that looked vaguely like a pcv friend of ours. we both looked...and stared...and tried to figure out if it was indeed james genovese. as we stared at him from about twenty five feet away...he looked up and saw us just as we had decided that it was NOT him. lo and behold...we were wrong. hugs and alughter insued as we all said what are you doing here! he was meeting other pcvs in a bit and they would eventually go to poland later that day. as we chatte...one of the other pcvs arrived. small world.

later that day in lviv...we werecutting thru the center of town again and i spotted one of my other pcv friends, stephanie! she was with a few other pcvs who would be stying in lviv touring around for a ew days. i couldnt believe we ran into so many pcvs that day. what are the odds!

we are about to have our discoteco...so i better change clothes and get ready to dance the nght away. tootles from poland!!!

Kids will say the darndest things...

This morning, I awoke a bit earlier than normal for my first English club with my PeeWees (as I've dubbed them).  Four kids showed up...5 and 6 year olds....2 girls, 2 boys.  3 of the kids participate very actively...while one of them still has not said one word to me the two times I've met with her.  With time...

I started off with two ABC's videos I found on youtube.  They associate a letter of the alphabet with an animal or an object that the kids are usually familiar with.  It's split up into two parts for the first half and second half of the alphabet.  Here's the first part.

The kids were loving it.  Excited.  Remembering things.  I realized how important is it to start kids off learning a second language early because they can still learn how new letters and sounds are made.  They had a few hiccups along the way, but overall were doing very well.  Even the little girl who won't speak was watching the videos and mouthing/barely singing the words.  However, if I looked at her, she immediately stopped; I had to steal glances out of the corner of my eye.  Ah, the tricks of the trade :)

One thing I've noticed with Ukrainians speaking english is that it;s hard for most people to say an English word that ends with the letter "t."  They often end up making it sound like "ch" which is a familiar letter for them (Ч in Russian/Ukrainian).  So, in the second part of the video, the thing associated with the letter "R" is one of these cute little guys:

I'll let you use your imagination for how the kids pronounced rabbit.  Needless to say, I had to stifle a laugh and quickly start the video again while they screamed their newly made up word with glee.

Kids will say the darndest things... :)

My First Day of English Clubs

Wow.  What a day.  Hold on...I need you to say that like I thought it in my head.  Please refer to the following video:

Only one of my favorite movies ever:  Home Alone 2, Lost in New York.  If you haven't watched this movie before, I really don't know if we can be friends... :)

So, today was my FIRST day of true, honest-to-goodness, English clubs (of which I still have no clue how to run).  We're going to ignore that last little part in parentheses though.  I'm going to give you a quick run-through of each group that I had today...and then I need to prep for my peewee class (5 year olds) that I meet with tomorrow morning at 8:30 am.

Group 1:  Most advanced group I have.  3 students in their 20's who are yearning for more English time.  They go to English clubs at the library and are so interested in learning the language.  My goal with them?  To teach them phrases and sayings that we use every day without even realizing it.  Today I explained what the difference between "skimming the surface" and going "in depth" about a topic/idea/book/whatever is.  This also brought up topics/words such as appropriate, the difference between mad vs. crazy, and perhaps the most funny that I quickly had to correct them on: the phrase "I'm pissed."  I'll let you use your imagination on the last example.

Group 2:  six 8 year olds who are in 3rd form.  They are PRECIOUS.  I love them already and I only spent 45 minutes with them today.  The hopefully now know the words and colors for some of these guys:

 

The 8 year olds have an amazing brain.  I had a picture slideshow of about 15 images and would call on each kid individually.  They got to where they knew which slide was coming next only after going through the images 2 or 3 times!  So, I had to put it on random to trick them!  Also, they're adorable when they say turtle.  "TU" is hard for them say...so it comes out "tyortull."  Absolutely adorable.

Group 3: This group of adults started off as a group of five, but we are switching it next week to a group of 3 and a group of 2.  The group of 2 have had English classes a while ago (10 years or more) but simply haven't practiced in many years.  They are far past beginner status,, but need help remembering sentence structure.  The group of 3 is a bit more advanced--able to carry on a full conversation in English.  They simply need practice speaking.  Their main goal will be to develop confidence when speaking...because I know they know the words, they just depend on Russian still!  Also, the group of 3 has watched some tv shows and movies before (in English).  We may watch a 20 minute tv show in English each week and then discuss it.  My suggestion?  Friends (duh).  It's actually incredibly popular over here and they loved this idea.  So.  Excited :)

Group 4:  Staff from the center for creative youth (where I work) beginner class.  8 or so ladies (and two of their daughters) who have taken a few English classes many years ago.  They know the typical phrases: hello, my name is ____, I live in Kirovograd, I have a mother, father, sister, brother, etc.  We're starting at the beginning with them--the alphabet and pronunciations.  They have the information already somewhere in their heads...they simply have to find it again!

That was my day! I fully didn't mean for this to be so long.  In fact, I planned on writing about my cooking adventure on Sunday night and a little discovery I made.  But, I'm too lazy to upload pictures of my cooking right now.  So, that will hopefully be in tomorrow's blog.  Or maybe Thursdays :)

Also, I should probably let you know that I am going to be on a blog sabbatical for a bit.  Why?  Because I'm going on a TRIP :) :) :)  My first trip out of the country during my Peace Corps service.  Fall break is the last week of October (next week) and I will be going with my work on a trip to Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic.  One of my PC best friends, Kym, is getting to come on the trip too.  On our bucket list for Ukraine (which btw, after typing that, I think I should make an actual bucket list for Ukraine) is to go to as many castles/fortresses as we can in Ukraine and in the countries surrounding it.  We've already been to three:

Belgorad, Odessa Oblast

Kamyanets-Podilskyii, Khmelnytskyi Oblast 

Another castle near Kamyanets-Podilskyii that I should probably learn the name to, Khmelnytskyi Oblast

So, while on our Eastern European adventure...the thing that sealed the deal was: another castle!  I'm stoked.  I have no clue what internet availability will be, but if I have time to upload a picture, I will do my best :)  Happy Tuesday!

C is for Cookie...

I love old pictures and videos. Anyone who remotely knows me knows that...and if you've read my blog for more than 10 posts, you've probably figured that out too.

Tomorrow, I have my first real English club meetings. So, on a whim tonight, I ran over to Phil's apartment (read took marshrutka #50 all the way across town) to get some beginner alphabet songs off of one of his hard drives. His poor computer is on the fritz...so he let me bring his flash drive home with the songs/videos on it. I took marshrutka #9a home (which runs the same route as 50 as far as I can tell...so why do they have two? Who knows.) and popped in his flash drive. As I'm going through some of the songs, a title catches my eye:

C is for Cookie

I had a flashback to this moment that is luckily captured on film (sorry it's kinda fuzzy...iphone vid):

"Singing" the song is the one and only Trey Pirtle. We were on choir tour two years, waiting to leave from a concert. Anyone who's been on choir tour can tell you, funny times are often had on the charter bus. Things like that happen...pretty regularly. And I usually have my camera ready. I'll post one more example, just because it makes me smile and reminisce, and then I'll get back to the point of the post...

sidenote: you might want to turn down your volume on this next video...fair warning.  Also, click in the middle of the video to start playing.

Believe it or not, everyone on that bus can sing pretty dang well. Maybe not when it's Backstreet Boys though. Continuing...

So, where were we? Let's recap: I plugged in Phil's jump drive, started looking through the files, found C is for Cookie, went off on a tangent, and we're back. Turns out, C is for Cookie is not just a song that the Cookie Monster sings! In fact, it's an educational video that is supposed to help kids with the alphabet. Maybe everyone knew that but me. I must have missed that episode of Sesame Street as a child...or maybe it was on while I watched Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.

Whatever the reason, I'm thankful to have an excuse to laugh hysterically at good times from choir tours of past years. And, to learn a new song to show my Ukrainian kiddos (and adults) who will be studying English for the first time tomorrow!  Don't worry, I'll save this song for a bit on down the road...

If you want to watch the original Cookie Monster version, here it is:

That video has over TEN MILLION views.  Pretty impressive, huh?

Happy Monday :)  I hope this blog made you laugh at some point during your reading.

Swearing-In Ceremony video

I've been trying to get pictures uploaded today on Facebook for the first time in a while...and stumbled across this fun video from the Swearing-In Ceremony. The guy playing the sax, Kurt, is a PCV with some major talent. He is from a different group (ie, not getting sworn-in that day), but he came and provided entertainment before the ceremony began. There ended up being a little extra time...so he busted out this magical tune, which I believe may have been one of the first songs I learned to play on the piano. Maybe even the first song I learned to play. It was super fun and the crowd loved it...enjoy!

Doesn't he do fantastic job?

If you want to see some pictures too, click on this link here. Toodles :)

Victory!

Today marks a good GREAT day.  Why, you ask?  Because, ladies and gents, I finally have a homemade tortilla recipe that can somewhat rival the goodness that only comes south of the Rio Grande River.

I have tried making homemade tortillas a number of times here (at least 4 that I can remember...I documented two: here and here).  They're decent for that day...but they get too crispy in my non-iron skillet (oh, how I wish I had one of those...), and then they are like tortilla chips (which are also not available locally) once I try to reheat them.  

BUT, I found this recipe two nights ago and decided that the name of the blog alone made me feel like she might give me something resembling what Mama Socorro (the mom of my second family in Mexico) could whip up. 

The loving Chacon family (Jorge, Socorro, Ana Elena, and the twins, Ruth & Rebecca)

I give you, Homesick Texan.  See, doesn't the name of the blog say it all?  I don't know what her story is (haven't had time to read that on her blog), but I will say one thing...she sure knew what she was talking about with the recipe for homemade tortillas.

I had to come blog about this right away because otherwise I could have eaten every tortilla sitting in my kitchen.  They're that good.  They remind me a bit of the tortillas from Taco Cabana...if only I had the queso too.  That's another day and another battle though.  For now, I'm thankful for these :)

It's a good thing I've never kept count of how many tortillas I've eaten in my lifetime.  I'm afraid it'd be rather embarrassing. After living in Mexico for 3 weeks two different times, countless other mission trips, not to mention the fact that I typically ate Mexican food at least once (if not more) times a week for at least the past 10 years...yeah, I'd say the number would be high.

Have a happy Saturday :)

You wash your hair how often?

Remember yesterday's post and how I promised you a great picture? It will come...but you have to read first. :)

Here in Ukraine, fashion and the way you present yourself to the rest of the community is a BIG deal. No longer do I have the days where I can go out in a a pair of Nike shorts and a t-shirt to run to Target (okay, no Target's here, but we'll say Furshet, which is the grocery store across the street). Technically, I still could, but the looks I would get on the street are usually not worth it. I think it's safe to say with the seven month mark approaching, that I have never worn makeup more consistently in my life than I have the past seven months here. This is the land of dolled up women walking on uneven roads with stilettos, with the makeup to boot. There are days when it's fun, and I've now fixed my morning routine to allow for the primping that has to occur. But there are also days when I just want to wear my "studio clothes" as I used to call them...aka, a pair of yoga pants and a mission trip t-shirt. Look, I'll even show you a picture of said studio clothes. This was back in the days of my furniture design class where my clothes were covered in a nice layer of sawdust by the end of the day. I would still go to youth activities and sometimes work at Cathy's looking like this. Ah, studio life...how I do not miss you.

Sanding my life away...

So, those clothes are not politically correct here. End of story. I'll tell you one more little tidbit of a story, then back to hair (the point of this post...sorry, tangent.).

During training in Oster (a village of 5000ish people), we dressed up quite a bit on days that we taught at one of the two schools. The boys usually wore a suit and the girls usually wore a skirt or dress of some kind. One day, I wore a grey skirt with a white button-down, frilly shirt. Nothing special, just nice business casual. I even have a somewhat crappy picture of it.

To illustrate what village life is like in Ukraine, let me continue. Mark (clustermate) had a host sister about our age. I walked to school and back home in that outfit, and was maybe gone for a total of 3 hours. I changed before class that afternoon so that I wouldn't ruin a white shirt, which isn't likely to stay white here in Ukraine. When we got to Russian class that afternoon, Mark told me that his sister liked my outfit. His host sister is 24 years old and had yet to leave the house that day. What's wrong with this picture? My walk to school is nowhere close to Mark's house...so how did she know what I was wearing? And that, my friends, is what village life is like. Every person in towns know what you buy at the magazine (store), what you wore that day, if your shoes were polished (or not, as the case often is for PCVs), etc. Anywho, back to the title of the post...

I go through phases with my hair. I typically let it grow and grow and grow until one day I decide I'm done with it and chop it ALL off (hopefully donating it to Locks of Love)...like I did the day before I graduated from OU.

I went from the left...to the right...overnight. (sweet Casey pictured too!)

I've never been a fan of getting my haircut. I don't think I've had a traumatic experience (other than the time I got my incredibly long hair when I was a child wound up in my mom's curling iron brush. That, was traumatic. And, the whole thing is caught on tape. And she told me not to play with it in the first place...lesson learned.). And it wasn't that I didn't love who cut my hair (sweet Rachel who now lives with Rosemary in Chi-town)...maybe I just don't like change? Who knows.

So, a few weeks ago, one of my friends Kristen posted a link to a blog she found: the daybook. I, of course, checked it out and found some random tutorials on it that I'm embarrassed to say I watched.

Why am I embarrassed?

Because one of them is called "how to create messy hair."

I thought, "Psh! I know how to do that, and my hair really doesn't do the 'messy look' very well...but I'm going to watch it for a bit anyway." Well, the girl does something I never thought to do: braid her hair at night and sleep on it. When I've done that in the past, my hair looks a poofy, crimped, mess. And heres' the picture you've been waiting for...

Dance Recital...probably circa 1996 or 1997?
I was a munchkin in the Wizard of Oz.

In the tutorial she unbraids her hair in the morning and then takes random chunks of hair and curls them. I thought, "Might as well give it a shot...". The first few times I did it, it didn't work well. My hair ended up in a messy bun or a ponytail (neither of which are very acceptable here in Ukraine). But, I eventually got an idea for how it works with my hair, and I am happy to say that I can now go three days without shampooing. The answer? Hairspray. The best part? Everyone at work thinks I spent a long time getting ready that morning. Ha, if they only knew... :)

What to blog about...

I'm a bit under the weather right now which is why there was no post yesterday.  So...today's post is going to be all sorts of randomness, including some iphone pics I've taken the past few days (because I've been too lazy to get out a real camera).  

I know my brother loves seeing shirts and other things in Ukraine that have things written in English.  On Monday, I went to school #14 here in k-grad with Olena (counterpart).  She was going to do an activity with a class on Euroclub which is one of the things she is in charge of at work.  I'm still not exactly what Euroclub actually is...hopefully will be able to tell you soon.  However, she wanted me to go and speak about government in the United States.  I, Lydia Frost, who has no interest in politics when talking with someone face to face, let alone to a class of students who don't know English very well.  I told her I would go and see what level they were.  As it turned out, we ended up in a performance hall with about 60 or 70 students from 5th grade to 10th grade.  Needless to say, I didn't talk about government (thank goodness).  I did a brief chat about what I'm doing here with Peace Corps, where I was from in the states, etc...and about 15 kids had their cell phones out taking pictures of me or videoing my speech.  Too funny.  But, back to the picture above.  This kid stood in front of me for a good 20 minutes doing an activity and I stared as his shirt trying to make out what some of the sentences (if you could call them sentences?) said.  They made no sense whatsoever.  So, I slyly got out my iphone to take a picture...barely captured this, when another kid came over and asked me how much my iphone cost.  Iphones are incredibly expensive here in Ukraine...and it makes me feel guilty to get it out and have kids see that I have one.  However, they're also incredibly intrigued by them, so it usually ends up that they are just curious and want to touch it (ew, germs).  Don't worry, I wipe it down once I get back to my office and disinfect my hands too.  Ah, the joys of working with kids... :)

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, I had my first introductory English Club meetings.  The main idea was to meet anyone who showed interest; I also wanted to have a conversation with each individual to see where their English level was.  I've observed and taught in too many classes since I've been here to know that even though all the kids are in 7th form, they do not have the same English skills.  I decided I would be more than willing to do lots of English club levels as long as the kids and adults were interested in learning.  That may kill me in the long run and I may change my idea somewhere on down the line, but right now, I'm going with it (mainly because I have no schedule whatsoever and need something to fill my time with).  Tuesday was for adults and Wednesday was for kids.  I think I had 14 adults come and I'm not even sure how many kids...however, I'll tell you about my favorites :)

The schedule and information that is now posted on my office door.

On Monday and Tuesday, I had a few different mothers and babushkas come in with their child or grandchild who happened to be 5 or 6 years old.  The purpose?  They want their kid to start learning English before they even go to school.  These kids are ADORABLE.  Olena looked at me like I'm crazy to want to teach these little munchkins, and I probably am...but if I can teach them a few things and get them interested in the language, why not?  Another plus is the fact that these kids have about the same Russian level as I do.  Awesome :)  And they speak slowly and annunciate...two things that I fully appreciate in a Russian speaker.  It's a win-win situation!  There are 5 of them that will come on Wednesday mornings at 8:30 am.  That time may kill me...I'll let you know after our first meeting next week.

In other news, I got my SECOND care package from my parents.  My mom not so sneakily asked me how often I go to the post office and I said...it's out of the way.  I only go there if I know something is waiting for me.  I might go there once a week to check, but it's highly disappointing to walk all the way there and come home empty handed.  She was being very awkward about it though, and said, "Well some people might want it to be a surprise!"  Ha.  Good job mom :)  I haven't told her that I kind of figured it out then...but I was ecstatic to walk to the post office and find something I'd been waiting for since I moved into my apartment here in Kirovograd...

a bath pillowwwwwww :)

I know that may seem like a trivial thing, and it is, but I feel the need to justify it.  I have looked high and low here in k-grad and in Kiev and other places I've been.  Apparently, no one takes baths here for relaxing!  Strictly business.  So, I've been begging my parents to send one...and the nagging paid off.  Voila!  There are three things you should know about my tub before you judge me for wanting a bath pillow:

1)  It is metal.  Therefore, it is very, very, VERY cold.  I literally had to give myself a pep-talk every time I decided I would try to relax and lean back, bracing myself for the freezing metal.
2)  The back of it is completely straight, meaning it's not exactly meant for lounging.
3)  I have to sing the Kit-Kat song every time before I turn on the shower...oh wait, that's another one of my friends who will remain nameless :)

Okay, so really just two :)  The other thing you should know about my bathtub is that I now take bucket baths.  I had a wand attachment, but it decided to spring a leak two months ago.  After flooding my bathroom a few times (and neglecting to tell Catharine when she came to my apartment this past weekend not to use the nozzle...), I now use one of my kitchen bowls {strictly as a bathtub bowl} to dump on my head when I wash my hair.  I use the phrase, "when I wash my hair," because I've discovered that I can now go three days without shampooing.  I also feel like I need to explain myself on this note because you people in America are probably judging me right now....however, I'm going to save that post for tomorrow.  I promise, it will come with a picture you won't want to miss.  Three words: old dance recital.

I'm going to make another cup of tea (so Ukrainian...) and watch more reality tv.  The only thing that would make this better is if I had my bed from home...here in Ukraine.

OH, and a special shout out to Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Frost for the pictures and Halloween card I got today.  My kids will love seeing an American Halloween card!  We're going to do a Halloween party at English clubs after Halloween...go figure!  Night night blog world.

I have a Russian tutor!!!

Yippeeeeeeee :)  finally!!  I am so so so so so so excited to have a Russian tutor.  After being at different trainings and hearing other PCVs speak in Russian and realizing how much mine has digressed...it made me sad and somewhat frustrated to know that I haven't been doing anything to make my Russian better.  Granted, for the first couple months after training, I didn't want to see any type of Russian class material for a while.  You try learning a language every day, for 4 hours a day, for 3 months straight and let me know if your brain reaches max capacity.  I think it would.  At the end of training...I was done.  Kaput.  Couldn't handle any more new information.  But now, I'm ready to conquer it.

One of the reasons I requested a non-Spanish speaking country for PC was because I wanted to learn a new language...and I mean really learn it.  And I knew that the only way I would ever learn a new language at this point in my life was to be submersed in it.  And boy, let me tell ya, that makes ya learn quick!  I met with my new tutor, Sveta, yesterday and today to decide on how things would work and what we would be doing.  Yesterday, she told me she wanted me to read a book in Russian.  I laughed and said it needed to be the level of a 5 year old.  So...look what she brought me today :) 

The book is actually two books in one: 1) Winnie the Pooh and 2) Malish and Karlson.  I'm going to read Malish and Karlson, which is the top part of the picture featuring a flying man with a little boy on his back.  We will meet twice a week for one hour each time to speak and work on my Russian.  I'm also supposed to read aloud my book at home.  My neighbors will probably think I'm crazy (actually, they probably already do...).  If you want to see a little bit about what the story is about...here's a youtube video on it.  I only watched the first few minutes because I am supposed to try to comprehend from the book and I don't want any help!  But, the first 3 minutes are pretty boring...I'd fast forward through that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93GNqmaToKU

One of my goals while I'm here in Ukraine is to read Harry Potter 1 in Russian.  We'll see if that ever happens...so please please please hold me accountable!! Ask me if I'm getting anywhere close to reading Гарри Поттер и Философский Камень!!  Here's what it looks like in Russian...

Also, if you google "Harry Potter in Russian"...this is one of the things that comes up.  Hysterical :)

Dumbledore, Snape, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and what's the last little guy?!  

On another note, today marks two things:  1) my first English club meeting with adults (14 people!  Not too shabby...) and 2) I haven't had a piece of meat in one month!  That's right...this girl is trying being a vegetarian.  There are a number of reasons for this which I will be happy to explain if someone is so curious...but I doubt everyone really cares.  I may go off on a rant on it someday, but I'll warn you so you can skip that days post if you so desire :)

Okay, going to indulge in one of my guilty pleasures here: The Real Housewives of ________________. It's embarrassing but true.  I'll watch any of the shows but the Atlanta one.  Fare thee well :)

It's a small world after all...

This is another one of those weird posts that I have been dying to write all weekend and never got around to, but now that I actually have time to on Monday evening...all that I want to do is curl up at 7:30 pm and go to sleep.  BUT, I'm powering through my tiredness and writing this funny story.  Actually, it's two funny stories...two funny small world stories as the title tells you!

Story #1:

Last week I traveled to Poltava, Ukraine, for a warden training.  What is a warden you ask?  The official PC definition: 

"Wardens are an integral component of the Emergency Action Plan (EAP) system! They are appointed by the Safety and Security Coordinator in collaboration with their regional manager.  The warden is responsible for coordinating the immediate response to an emergency among the volunteers in his/her designated oblast."

Basically, if a disaster of any kind occurs, I will be called first and it's my duty to contact all of the other volunteers in my oblast and alert them of the situation at hand and what we need to do from there.  One of my fellow sitemates, Ricky, is finishing his service in November and he was one of two wardens in our oblast.  It's somewhat his duty to find a replacement for his job...and PC typically likes to have one warden living in the big city or oblast capital.  

So, last week I went to warden training in Poltava.  I knew one other PCV going to that training...she is a fellow group 41er.  Everyone else was from older groups, which made me a bit nervous because I figured they all knew each other and here comes Lydia...the newbie. But, I was just as excited to meet new people.  

Upon arriving in Poltava around 7 pm on Tuesday evening, I got lost trying to find the PCVs apartment we were all staying at.  Finally...I arrived and was greeted by 3 charming faces who were more than anxious to learn all about me.  It was a "what's you life story in 5 minutes or less" jam session.  Sitting in Alvi's apartment was Jeramie and Danny.  After I gave them my life story, I was just as curious about their stories!  At some point in my 5 minutes of being there, I remembered that one of my sitemates, Rob, had talked about a Jeramie at some point in my few months of living in k-grad.  The conversation went a little like this:

Rob: "Jeramie something sdlskdf blah blah blah." 

Lydia:  "Oh! My brother's name is Jeremy!" (trying to fit into the conversation)

Rob:  "Oh cool...this Jeramie is a girl."  

Talk about foot in your mouth.  We all got a good laugh about it. 

So, resume introductions at warden training.  As it turned out, I was meeting the girl Jeramie that I had heard about!  Sweet!  While we ate dinner in Alvi's kitchen, I questioned each of the people sitting there...nd boy was it a good thing I was sitting down for the interview.

Lydia: "So Jeramie, where are you from?"

Jeramie: "I'm from south Texas."

Lydia: "Oh cool!  What city?"

Jeramie:  "You've probably never heard of it..."

Lydia: "I've actually been a lot of places in south Texas...try me."

Jeramie:  "It's called McAllen, Texas."

McAllen...as in the place that I've driven through and stayed in for the past umpteen spring breaks on McFarlin's Mexico mission trip?  THAT McAllen?  I couldn't believe it.  Could. Not. Believe. It!  

I could tell her that the Sam's Club in McAllen without a doubt will lose power sometime while we're shopping there during the week...and it usually happens when the cooks are halfway through ringing up their merchandise.  

I could tell her that the Walgreens next to First UMC where we stay is not open 24/7.  

I could tell her about eating at Olive Garden or Fudrucker's with the Chacon family.

We could talk about walking across the border to Rio Bravo and Nuevo Progresso and going shopping.  

But instead, we just gawked that the other knew a bit about our past in a very odd, but comforting way. We talked more about McAllen and South Padre Island and Schlitterbahn and Mexico and everything going on south of the border now.  It definitely brought up some good, good memories as I thought back to all of the times that I've had in and around McAllen.  Talk about a small world...and that's the end of story #1.  

Story #2:

Not as long, but I woke up to another small world story this morning...this time in my email inbox.  By the way, I love, love, LOVE having an email (that isn't junk mail) waiting for me in my inbox.  Even it just says hi, you don't know how much it can make my day.  Anywho...this is the email I had waiting for me.  But first, two little background stories.

Background story #1:  My cousin Denise was at the OU/Texas game on Saturday with a friend of hers.  Along with every other woman at the fair, they decided to run to the restroom before kick-off.  At some point that morning, Denise had commented to her friend that her Aunt (my mom) would be at the game but that it'd probably be impossible to meet up with her.  So, while standing in line for the restrooms...my mom hurried past and Denise caught sight of her.  "Lenaaaaaa!  LENAAAA!"  My mom wheeled around and lo and behold there was Denise.  They snapped a picture (shown in the previous post) and my mom headed off to the game. 

Background story #2:  Remember when Hayley got married this summer?  Here's a picture of us from OU/Texas two years ago...

 

Hayley was one of my dearest Interior Design friends who moved to Dallas to finish school...but that didn't keep us from staying in touch.  I visited her fam in Altus one weekend and got to hang out with her sweet parents.  I also went on my first trip to Vegas with her fam.  Frances, her mom, will email me every few weeks telling me that she's reading my blog and usually comment on something that I wrote about.  But, this email was a bit different!

"Lydia,  I was reading your blog this morning and ran across the pic at the OU/Texas game of your cousin Denise and your mom.  I was so surprised!  I was standing in the same line about 4 people behind your cousin when that picture was taken!"

I couldn't believe it.  My mom and Frances have never met so they wouldn't know each other...but what are the odds of that happening!  Such a small world. 

In other news, I start my first English clubs tomorrow and on Wednesday!  Happy thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated.  OH!  AND....I think I have a tutor!!! Meeting with her tomorrow to work out the logistics.  I'm actually pretty ready to get back into studying Russian...never thought I'd say those words.  My last news:  made homemade pizza tonight.  Here's the proof: 

Homemade pizza crust (recipe here), with tomato sauce (homemade), pineapples, green olives (shocking, I know), and tomatoes.  Oh, and cheese (duh).

This was dinner the night before.  Mashed potato with fresh broccoli (not normally available here---it was super cheap too!  a crown/head/whatever it's called was around 50 cents USD!), a little cheese, and some caesar dressing (no ranch here).  

The end!

55-17. Enough said.

What a glorious game.  I only wish I could have been there to watch it in person.  However, the highlights from yesterday's OU/saxet game can be found online...click here if you want to see some pretty awesome moves thanks to the Sooners :)  no corny dogs or funnel cakes for me this year...I'm banking that my family and friends ate more than enough for me at the State Fair of Texas though.  This year marked my sister-in-law Tina's first OU game to go to...and what a game she picked!  I can't imagine how loud the Cotton Bowl Stadium was.  Luckily, my brother and mom sent me some pics to show me all the fun I was missing out on!  Boomer Sooner, baby.

Jeremy and Tina arrived in OK on Thursday...only to leave on Friday morning southbound on I-35 (along with about 40,000 other Sooner fans!).  With my brother at the wheel, my mom tried to keep the gasps (due to his crazy Boston driving skills) to a minimum.  Lunch was at Rudy's in Denton, which is without a question where the traffic begins piling up for OU/sexat weekend.  Since you can't go to OU/saxet without heading to the West End on Friday night, the fam had dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse.  

Jeremy (brother), Tina (sister-in-law), Mom, and Pops at dinner on Friday

Oh the sights you'll see in the West End.  

Since the game was at 11 am on Saturday, the fam decided to take the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit--I think?) to the fairgrounds with the help and expertise of Dallas resident Mitchell Crow.   Gotta love Momma Crow and Mitchy (PS--Mitchell, since when is your hair that long!)

Like father, like son...Pops was probably beside himself on the DART due to excitement for the game.

At some point, the Frost clan must have run into cousin Denise...this was a surprise to see in my inbox!

Tina, being introduced the goodness of State Fair foods.  Do they even have State Fairs up in the northeast??

Mitchell and mama Donna 

 Jeremy and Tina 

Mom buying stuff at the Fair...can't wait to hear what she purchased.  Without a doubt there are probably hysterical stories that go along with it.

Frost Family seats at the game... 

 

Boomer Sooner Baby :)

The Golden Hat...proud property of the Sooners now! 

 Celebratory dinner at Bubba's (if you've never heard of Bubba's in Dallas, you've got to try it.  Home-cookin', southern style, greasy goodness.  I promise, your tummy will thank you.)  

Jeremy, Kevin, Pops, Tina, Mom, Mitchell

I woke up to a message this morning from Kevin saying, "I'm about to have dinner with your ma and pops. This will be my first Frost for a night adventure. Super excited." That made me smile sooo big Kev!  There are definitely times when I miss my friends and fam, but this picture made me so happy to see them all together.  

 

The end of Boomer Sooner weekend.  On the DART back to Mitchell's apartment.  All smiles for the way home!

I can't wait to hear about the Frost Family adventures from yesterday.  There's only one...

Oklahoma!

Video from my pink boots adventure...

As promised, here is the video that was filmed the day I was completely unprepared for a tour at an incredibly nice school here in k-grad. It was pouring that day which meant my hair was a disaster and that my pink rain boots were the only option for footwear (at least in my opinion!). Of course, Ukrainian ladies daintily stepped over and maneuvered around puddles...all the while in their heels! Oh, Ukraine.

I love some of the phrases that the boys use. They really have quite an immense English vocabulary that I was incredibly impressed with! Let me know your favorite part of the vid and your fave saying too :) Enjoy!

the picture says it all...

I may be over 5000 miles away, but I still had to partake in OU/xaset weekend paraphernalia :)

I've been out of town, but promise to be updating frequently for a few days trying to play catch up!  Also, I finally got the video to work of the Cossack dancers, so scroll down two posts if you didn't get to see the video last week!  I promise, it will amaze you the moves these guys have.  Watch til the end, it will be worth it!

One last tidbit for the day.  Remember how I told you that they filmed me as I walked around and received a tour at the boarding school here in k-grad (go to this post)?  Well, I got to watch the video they put together...and I'm currently uploading it on Facebook as I write this.  Then, I'll copy it on the blog where you can watch it.  It is thoroughly embarrassing of me, but gives you a good idea of an incredibly nice school we have here in k-grad!  

Boomer.Sooner.Baby...

all the way from Ukraine!