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!