I went to the gym and worked out...for the first time in at least a year. And tomorrow, I will pay for it.
Gym membership doesn't exactly sound like Peace Corps, I'm aware of that. Honestly, it sounds more like Posh Corps, a name we sometimes joke about PC in Ukraine. However, I have a few valid reasons to try the gym out (go with me here):
1) The fact that it's just after 5 pm and already dark, makes your mind play games on you. I need something to fill my time.
2) A fellow K-grad PCV had a membership to the gym but has bad knee problems. He still had some prepaid time to go, so really, I'm doing him a favor by using it. (cough cough, thanks Фил)
3) I thought I would give it a whirl, try it out for the month and a half that's already paid for, and see how it goes.
4) The gym has a shower. An honest-to-goodness shower with all the hot water I want. Enough said.
5) Gyms in Ukraine have personal trainers that tell you what to do...and it's required.
6) Look at number 4. That's enough reason to go.
I've never had a trainer before in my life, so this was a whole new experience for me. His name is Sasha, and he happened to be wearing a blue USA shirt today. The front desk girl told him that I know Russian, but to speak slowly to me. He asked where I was from and then pointed to his shirt as part of the question. Then, we got to work. He put me on the bike for 10 minutes on random intervals while he went to help someone else. I did ab machines, leg machines, a few arm machines, a couple free standing exercises, and 10 minutes on the elliptical too. It was well over an hours work out, and my body is already sore.
The gym has just about every machine you could want. There may only be one copy of everything, but there's enough variety that you're not going to just stand there (at least during the time periods I'll be going). A trainer comes as part of your monthly package whether you want it or not, so I will most definitely embrace it while I'm here! Some days I might not use him, but he was fun and remembered the other American's place that I had taken :)
Started working on my HIV/AIDS grant today. I have never written a grant in my life, so the entire grant-writing process seems pretty overwhelming when you're staring at lots of blank pages...kind of like the Peace Corps application was. But, HIV/AIDS is a very big problem here, and part of that is because of the lack of information. Wish me luck and say a little prayer.
I ALMOST forgot today's movie clip. Legitimately, almost didn't remember to post it. I can't get the right video to load, so you'll have to click on the link here. It's a good one, I promise :) Although the scene isn't necessarily Christmas-y, it's one of my faves. In fact, my future husband can surprise me with something like that at our wedding too and I won't be mad...
After my marathon day yesterday (which I'll tell you about soon), all that I wanted to do was sleep in on this Sunday morning. I stayed up late last night and skyped with my brother, and showed him this funny video my mom passed on. Although it's not necessarily Christmas-y, it still reminds me of the reason for the season and I love it :)
Pretty great idea, no? :) It still makes me laugh each time I watch it now. Especially the little kid jumping at the end of the line.
Back to my not-so-lazy Sunday. I was awoken earlier than I wanted by my upstairs neighbors doing construction projects that included hammering, sawing, and drilling. I had my ear plugs by my bed, put them in, and was able to sleep for another two hours :) Shortly after I got up at 11 am (granted I didn't go to bed until 2 am last night), my doorbell rang (or chirped, as Kurt so elegantly put it yesterday).
I stumble out to the door, guessing that it's probably my landlady or her husband here to work on things. I was supposed to be getting a new RANGE (the proper word for the stove/oven combo)...or so I thought. Something must have happened (beyond my comprehension skills)...so the husband was here to work on the old one and make it operable. I had plans to do laundry (by hand), cook (this recipe), work on some grant info., etc. today...but, well, plans change. You have to learn how to go with the flow.
As I set to work picking out what laundry I wanted to wash today, the husband asked me why wasn't I using the washing machine (that is in one of the back rooms that I don't really use). I answered that my counterpart's husband is supposed to come over and hook it up at some point. Vova (my landlady's husband) said, "psh!" and told me to help him move the washing machine into the bathroom. I thought to myself, "This is gonna be interesting..." and boy was I right. I tried to document most of the process, albeit with iphone pics.
How to Install a Washing Machine: Ukrainian Style
This is Vova, trying to fix my shower hose (which is now the SECOND one that has broken). I asked him why they break all the time and he said (in Russian), "Because they're made in China."
Let me explain a few things first. This washing machine has a "washer" part on the left side and a "spinner" part on the right side. There is no telling when this machine was last used...I'd put money on at least 5 years (or more) ago. It has been sitting in the apartment for years gathering dust/dirt. It has a hose that is for the dirty water, but no intake hose.
I asked Vova, "How do we get water into the machine?" His response was so Ukrainian it basically slapped me across the face. "You get it from the bathtub and fill it." Oh, of course you do! I've honestly never thought about how a washing machine worked, but to Vova this was just another step in the process of washing clothes.
After I filled it up with a few buckets of water, we turned it on for the first time and boy was it was gross. All of the black stuff you see in the washer is dirt/grit of some kind.
We ran it for a minute and chunks and chunks of dirt kept appearing. We turned it off and I asked him what next to do.
You take the outlet hose, turn it "drain," and the water (and chunks of dirt) are put in a bucket.
The dirty water being emptied. When the bucket is full, I'd dump the water into the toilet.
And then you repeat the whole process. Fill bucket with clean water from the tub, dump it into the washer, run the cycle for a few minutes, turn the button to "drain," and empty a lot of buckets of dirty water into the toilet. Repeat.
Almost clean water...note the dirt in the bottom still. I think I repeated the whole process at least 8 times, maybe more.
Vova, trying to undo a pipe for the water to be emptied into. You can also see the right side of the machine that is the "spinner"...which spins the clothes to get them a bit more dry. I didn't even start cleaning that side of the washer today. And the whole process is put on pause because I broke my only big bucket by dropping it full of water in the bathtub. Whoops.
So, 6 hours later, he's gone and I can finally go make my split pea burgers. He did a thorough cleaning of the stove in the kitchen and connected the gas to it. It was almost a Lydia-worthy job of cleaning too...complete with bleach! Good job, Vova. More pictures of the kitchen later. Time to start cooking now.
Did you get the pun of the title of the blog post? Washing machine...flow? You're welcome :)
To get you in the Christmas mood...one of my favorite parts from Elf. Perhaps due to the music, which comes from the Nutcracker :)
And to start off today's blog, we'll take a little walk down memory lane. I believe it was Christmas 1997 when my family went to Disney World and Universal Studios (way before the days of the Harry Potter Theme Park, which I have to go to when I come back to America). I love traveling at Christmas/my birthday...always have. So, I was probably 10 years old when the following pictures were taken.
Denim overalls while at Disney World...really cool, I know.
Universal Studios at the King Kong ride. Merry Christmas :)
Those are the only pictures I have scanned from that trip, but there are a few other things I can remember.
1) We saw Pat Morita (wax on, wax off--the Karate Kid) tell the Christmas story.
2) My mom had a horrible toothache the entire trip, but toughed it out :)
3) Disney was decorated in so many Christmas trees it was amazing.
4) One of my dad's former students worked at Universal Studios then and got us VIP passes which allowed us to cut to the front of the line. Best thing ever.
5) I rode a water slide ride at Universal (if my memory serves me correct it was a Fievel Goes West ride?) at least 10 times. Maybe more...
6) We were flying home on December 24 (home being Alabama then), and the flight was overbooked.
7) On the flight home, we flew Southwest Airlines, way before the days of luggage fees and stuff like that!
On the flight home, the Southwest crew sang a Christmas song (can't remember which one) and I remember thinking it was one of the coolest and funniest things ever. It was a total surprise and the people on board loved it.
Yesterday, as I perused Facebook, I saw a video that someone had posted. You have to listen to it in order to be able to enjoy it... :)
And that, my friends, is why I love Southwest Airlines. After that flight (which was bound to OKC btw!), the steward said that many people got off and told him that was the first time they listened to the emergency landing instructions, etc. What a great guy. And he's right, you won't find United Airlines doing an awesome rap, reminiscent of Will Smith on Fresh Prince of Bel Air...
I hate the sound of my doorbell. It chirps, kind of like those antique bird whistles that look like this...
I'm pretty sure we have a milk glass one somewhere in the Frost household that I remember playing with as a kid. It's not the sound that I hate so much, but what it symbolizes. Since I live on the first floor, there are people that go upstairs all day long and pass my by door all the time. I have a peephole, and a strong front door, but it still weirds me out when someone rings my doorbell. There are usually three options for when someone rings my door:
1) my neighbor and friend, Yana, who lives across the hall
2) my landlord and/or husband who are supposed to call first
3) the ladies that come by to read my gas, water, and electricity meters
My apartment building is old, and the whole "creeping to the door to see who's there" doesn't work when the floor creaks. Yana informed me of that one time. So much for pretending I'm not home! And now, like most Ukrainian apartments, I have two front doors. I'll take a picture of it soon. There was an inoperable door on the interior of my front door that my landlady's husband just recently fixed. I told him it wasn't necessary but he insisted. Turns out, the second door keeps a LOT of cold air out of the apartment. It creates a little storage space for all of the cold air that slips in from the outer door. But, this second door blocks the peephole (which we are required to have by PC living rules). So now, if my doorbell rings, the person is really gonna know that I'm home as I have to open the interior door to even see who is on the other side.
That happened this morning as you might have guessed by the subject of today's post. Who stood on the other side? My landlady and her husband. Surprise! They didn't call first. I'm well used to that by now, although she had gotten much better...but it looks like we've digressed a little. Oh well. They came bringing good news though: my stove that sits unusable in my kitchen is being replaced, maybe as soon as tomorrow!
It is normally covered in dishes and things like that because I don't have much storage in the kitchen. But, when I heard they were taking away the old one today I quickly cleared it off for them. Fingers crossed that a new one comes tomorrow. They are currently cleaning what is probably years and years of dirt, old food, and dust that I don't really care to see (in my used to be very clean kitchen), so I decided to blog about it instead. Those are flowers to the right of the stove that Phil got for his birthday...and then proceeded to give to me. In the bottom of the picture, you'll see my emergency water storage area with lots of 2 liter bottles if the water gets turned off (as can happen in Ukraine). The hot water heater is above the stove that heats both my individual radiators (a luxury for me to have control of the heat in my apartment) and hot water. I'm pretty blessed when it comes to my apartment.
Here's a question for you. I was discussing cooking with my most advanced English club the other day, and they kept using the word "cooker" to describe the combination of oven and stove top. Have you ever heard this word Americans? I had not, but the group assured me that's how they learned it in school. I questioned other classes after that, and sure enough, the consensus says "cooker" describes the oven AND cook top. They proceeded to ask me that if cooker wasn't correct, what do we call the entire stove/oven combination. I was stumped. Do we have a name for the combo? Please please please tell me if we do!
Today's video clip comes as a movie trailer, because I couldn't find any of the specific scenes I wanted. I present to you, The Santa Clause :)
Gotta love Tim Allen.
Maria will be here in less than 3 hours so I need to get moving...but happy Friday :) it's almost the weekend!
It's 4:34 pm and absolutely pitch black. In fact, it's been dark outside for at least 30ish minutes. Maybe it's the fact that I'm tired right now, or maybe it's the fact that I sat through a two hour Ukrainian play today, or maybe since it's dark outside, all that I want to do is go to bed. At 4:35 pm? Stay strong Lydia. Winter has only just begun...
You see, I've never experienced the whole "getting dark at 4 pm" phenomenon. I've heard stories about it and the tricks it plays on your mind, but today was the first day that it really sunk in. On my way towards the center of town this morning, I passed the small field where traveling circus' set up shop for a week or two when they grace K-grad with their presence. The frost on the trees and grass was so thick and glisten-y that it looked fake. As I made my way to meet Lyuda (more about her in a sec), I had to watch out for little patches of ice here and there. It rained all day on Tuesday...or Wednesday. I forget. Nonetheless, the puddles are still evident and now like mini ice-skating rinks. So what was I doing heading towards the center of town this morning?
I was invited by Lyuda to go to an opera here in K-grad...or so I thought. Lyuda went on the trip to Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany with my work during fall break. She works at the school here in K-grad that we would probably call a votek school in the states. She teaches hair and nails at the school and comes to my beginner English club. After our club on Tuesday night, she brought her traveling manicure box with her and gave me a lovely mani for this weekend! I even got bling on my fingers for the very first time ever. Only on my ring fingers though...is that to symbolize something?
Hard to see I know, but the nails are a light bronze-y color with white glitter flowers. It's always fun to get your nails done...but my nails weren't long enough for a French manicure this week. Maybe next week.
So on Tuesday night as Lyuda and I walked to the marshrutka stop post manicure, she invited me to go to the opera on Thursday at noon here in K-grad. She told me where to meet her, and we said see you Thursday. She warned me that the opera would be in Ukrainian...to which I assured her that I would just enjoy seeing it. Even if it were in Russian, I doubt I'd be able to understand that much!
That leads me to this morning. I headed to meet her at 11 am and in the meantime had found out that Phil could come too. Tickets were 15 grievna (about $2.00 USD) and I knew that he enjoyed doing theater stuff like that. We walked to the theater with about 150 girls from Lyuda's special cosmetology school and were immediately greeted by the director of the theater, who let us in free of charge. We also got bombarded with 5 different programs/calendars of different kinds...none of which I can read. It was the thought that counts though :)
As the orchestra got ready in the pit, I wondered what we were about to watch. The curtain rose and lo and behold this was more of a musical than an opera. There was acting, dancing, and opera-style singing. Turns out I misunderstood Lyuda...instead of her saying "opera" she said "operatta"...whatever that translates to :) We were able to follow along for the most part. A very mixed up love story with multiple characters involved. I could understand some parts of the Ukrainian, but definitely none of the singing. And 150 high school age students sat and watched this with us...without being on their cell phones. That was one of the most amazing parts to Phil and I.
Don't worry, we got a picture with a few of the characters after the show. Have to wait to get the picture from Lyuda though. Maybe next week :)
And, in case you thought I'd forgotten, today's Christmas clip comes from one of the funniest Christmas movies: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
Although there are lots of clips from the video I could show, I chose this one because I had to explain what the word "pledge" meant the other day in an English club. Maybe I'll do a patriotism lesson in my English clubs one day! Have to remember that sometime when I'm searching madly for a lesson! I have to run to the train station now to buy a train ticket for Maria who's coming to visit this weekend. Fa la la la la...toodles :)
To get you in the mood for Christmas today, I need you to click on the link below. I couldn't get the correct video to load if I actually paste the video here on the blog. Oh well.
That part of the video has been quoted in the Frost Family around Christmas time for as many years as I can remember. Probably since my brother and I were about...this big?
The video is always played for 24 hours the day before Christmas {if my memory serves me correct}, and we always had to have it on in the background to be able to quote some of our other Frost Family favorites. But, that's not the point of the post today! We're talking about Decking the Halls today...SomethingFrosty style!
I loved decorating for Christmas...even though it required many boxes of stuff, which first had to be dusted and de-spider webbed. That is one of the strangest things for me this year...not having boxes of things to drag out and decorate with! The first pics are from the handy dandy iphone...so they're a little grainy :/ the pics after are from my SLR camera.
Some of the loot waiting to be put up...
The tree...minus ornaments! Making sure the lights worked!
Pottery barn starbursts with vintage Frost Family ornaments
Sparkle.
A little Bama houndstooth (even though I am still 100% OU)
Oh, Christmas Tree...
More vintage Frost Family ornaments...if you look in the crackled ornament, you can see my reflection!
Polka dots.
Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland...
Thank you for enjoying my walk down memory lane :) hope you enjoyed it! BTW, yesterday in my 3rd grade English club, I nearly pulled my hair out. Once again, a new found respect goes out to every one of my friends and family who teaches those adorable little brats. The kids are currently still stumbling through the ABCs song, in addition to B-I-N-G-O (which they love to scream at the top of their lungs). I think they all forgot to take their ADD medicine today (joking) because they have never been this rambunctious. Nothing I did could make them calm down. And I normally love working with them because they are so cute and are so excited to be there...but today I had to send numerous boys out to the hall for five minute time outs. Then it became a game to see who could get in 'time out' next. The crowning glory came when one kid raised their hand to go to the bathroom. Within five minutes EVERY KID IN THE 17 person class was asking to go to the bathroom. And by asking, I mean doing the "ohmygoshIreallyhavetopee" dance. It was unbelievable. The class size has grown continually every week, which is great...however, I can't keep up with 17 eight year olds in a foreign language. I told them that their teacher has to come next week. We'll see how they react with her in the room. Phew. Sorry for that rant fest. I'll have to video the kids singing B-I-N-G-O. It really is one of the funniest things ever. Have a blessed Wednesday :)
To start off today's post, I need you to watch this video:
Do you know who this group is? Straight No Chaser started off as a group of college guys singing together at Indiana University. This video is from one of their original concerts with over 13 MILLION views (let me reiterate that...13,000,000!). They graduated from college and somehow became popular again over a decade later when one of the guys posted the video on YoutTube. Instant fame, overnight.
I am the proud owner of one of their cds (that's right, I actually own the cd--with cover and all!) and used to listen to the songs on repeat as I drove around the city of Norman in my red (or sometimes blue) Toyota Corolla. That cd was permanently in my cd player the entire month of December. I had to transfer some of the music onto my ipod in order to be able to listen to it as I walk around the streets of K-grad. It's simply not Christmas without some Straight No Chaser (isn't their name funny too?)
Today, I'm off to do five English clubs. I plan on showing some of the more advanced classes this song and having them try to understand the funny parts of it. I'm about to enjoy a bowl of veggie chili before I have to jet off to work for the day. I know I keep mentioning the fact that I am so so so excited for this weekend with friends coming to K-grad, but I don't think I've told you why they're coming. Today's video is a big clue. That's all I'm saying. Happy Tuesday :)
Since arriving in Ukraine almost 9 months ago, one of my favorite activities to do is people watch. No matter where you are, what time of day it is, or what the weather is, I usually have one fun experience people watching every day.
One thing that is different here in Ukraine is the fact that people don't wear sunglasses during the winter. In fact, they stopped wearing sunglasses a couple months ago. I, however, still wear mine. Maybe just to stick out, maybe to people watch, maybe just because I like to watch people's reactions of seeing me in sunglasses. Nonetheless, I enjoy wearing them on days where it's sunny and they are needed. I wouldn't want extra wrinkles after all... :)
Today I wore my sunglasses while walking to the post office. I noticed more people stare at my entire outfit today than I have in sometime. For one thing, I wasn't wearing my giant winter jacket complete with fur trim. Why is that? Because it was FIFTY degrees here today. Instead, I wore my North Face fleece (without fur) and got the oddest looks for it. I also stuck out because I'm not going to wear 4" stilettos for my trek to the grocery store. If I know I'm going to walk a lot, I wear my tennis shoes, which most females don't even own here. Needless to say, I got some unbelievably long stares today...all of which I could secretly stare back at thanks to my sunglasses.
My sunglasses have also come in handy a few times on marshrutka rides. I don't think I wrote about the time that I was sitting on a marshrutka, minding my own business, when a lady got on with a cowl neck jacket on. What was nestled right under her chin in the cowl neck jacket? A rat. An honest to goodness, live, decently large rat. I couldn't help but stare as she found her seat. And just because I couldn't help myself, I stood up earlier than my stop so that I could turn around and look at her again and make sure that I wasn't seeing things. It was real, I promise.
If only my sunglasses had a secret camera attached to them. Oh, the things I could show y'all...
There is the more recent adventure that just happened last weekend. I was on my marshrutka ride from Rivne to Kiev (a four hour ride) after our Thanksgiving day hoopla. There was an older babushka on the ride too. I drew a picture to help you visualize this experience...which is key to the story.
So, this is a marshrutka, typical for longer rides (as opposed to the ones I ride around town). I am the "L," the babushka is the "B," and there is a sliding van door by the seat in front of me. Also key for the story background.
We were probably 30 minutes outside of Kiev when I was awoken from my slumber (thanks to the sunglasses) by the babushka yelling and carrying on about something. The driver (a younger guy...probably in his 30s) was yelling right back to her, completely unafraid of whatever she was saying. She spoke Ukrainian so I didn't catch the whole conversation, but in my mind, it went something like this:
Baba: "It's really hot on here. Open the windows."
Driver: "We're flying down the interstate. I'm not opening the windows. Take of your full-on winter parka and fur hat, and maybe you'll cool off."
I was still wearing my heavy down jacket and was quite comfortable. Maybe the baba was sick. Maybe she didn't want to take off her jacket. All that I know is that I'm thanking my lucky stars I wasn't sitting in the seat in front of me. The baba was sweating profusely and kept dabbing her face with an incredibly old and gross looking rag. Now would also probably be a good time to mention that this was a BIG baba. She squashed the poor girl sitting next to her in the two-seater. Again, thankful it wasn't me.
So, as we're flying down the interstate going at least 60 mph, she leans across the man sitting in front of me to OPEN THE VAN DOOR. That's right. It SLAMS open and the driver turns around to see what was going on. He then proceeds to slam on the breaks so that the door will shut. She starts yelling at him for shutting the door...and I'm sitting there wishing that I had another PCV with me just to witness this whole situation. Don't worry, it gets better.
After the driver yells at her to sit down and gives her a good verbal lashing, we approach Kiev. We start dropping people off at various stops along the way, and soon our once full marshrutka is half full. Or half empty? :) Anywho, the seat in front of me is now open, as well as the triple-seater in front of the baba. She was too large to maneuver around to the row of three seats, so she chose the single seater in front of me. It's high traffic time in Kiev as we're heading towards the bus station, when out of nowhere our driver has to slam on the breaks (a common occurrence here). Apparently, the old baba was not ready for him to slam on the breaks, because she goes FLYING forward. I'm not sure whether the aisle seat on the triple-seater is supposed to lift forward (for people to be able to pass by), or whether her brut force knocked the bolts loose, but regardless, the seat moved forward and the baba ended up in the floor.
The driver didn't know what was happening as the baba started screaming and cussing and crying for someone to help her up. The two closest people to the baba were myself and the tiny girl who was her old seat mate. Luckily, two men jumped up from the back of the marshrutka to help her into her seat. This was by far one of the weirdest marshrutka experiences I've had in my time here, and I'm certain it's not going to be my last. As soon as we parked at the bus station, I hightailed it out of there.
During my adventures today (all with sunglasses), I went to Kishenya, a GIANT supermarket I had yet to visit. Holy. Cow. This is the motherload of all stores. I think I spent an hour just walking around, then I decided to get a cart and start loading up. I bought myself a little Christmas tree for 30 griev (less than $4)...and a shower curtain! A hot pink, polka dot shower curtain. I also bought some hangers which I can now use thanks to the fact that my landlady cleaned out a piece of furniture in the back room with hanging space. They even have books in there, including the Harry Potter's in Russian. I really want to buy them before I leave...it's one of my goals to read the first one sometime while I'm here (in Russian).
Tomorrow I've got English clubs back to back, but first my landlady will come to collect rent money in the morning. I can't begin to express to you how excited I am to have some friends visit this weekend. And the week after that, we get our new volunteers in K-grad. And then it's Christmas. And then it's my birthday. And then it's New Years!
I've decided for every post I make in December, to do a random part of a movie or TV show clip that I enjoy and makes me laugh. What shall be the first one I share with you...none other than one of my favorite movies of all time :)
Remember how I spent my Saturday being a domesticated 50's housewife? I'm thinking about creating a weekly blog title that involves that phrase...any suggestions?
I got to skype with my dad yesterday and hear some of the big thunder that was happening in Norman. Pretty crappy weather, eh, Oklahoma? After skyping, I got ready to go out to Winston Churchill's bar/pub--Kirovograd's newest American style eatery. We went there on opening night (Thursday) and tried the onion rings which were pretty stellar for Ukrainian "bar food!" Last night we tried the Greek salad (not quite as good as the authentic Greek salad I had in Athens) and some mozzarella-ish fried cheese sticks. I think the onion rings are still my fave. And BTW, if you had told me a year ago that I would be eating onion rings (and not just the fried batter), I would have laughed in your face. That's how far my eating habits have come.
Today, I got up and started cleaning...again. I finally cleaned my fridge as best as I could because it needed to be plugged back in! I ended up having to throw away a few questionable things that didn't feel cool enough. No Ukrainian would have thrown them away, but I have enough stomach problems as it is...don't need to contribute to the situation.
After the fridge was on and barely running again, it was time to start cooking. I was having a few friends over for dinner to celebrate Phil's birthday (which is actually tomorrow). On the menu included:
If I do say so myself, they all turned out pretty amazing. I forgot to take a picture of the cornbread, but it's the same cornbread recipe I've made the whole time I've lived in K-grad. It's a dependable recipe that never fluctuates which I LOVE. And, the brownies were topped off with some REESE'S PIECES from the good ol' US of A. {Sidenote: Reese's Pieces are always welcome in care packages...they cannot be found here and will more than likely be devoured in one sitting by yours truly.}
Phil with his pan-o-brownies
I followed all of the recipes to a T, minus the veggie chili one. Green and red peppers are a) expensive right now and b) not very good anyway because it's not their season, so I opted not to put them in. I also haven't been able to find cumin at stores here. I had a pack of Williams Chili seasoning from home that made this recipe finger-licking good (in Russian: palchicki-obleejesh). They have black beans here but I didn't leave enough time to soak them and cook them, etc. etc. Whoops. I also got to feed this southern meal to my sweet Ukrainian friend and neighbor, Yana, who promised me it wasn't too spicy for her! I did add a little Cholula hot sauce to it :) She loved the cornbread and chili topped with cheese. And for dessert, I warmed the brownies and served with ice cream (just like my dad would want!). Ukrainians do not understand the concept of serving something hot (brownie) with something cold (ice cream). I tried teaching my host family about this concept...or even simply cake and ice cream together. They didn't understand the goodness that they are missing out on! But Yana was a trooper and tried it out :) I sent some brownies and the ice cream home with her to have her parents try it out too. We'll see if they think the crazy American next door is teaching their daughter silly ways of life :)
I'm going to post this and go read some. My Kindle is still one of the best things and most used items I have here with me in Ukraine (kudos to Mitchell and fam for knowing that it would be a good investment!). However, my one major complaint is that I can't ever remember the title of the book I'm reading. I'm a visual person and normally visualize a book by the cover and can "picture" the title of the book that way. But, with the Kindle, I may only read the title of the book once when I download it and open it. Currently, I'm reading a book called Come Back to Me, by Melissa Foster. Pretty good read thus far, and I got it on the Kindle daily sale for $0.99 I think.
It's been a good weekend. Shopping, cleaning, cooking, reading, Christmas music listening, defrosting the fridge, etc. And I'm even more excited for next weekend when friends come visit in K-grad! And to top it off, mom texted me a little bit ago and informed me that the Target One Section has Silly Putty in it right now. "How many do you want?" Thanks, mom! Ukrainian kids are fascinated by Silly Putty. Pretty sure adults are too come to think of it...
I am alive and decently well (sinus infection) right now and feel utterly HORRIBLE for how I've been slacking on blogging. I was gone for a week on my Eastern Mediterranean cruise with Mitchell...then he came to Kirovograd for a week...then we went to Kiev for a day and a half...then I took him to the airport and I headed to Rivne (northwest Ukraine) to celebrate Thanksgiving #2 with other PCVs. I have been home now for a few days and in full swing with all 10 of my English clubs...and now am battling this sinus infection to top things off :) BUT, every activity in the past month was so, so, SO fun and I can't believe how absolutely lucky and blessed I am to have gotten to see 6 countries in the last month-ish. Pretty amazing, right? And how lucky I am to have had my FIRST (and hopefully not last!) visitor!
The past two days I have been helping my landlady and her husband do things around my apartment. More on that later...but I am now the proud new of owner of some hooks and other exciting things (things that will allow me to have a SHOWER as opposed to just a tub!) that will make me MUCH happier at my apartment than I already am :)
I can't believe it's already December...it snowed a little bit on December 1st!! Beautiful, big, wet snowflakes that didn't stick...but still! I was excited to say the least :) I'm still a southern girl at heart who loves the snow. I'll let you know how I feel about it after I live with it for a few months for the first time in my life. The inner {Alabama and Oklahoma} child is still in me that screams, "We need to go make a snowman and go sledding," at the slightest sight of snowfall! After all, it usually only lasted a day or two max. You had to use it before all of the other neighborhood kids did!
In other news, I got a sweet surprise package from my sister-in-law! Featuring: a funny Thanksgiving card, AWESOME design/holiday magazines, some scrapbooking stuff, holiday tic-tacs, a cute little bear that says, "Someone in Derry, NH, loves you!", and an Advent/Countdown-to-Christmas chocolate calendar. Pretty amazing, eh? :)
I have the pleasure of hosting some PCV friends in one week here in K-grad which I'm super stoked about. But, it means I want my apartment to be in tip-top shape...or at least as best shape as it can be! This means that I'm in the works of doing some projects I've been putting off/never started yet...we'll see how many I get done! I'm excited to get to show these friends my city and work...and hopefully can convince them to come back for Christmas/my birthday if they feel so inclined! :)
The next group of volunteers is about to be sworn-in as official Peace Corps Volunteers in two weeks! They've been in training since September and are probably at their maximum level of knowledge retention right about now. Their nerves are on edge about where they'll be living for the next two years (remember, it's a BIG secret). They are nervous about the LPI (language proficiency exam). They are sad to be leaving their training groups and possibly moving to a village where the nearest American is 2 hours away. All of those feelings were mine only six short months ago. I'm excited though because we are getting at least three new volunteers in my city! Maybe four! The more the merrier.
Hope December is starting off on the right foot for you :) I'm excited for the holiday season and all that it entails (Christmas, my birthday, new years--one of Ukraine's biggest holidays, Ukrainian Christmas, and about 128,235 other holidays that Ukraine celebrates in December and January!). My first Thanksgiving away from home was definitely a fun-filled time, and I'm excited to see what Christmas will be like here as well. As much as I would love to go home and celebrate Christmas and my 25th (wow) birthday at home, I know this is where I'm supposed to be right now. Happy weekend!
