I know we haven't posted in awhile, and we apologize to our loyal followers! (That sounds like we run a cult. Watch out, I think I like the sound of that. If I end up being a cult leader, I expect you all to be followers). So, things have been pretty tame here what with the holidays being over and all. Two weeks ago we made our first trip out of site to go visit some fellow PCVs in Shevchenkove. Technically, the town is only about an hour away by car, but, since we had to take the bus to Kupansk and then one to Shevchenkove, it took us four hours one-way which wasn't terrible but different. The buses aren't like Greyhounds which go non-stop to their destination. These buses go through small towns and pick up/drop folks off frequently so it takes a while. Anyway, we saw almost all of the PCVs from our oblast and we ate "mexican" food and had a good time, though we spent at least an hour walking around the town after dark in the freezing cold waiting for them to come back from Kharkiv. It's funny how the "American" food we tend to miss the most is Mexican.
Jeff wanted to know what happened to our "Word of the Week" so here it is:
трудно "trudna"-difficult.
This is in honor of the fact that last week, at my club for 4th graders, I had 12 students. This week, 28 showed up. So, just imagine me (Shannon)in front of 28 Ukrainian speaking 4th graders for an hour with no translator to help me out. (She did great though -Danny) I don't think I have enough games in my brain to keep them occupied every week!
Let's see, what else? Last night, I had an epic fall. I slipped on the ice, but, unfortunately, I had my hands in my pockets and could not extricate them in time to catch myself. I fell face-first into the snow. I mean, my nose and my mouth were covered in snow. There was some consolation, though not much, because Danny fell, too (mainly because he was laughing so hard at me). Needless to say, it's very slippery here. Megan, Davidson's girlfriend fell twice yesterday (the first day she arrived in town). I need to get my snow legs under me.
Danny has started helping with a Romeo and Juliet play (in English) and is playing music in a Chicken Little play (also in English). In order for them to read it, though, we had to adapt it into simpler English. This made me very sad. We also recently acquired a language tutor, so we're on our way to learning better Russian. My schedule has started to fill up, too with my classes, my two Flex hours, tutoring Mary for Olypiad, tutoring Alex, doing the 4th grade club and the leadership club, plus the girl's club. So, don't worry, we're keeping busy. I love the weekends, though I wish we had a better bed! Sleeping on a bar just doesn't make for a good night's sleep.
Today was spent making vareneky which is a pretty involved process. You have to make the puree with onions, salo, and garlic that you fry, then make the vermicelli, then make the dough, then stuff them all. But, we did make enough to last us for a good week or so. (I, at least, hope so because it took me 3 hours).
Well, that's about it for today. We promise to post again soon (in the next week or so). Also, Danny's thinking about doing a radio show, so we'll let you know how that goes. My husband-the superstar. I like the sound of it. Anyway, if I break a hip (or, more appropriately, if Danny breaks a hip) on the ice this week, I'm sure you'll hear about it. I will try to be more careful, though. Not for your sakes, of course, it's just embarrassing in general to be seen slipping and sliding.
Love you all, thanks for reading, and go out and have a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant for us. Bye!!!!!!
