Hello friends and family!
Sorry we haven't posted in a while. It's not that we've been too busy. Actually, it's quite the opposite. We truly have not done a whole a lot since the last time we posted. We had a nice Christmas with Davidson and his girlfriend Megan (both PCVs). We cooked Borscht (which went bad due to slightly old cabbage), deruny (fried potato cakes), corn, potato salad and coleslaw. It was all very delicious (except for the Borscht which tasted like a burned shoe) and we had a nice night.
Afterward, we (or rather Ukraine) celebrated the New Year on Dec 31/Jan 1 just like in the States. However, unlike in the States, most people gather with family and friends and do not venture out. Since Davidson and Megan left to go to Lviv and we couldn't buy a train or bus ticket out of town, we stayed indoors as well and made cabbage rolls (Galupsi) which are stuffed with ground meat and rice. They are very tasty. We ate them and went to bed around 12:30.
Next, (this weekend actually) was Ukrainian Christmas. It was pretty tame. Most of the stores in town were open and life went on as usual for the most part. We really didn't do anything for it. Last night, Shannon's counterpart invited us to her relatives' house for dinner which we accepted. They fed us very tasty food and we talked to them about all kinds of stuff for over six hours. Then Davidson came over and we ate and hung out. We also learned Cribbage, which is unusual.
So, that's pretty much all we've done. It snowed here and there's about 4 or 5 inches on the ground. I fell in the road on the way to the supermarket on Friday which is my first undisputed fall in Ukraine and honestly I can't believe it didn't come sooner. It didn't hurt it was just fast and I didn't even try to save myself. Just let it happen. Didn't see it coming at all. I'm sure it won't be the last.
Though we really enjoy each other's company, things can get pretty boring when you have two weeks in which to do nothing. It also doesn't help that we really don't know anyone here yet. So, to pass the time, here's some of the things we did to keep busy:
-read including Treasure Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Ukrainian Folk Tales, and The Idiot
-cooked
-learned, played, and sang together many new songs
-learned/played Cribbage, War, Rummy, and Hearts
-Shannon got addicted to minesweeper and spider solitaire
-made a pop-o-matic trouble board game out of paper
-created our own 'Danny and Shannon's life' board game out of paper
-drew portraits of each other
-lesson plans, etc.
-wrote a small novel
just kidding about that last one but, to be honest, we probably had time for it! So, tomorrow is officially the first day back at school so I don't think we'll have much time for any of the above activities for awhile!
Last thing I will say is we have a mailing address now. Actually, we have Davidson's PO Box as the post office here has no vacant PO boxes to sell us. But, you can send stuff to this address and Davidson has assured us that he will only steal the tasty things and expensive things. When he leaves in June we will continue to keep this box so, hopefully, this will be the only PO box address we will need. Ok. So, here it is:
Wissing, Davidson
c/o: (me or Shannon)
a/c 23 PO Box 5
Izium, Kharkivskaya Obl., 64309
Ukraine
Віссінг, Дeвiдcoн
a/c 23 a/я 5
м. Ізюм
Харківська обл., 64309
Україна
So, you have to put both addresses on the package and one must be in Cyrillic so I would just print both of them off and tape them to the box/envelope. If you have any questions let us know. Remember, it takes at least two weeks for things to arrive and if you send something please ask for a tracking number so that we can check its status right up until it arrives at the post office. I think they will notify Davidson if a package arrives but it would be helpful for all of us here.
With that I will say goodbye for now. We love and miss you as always.
-Danny and Shannon
