Sorry we haven't posted in a while. There I said it.
So, I will explain the title:
Three weeks ago, I received an invite from a volunteer in Kupiansk to attend her birthday party. I told Shannon about it and informed her that it was that coming weekend. We were excited and ready to see other English-speaking people. That Saturday came and, a couple of hours before we were to leave, I called them to see if they were in Kupiansk yet. They informed me that they were not there and would not be there as the party was next weekend. I am a moron.
So, disappointing, but it's only a week and we'll be able to go. So, this weekend we packed up and left. We got to the bus station at 4:18pm. Now, Kupiansk is a pretty large town much like Izium. It is situated, not on a major highway but on a decently-sized road between Donetsk and Kharkiv (the two biggest cities in eastern Ukraine). So, one would think that buses would go there frequently at all hours of the day just like they do between our town and Kharkiv. So, we got to the station at 4:18pm and asked for the next bus to Kupiansk. We were told that the next bus was Sunday at 8am. When was the last bus? 4:10pm. We missed the last bus to the party by 8 minutes. Bummer. So, we went to a local pizza place and blew 100 greven on junk food.
This coming weekend we have a "meet your neighbors" gathering in Kharkiv so all of the PCVs from out oblast will be there. We...shall...not...miss...it!
We've been trying to get internet in our apartment for a while but it's kind of hard. We went to a place that installs internet in the apartment (not through a phone line) but they told us to go to a competitor because their internet wasn't very good. HA! We should have it figured out in a couple of weeks. Until then it's sitting on a wooden bench in a telecom center with spotty internet. But, we could have no internet at all so we're lucky and blessed.
By the way, please make the following changes to the address we gave you:
Wissing, Davidson
c/o: (me or Shannon)
PO Box 5
Izium, Kharkivskaya Obl., 64309
Ukraine
Віссінг, Дeвiдcoн
a/я 5
м. Ізюм
Харківська обл., 64309
Україна
We receive packages via the other address (Lisa we got your package but it's at the post office here and I need to go there and sign for it) but we think that this change (removing the a/c 23) will be less confusing for the postal workers.
So, I'm not sure if we mentioned it but we now have a brand new mattress and sleeping is SOOOOOOO much better. Hopefully, this coming weekend will pan out and we'll get to see some friends and sate our anticipation that's been building for nearly a month.
So, until next time. Thank you for everything! We would be really strained here without your support and love. Thank you all again!
Danny and Shannon
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Hi! Danny here! We didn't really have time to post anything this weekend so I thought I would do one now.
So, I started a profile on the website vkontakte.ru which is the Eastern European version of Facebook. The profile will be an English learning resource for our students. I am working to get some activities put up on there. Anyway, every week we will post audio dialogues or stories, video skits, or text-reading activities on the page (which will automatically inform our "friends" when we do) and our pupils can go there and do the activities and email the answers. Every month we will award some small prize to the winner (i.e. two tickets to the cinema or a DVD or something). Hopefully, this will get the students interested in learning English. I am working with a local Ukrainian who has provided me with a nice microphone and mixing board on which I can get a good sound for the audio activities. The vkontakte page is called "Shark-Monkey English Weekly". I need a logo of either a half-shark-half-monkey hybrid or a shark and a monkey with their arms around each other. I will work on that soon or if you're bored and want to try to come up with it, feel free.
Shannon has been working with her pupils to prep them for a Romeo and Juliet play so she is happy. She is also taking on more and more responsibility at her school which is great. She also got her picture taken by the staff photographer so she will soon be on the official staff wall of photos. This is a very funny story that I will let her tell you later.
Shannon and I were enjoying a very beautiful two days of snow over the weekend, when, yesterday, the temperature rose to 46 degrees Fahrenheit which turned everything into mush and then last night everything refroze so it's super slick and extra wet in places. It's sort of miserable to walk in without waterproof boots...which we have thankfully.
Yesterday, we went on a picnic with Davidson and Sveta to the tallest hill in our oblast which was fun but the temp went from 45 to 33 in the short time we were on the hill so it got uncomfortable quick. We came down and went to a local cafe and ate borscht and drank hot coffee to warm up. It was a fun day.
Saturday, Shannon and I made gumbo and it is SOOOOO good. I think we will eat it for the rest of the week. The recipe yielded around 10-12 servings so we have a easy menu for a while.
The Russian word of this week is a two-for-one:
aкула - shark обезьяны - monkey
I hope all is well in the States. We will be at a birthday party in Kupansk this Saturday so we will not be online. We may be on here on Sunday though since the party is not very far away this time.
We love you. We miss you. We will talk to you soon. Thank you for reading.
-Danny
So, I started a profile on the website vkontakte.ru which is the Eastern European version of Facebook. The profile will be an English learning resource for our students. I am working to get some activities put up on there. Anyway, every week we will post audio dialogues or stories, video skits, or text-reading activities on the page (which will automatically inform our "friends" when we do) and our pupils can go there and do the activities and email the answers. Every month we will award some small prize to the winner (i.e. two tickets to the cinema or a DVD or something). Hopefully, this will get the students interested in learning English. I am working with a local Ukrainian who has provided me with a nice microphone and mixing board on which I can get a good sound for the audio activities. The vkontakte page is called "Shark-Monkey English Weekly". I need a logo of either a half-shark-half-monkey hybrid or a shark and a monkey with their arms around each other. I will work on that soon or if you're bored and want to try to come up with it, feel free.
Shannon has been working with her pupils to prep them for a Romeo and Juliet play so she is happy. She is also taking on more and more responsibility at her school which is great. She also got her picture taken by the staff photographer so she will soon be on the official staff wall of photos. This is a very funny story that I will let her tell you later.
Shannon and I were enjoying a very beautiful two days of snow over the weekend, when, yesterday, the temperature rose to 46 degrees Fahrenheit which turned everything into mush and then last night everything refroze so it's super slick and extra wet in places. It's sort of miserable to walk in without waterproof boots...which we have thankfully.
Yesterday, we went on a picnic with Davidson and Sveta to the tallest hill in our oblast which was fun but the temp went from 45 to 33 in the short time we were on the hill so it got uncomfortable quick. We came down and went to a local cafe and ate borscht and drank hot coffee to warm up. It was a fun day.
Saturday, Shannon and I made gumbo and it is SOOOOO good. I think we will eat it for the rest of the week. The recipe yielded around 10-12 servings so we have a easy menu for a while.
The Russian word of this week is a two-for-one:
aкула - shark обезьяны - monkey
I hope all is well in the States. We will be at a birthday party in Kupansk this Saturday so we will not be online. We may be on here on Sunday though since the party is not very far away this time.
We love you. We miss you. We will talk to you soon. Thank you for reading.
-Danny
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
BONUS!
I received this photo today. Shannon's counterpart (Oksana) is the woman standing to her right with the red under-shirt. My counterpart (Inna) is the woman standing to my left with the dark hair. This is our group photo in Kiev during our swearing-in ceremony. Good times.
By the way, we got our first package today but it is in a warehouse on the other side of town so we don't technically have it in hand but we will within a day or two. Thank you Lynne! It's like Christmas...or Ukrainian New Year!
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