Stuff

I haven't posted for a while, I know.  I've been meaning to but life gets in the way and you know how things are. The Peace Corps has it's high times...those instances when you feel like your rushing head first into something and the momentum is so incredible you feel like you're going to crash. Then it has it's low times...the times where you are thinking...what the heck am I doing here? For the most part, though, I think most of us stay in a "medium" time. You get to the point where you are settle into your site, start your job, get to know your city and neighbors, and then everything takes on a sort of "sameness". The crazyness wears off, as does the newness, and you are left in the middle ground. It's quite a comfortable place for many. I can enjoy it at times, but mostly I prefer the madness. The rushing, the busy-busy, the crazy "what's around the corner I don't know but pitch me in that direction" type of atmosphere. I thrive on that stuff. Things don't always happen fast enough for me, but I have been learning to go with the flow of things here in Ukraine although it is not always so easy.

I've started 4 clubs. I have a Community English Club that meets at the Youth Library on Sunday afternooons. We have between 7 and 15 members. There is a core group of 6 people that come every week, but I never know who is coming or how many will return after the first visit. Sometimes we have a full house, while at other times, it's just the 7 of us. So far it's been really great and I am amazed at the amount of people that speak English in my city. Even more amazing, is that the group members who have lived here their whole lives didn't know it either! At the Luceum, I have 2 English Clubs and  Girls Club. The "Girl Power Group" is my favorite. It's full of great fun, wonderous ideas, and many eye-opening lectures about the empowerment of women.

And now the news....

This radish on the right is the size of a radish you'd see in any supermarket around New England. The radish on the left I purchased from a street vender here...twice the size! Huge and delicious...what's up with that? I thought it was a mutant until...

These babies showed up on my doorstep a few days later. My friend and neighbor Natasia brought these Giant White Radishes to me from her brothers farm....woo..eee!

This is a Horse Chestnet. They are everywhere this time of year. If you're not careful, you can get hit with one falling off the tree. I brought this one in to watch it morph.

I noticed these locks on the bridge over the river for the first time a few weeks ago. Amazing that I never noticed them before!  The locks symbolize a couples love for each other. I was told it is common to see these all over Ukraine. Young couples commit to each other and "lock" in their relationship.

Both sides of the bridge was covered with all kinds of locks. Some were simplyewith the couples name hand-written, and some were extrememly elaborate, like this one on the left. It was clear that some of the locks have been here for many many years.

And now for the silly side of things....I caught one of my students writing with this tiny pencil stub.                    

Miss Mouse in a box...which end is which?