Summer in Ukraine = BLISS!

Hello dearest long neglected but not forgotten readers!

I trust that you can resonate when I say that it has been an incredible summer! I was minus regular internet for quite some time, but have been home and reconnected to the WWW for just over a week, and I think I've finally inundated myself with enough internet-time (hello Facebook) that I can sit down and re-cap just what it was that made this summer so amazing.

First: Last Bell Ceremony
The last day of school in Ukraine is called "Last Bell." Everyone dresses in their finest, we have a small concert, and awards are presented. My favorite moment is when they have a little girl (representing the last bell) get hoisted up onto the shoulders of a graduating 11th former and carried around ringing a bell! It was just too cute.

Here is a shot of some graduating 11th formers. The girls all wear the traditional Soviet outfits for the last month of school.
And here is the little Last Bell Girl! Soooo cute! Behind, you see that one of the 11th forms made a "vKontactia" (a Russian version of Facebook) to display their photos. Very creative!


Second: Vacay to a Ukrainian castle/fortress
I spent a weekend in beautiful Kaminits-Podilskyy, which is the site of an ancient fortress. It was incredibly scenic and touring the fortress was AWESOME. It was a far cry from any touring in the States, let alone the ancient-ness of the structure. There were no signs saying you couldn't walk here, touch this, jump off that. So of course all limits of the castle were enjoyed! There was also a river that cut through the valley that turned out to be great for swimming. (Shhh...don't tell PCMO!)

Here is a shot of the fortress.

Third: Survivor Camp
I had been looking forward to this camp since I first heard about it, probably a month into training. It is a rugged 10-days near the Carpathian mountains in the west of Ukraine. We lived in tents at the top of a huge hill/mountain, cooked food we bought at the bazar an hour away over an open fire, taught lessons sitting on logs or in the grass, shot fireworks and swam in the river. It was awesome! I brought two students from my school. One of the girls had never traveled outside a 3-hour radius of our region, and it was wonderful for me to watch her bloom interacting with so many different kids from all over Ukraine. We celebrated American Independence Day with a huge fireworks display and with American chili night! Another highlight was climbing to the top of Mount Haverla, the tallest peak in Ukraine. What a view! We climbed with the intention of also doing a trash-pick-up, but since the Ukrainian president was visiting the next week, it was spotless. Overall, Survivor was probably the highlight of my summer and I can't wait for Round Two next summer!

PCV Pyramid! These are all the Volunteers that helped lead the camp:


Here is one of my favorite photos of fire-jumping. On the holiday of Ivana-Kupala, Ukrainians traditionally make a big shashlik (like bbq) pit, cook dinner, then jump over the fire. Girls also make flower wreaths that they throw into the river for the boys to catch. Here I am jumping with one of the kids on my team, Misha:

Fourth: Ukrainian wedding
Less than a week after returning from Survivor and with only just enough time to scrape the dirt from under my fingernails and to wash the grime from my hair, I was off again on my next round of travels, the first stop being my first Ukrainian wedding. Unfortunately, my camera broke during the interval, and I don't have any pictures, and a thousand is too many words for a blog. Suffice it to say that it was a very PACKED event. There was a church service, a photo shoot after, and then the reception. Things got going at about 12:00 PM, and we left the reception at 1:15 AM. The reception was fun, with lots of traditions and significances. The bride and groom received all the guests (who all brought even-numbered flower bouquets and cash) with kisses and took photos, they danced special dances, crossed "lines" of ribbon to signify the journeys they've taken to becoming a pair, and passed their blessings on to the single men and women. I even made a toast! In English, of course, blessedly translated for me. I ate SO much good food, too. And managed to escape with only 3 shots of vodka in me! :) My favorite part of this whole experience was seeing how deep and evident the love between the newlyweds was. They were so peacefully joyful and just very graceful in their attention to each other and the guests. It was beautiful to see.

Fifth: Big Bang
From the wedding to another camp! Camp Big Bang is held at a campsite roughly in the center of Ukraine. After Survivor, Big Bang was luxury! About 160 kids attended, living in cabins and eating at the canteen where cooks prepared three meals a day and snacks. All the Volunteers lived in one cabin that had its own kitchen and bathroom. I was a team leader for a team of about 25 kids aged 11-15. I pumped them up for our nightly competitions, got them motivated in the mornings, and helped out with lessons throughout the day. It was fun, and I really bonded with some of those kids. It was amazing seeing the creativity of all the kids at camp in the things they were able to make (costumes, masks) or do (little stunts/pranks, games). I am continually amazed at the Ukrainian spirit to improvise and to simply make do. Highlights from this camp were a haunted house that the Volunteers put on for the campers, a massive carnival we put on for the last day (I auctioned off banana bread, carrot cake and cornbread! Big hits for sure), and the time spent with other Volunteers.


Thanks to the canteen for providing the tomatoes, we managed some pretty effective fake murder scenes. Here is our camp leader trying to fix up the huge gashes in another leader:


Girls having fun! The female team leaders (5 girls, one guy) take a much-needed night off and go into town for pizza. Delish! Silly photos must, of course, follow:
Sixth: Ukrainian Independence Day in L'viv
Again, no photos for this one, but I had a great time in the West celebrating Ukrainian Independence Day on the 24th of August. Ukraine is now 18 years old, and it was really interesting to see all the national costumes and the concerts. People were gathering in the center and spontaneously starting up with traditional songs and dances. I'm glad I was there to witness that!

Seventh: First Bell!
Our First Bell ceremony looked a lot like our Last. School started on the 1st of Sept, and with the adorable blue-caped girl ringing the first bell. Currently we are in our second week, but it has been a slow start for yours truly. I expect a schedule next week and then I can really get to work. I did, however, teach two lessons today for my counterpart, who is away. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten how much ENERGY those 5th formers require! Yikes. I think that after them, then the 11th form, and now this blog entry, I need a nap! So I will sign off for now, glad to have caught up with this and excited about continuing to unravel my story to you all!

Blessings as you love.