Foreign In-Country Foray

The train covering no greater a distance than Galveston to El Paso took 28 hours to navigate its way from Odessa to Western Ukraine, which made me all the more grateful for having my friend Ally as my companion. We were on our way to a half marathon event in Berehove, 6 km from the Hungarian border and in the pre-foothills of the beautiful Carpathian Mountains. After so many hours on the train, it really felt as if we'd arrived in a foreign country, not to mention the fact that Hungarian is the primary language in that area. Good thing running is non-verbal!

A fellow PCV, Erin, had organized this event from the ground up last year, making it the Second Annual race. She coordinated it to start in conjunction with the local wine festival. Another PCV, Roberta Eleazer, had her camera out, and so all photo credits go to her! Here is a booth at the festival:


The run itself was spectacular, if also exceedingly difficult from all the hills (my region is not only sea-level, it is FLAT FLAT FLAT).
Starting photo:


Here's a shot of what the course (a.k.a. road between villages) looked like most of the time:


Grinning through the sweat and pain:


One of the most significant things about this event is how "weird" it is. The locals stood outside to watch us go by, some cheering, some just staring. A few children ran alongside us, which was entertaining! Here's another common view:


That night we had our celebration dinner and awards ceremony. Here is my lovely friend Erin, the master of this event.

Sometimes we work, and we don't always see changes. This event was Erin's doing, and she worked really hard to involve as many members of her community as she could. We were even introduced on stage by the mayor! For me, physically, it was a tough day, but the pride I have in completing each of those painful steps is doubled by seeing the work she did to make it happen. And the realization that we are doing such things is worth the invisible sweat.

Blessings to you as you work toward a goal, seen or not. And one last image: all participants.

Best Under $100 Vacay EVER

Need a bright spot in what has otherwise been a very difficult year? Head to Moldova with two awesome friends!

Highlights

Flowers. EVERYWHERE.


A Triumphant Arch of Friendship


Heart


Where I been and where I go


Words don't even begin...


A disco night that began an epic tale and too many belly-laughs to count


Thanks HEAPS to Natty B and David W.B. for the good times! :D

Blessings to you as you find your "Under $100s."

Lesson Learned: I cannot (and should not) eat more than 5 meals a day

So this blog is a looooong time in coming and way overdue! My trip to the States was fantastic. I've been back in Ukraine for about a week now, which is long enough to resign myself to no more avocado, get the petchka fired up, and to collect my thoughts here.

To re-cap the highlights, I will tell of the food I ate. In 'N Out was my first meal, followed by an epic salad, followed by BJ's pizza and beer, followed by Einstein's bagels and gas station snacks, followed by a continuing litany of carbs, greens and awesomes. I really couldn't eat enough over there, and was disappointed every time I was full! Consequently, I got out and ran about every day, just to keep things even!

This tour of food started in Cali for a few days, during which I saw my dear friend, Anthony, who happened to be visiting the States from his mission post in Peru. We had a lovely walk at Huntington beach and indulged in pizza and a pitcher out on the patio, with pazookie to follow! YUM!


Pretty quick after that was a short flight to Phx, where my folks picked me up and we drove to Albuquerque. Lots of good time with Nolan and the crew followed. There was so much green chile, several trips to Dunkin Donuts, supermarket raids, and Starbucks. I was a happy girl. We did several Christmases to ensure that all family got their time, which was fun. Drew and Lindsey arrived in time for Ukrainian Food Night, which consisted of 3 different dishes. It was great being there, and I got in some good runs with my dad and fun shopping with Sue.

Beautiful luminarias to mark Christmas in Albuquerque.


Nolan's Ukrainian Christmas gift; a bulava. I think he liked it.


Ukrainian food! Borsch, varenekky, golubci. And all served with smetana (sour cream), yum!


Snow on the San Dias. Beautiful!


Love these two!


Last day in Alb with the folks.

And off to California! I arrived on New Year's Eve at LAX and was picked up by my beautiful friend Michelle. We sat down to catch up and next time we looked at the clock, it was already 10:45! We just had time to get ready and head over to her friend's party, grab a glass of champagne and toast in 2010. The rest of my time in Cali was like that; quality. I had breakfast with Long Beach family, Orange family, had time with friends at game nights and over more pizza and snacks, cornmeal pancakes with the Breakfast Anarchists, candy apples in Downtown Disney, America's Cup at least 3 times, and several Trader Joe's runs. WONDERFUl!


It IS good to be American. And with goooood beer!


Hiking.



Hiking near Laguna Beach with Bell. Wonderful! My Ukrainian folks still cannot believe that it was so warm there.



Michelle and Kelly, heart sisters.



Carmel apple at Downtown Disney!



I make pigging out look gooooooood. ;)


And finally, love this kid.


It was good seeing all of you who are reading this, and it's good to report what a tasty country awaits me when I return in just 10 short months. I hadn't planned on visiting during my service, but I'm glad I did for a few reasons. First, the food. Second, for as much as was different, not much had changed. This takes away the pressure to get back before everyone's moved on, and I can really be here. Third, relationships need face time. They really do. I'm very blessed to have internet, but even with Skype, Facebook, email and chat, communication just needs heart, eye contact, touch. I'm glad to have refilled my relationship tanks. We're all set to go!

Thanks for reading along, and blessings as you also feel the relationships around you, and taste the food!