Shameless Plug: The Vinnytsia Khutory School Project

I'd like to take a moment to talk about something important: classroom materials.

Many classrooms in Ukraine lack textbooks altogether, and if they do have them, they are often outdated and inferior. New textbooks are not an option, as most Ukrainians cannot afford anywhere near the cost it would take to replace them.

My friend and Peace Corps volunteer Anna has put together this great project to help the students at her school in the Village of Vinnytsia Khutory (on the outskirts of my city) purchase new textbooks. The money will also help to renovate some rooms of the school which are in great disrepair, purchasing new windows to help keep the children warm during Ukraine's absurdly cold winters.

If I may, I'd like to ask you, my friends and family, to give a worthwhile Christmas gift to some Ukrainian kids this year, and donate a little money to her project.

If you'd like to read a little more about Anna's project, take a look at the Project's Facebook page.

To make a donation online, visit the Peace Corps Website here. Donations are, of course, tax deductible.

Thanks and Merry Christmas! :o)

More Winter "Fun"

Happy 12/12/12!

So I am now in the midst of the busiest week I've had in Vinnytsia so far. And in true Ukrainian form, these plans weren't altogether presented to me until Saturday. I already had committed to teaching a class today (Wednesday) afternoon and my regular class on Saturday afternoon... and this week, the Peace Corps is organizing a training for English Teachers in Vinnytsia and I was asked to present. That is tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. Then last week Svitlana asked me to cover her class for her since she will be out of town, which is three hours long and is on Friday. Then Oleg's students accosted me in the hallway and asked if I would come back to their class. When I brought this up with him, he said that the only chance to do this would be on Friday morning. Then he scheduled a Russian lesson for me with Lena on Monday, and she asked me if I would also cover her three-hour evening class last night (Tuesday). Ack!

On Sunday, though, I was free to go out and have some fun with Tanya and her husband. We went out to the Mega-Mall and went bowling. The bowling alley felt just like being in America, right down to the carpet. The only real difference? They give you not just shoes here, but also socks! Interesting.

After bowling we went shopping, and I was finally able to buy a fleece blanket to wrap myself in when sitting around my apartment, as well as a good sharp knife. Tanya and her husband also bought me a beautiful Christmas ornament, which I look forward to putting on my tree back in the States!

Then we drove around town a little to look at the Christmas decorations, which was a lot of fun. I have a deal with Vasa-- I try to speak Russian and he tries to speak English, and Tanya helps us both-- so I got in some language practice, too :) Then we went to a Ukrainian restaurant for dinner.

The wooden building in the snow made me feel like I was in the Carpathians for real :P

We ate a dinner of fried potato dumplings stuffed with mushrooms; salat made of eggs, cucumbers, green onions, and ham; and shashlyk. Mmmmmm so tasty!!!

Mmmm... Shashlyk with dipping sauce. Дуже смачно!

So at least I had an enjoyable and relaxing evening before embarking on this crazy week!

Then today, my power went out around 11:30 am. I thought nothing of it, since power has gone out a couple of times before and the weather is kind of crappy (it just keeps snowing and snowing and snowing!) But then I went out to the grocery store, and discovered that I could not take my trash to the dumpsters down the hill because the sidewalk beyond my building had been roped off. There was an ambulance and some construction equipment, and even a TV news crew. When I got to the end of the street, I discovered there was a policeman blocking it-- the whole street was closed. I did not realize what had happened until I got back from my trip to the grocery store: under the weight of the snow, THE NEIGHBOR'S ROOF HAD CAVED IN.

Holy. Crap.

So my power (and thus my heat) was out all day. I left early for my class, wanting to charge my computer at the university... but there was a car accident and the tram was stuck for quite a while. I barely arrived in time for the class.

Like an idiot, I decided to walk home in the dark and the driving snow. The whole way I kept praying that my electricity and heat would be on when I got home. The street was open again, which was a good sign. But when I got to my building, it was dark. So I stopped outside to turn on the flashlight which is built into most Ukrainian cell phones (for pretty much this exact reason), because it was pitch black in the staircase. But literally right as I stepped in the door, the lights came back on. Thank God!

So, that's more than enough adventures for me today. Tomorrow I present at the Teacher Training. Never a dull moment around here!

Also, 9 more days until Turkey!

A Trip to McDonalds: A Beth and Karis Adventure

Yesterday, with the assistance of Karis, I finally made a trip to the Vinnytsia McDonalds (the one nearest my house, that is-- Vinnytsia has two!) The place was crowded, and there was a children's birthday party going on in the party room-- we heard them singing "Happy Birthday" in English and were amused. Also, lots of small children in snowsuits. Too cute!

It's true what they say about McDonalds in foreign countries though. The food actually looks like the pictures.

Look at the sheer un-squishedness of this bun!!! I ask you!!

It was nice to eat some fake cheese for once. I've missed it. Also, beef. I've missed beef.

We also made a cat-friend. This cat was just hanging around in the McDonalds, rubbing up against my legs as I was eating.

He (or she) decided to clean him/herself right as I snapped this shot.

Interesting.

In other news, snowmageddon has come. Here is the weather forecast as of yesterday:

As you can see, the apocalypse is truly nigh. In the words of one of my Ukrainian friends: "Welcome to Ukraine."

It's snowing now, even as I write this. This is what I woke up to this morning:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...!

And playing with my new camera, an artsy shot that makes my backyard look like a toy train set.

Yesterday as I was walking in the park, I found some men building- yes, building- a Christmas tree.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but they were literally pulling apart pine trees to get the fronds to make a giant one. Pretty cool!

Snow!

First real snow of the year today! Like a crazy person, I went for a walk. Here are some pictures:

The courtyard by the Orthodox Church.

The bridge

The park on the other side of the bridge

The snow was extremely wet and heavy-- PERFECT for snowballs.

The Orthodox cathedral

The World War II Soldiers' Memorial... it looks even more somber in the snow.

On the edge of the park. I just loved how much the snow stuck to that bush.

My street.

 Since it was my day off, I also took the opportunity to attempt cornbread. Two weeks ago, I'd been discussing Thanksgiving foods with my students. Like many other Ukrainians I've talked to, they had never had cornbread. Since I know this is something for which I can obtain ingredients here, I decided to attempt it. Being that their corn meal and flour are both of different textures, that I have only baking soda and no baking powder, and that I don't have any kind of measuring tools, this venture was highly experimental... and HUGELY SUCCESSFUL.

I used butter instead of oil because I wanted my students' first experience of cornbread to be a positive one. Om nom nom nom nom!