post 12 january

So then… I went to a film camp in a not-too-far-off town called Brody. This involved a two-and-a-half hour bus ride each way, students, lessons, a few movies, and lots of running around games. This camp was run by a PCV in town, and several of her friends. Having been in Ukraine for a while, they all seem to have acclimated quite well, and are enjoying their experiences. Plus, they know how to cook! We had homemade bagels [Why are there no bagels in Ukraine?! Maybe because there are so many other kinds of bread…?], vegetarian chili, curried lentils, goat cheese and beet salad, French toast, potato and apple casserole… man! Don’t worry, this smorgasboard was spread over two days. We explored a little bit of the town, including a really old Jewish cemetery with very tall and very close together headstones, and a town celebration called “Bethlehem fire,” which involved some singing and some speeches.

Over the holidays, meaning from December 30 to January 10, I had no school! I did, however, spend time tutoring, and enjoying some more excellent food with a family in town. According to the season, and this family’s love of home-grown and home-made everything, I had a chance to eat homemade haluptsi [cabbage rolls], kapusnyak [sauerkraut soup], vareneky [pierogies], kutya [sweet grain Christmas dish], beresovy cik [birch juice], and lots more! Awesome.

I’m still working on this Ukrainian historical text, revising the translation into more polished English, and this may be the case for some time. I thought I was almost halfway done, but I just hadn’t received all of the files yet. :)

During the next few weeks, while students finish up the first semester and take their exams, I’ll be preparing for the new semester. Plus, I’ve started tutoring a surgeon, may help to facilitate a weekly film club at the library, and will plan for my own English club or clubs to start at the beginning of February. To add to that, I’m making contact with my potential partner organizations in the area: an NGO [non-governmental organization] working to promote active citizenship, among other goals, and a boarding school outside of town.

Also, it’s snowing again! Really, it’s pretty, but sometimes I imagine that there will come a day when snow will be neither on the ground, nor falling. Imagine! :)