post 14 march

Yesterday, it was 15 degrees! Can you believe it?!

Celsius, remember.

Believe it! :)

Although I’ve heard a few rumors about an upcoming chill, I’m choosing to believe that we’re done with winter. During Soviet times, the first of March was apparently a holiday to mark the official beginning of spring, no matter the weather. So, let’s just say it’s spring. I’ve been wearing my fall [now spring] coat and not the big black down one, and I didn’t even wear gloves today. Manalive!

Because of last week’s holiday, I had a very short working week. On Wednesday, my country studies class had a shortened lesson with a Women’s Day theme. Each group was instructed to choose a nominee for Ms. English-Speaking World. She should be 1) famous, 2) influential, and 3) someone you would like to meet. Nominees included Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Pink, Janis Joplin, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana… and me. Speeches were given extolling the virtues of the candidates. And then the class [about 40 students] voted. And then I won. Sort of embarrassing, sort of hilarious, and totally unexpected.

Another unexpected moment occurred that same evening while I was having dinner with friends at a restaurant. I really like the vegetarian pizza there, and so that’s what I ordered. What I received, however, was a potato. A twice-baked potato, yes, but definitely not a pizza. I asked my friends, and was reassured that yes, I had indeed ordered a vegetarian pizza. When the waitress came by, I told her that I had ordered a vegetarian pizza, and asked, “But what is this?” “It’s a potato,” she told me. “A vegetarian potato.” Of course. A vegetarian potato. She had misheard me. Pitsa = kartoplya? I was prepared to eat this potato, but my friends (who were aware of both how much I had wanted the pizza and how tasty the cheese, green onion, and tomato-stuffed twice-baked potato looked) took the liberty of eating my potato and ordering me “another” vegetarian pizza. Odd.

I spent Friday in Kyiv getting my midservice medical exam, both at the Peace Corps doctors’ office and at the dentist. Sorry to say that I have one cavity, but it was nice to be in the city and navigate about successfully on my own. Plus I had the rare opportunity for falafel for lunch, plus a pre-train bonus treat of McDonalds fries [I think they’re better here than at home]. The strangest thing that happened on this trip was one that is fairly unlikely to be believed, but I’ll tell you anyway. While walking on the street after having my teeth cleaned [i.e., blasted with salt water or something like that], a man walking in the opposite direction headed straight toward me, abruptly asked “Mozhna vas ---?“ [May I --- you?], and before I could figure out what that unknown word meant, chomped his teeth together in a smiling bite, and then bit my shoulder lightly. I did the only appropriate thing possible in the situation: I laughed in a surprised manner, then walked confidently away, as if this sort of thing happened to me all the time. What? I can only imagine that he had caught some of the clean-teeth vibes I was clearly broadcasting. Anyway, it wasn’t scary, it wasn’t a hard bite at all, and it was just real enough to only ever happen to me.

Great Lent is going on now, with all kinds of people giving up all kinds of things. Although I’m not a religious person, I decided, albeit a day or two belatedly, to give up something, too. So, no sweets and no chips. That’s the plan. So, if you’d been hoping to send me a bag of Ghiradelli’s dark chocolate chips or a cream of tartar refill so I can make snickerdoodles, please hold off until the end of April.

Hope your days are sweet and warm!

:)