sorry so late...

Please note: This was written on Monday, but then Blogger had issues and wouldn't let me post. And I was out of town yesterday. Please, don't lynch me for not updating in over a week. Mom says that it's like having her own personal serial to watch, reading my blog, so assume I was preempted by the Movie of the Week or something.

Well, I know it's been a week since my last post, but since Mom hasn't mentioned that people have been asking her why I wasn't posting, I think I'm in the clear. :) For those people who want to know, a) it was in the mid-90s most of last week, leaving me without the ability to think clearly, let alone type; b) while playing badminton last Monday, I somehow pinched a nerve in my right arm, which made extended computer time, especially typing, challenging (much better now); c) the end of the school kept me busy; and d) I just wasn't in the mood. :)


But now my arm is back to normal, the temperature has dropped to the mid-70s (perfect!), and "praktika", the Ukrainian version of summer school, is in full swing. It's different from US summer school...each homeroom of kids has certain subjects that they're supposed to come to school for (and it's not just the slower kids), and each day is only one subject, which is usually supposed to last 5 hours but never does. And part of the time, the teachers take the kids on field trips instead of book stuff...Nelya took her class to the town museum today, and last Friday, I ended up helping as a chaperone with the 1st-5th formers, taking them to a concert at the Palace of Culture for Children's Day and then going with the 5th formers and Olha Ivanivna afterwards to go swimming/wading in the river. (So nice, especially as last Friday was very hot.) I have my oh-so-unmotivated 10-A class twice this week, and the topic I was given was "listening comprehension", so I think that on Wednesday, we're going to listen to music and on Friday, we'll watch one of my DVDs. I spent this afternoon looking up song lyrics and translating the difficult words into Ukrainian. As a result, I ended up with a cheesy pop song that has versions in both Russian and English stuck in my head. Have been playing soft, pretty music like Fernando Ortega to scrub out my brain.


While at the supermarket today, I found something resembling ranch dressing. At least, it resembles my faint, far-off memories of ranch dressing. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of consuming, while not a huge amount, more than my stomach could easily handle, so then I got to follow it up with Pepto-Dismal-type tablets, cherry flavored (yes, the D for B is intentional).


Well, Blogger ate the second half of this post earlier when I tried to post it, so let me see if I can remember what I posted...


Yula and Serogia's wedding plans are progressing...they had hoped to keep the guest list down to about 100 or so, but apparently as soon as all the extended family heard that Yula was getting married (before the invitations were sent out), they all started calling Nadia to tell her that they were coming...and had already bought their train tickets! It looks like the Y house is going to be filled with people, as they are the family members who have a true gift for hospitality. Nadia says she keeps telling people that they'll fill up all the floor space, and she doesn't know how she's going to feed everyone! (Viktor suggested tents out in their huge garden and letting people cook their own food over campfires...)


Ihor Y (age 5) asked me on Sunday why I don't have kids. This is the second time he's asked me something along these lines...I think he really wants more kids to play with! Or maybe he just can't comprehend an adult without kids. :)

On Saturday, I'm going with a group of PCVs on an "excursion" to visit an Orthodox monestary just over the border into Donetsk Oblast. I'm looking forward to it, and then on Sunday and Monday, Erin McS, a PCV friend of mine, is coming to visit me. Yay for company!