Week Three

     First week of actual teaching done! It was a lot of work, let me tell you. A bunch of 4 year-olds who don't understand what you're saying can be a handful. But it's worth it.
     To start off Week Three, the bus on our way from church to the metro got a flat tire. It pretty much exploded, and some of the girls thought we were going to die because it sounded like a gun shot. But we are all alive, although we walked too far in the cold to get to the metro. (photo cred: Madeline Lott.)

     I spent the week just teaching, preparing lessons, and eating good food, but the weekend was so much fun. On Friday night our group minus the three teachers out at Obolon (it's way on the other side of town) went to this restaurant by Olia's apartment called Mafia. What did it serve? Pizza and sushi of course, my new favorite combination. They served meter long pizzas and mediocre sushi, and it was super-duper fancy. I don't think we'll be going there again, though. The food was kind of expensive but mediocre at best, and the roof was leaking right over my head. And we were all still hungry afterwards. As Mackay and I showed everyone how to get to the metro from there, Madeline and I stopped at a shawarma place that Olia recommended. It was divine, and now I'm hooked.

     Saturday was long, but I definitely walked off all of the extra cookies I've had since being here. We met at the Zoloti Vorota metro stop, which is directly outside the Golden Gates.

     As you can see, it was very foggy that day, which made it really cold, but I kind of enjoyed it because there was no one else about. From the Golden Gates we walked to St. Sofia's and St. Michael's. I took pictures this time, but we'll go back again when it's sunny.

Gate to St. Sofia's

St. Michael's

     After some walking around - okay, after a lot of walking around, we found Andriivskii Street, aka: St. Andrew's Descent or The Souvenir Street. It's a windy, cobblestoned road that leads down the side of a hill; St. Andrew's is on about the middle of the hill. The buildings in this area of town are beautiful: colorful, with white trimming.

     If you ever come here, do climb the first steep staircase by the castle-ish building on the right, you get a spectacular view when there's no fog. The second staircase on the left; don't take it, there's nothing to see.

     At the bottom of St. Andrew's Descent is the Lviv Chocolate Factory. I'll definitely be going back there several more times. If you walk another block, you'll see the familiar red Pyzata Xata, which is a cafeteria style Ukrainian restaurant. It's our whole group's favorite because you just point at what you want, there's lots of choices, and it's cheap!

     We spent the late afternoon at an awesome water park at this mall called Dream Land 2. I didn't take any pictures because: where do you put a camera when you're in a swimming suit? but it was so legit. The water park covered the entire third floor of a giant mall, and it was jungle/dinosaur themed. There were slides, lazy rivers, a wave pool, jacuzzis, a restaurant, and a sauna that you had to pay extra for. I didn't go in the sauna, but those who did said it was totally worth it. I just stayed in the jacuzzis, although they were weird because they were more like tepid bath water than hot tubs. But it was warmer than outside, so I wasn't complaining. We stayed there for about 4 hours (185 grn, by the way) and then went our separate ways. One more comment on the water park: once is enough and try not to go on a weekend - there are way way too many fat, hairy old men in Speedos. 

     Because we were so tired, Mackay and I just stopped at the shawarma place again for dinner instead of making something. It was definitely the right decision. Shawarma is like a Ukrainian burrito/panini. It's got cabbage, onions, carrots, sliced meat, pickles (everything is pickled here), Ukrainian's favorite: sour cream, and a tasty red sauce. It is then grilled like a panini and dipped in more sauce before being handed over. It doesn't sound good, but you haven't truly lived until you've had good shawarma. Be sure to put it on your Ukrainian bucket list!

     Sunday was even more spectacular than Saturday, but I'll include it in Week Four's blog post. Just know that from now on, the only two things I will be spending my money on besides vacations is chocolate and musical experiences.

     Have a happy Monday!