Week Two

     So this week was a little more quiet than last week. We did go bowling twice, which was pretty fun, although taking 10 kids to the mall is a bit hectic. 

    All the kids worked on a commercial for two weeks, and my group's was pretty spectacular! My group was five kids between 11 & 12. They were the hardest of the three groups, but I guess I love them anyway. Their group name was the Blue Snakes, so they decided to stick with that theme for their product (cap) and commercial. 

     For our last evening with the kids, we made pizzas. They were disgusting, but I finished mine anyway. All the kids loved them, so I couldn't really be honest... Fry sauce just doesn't belong on pizza.

     Most of the kids went home on Saturday, but we left on Friday night after dinner. The journey to Kyiv included waiting for our taxis outside for 40 minutes, frozen fingers and toes, and maybe a bathroom dance... Mackay and I moved in with Olia, who happens to be the native coordinator for the holiday camps and the Pozniaky school. She is the bomb dot com, and I'm sure you'll be hearing lots more about her in the future. She named us Team McQueen, and we love her!

     Saturday included a long wait in the cold while the rest of our group slowly found their way to Pozniaky from their various homes in Kyiv, and several hours of a surprise tour with Tanya. There are three Tanyas, but this one is the only one I have met; Big Tanya, she's the one over all of the Kyiv schools, we met her at the airport. She and her husband Igor are super nice, kind of like our foreign grandparents while we're here.

      Tanya took all ten of us (Me, Madeline, Mackay, Steven, Mallory, Clarissa, Allison, Hunter, Zach, and Nicholas) to lunch, Maidan - aka Independence Square - the Golden Gates, and some of the nearby cathedrals; St. Michael's and St. Sofia's. There was a Christmas market in front of St. Sofia's and both of the cathedrals were very beautiful, but none of us knew that Tanya would be taking us, so I didn't have my camera or a charged Ipod. Plus it was dark, so the pictures wouldn't have been good anyway. And we were all freezing! I'll definitely be going back to the cathedrals later and take pictures then.

    And that about sums it up! Actual teaching starts tomorrow, so that should be interesting. I teach with Steven and Mackay Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-7, and Hunter joins us at the same time on Mondays. Wednesdays, and Fridays. Wish me luck!