Castles in our area

June is almost here......

June is almost here and it definitely feels like summer! The trees have bloomed, there are flowers everywhere, and the sun wakes us up at 5 am and doesn’t set until 9 pm. We spent Easter in Dolyna with our Peace Corps friends Charlotte, Michael, and Edwin. We made it a weekend event with home cooked meals, drinks, walks, and games. In Ukraine Easter is a major holiday with celebrations lasting three days. When we returned from Dolyna on Monday we had a light meal at the house of a teacher from Beth’s school. The celebration did not end until Tuesday when we had a fabulous long meal at the director of Scott’s school with some of Scott’s fellow teachers. Dinner lasted 5 hours and included: cheeses, sliced meats, a variety of salads, salo (pure pig fat), pickled apples, holubtsi (stuffed cabbage), bread, olives, fish, chocolates, cookies, wine, and vodka. Beth really enjoyed the pickled apples and was delighted when the host gave her a bag to take home.
Scott attended a training seminar on HIV/AIDS in Kyiv. There is a program called PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) that sponsors trainings and grants developed by Peace Corps Volunteers. He went with his coordinator Olena and they learned much about the effects, transmission, and situtation of HIV/AIDS in Ukraine . Ukraine has the fastest rate of infection of all the countries in Europe and the age bracket of that is most at risk is 18-25 years. PC offers 3 training sessions a year so that volunteers and community counterparts can actively help to promote education and understanding throughout all Ukraine .
Towards the end of May we went on a 6 day vacation to Istanbul , Turkey with two other volunteers, Charlotte and Andi. We rented an apartment off of Taksim Square which was ideal for walking to all the great sites and convenient for eating at a variety of restaurants. We had Thai, Chinese, Turkish, Thai fusion, and seafood while we were there and loved all the different flavors and spices. While there, we saw Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, some Catholic churches, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, the Basilica Cistern (underground reservoir built by the Romans in the 500’s) and also the Sultans Palace ( Tokapi Palace ). On our ride into the city from the airport, we realized that Istanbul is a vast city with rolling hills that just seemed to go on forever. Everyday, we walked 4-7 hours which really was great because we were able to see so many different places, people, and things. Walking down the main street, Iskitar Cadii, that starts at Taksim Square and continues down a hill toward one of the waterways, we could wander all the side streets and find neat little shops and cafes. Istanbul is a great city that is very navigable and great for all ages. We highly recommend it!!
We visited on host mother, Oksana, this week and were pleasantly surprised to leave her house with cherries, strawberries, lettuce, and spinach that she encouraged us to pick. Her garden is amazing and she takes such great care of all the fruits and vegetables every spring and summer. Oksana is planning to go to Portugal in June to spend sometime with her husband who is employed with a Mercedes factory doing landscaping. Oksana is super excited because she gets to spend time with her husband who has worked out of the country for more than 8 years.
This is the last week of school and everyone is preparing for tests, exams, and celebrations. Both of our schools have 2 weeks on mandatory camps in Zalischyky which we plan to help out with. We hope to teach some kids the basics of baseball with Scott’s expertise. Wish us well! We love and miss everyone!