From Bama to the Borderland: London and life lately

It's a dreary, rainy day here in Novoazovsk. Perfect for catching you guys up on everything that has been going on lately. Usually I don't have a very good excuse for not blogging, but this time I can honestly say that I have been busy/stressed/ready to pull my hair out for the past two weeks. Thankfully, I am much more calm and relaxed on this lazy Sunday afternoon. This is probably because I had a lovely, cuddle/movie-filled weekend with my beloved who had to leave me for his own site a few hours ago. The good news is that we get to see each other again in two weeks! More on that later. For now, let me catch you all up.

Since my last post, a lot of exciting things have happened. For starters, my Partnership Grant was fully funded thanks to all of my extremely generous loved ones back home. I can't even describe how ecstatic it felt to find out that it was funded. The best part was getting to deliver the news to my counterpart and the other English teachers at school. Since it's funding, I've been running around like a mad woman trying to buy and order everything. Everything has to be finished in two weeks. Unfortunately, my beloved Ukrainian counterpart and the rest of the teachers are last minute kind of people which doesn't suit my OCD/super organized self very much. After everything is purchased, I have a lot of extremely thorough paperwork to do in which I will need to document every purchase down to the last kopeck (Ukrainian cent). Although it's nothing that I can't handle, I am looking forward to finishing this project and having my stress levels go from "about to lose it" back down to "still ridiculously high". I'll let you know how everything turns out after it's all over with.

Two weeks ago, I was in London frolicking with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Bradley. Since the very beginning of my Peace Corps service, Bradley and I have been planning a trip. We ultimately decided to plan our rendezvous in foggy London town. Me being a poor volunteer and Bradley being the generous pal that he is, all I had to do was hop on a plane and he took care of the rest. I flew to meet him after a fun filled weekend of celebrating my sweet Jesse's 26th birthday in Kiev (I knitted him a scarf. My first one ever, by the way!) Needless to say, our reunion was glorious. Bradley and I spent the week hopping on and off a sightseeing double-decker bus, dining on fish and chips, and speaking with British accents. We went to see a concert and we even took in a show (Wicked). We also got to meet up with my old friend Katie who is currently living and going to school there. The week was lovely and as usual, over too quick. I was back in Kiev and on my way to my site before I knew it.

So two weeks ago I was in London and two weeks from today I will be in Prague. Yes. Prague. About a month ago, the principal of my school asked if I would like to go with her and some of our students on a trip to Prague. Of course I said yes, but I had to check with Peace Corps first. Not only did they say yes to me, but they also said yes to Jesse who my school also invited to come along. So, in two weeks my beloved and I will hope a bus (don't even ask me how long of a ride it's going to be), and head to Prague. From there we will be staying in a fancy pants hotel and taking day trips to places like Dresden, Germany. After that, Jesse and I will head back to Ukraine where we will meet up with the rest of Peace Corps Group 41 for COS conference. This conference serves both as a meeting to inform us about all of the benefits we get as Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and as a eating/drinking/shenanigan filled two days of hugs and nostalgia with our fellow group 41 volunteers.

After that, it's back to site for my last month or so of service. Jesse and I are officially leaving Ukraine on May 17th. That's right. Our last day as volunteers is a little over two months away. I can't even put into words how weird it feels to type that. Due to my general business at site, I really haven't had much time to dwell on this fact. Honestly, a part of my is a little scared to do so. This could be because unlike all of our successful/ over-achieving Peace Corps pals, Jesse and I aren't going back and heading straight into grad school and we don't exactly have any jobs lined up yet. What we do know is that we are planning a ten day trip to somewhere exotic and foreign before we head back to America. After the trip we are flying to Oregon to meet up with his family and then travel to Montana to attend the wedding of his honorary sister. That's all we have really got so far. After that, who knows?

So, that's where I'm at right now. I'm in the home stretch and things are busier than ever. I'm doing my best to take it day by day and to enjoy my last two months in Ukraine. However, this doesn't stop me from counting down the days until I'm reunited with my wonderful friends and family, hot showers, and sandwiches.

And of course I'll leave you with some photos of my London trip.