I Missed the Memo: Suit Required for Awards Ceremony at School

Last Wednesday, as soon as I reached school, I was surprised to find students and teachers in their "Sunday best" clothes for the awards ceremony at the Palace of Culture. I was embarrassed because I was in jeans, a nice shirt, and my favorite blue flats. Lena, my counterpart, told me I was fine and I hoped to hide once we sat down.

Before the awards ceremony began, I took some photos of my students. Here's some of my 6th graders.

And 5th grade girls: Yanna, Valeriya, and Aloyna

Here's Vadim, one of my most eager 5th grade students. He is constantly trying to teach me Ukrainian and soak up as much English as he can. He's also one of the fastest runners - which I despise when he is not on my soccer team.

A group of teachers in the Palace of Culture (Larisa, the teacher with black hair, asked that I take this photo). I work most closely with the English teachers on the right: Lena (blond hair), Tania (red hair), and Larisa.

Some more of my 5th grade students! Love this group of kids! (from left to right): Kolya, Sasha, Timur, and Denis in front and Diana and Ania in the back.

Vlad and Artom - 5th grade students. Hmmm...are you sensing a theme? I am especially close with my 5th grade students because we spend the most time together (almost every day I either have a lesson with them or we play outside together).

Let the ceremony begin!

The three girls are my students (Diana, Nastia, and Dasha). Shortly after the introduction, the girls danced beautifully.

Dima is one of my 11th grade students. Currently in Ukraine, 11th grade is the last year of secondary school. So, Dima is in the process of applying to several universities. I'm excited to find out where my 11th graders will end up going to school!

Roma and Max (my 9th grade students) are accepting awards from our director.

Ania, an 11th grade student, is accepting an award for her accomplishments in the Law Olympiads - she took 1st place at the national competition!

And Nastia, the student I helped prepare for the national English competition, accepting her award. She took 1st place at the regional and oblast competitions, but did not place at the national level. I'm hopeful for next year...

Then, my camera's battery went dead! But, I was shocked to be among the eight teachers who received recognition for my help with preparing students for the olympiads. I was not prepared to go on stage, and shrunk from my embarrassment for wearing jeans! Oh well, next time I'll know better...

Here are the flowers that students brought to me while on stage:

And my award, which you should have no problem reading and understanding, right? :)

I can't believe this is the last week of school! We will have our "Last Bell" this Friday, which is another concert for the students at the Palace of Culture (we have so many of these "concerts" that I have been desensitized to the need to be dressed up nicely for them...I will work on this to avoid future embarrassments!).

Other news in my world: I was shocked to find a volleyball league! Well, I'm not too sure it's considered a "league" by American standards, but a group of men that meet twice per week and play (with skills!) changes my life! My forearms have been bruising because I am out of practice - Love It! Now, I definitely look forward to my volleyball days!

Take care,

Nat

Traceurs in Action

Thought you would enjoy this video of some students performing parkour stunts...(see previous post for some background information about parkour).

These are all local students, including three of my students, and it was filmed in Novoukrainka.

Hope all is well!

Love,

Nat

Parkour Traceurs in Novoukrainka: not for the faint of heart

After traveling for a week to Kirovograd and Kyiv, I was feeling anti-social and didn't want to leave my apartment on my first day back. However, I received a phone call from a student who asked, "Natalie, where are you? We are playing football at the stadium, come play with us." Ok, ok, I forced myself to brush my hair and headed out the door.

After a soccer game in the rain and a discussion with my students about the effects of wind on our health, I came across some of my students practicing parkour. I had never heard of parkour until I lived in Ukraine, but now, students are constantly showing me their pictures and videos of the "traceurs" (someone who practices parkour). Basically, parkour has been compared to extreme sports or martial arts. It's the practice of moving your body from one place to another in the most efficient way possible (which usually involves some "flipping action," as I like to call it).

This is a picture of Anton, one of my 6th grade students. After I took this picture, I asked him, "First time?" (for jumping off this wall) and he replied, "yes." I think he wanted to impress me, especially because I was taking pictures. I quickly responded, "I don't want to see your first time, maybe another day." Thankfully, he agreed and immediately jumped down to safety.



However, Max, a 10th grade student from a different school, has a lot more experience with parkour. Here's a picture of him doing some sort of flip off the wall...yep, he landed it perfectly.


They would run up this sand hill and complete a stunt, usually with Max's help.

Here's Igor, one of my 5th grade students.

Igor and Max

Oh, I had to throw this picture in. Here's Dennis, one of my 5th grade students who stopped by to say hello. I love this kid's sense of humor and am often helping him practice as a goalkeeper.

We only have three weeks of school left and then my whirlwind of summer traveling will begin! The first week of June, I'm headed to Crimea (the ultimate tourist destination in Ukraine) to help with another volunteer's summer camp. I'll certainly keep you updated!

Happy Mother's Day Mom and Grandma! I love and miss you!

Take care,

Nat

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday dear Dad!

Happy Birthday to You!

Just wanted to send my dad some love on his birthday and share a few updates...


Right now, I'm in the Peace Corps office in Kyiv trying to tie up some loose ends of a presentation I will conduct tomorrow. I will attempt to lead a discussion with new Peace Corps volunteers, who are currently in training, about mental health issues volunteers may face throughout their service, discuss ways to manage these stessors, and make sure trainees are aware of the mental health resources that are available to them while serving. Should be an interesting dialogue and I'm looking forward to welcoming the new trainees to PC Ukraine! (Also, many thanks to Liz and Kelsey for helping me with presentation ideas, as well as current Peace Corps volunteers feedback on difficulties they have experienced.)

I have some more travel plans! Here is my next trip:
June 27: depart Kyiv for Portland, OR
July 6: fly from Portland to Barcelona, Spain
July 12: Barcelona to Paris
July 15: Paris to Poland
July 17: back home to Kyiv

I'll post some pictures soon!
Love,
Nat