All Play, No Work!

Twice each year, my oblast hosts a "Softball Weekend" - which reaches out to Peace Corps volunteers, the local community, and an orphanage. It consisted of a round robin softball tournament on Saturday with Americans and Ukrainians, an "All Star" game on Sunday (Ukrainian team vs. American team), and all the softball participants donating money to a local orphanage to purchase expressed needs from the orphanage, as well as games and competitions with the children. Everyone seemed to have a great time - and we were also able to slip in two social nights for volunteers - at a disco club and a banya (a swimming/sauna club). Here are some pics from the weekend:

We sure know how to make a match of Tug-of-War equally competitive on both sides ;) ...



Greg, a Youth Development volunteer and the organizer of softball weekend, involved in one of the relay competitions.


We enjoyed some acrobatic tricks from the children:

And here is one of the relay races in action:

After softball weekend, I hosted some friends over at my site. Of course, I put them to work! I contacted many of my students and asked them to meet us at the stadium. We ended up with a great group of students who were able to practice communicating with other volunteers and, more importantly, PLAY!

I LOVE this picture! The volunteers who visited include Evan (in the white shirt), David (in gray), Walter (in green), and Sarah (in red). These four volunteers have had a huge impact on my service - they are supportive, fun, and energizing... good people to spend time with.

And for some ultimate frisbee...
Introducing Team "Angry Dragons" (below)

...and also Team "SUPER Angry Dragons" (it was planned that "Super" would be added to the other team's name... haha, nice work, David).

Sarah and David dominating the 6th graders ;)

This face captures it all... (Nazaar from 6th grade)

We even had some boys vs. girls games - here is team "Champions"

Love this photo with some of the students who came out to play... students ranged from 6th to 11th grade, it was awesome to have the wide age range.

The weather has been gorgeous this past weekend - in fact, I even have a sunburn :( to prove it... I was not prepared with my bottle of sunscreen. I've been keeping busy at school, wrapping up the school year with preparations for the "director's control papers" - which is equivalent to our "final exams" in the states. I also have two trips to Kyiv planned - one to say goodbye to Group 34ers (tear) and one to pick up Mal and David from the airport! So much to look forward to in the upcoming weeks...

I hope the early summer is treating you well!

Take care,

Love Natalie