Winter and tea

Last night we went to another American’s house to watch a tape of the superbowl and have a little belated party in honor of the game. We ended coming back to our apartment homesick – Dave for watching sports on TV and I for some fast food – the Taco Bell ads really got to me. Tacos are non-existent here. Today life goes on as usual, but though it was a balmy 40 degrees yesterday, today the wind howled and it snowed. Tomorrow is the first day of spring in Ukraine, and though the weather is less than springy, someone reassured me today that it will be spring soon and the only reason it’s cold today is because the seasons are fighting because winter doesn’t want to be done yet. Hopefully they’re right.

If winter does end up lasting another month, the one good thing will be that we’ll keep drinking tea to stay warm. Dave and I have discovered a whole new world of tea here in Ukraine. Entire aisles of stores are dedicated to it, as are quite a few stalls at the market. There’s tea from all over the world, and in so many different flavors. Our current favorite we discovered at our language lesson when Dave wasn’t feeling well and Marina, our teacher, made him a cup of tea. It’s a loose black tea made in Denmark, and it’s translated “Earl Grey,” but it’s nothing like the English Earl Grey I’ve tasted at home. It tastes like berries and is full of all kinds of interesting things – the ingredient list includes red saffron, blue cornflower and red currants. Marina directed us to a tiny tea shop located inside a pharmacy near the center of town to buy this special tea, and we’ll be returning soon. Behind the small counter are jars full of all kinds of fun flavors of tea, most of which we can only identify by the pictures on the jar labels – all the more reason to taste as many as we can!

It’s no wonder there are so many kinds of tea available – Ukrainians drink tea like it’s their job. At every meal and social gathering, as well as many times in between, there’s tea to be drunk and cookies to be eaten. Jam is also common base for “tea” – just add a couple spoonfuls to a cup of hot water, and it’s ready. But we think the teas we find here will be just as good iced as they are hot, so perhaps it would be all right if spring would hurry up and get here.

Laura

Summer English Intensive

As I may have mentioned before, part of my job here is co-coordinating DCU’s Summer English Intensive program. Basically, DCI offers all-day English classes to community members for two two-week sessions in July. The mornings are structured English classes taught by trained teachers, and the afternoons are a mix of conversation practice, songs, games, crafts and other hands-on activities that all focus on English learning. Evenings are optional, and usually include an English language movie or free time. This program draws every age of student from late elementary school through mid-40s, and quite a few staff members at DCU take classes. My biggest responsibility is to line up teachers and assistants from the U.S. to come to Ukraine to teach. Almost all of our teachers and helpers come from the U.S., except a few native teachers who teach the lower levels of English.

Although July seems like a long time away, since Christmas I’ve been communicating with prospective teachers and church groups about coming this summer. There are several regulars who come every year, but there’s always room for new people. We still have spaces open for both teachers and assistants – so if anyone is interested, let me know! I’d love to see some familiar faces at DCU. If you want more details, go to http://www.dcu.donbass.com/eng/projects/intensive.htm on DCU’s website. While you’re there you can also learn more about DCU and see some pictures.

-Laura

A Milestone

I just wanted to post a quick note about our counter. I was stoked to see that it is now a four digit number. I am sure that my periodic checking the counter reading accounts for most of those 1001 hits, but the math nerd in me knows that I would have had to check 9.8 times per day to account for this. The probability of this is quite low, I have not spent (wasted) that much time working towards my goal. Therefore others must also be accounting for part of the quantity. That's g-rate.

-Dave

MCC Staff Photo

We had retreat last weekend. One evening the staff went out to eat in a cafe. Most of our coworkers were on this photo. They are: (from left) Zlata, Lyuda, and Andrei Zolotaryov; Mary Raber; Doug Wrenn; Andrew Geddert; Laura; Amy Goerzen; and Elisabeth Harder.

MCC Staff Photo II

Here is the other side of the table. They are: (from left) Elisabeth Harder, Dave, Ionka Hristozova, Katie Hengeveld, and Zlata and Lyuda Zolotaryov. (missing from both photos is Alexandr "Sasha" Zhirov)

Possible DCU Garden

This is the future site of the DCU garden. We hope to focus on growing tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, dill, and parsley. The ground is not worked up yet and the nearest water access is about 450 ft. Those are the two main problems we are hoping to get in order soon. DCU has a significant amont of unused land and we hope to use some of it as a garden.

Possible DCU Chicken House

This is the small building that we hope to convert into a chicken house. We have not been able to decide whether we will have laying hens or raise birds for meat. Students are researching the market and the input costs and we hope to go from there.