vodka: check

meat jello: check

love is in the air. i know because i can smell it.

i am currently the witness of a very tragic love story. a love that will never be. its between bohnie the indoor male cat and our female outdoor cat, we will call her ho, as in bag. so for the past few days bohnie has been entering my room in the morning as i do my daily routine. he goes up on to the window seal and there he waits for ho. Ho then appears and they continue to just stare at each other, longingly, through the glass. then bohnie starts crying, trying to open the window, break the window, or walk through the window. He also makes these really disturbing sounds. its a cross between licking and sucking. its unpleasant. yesterday evening he got so riled up that he almost knocked over ceramic pig ( his name and what he happens to be, how convenient!) so this morning i made sure to leave my door shut. when i went to leave he was sitting by the front door. when i opened the door there she was.

how precious cat love is. ah. except when it involves noises no one should hear.

we've been here 3 weeks. though it feels like much longer.i feel like ive been here for months.

peace corps time is definitely not in sync with the time tables i am used it. these past 3 weeks i feel like done so much and so little at the same time. i know once training is done the time flow will change again but i cant imagine how 27 months is actually going to feel.

the thing i am struggling with most ( and it feels weird to already have things to struggle with as its only been 3 weeks but im telling you time is not the same as it once was) is the language. the cultural differences i can handle. adapting to how they do things and how i would prefer to do things has not been too hard. but the language. you would think with prior russian knowledge i would be a step ahead. but that is not the case. i cant wait until i actually know what is going on around me. and to be able to properly reply to a question and put my thoughts into words they will understand.

i am excited though for our one month mark. i do have big ideas for myself and my time here. and if even half of them become reality id be really happy.

******

i've shown you my kitchen. now here is room!

and i havent forgotten about the count. i have had my first sip and thats all it was, a sip of vodka. but it was honey vodka, and it was tasty. they love honey here. have i mentioned that my host dad beekeeps on the side. so we have honey all the time. its thicker here and grainier. and as for tea if 1 week i was at 70 for sure i have surpassed the 200 mark. hopefully soon the 2 will match :)

babuskas are better than google search

maybe they know where the sun is.

this is why

my pants

are tight.

chai tuesdays and vodka wednesdays.

anchal had a great idea: every week post an update of how many vodka shots id taken since ive been here. sadly i have had none! wine yes, beer yes, champaigne yes, cognac yes, but alas no vodka. then tea tuesdays we added. and that i can! in the 14 days ive been in county i have had ( roughly) on average 5 cups of tea a day! so that would mean i am at cup 70. whoa...

right now i am in PST. Pre Service Training. its intense and exhausting. i have russian for 4 hours a day plus teacher training, teaching actual lessons, cultural lessons and tutoring all mixed in. our only free day is sunday which is usually spent sleeping and eating.

my host family is wonderful. we were told that they like to play games like get the american drunk or get the american married. i think mine are playing get the american fat. they feed me soo much its ridiculous. PST 10 is what i like to call it, liken to freshman 15. it probably doesnt help that i add sugar to my tea and eat tons of candy and cookies on my own...

they also are feeding me tons of fish. i do have feelings about fish. they are not good ones. i can guarantee that once i leave here i wont be eating fish!

so far ive introduced ring pops, jelly beans and uno to my family (mainly my host sister) and they have been a hit. next im hoping for nutella ( they sell here but she has never had!) and peanut butter if i can find it in kiev.

they put sour cream on everything

where i get my daily stuffings