Ukraine. Part 13.

January 4th, 2009 – Day 7

Today was a much needed day of relaxation. I spent much of the morning just hanging out and tending the fire to try and warm the house up. It’s now 60 degrees and much more comfortable. In about an hour, the English club will be getting together. I prepared some U.S. trivia questions and Jess has made sugar cookies and more ‘brownies.’ It should be fun, I really like spending time with the kids here, there’s never any pressure to drink and they speak a bit more English than the adults do. Afterwards we may, or may not head to Larissa’s for food. Tonight’s my final night in Altynivka.

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The English party was totally fun. Six kids showed up: Vira, Julia, Julia, Nastia, another Vira, and a little dude who I hadn’t met before. They seemed to really enjoy the trivia and did a good job coming up with answers. After they answered my trivia, they asked Jess and I to answer Ukrainian trivia.

Here are a few of the questions they asked, how much do you know about Ukraine?

1. Who’s the president of Ukraine? (you might be able to get this, he was in the news something fierce a few years back)
2. What is the biggest holiday in Ukraine?
3. How many oblasts (like provinces) does Ukraine have?
4. What two seas does Ukraine touch?

That night we did indeed head back to Larissa’s for a meal. We had borscht and my favorite stuffed cabbage. Oh heavens… that was a freakishly delicious meal. After the meal, Vira gave me the two necklaces that she’d made for my sisters and Larissa gave me a traditional Ukrainian blanket, and a pillow case that was embroidered by her mother. It’s beautiful. I was really touched, what a fantastically kind family they are.

Here’s the pillow case with embroidery.

I bet you wish you had an… EXTREME EMBROIDERY CLOSE UP!

OH MAN! HERE YOU GO!

Also, click more for the answers to the questions

1. Viktor Yushchenko!
2. New Years!
3. 24!
4. Black Sea and the Sea of Azov