a real hello

A real hello!!
Sorry I haven’t written anything very interesting the past few weeks, but that is sort of because not a whole lot super interesting has happened over that time. As I said before, my school was closed for two weeks due to much of the student body being sick, and we didn’t start school again till last Monday. It was a little difficult getting the students focused back into studying and remembering all those English words they learned, especially since they were preparing for yet another concert on Friday morning, this one being for International Women’s day, which Ukraine (with many other countries around the world) celebrate on March 8th. Because the holiday was on a Saturday, that meant that there was no school on this Monday (today). So I really don’t work a whole lot here.
But because of all that free time I have been able to do some pretty fun things the last week or so. On Friday I finished all of my work early and took of at about 1ish for what I thought would be a short 30 min. run across the main highway towards where I thought my counter-parts house was. I started running, in shorts and a long sleeve shirt (it was about 50 degrees but windy) and as soon as I crossed the highway I looked out over a wide valley that reminded me of Missouri, Bangladesh and Africa all at once. It reminded me of Missouri due to the types of trees and the winding river that cut into the banks just like the Eleven-Point and the Buffalo Rivers. It reminded me of Bangladesh because there was garbage EVERYWHERE. Plastic Coke bottles, glass beer and vodka bottles, rotten food, and as I ran past a water-treatment plant it definitely reminded me of the smell of Dhaka. And finally, I was reminded of the plains of Africa (even though I’ve never been there and don’t have to worry about Lions, jackals, or cheetahs getting me) because as I ran down this long-straight rode I was not really looking at anything, but caught a slight movement out of the corner of my eye. A shiver ran down my spine. I stopped immediately and didn’t move. DOGS… STREET DOGS…
Okay, now you may be thinking, wow Seth, big deal, dogs. But as many people in Eastern Europe can agree to, dogs here are not quite the same as the fluffy, warm, clean man’s best friend of the States. These are dirty, mean, ready to track you down and bite you if you even pretend to run. They can smell fear. So, one foot at a time, keeping my eye on all 3 of them, I slowly sneaked away. I made sure never to make eye-contact, and once I thought I would have a chance of out-sprinting them, I took off again.
Well, this valley is special in my area, because instead of being a valley between two plateaus about 10 feet higher than the low-point, there were ACTUAL HILLS on the other side of the valley, so I was pretty ecstatic.
Let me also explain, I am fairly out-of shape. Those dang Печеняs (cookies) (for those who speak Russian, I am sorry for the spelling) and lots of fried food has made me not be as ready to run around as I want. But anyways, 20 minutes into my run I was in a part of the area I’d never seen before, running down a mud (and I mean MUD, 3-4 thick) road, stopping every 5 minutes to walk (more like tip-toe) past the dogs rummaging through the garbage piles. It was actually kind of pretty looking back across the valley towards my apartment, with the hills behind me, and the river snaking its way through Lugansk. Well, I kept going on the trail, but had a difficult time finding a way to go back towards my apartment other than turning around, which I hate doing, so what was supposed to be a 30 min. run turned into an 70 min. run with 20 extra minutes of walking due to dogs and to much mud. But running along the river/stream and feeling the wind at my back (mixed with rain) was well worth it. Good day.

Saturday I went to see a new American movie (Blond with Ambition starring Jessica Simpson) dubbed over in Russian, with some friends. Also found out that the Ukrainian football season has started again, so hopefully in two weeks I will get to see my first ever professional football (soccer) game. Other than that nothing new. Great to hear from all of you.
Love,
Seth