another update

so, its been a few weeks since I gave you an update on what life is like in "the" Ukraine. First off, for some reason, it is no longer, "the" Ukraine, but just Ukraine. I believe it is because when Ukraine was part of the USSR they were a region, so it was the Ukraine, the Latvia, etc. but now, they kind of take offense to it, so JUST DONT DO IT...
anyways, after the great trip to Budapest to see my parents I headed to another volunteers site about 2 hours away from Lugansk for a camp. The camp had about 100 campers from 5th-7th grades. From 9-2 every day for 5 days we had 2 1/2 hours of english class (let me tell you, its hard to decide what students should study for 2 1/2 hours and not be bored as heck. But the weather was great and the kids loved having Americans there to help teach. It went by really quick, but i was ready to go back to Lugansk and relax. And thats what I did for 5 days. Woke up, read, walked around, read, thought about running, read, and then would turn on the Euro 2008 Soccer championships. Good days!
It has gotten a little warmer each day in Lugansk so by now the average temp is 85-90, which meant that i really wanted to buy a fan. Which i did, for about 12$. It is plastic, and deffinitely looks like it was worth 12$. Anyways, putting it together was an experience, because even though the instructions were in English, they didnt really make any sense, so I ended up with 3 extra plastic parts...
On Thursday i took the trian to Kyiv, and Friday took a bus to Rokytna, my staging sight to see the family i stayed with for 2 months back in the winter. It was great to see my host mom and host brothers. The food was excellent and Rokytna is a lot prettier than Lugansk.
Now, i am just sitting in the Peace corps office waiting to go to another summer camp for a week.
Should be fun.
Miss you all,
with love,
Seth

a GOOD way to make your mom and sister cry

So, it started off as a typical Wednesday night... Me, sitting in front of my computer, clicking a way at espn websites, listening to music, and drinking a good Ukrainian beer. And then I get an e-mail from my dad. "Why don't you come to Budapest on Saturday..." I thought, yeah, right, like i can just get up and go to Budapest in 2 days, I am in the Peace Corps, come on. And then I thought again, yeah, thats right, I am in the Peace Corps, and im done teaching for the year, why the heck can't I go to Budapest in 2 days! (of course, I needed to get permission from the head office in Kiev, but that was a simple phone call and one form to fill out) so there I was, Thursday morning, 10 am, with one plane ticket to Budapest from Kiev, and now I needed to get a train ticket there for Friday night.
So, its always a little tricky for me to get the exact time, train, date, etc. that I want, but after a wave of panic going through me when the lady at the ticket counter told me there were not any seats left on the first train, she was quick to inform i could get on another train that left only 2 hours later. So, i e-mailed my dad back, told him i was coming (couldnt tell my mom or sister of course) and then waited till Friday, when i got on the 16 1/2 hour train ride (its kind of boring, but not that bad) to Kiev, where i went to the Peace Corps office for an hour, jumped on the bus to the airport, took the 1 1/2 hour flight to Budapest, jumped in a taxi and only 24 hours after I left Lugansk, was at the house in Budapest.
My dad, at this time, had just come back from a school party which both my sister and mom where at, under the guise of "getting some whiskey." So when i pulled up in the taxi, we hugged, i jumped in the shower, and we were off. The party was only 10 min away, and as we were approaching we saw my sister walking around the side of the house. My dad swerved to the side of the road and i jumped out at my sister.
She, hearing the sound of the car door turned, and it looked as if she had ran into a wall, she immediately started crying and gave me a huge hug. It was a great reception. My dad told me to wait, because he wanted to see my mom's reaction. She was in the back of a very crowded living room, so i waited outside as my dad ushered her over. He stepped outside next to me and she came out and just looked at him.
"What" she said,
"Look to your left" he said.
She turned all just shouted
"OH MY GOD" and also burst into tears and gave me a huge hug. It was a great reception, and its great to be back in Budapest for a week again. Great city.
So, my dad definitely earned brownie points for this one, and he earned it!
Hop all is well wherever you are.
-Seth