You came out of the ocean like you came out of a dream. Your voice, it sounds familiar but you are not what you seem.

A walk home from work on a spring day:

- Weather can make or break a walk. Apparently, so can road construction.

- Let us take a moment to mourn suicidal ginger cat who succeeded in his plan today. In all honesty, I don't know if it was that ginger cat, but a ginger cat was dead on the side of the road. I was walking home and in all honesty, look to your left living cat, look to your right before you almost step on a cat that was almost hit by a car. I'm sad to say this is not the first time I've almost stepped on a dead cat in Ukraine, in fact, not even the second time I've almost stepped on a dead cat. Luckily, I've never made contact. The worst part is now I'll have to really avoid that section of my walk because lord knows no one is picking that thing up and I prefer to watch decomposition on video rather than up close and personal on my daily walks.

- I now realise what it was like for women in the 1910s during world war I that lived near the trenches. They have started to dig a long trench, by they I mean some sort of city workers and or private construction company. There's nothing quite like the feeling of about thirty men lined up digging in a trench when all you can see is about chest up while they ogle, whistle, tell one another that you are passing etc. I'm getting the impression that they feel most comfortable ogling from the trench, less chance of bodily harm that way.

- tomorrow I will be beginning the lessons on medical emergencies with the militia, this means we need to learn parts of the body. This can only end in bad places.

-Any day is made better by the assistance of your ipod. Every day of my life in Ukraine I appreciate my ipod, my ability to download new music, and the volume abilities of my ipod more and more.

- Birdsong is always welcome. As is the appearance of a blanket of crocus and snow drops.

- Today I saw a small boy covered in dirt standing at a gate staring at babas on the sidewalk. Stereotype fulfilled.

welcome to the warmth of the sun and the wonders of a nice wind and breeze

loveandhugs

well you never walk alone and you're forever talking on the phone

Adventures in Tram Riding:

- Admiring the view of spring time suicidal ginger cat looking like it's going to pounce out of the 4th floor circular attic window. In all fairness the others were filled with trash so perhaps it was doing some spring cleaning or mouse hunting among the wreckage, but it looked pretty suicidal to me.

- When riding trams in Lviv; try to avoid the seats that face eachother. creepy men will inevitably sit across from you and mumble at you the entrie ride despite the fact that you have yet to answer anything they have said to you and have strategically placed earphones in your ears. It doesn't matter that my ipod battery ran out 4 stops ago, respect my earphones they are there to deter you from talking to me.

- The number six tram is always crowded from where I live to the south end of town no matter what stop i get on on. I will accept defeat

- Loud obnoxious teenage tourists will always cut in front of you in the "fairy tale line" you're trying to create to buy your ticket. They are cooler than you and no matter your scowl they will not feel guilty. Win one for tourists teenagers lose one for me.

- While waiting at the stop for the tram laughing to yourself perhaps audibly because you saw something that strikes your fancy makes you seem crazy. People, even if your dressed nicely, will assume you are homeless and crazy and won't want to sit next to you on the tram. Lose one for the publics perception of you; win one for extra seat on the tram next to you that no one will take!

- when you are sitting on the tram often the tram vibrates, it's not your phone ringing no matter how many times you check it.

- babas will win in the fight to get up the stairs. they have bags not because they have to cart things but because they are awesome weapons for getting in front of you and the baba will win, she probably has fought for a place in line for apartments, trains, bread etc. for longer than you have been alive surrender to her supremacy

- The feeling of being on a disney world ride d.j.-ed by your own personal ipod soundtrack will never go away. Relish in it, it's WAY better than the crowded bus ipod on only to remain sane while six people are inappropriately rubbing against you soundtrack.

- you're probably going to have to wait anywhere from 10minutes to 40 minutes for the tram to come. It's a really nice time for self reflection and enjoying the comedy that is wild dogs guarding random buildings and barking at strangers.

- Always remember to punch your ticket in the puncher watching other people get cornered by the control check babas is fun from afar but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that probably wouldn't be fun for you. that being said nothing like the mellodrama of a 17 yr old student crying so that she doesn't have to pay the fine as they escort her off the tram. It's like watching days of our lives but in a language I dont' really understand. I fill it in with what I think is appropriate like, "but I love horatio why must I get off this tram so I can't meet him." "He is the father of your cousins baby you cannot be with him." "I will take my milk and smetana and other groceries from the grandmothers that would've been our wedding feast and find a new tram to him." "no we will corner you even outside until you give us your documents we will save you yet." Commercial interlude, by commercial I mean the tram keeps going and my ability to insert dialogue is gone.

Thanks Lviv Tram system you make any day better because I know you present the option for me to not only save 1 grv per ride but avoid smelly standing in the marshrutkas. Here's to you !

where is my wild rose where is my flower where is my wild rose where are you rambling

There is something about a spring day. . . a spring day that will tickle your face with its soft fingers, fill your lungs with some sort of magic warmth after a bitter cold that left them feeling empty and frozen and sprinkle its melting water on you as you walk through the city needing the small drops of the last vestiges of winter to bring you back down to earth so that you may reconnect with teh warmth of the newness you were forgetting in your daze.

Today was arguably the first real day that it felt like spring and I was able to venture out into the city with just my fall coat on, no gloves, hat, etc. It's amazing what fresh air and sunlight can do to the soul. It's even more interesting how different Ukrainians react to it than I do. Most people I saw, though, of course, there were exceptions were in the same coats, hats etc. they would be in in the dead of winter although today was somewhere around 50/55 degrees. Such is life, well such is life here. I picked up a pair of sunglasses in honour of the beginning of warm weather.

What can I say about life in Ukraine. Life is . . . . busy? I recently had a site visit from my new regional manager which went a lot better than i had expected. I have to say that she's extremely excited and supportive about the work being done by all the PCVs in Ukraine and I think she's right on about nipping all the bad talk amongst volunteers in the bud. She had great feedback for my lessons and was really happy with my work. It was nice after hearing all the volunteer buzz that someone from the office likes my work, thinks I'm a good example of a peace corps teacher and is happy with my overall commitment to Peace corps. Proof again, that everyone's experience here is different and doesn't have to involve the same experiences.

School life at my school of primary assignment is good and bad. Good because most of my classes are going well and bad because everyone is dying for spring break which thank goodness is a week away and the kids are getting spring fever and I can tell the older grades are starting to check out. The nice part about the week of spring break being where it is is that this week I teach 4 days. Then I don't have to see the kids for teh week and then it's almsot april which makes life a whole lot more bearable.

My secondary work at the banking institute continues to go well although it's still early and so there hasn't really been time for any issues to crop up in all honesty. The classes are good and the students are motivated to learn which helps makes me feel a bit more useful than just doing whatever.

My work at the militia is progressing as best as possible. Minus the weekly surprise visits from some random news outlet i would say that all in all its been a rewarding experience to get to work with the adults in the town. I'm seen as a small girl not capable of much, but they challenge themselves to learn the phrases and questions I put ahead of them and I find it flattering to know that they put the effort in to learn where they definitely didn't before. It's good work and maybe some tourist will have an easier time because I was able to help with some English.

My peace corps work isn't taking over but has increased a hundred fold since fall. I'm now co-facilitating the regional collaborative, doing warden stuff, writing a piece for a young learners' manual, doing some presentations at the meet your neighbor meeting about collab and warden info and trying to organize so oblast wide social outings and volunteering outside of our primary organizations.

And so that leads to the rest of life here in Ukraine. With just about 8 months to go I find myself wondering where the time went while simultaneously amping up about my future in America. The best part about spring coming is that it has granted me the greatest gift of all distraction. Although I must say, I've been somewhat disappointed that it hasn't come all at once. That the leaves and the fresh vegetables and flowers of spring haven't started bursting out of nowhere on teh first day of warmth just because the sun has come out. I suppose they're a little more like Ukrainians in that way. It takes a few weeks for them to shed their layers and start emerging in spring wear and excitement. I have a countdown to Italy going something like 60 days left until I head out to meet up with my family . . . unreal is all I can say about that. Unreal.

so there it is for now. Nothing too new or exciting. I've started to dream about america and then when I'm conscious I get scared of going back. . . such is the dichotomy of the transition I suppose.

loveandhugs toall