continued

Jenn forgot which is understandable since she's also and CWY and it probably short on time, so I'm back to writing about our trip.

Imagine we've' just arrived at a bridge at dusk. We are told we must exit the bus in order for it to make it up this next stretch. Together we trudge on, knowing well by now that Ukraine is full o many surprises. We follow this typical Ukrainian road up this mountain and in the hills. I feel somewhat like we are entering a scene from the Sound of Music. 15 minutes later, we arrive to a house, large for Ukraine, with a huge yard full of apple and walnut trees. There waits a family of Ukrainians to greet us.

By now I've gotten accustomed to being fed apon any arrival to a Ukrainian household. Still I don't properly prepare for it, so when we arrived to this home and family in the mountains who are prepared to feed all 20 of us, I'm full.

Aside: When I came here bright and early it was sunny and bright with the sun rising - now it's wet rainy 45 minutes later. I hope it will pass in 45 minutes.

Sunday we wake early only to learn that the time is changed. This turns out to be quite an amusing experience as the Ukrainians rush around speaking Ukraine and the Canadians look stumped to what is going on. Then Anton comes over and say go back to bed the time has changed.

In the meantime, John, Becca and I decide to trek down this mud cliff that Yulia has just come jumping out of. It ends up being a great way to wash up in the morning. We scale the cliff on the way back. Becca bails. John says I told you so.

Around 10:00 am 20 very different people head for a trek into the mountains. I'm in the equivalent of one of Geoff and my running outfits. Some people wear suede boots or little weird sport shoes. John is in shorts and a t-shirt. Ilsa has on 20 layers. For some this is their first hike! Russell, our supervisor, tells me it takes 45 minutes to get to the top. I'm picturing s sitting in this treed area in the rain, and ask if some of us can run it once and then do it again with everyone once we meet half way down. The guide/bus driver says no with a smile. I was about to be impressed.

All 20 of us plus our guide head up through people fields and onto this little trail laidened with stinging nettle. As John, in front of me, does a little cat dance and regrets wearing shorts, we climb upwards. By this time we are on a clear, abandoned logging road and take a break after hiking for 15 minutes. This is when a few of us decide to head off ahead and give 'er for the next 30 minutes. We steadily climb up for an hour - John, Nat and I run for a bit, then stop by this snow mound, sweating and wait for the group. Once we have gathered again by a trail that forks both ways, our guide tells us to have a break and won't tell us which way to continue. I'm satisfied with taking in the view from this point. The trees are in their glory - red, orange, yellow, and green. We are starting to see into the valley, and it's a bright and sunny fall day - spectacular. With a grin on his face, the guide tells us at the top of this hill lies a cross that the girls can make a wish on. Here's what you have to do - make your wish, run around the cross, kiss it, then kiss a boy and your wish will be granted. if you get their first, your wish will definitely be granted. Ukrainians love this stuff and take the lead at a run. I am in deep conversation with Marty, John, and Nat as we start to plan a trip in the mountains for this summer.

This part of the trail is breathtaking - mist floats through the forest of tall colourful trees - it a bit wet and mystical. I'm captured and choose to walk by myself for a bit. Near the end of this stretch I join with Yulia, Sam, Ilsa, and Yvone. At the top we can see an open field and a field of snow. It seems like spring up there - like spring skiing. Yula and I book it towards the snow. It's definitely wet corn snow and perfect for snow angels and sledding. Also a perfect way to cool off on a very warm fall day. This was the first of many snow ball fights as Yulia and I sat high up in the snow firing snow balls down on the crowd below. We both can't throw at all and even with the help of gravity, our hits we minimal - but so were those that hit us.

We carried on to the top - ahead were Marty, Nat, and John. a second later they had whipped off their shirts and were tumbling down this giant snow hill shirtless. Then they booked it down. This was pretty magical - we were up high enough that the view was spectacular, it was hot and sunny, the fall trees surrounded us below, we had hiked here and here were these boys I had grown to love rolling down a giant hill of snow - it was meant for a Sigur Ros video.

At the top of the ridge gave way to a panoramic view of mountain upon mountain - growing to the west. When you looked east, you saw a sea of clouds leading to a house and a cow ranch along the hillside. Southwest you saw mountains - it reminded me of being on top of Fat Dog. Northwest was a forest a bit higher where the trail continued. Everyone was opening their lunches and I thought this was the finale - beautiful. I was in luck, it continued.

After lunch in the sun, the majority of us continued on to see what was past the forest. Sarah and Ilsa stayed and I could see why. The rest of us scaled the ridge into the forest - moss covered, vast, beautiful. 15 minutes later, we came across a moss covered rock slide that rose upwards. As we headed in a line upwards the trees disappeared it got dry fast. Soon we were all scampering up big rocks to a view like no other. This was clearly the cherry on top of our trip. As Anton put it, you felt free!

We had some interesting discoveries on top: more snow, circular rock snowball forts ( like the beginning of an igloo made of rocks ), and an old BOMB! I don't know much about it, except it was a bomb and John picked it up with a big smile on his face and everyone else told him to lay it back down carefully with jitters going down their spine. it looked super old and was lying in the middle of one of these forts. John and Nat noticed this after standing on it for half an hour engrossed in snowball fights. We spent a while on the top before heading back down. I stayed at the back of the group with Russell and had my supervisor check-in which was pretty great.

When we got down to the ridge, Sam, Marty, Nat, and John were preparing to launch themselves down the snow field again. Russell and I watched. Then they did it again. I videoed this time. When they returned and watched the video they were full of energy and were debating going one last time. On a spontaneous whim, I said that I'd go if they went again - then Becca joined me. A second later we were rolling down this giant snowfield. As the Ukrainians would put it - we were being crazy canadians.

The way down way filled with discussion and we arrived an hour before dinner, sleepy, wet, in need of a shower, hungry, and truly satisfied.

After dinner, Sarah, Becca and I led "Crossing the Line". A very reflective, intensive group activity that we three anticipated doing the whole trip. It went really well and brought about a great deal of group and personal reflection. At the end, I felt so much more connected with the group.

Then it was Ukrainian Sauna time. The boys went first and the girls had 'true girl time' and hung out together as a whole for the first time since training camp. Together, around 10:30 pm we headed to the sauna. This was the best sauna experience I've ever had. Powered with wood from the forest, water from the stream and filled with girls that I was bounding with on such a deep level, despite cultural differences, made this the best sauna I'd ever had.

I'm going to stop now, and I'll finish later - there's still so much more to tell. It was a full weekend!

Love,

ellen

The mountains move people

Well hello!

This is going to be one of those quick blog posts so my folks know I'm still alive. For the first time in this program, I feel truly busy and I havn't had a good chunk of time to write in my blog. But now, I'll share some highlights of the last week.

We went to the Carpathian mountains! This was the most spectacular part of Ukraine I've seen so far. Rolling mountains like those found in Quebec with the best fall colours I've ever seen! We left early Saturday morning and drove for over six hours south. Everyone was awake by the time the ground started to rise up and down - I started to feel like I'd found home. And let me tell you, Nat and I chatted the whole way from that point on about how unbelievable a bike trip could potentially be through this area - perfect for touring!

On Saturday after our arrival we hiked to a waterfall. Our whole group had agreed earlier to be 'mountain folk' and all hiking adventures were mandatory. This was pretty sweet. At times I missed the solitude of being silent with a couple of . But for the most part I was proud of how everyone approached this hike and the others - I loved seeing the Ukrainians get dirty!

To the waterfall we followed the river and I Becca and John would have done anything to jump in at our lunch spot. After that we al packed into the bus with our 'one of a kind' tour guide/bus driver and headed to Bucklovel - the Westernized ski resort. It was cool to see the differences between this place and home, but one message was clear, this used to be a little family run resort that had been corporatized. We took the ski lift to the top as planned as dusk took over the sky - beautiful views. Then it was on to our family run B&B type lodging to settle in and start some team building activities.

I have to run to a skype date with Jenn.. I promise this story will continues!

Love,

Ellen

Evolution

Hello,

Today was our second major CAD, an event dedicated to cleaning the forest on the opposite side of Nittisean and the powerplant. This area, called the 'damba', is laidened with garbage from an entourage of Ukrainians who spend the warm months picnicking by the water's edge. After a warm evening spent by the fire at the Damba, our group decided during later planning that cleaning would be an appropriate project for an "eco-Leadership/Sustainability focused group".

Well, it rained all day. We found many pounds of garbage. We had a lot of time to think and let our minds wander. But we stopped early - unfortunately. A couple of us continued for a bit, but our day was cut short.

Later that afternoon we met to plan our next CAD. Instead, we spent the majority of our afternoon discussing the concept of group trust. It made me so thankful for the leadership given at Naramata. At the time, I was thinking that sometimes it's better for people to make you do check-ins and debriefing and let you learn why later on instead of the other way around, but that's a confusing conversation.

Around six we had the opportunity to greet the prime minister of Ukraine into the Ostroh Academy. She's quite the woman and well supported in western Ukraine. She wears her hair in a braided wringlet around her head. It was a pretty huge event for the Ukrainians, especially Svitlana, which made waiting in the rain for an hour more enjoyable. I guess it doesn't matter where you are in the world, a good politician has to be late.

This evening I got into quite the chat with Svitlana about group dynamics, personalities, communities, cultures, and life both little and small. It got me looking at evolution in a whole new context.

All in all, it was a rad rainy day. It made me think about this experience in so many ways. And help me to realize the opportunity we have is so unique. We are getting to see Ukrainian culture in a way that's just one step closure to the people who live their. We aren't just crazy tourists who visit the castle. We get to eat like Kings and Queens with Ukrainian families. All in all, a rad day.

Personally...

It's 2:30 pm on a Monday. Both Becca and I are done work and Becca's putting more water in the kettle. It may seem like we aren't do much, but I'd like to think differently. Becca has just done a Myers-Briggs test and we are about to explore what the internet has to say about her personality, mine and others. This is one of my favourite things to do. To try and learn more about how people work.
.........
The End because Ellen has ran away from the computer and
Ellen, I(Becca) and Nat are now going to go on the hunt for some wonderfully tacky thrift store goods.
Much Love
Becca

Preparing for another weekend at the cottage

Hello folks,

Wow! I just finished reading the blogs of Kara Sheppard-Jones and Allison Jones..haha.. ironic- they aren't related. These two blow my mind and the intensive programs which they are participating in remind me of how great intercultural intensive programs are, United World Colleges and the one I am participating in. I'm not going to lie, reading about these two and their phenomenal schooling experiences makes me a little bit jealous, but also reminds me that integrating many different aspects of life together makes a truly healthy education. Reading their blogs also reminds me that involving oneself in more opportunities makes life better, even easier.

As I ponder over what I just read, I'm starting to think about what I can do with the rest of my day, after a 10 minute work day at the town council. I've got my ankles back so maybe a run. I need to finish fixing a bike and pick up some winter shoes! I'd love to finish off a letter I'm drafting to Ida Chong too. I think I'll also start another book - maybe tackle Darwin's "The Origin of Species". But who knows. As I've read from the two UWC students, take whatever opportunities come your way and don't enter with too many expectations!

As for life over the past two days, Thursday was our EAD and John will tell you about that.....

So on thursday We had an EAD by Sam and Julia and I had seen some of it already before and I was stoked to see how they would do all their presentation about Old Ostroh and todays Ostroh and the effects they had/have on the environment. So it turned out theyhad a person from the city come in to talk about cleaning up the city and we got to go on a tour with this crazy old museum guy. Think of a eccentric and opinionated short balding uncle with a big mustache who made history his life and then you have our guide, who is also Julia an Marty's boss. Anywho its was a good day with lots of interesting acts about ukraine then and now. The end.

And that's John. John and Marty are sitting beside me in the post office. ONce I'm done wih this we'll head off. LAter today it will be a trip off to the cottage for some guaranteed good times.

love,

ellen

A big update

So this is a blog entry I wrote on Tuesday, but due to some snow, I havn't been able to post it until tonight when the stars came out in all their magnificents:

Following suite with my hopes, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous – one of those days where it’s sunny and warm with a light wind. It was almost ideal for an ultimate Frisbee game as well, so that’s how our group spent our morning. Literally everyone came out. Not everyone played and none of the Ukrainian girls would play, but that’s pretty typical in Ukraine – girls don’t play sports or do physical labour if there is a boy around. This is pretty odd for me as a girl whose always in shorts and runners, but it’s a culture difference that doesn’t change my cultural background and behaviour. After an intense, equal and fun ultimate game on the ‘School 1’ field a group of us split a watermelon before the Candians started to prep for Thanksgiving dinner. Then Sarah, Lucretia and I trekked home to plan out pies. Svitlana came home shortly after and offered to help us pick out ingredients – this was the first of her hospitality that just continued throughout our preparation for dinner.

We went to the grocery store and bought everything for pies and stuffing, plus a couple extras. Our bill was 103 rph – approximately $13. We headed to Sarah’s host family’s house to bake where I met Sarah’s host mom and dad (Ilona’s actual parents (a Ukrainian participant in our group)). Ilona’s mom reminded me so much of my own, just I couldn’t understand a word she said. I finally got to experience “Trish” from the friend’s point of view – quite an experience! After she made us eat, we started pie preparation and since they don’t have pies I’m pretty sure they thought we were mad.

Sunday was our first CAD. It was wet and cool – Vancouver kind of weather for an ultimate tournament. The 20 of us arrived at the field at 8:00 am to set-up for the tournament. Setting up proved to be a time of thorough frustration with cultural differences for me – the Ukrainian girls ignored our first attempts to get them to help get bulletin boards from the other building and move goal posts off the fields. Half of them had worn high heels to the stadium as well. It just didn’t make sense to me! My feeling was shared with the other Canadians and after complaining ( as Canadians do ) to each other while doing these jobs, Ilsa was finally the one who had the guts to go tell them how we felt. Within a couple minutes they were all up to help - I actually don’t think they saw our frustration until we told them. But they understood and we were good to go!

The tournament only brought in around 25 participants – half of those being from our group. Ultimate was a blast. I hope we play it more because the game is like no other and I love it! I limped my way through the first one, but the second I just couldn’t do with my ailments. The event went well, and everyone enjoyed it, small but still a success. As we later discussed, the small turn out could be for a number of reason, but the main one was clearly because of our poor planning sessions. After a talk about it today, I got to bring our the planning wheel. I hope it will do the trick!

After the tournament, it was back to Ilona’s house with Sarah to prepare those pies! We raided their kitchen again and were fed again and again, and were even invited over to her Aunt’s house for tea. I ended up spending the whole day inside this charismatic family’s home, and I thoroughly enjoys the rest of pie prep! On a whim, Sarah and I decided to make the family chocolate chip cookies as a thank-you for their help. They’d never had them before, and boy did their eyes light up as they indulged in these chocolate speckled treats. In fact, they recognized these cookies from Shrek and thought they were pretty ‘cool’. Sarah and I felt like some crazy baking sensations – they didn’t know we’d been working on these skills since we were five. I brought them home to Svitlana’s family that night and they were equally thrilled.

Monday the Canadians made the best turkey dinner I’ve ever had! We rented out the canteen and lived in its kitchen from 9:00 am – 7:00 pm, making many things for the first time. I wouldn’t be surprised if half the creations we cooked were first time endeavors with partially made up recipes. Many of the ingredients in Ukraine are different and all the packages are in Ukrainian. We were lucky though, because Svitlana basically spent the whole day in the kitchen with us. She made life a whole lots easier for us and I am so thankful she was there. By the end, we were friends with all the cooks, even the grumpy old lady who collected money. Communicating with Ukrainians is so amusing to do and to watch – it’s like a charade scramble where you end up agreeing with the other person because you give up trying to communicate what you want to say! By the end, we knew what ‘yeesh!’ meant (eat) as all the cooks were trying to feed us and we were trying to feed them. In the end, everything worked out better than expected. The food was unbelievable. Turkey was so tender, stuffing was unbelievable, and the pies stole the show. Our pumpkin pies from scratch were like nothing I’ve ever tasted before and half the people there asked us for the recipe – Sarah and I have been offered about 4 pumpkins in hopes that we would make them pies! I kept thinking of Eva and how she may have exploded if she’d been there – I nearly did! After a John, Ilsa, Yvone, Sarah and I walked around outside to let our stomach’s settle and later played the most confusing Ukrainian card game. The Canadians swore Yvone was making up the rules as we went.

That was my weekend of Thanksgiving. It also marked the one month mark in Ukraine – Wow! To show a little corny show, I can’t believe how much I’ve learned from being here so far – so much to be thankful for! I’m starting to understand how CWY is truly a life changing experience.

Another hole

Greetings!

Svitlana and I are about to head to the market in search of a couple items, so I will make this short, but I have quite a story.

Yesterday was Nat's birthday and what a day! Thirty degree weather, sun shinning and a great and shorter than usual EAD by Lucretia and Kate. I took off the ankle bandage for the first day and spent my lunch break walking with Ilsa and basking in the sun with a pretty interesting book, Molecules of Emotion by Candance Pert.

When the day ended I got had an hour to read more perched on top of this old castle at the high point in Ostroh, eating walnuts. At 5:30 pm, after a variety of the famous 8 minute work-outs, I went to a last ultimate training. This time we had quite a showing. Everyone is getting a lot better at the game and our scrimage - Naramata skyle, 'last point ties' - was really great. Finishing at Sun set, the boys ( Marty, John, Nat ), Becca and I went down to the market. Marty and I picked out a fat watermelon from a Chinese Ukrainian, and we ate it at our spot outside the post office while nat made a couple birthday calls. Five Canadians, sitting on the ground, cutting up watermelon with a pocket knife, and laughing. That was the scene.

Nat's choice to for the night was to go to this disco place called "the Brama'. Before that we all dressed up ( our whole group ) and met at the Pizzaria. Around 11:00pm made our way down to the Brama.

Now is where this get's interesting. If I havn't already told you, the ground/pavement in Ostroh is very irregular - full of pot holes. When we go places with the Ukrainians they take a bajillion shorts cuts. As I wrote about earlier, on one of those short cuts at night earlier I fell in a hole with Becca. Well, it happened again! This time the whole was so large, if I had jump in it I would have gone down a long ways. Luckily, going in left foot forward, I came in on an angle and was stopped by my left thigh. Unlukily, I was stopped by my left thigh.... and punctured my skin with quite a large scratch about as long as my pinky to my thumb. I just lay there on the ground, in shock from what had just happened, and evern in more schock that it could happen moe than once. Svitlana took me home, and cleaned it up. I went to bed, frustrated with myself and my luck that stopped Svitlana from a night out.

It's funny how I've become the person who has begun to be known for hurtin themselves. A part from occasional faints, I havn't hurt myself/ been left with a physcial injury for many years. In Ukraine, it seems to happen weekly. Two ankles, two holes, what's next?

I am pretty happy that I didn't hurt my ankle again though - that means I'll be able to play ultimate on Sunday. Svitlana and I are going to search for some Vitamin E ointment and hopefully this leg wound will be gone in a week without scarring.

On a different note. I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Monday is Thanksgiving and the Canadians are making a giant feast. Mom, I need your apple and pumpkin pie recipes!

Saturday is our prep day. Sunday is our Ultimate tournament in the morning followed by cooking in the afternoon. Moday we spend the whole day preparing our grande meal. Marty and Nat are going hunting for a turkey! Sam and John are peeling a lot of potatoes. Sarah is doing everything and helping me make pies. Lucretia is making something great with turnips. Ilsa is making a vat full of rice! And Becca will probably do a bit of everything but is in charge of rice duty!

That's the plan stan. I'd also love to hit up that lake again and bring some more folks with us this time. It's going to be a great weekend.

Love,
ellen

Intruder

Hey all, this is Marty Johnson, a member of Ellen's CWY group, here to co-author a blog post.

Ostroh has been a blast so far, very beautiful and with a rich history.

My work placement is with the museum; right now all I do is write on broken bits of pottery, but very soon we will be digging at an archeological area by the New Academy (they are building a second building). There is a tunnel 20 feet underground there; last year they found two skeletons in it, one missing a head and the other with a broken skull (eek!). The director insists the grounds are cursed.

Today we went shopping for a birthday gift for our friend Nathaniel; we bought him some small trinkets as well as underwear with a hammer and sickle logo as well as big block CCCP letters (Russian Cyrillic for USSR). His birthday is tomorrow and we are all excited for a big get together.

This weekend we are planning an Ultimate Frisbee tournement with some locals; should be loads of fun. Hopefully the weather works out; we are currently saying "rain or shine the game go's on" but we will see how this works out when it is pouring buckets.

Ellen says "give a shout out for me" so, shouts from Ellen.


Marty

A day of volunteering in Ukraine

Listen to my Monday work day:

7:00 am - woke bright and early to move my way down to the post office for a skype date with the folks. Ended up with a chance to speak with others until Inna came by to get me for work at 10:30 am.
10:30 am - worked on our brochure
11:00 am - finished work, sent a letter, and decided a needed a bicycle ride! I had to make some finishing tune ups to the USSR bike of Svitlana's sister. It ended up taking more time than i thought. Plus I managed to loose a washer along the way, and had no clue how to convey that I needed to get a new one to svitlana's Grandma. Svitlana's Grandma and I communicate through random hand movements..sometimes full acting out descriptions. We end up laughing at each other most of the time, more amused than frustrated. But I ended up picking up walnuts off the ground for her for a while - not really sure if I was asked to, supposed to, or asked not to do it.

Nanny - Just to let you know, I've finally got the opportunity to spend a while cracking walnuts. They are brain food - literally! They remind me of minature brains with a left and right hemisphere, and a very definely split forebrain.

12:30 pm - Found a perch on the side of the castle over-looking Ostroh. It's a pretty awesome spot I discovered with my friend Becca. I sat there, in the bright sun, reading, while the wind blew on every spot I could see except where I was sitting.

As an aside - Becca and I went on an adventure yesterday to a lake about 5 km out of town. I forgot how great swimming could be. The water was cold - not ocean cold, but cold - but we couldn't resist jumping in this blocked off river lake below a beautiful old monstary. It was definitely a funny scene for the locals - every person who walked by stop and rattled off something in Ukrainian to us! We just nodded in agreement and they usually nodded their heads in disagreement or laughed.

2:30 p.m. - returned to Svitlana's. Cracked some more walnuts and drank coffee and read all afternoon.
6:00 pm - writing in here
7:00 pm - going to our biweekly dance class at the university. Expect us all to know crazy Ukrainian dances when we return. When I finish this I'm going to head out and take in that last bits of sun on a walk. my ankle is getting so close to being healed - but it is still pretty painful to walk on for too long. I can't wait!

I think by this time I've fully realised that my work position is going to run pretty slowly for the rest of my stay. I'm experiencing the difficulties of creating change in a community that isn't your own first hand, and I have to say I'm learning a lot. It's giving me a whole new respect for Victoria.

But right now, I don't think this is a bad thing. I've got lots of time to read books I love. To start smaller scale projects outside of what our volunteer employer offers us, and to just soak up Ukraine - maybe even learn some Ukrainian from Svitlana's grandmother.

We'll see. Overall, great day.

love,
ellen

A visit to Rivne and a lesson on radioactivity

I have gotten into the habit of checking e-mails before writing in here, and the truth be told, after reading messages, I usually have to stop using the computer before I get a chance to write in my blog. This time I'll do this before anything else to keep the eager beaver parents in the loop.

This week in general was pretty awesome, and so far the weekend has been full and exciting as well.

Thursday we got a dose of radioactivity. We visited the Nittisien powerplant during our first EAD ( Educational Activity Day). Once a week a pair from our group organizes an educational day on anything of their choosing which is pertenant to eco-leadership, sustainability, Ukraine, and Canada. You and your partner hold one of these days in both phases of the program. Out first EAD was on nuclear power and presented by our two project supervisors - they are also lucky enough to get a turn in the spotlight.

I know "getting a dose of radioactivity" shouldn't be something to joke about as Fran Nano told me many times leading up to this trip, but after the knowledge we received (on top of some Chemistry 1000 lessons last year on the subject) I felt perfectly safe during our tour. Here's how the day went:

1. Check-in - literally a form of group therapy given a different name, where each individual shares how they are feeling.
2. Energizer
3. Language lesson - a combination of French and Ukrainian on words and phrases to do with the subject. Do-bry!
4. A crazy movie on Chenobyl - really informative and I learned a lot about the time and the power system.
5. Visit to powerplant. We were all a little spooked...except for Marty who wanted to visit Chernobyl. Literally, I felt pretty safe from the chemicals. I was more worried about the security guards who followed us at all times, looking for people from our group who may stray from the tour and set off a bomb or something. They warned us before we started that are rights were restricted while in the facilities! I wanted to jokingly yell, "camoflage" which is a hiding game our group plays whenever someone yells that magic word. However, I didn't thing the big burly security guards would find it as funny.
6. A video on Canada's Uranium and Vd ( vadium? ) industry. Did you know that Canada is the leader in Uranium mining?
7. Disussion

After Thursday's work day we went to a stadium to hold our first ultimate training for our first CAD ( Community activity day ) - an Ultimate Tournament. It's clear that Ukrainians would rather play soccer than ultimate, because we only had a 1/2 dozen people show. John, Marty, Nat, Becca, Tolik, Ivan, Becca, Sarah, Sam, and I practiced our throws instead, which was a good idea.

Wow! An aside: I just tried these strudel thingsthat Svitlana made and they are absolutely amazing!

Friday was a work day, but more so a day to appreciate Ostroh, since the town council met with Inna and I for 30 minutes! I keep taking second glances at this place. To see the differences in dress, food, history, language and tradition makes Ukraine seem so different from home. But then, the values, and day to day lifestyles are quite similar. I also don't know how to 'place the season.' I feel like from growing up on the west coast that the full season of fall is totally foreign in itself. Apart from my experience in Ottawa, the dry cool weather and changing colours are new. Victoria does have fall, but I just can't remember it being so enhanced.

Saturday our camping trip was canceled and we went to Rivne for the day. The day went fast, as most days go with our group. We visited Rivne's one skating rink that was the size of a pond with a mini zambonie and spent the afternoon at Rivne's giant market. I couldn't skate because my left ankle still features a growth the size of an orange. In the meantime, Svitlana and I went on a hunt for peanut butter - it's just non-existent here! Then John and I searched again with no luck. The items there are so different - the styles make me laugh sometime. All in all though, the canadians tend to stand out just by their clothing - running shoes, jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts compared to high heels or pointed dress shoes, designer looking jeans, and fancy shirts!

Overall, our team is becoming an connected organism! I can feel a switch from feeling somewhat alone in a new environment to feeling fully supported by the inidviduals around me. So much so that some of the Canadians and I may start writing combined blog entries sometimes. The canadians' parents, especially the boy's, found this blog, searching for information! That's great to hear! Hi Marty's mom!

Now I must go back and help svitlana with some baking. Sshe wants me to decided what to cook next for carbs for tomorrow. She literally can't accept that I just want bread, finding it extremely odd that I don't really like potatoes or pasta, or rice. The funny thing is, wait til she sees how many more weird eating habits I have!

Just a heads up, I'll probably be on skype most evenings at 10:00pm Victoria time, so if you want to chat, try then!

love,

ellen