Break Update

Newest additions to the tea collection: Russian Earl Grey, Peach Mango (black tea), and raspberry (black tea). Mmmm...

The end of the semester for me! The flowers were from a student, the soup was from Denis, and the vodka...well, that was from me :p How can you resist picnic-intended vodka? Because I don't know about you, but that's the first thing I think of when I think "picnic" (jk!, only in Russia, maybe) Anyways, I taught 6 hours, came home and had D's delicious potato soup, and celebrated the end of the semester by...sleeping from 8 PM to 8 AM. Exciting!

Uh, yes, I went back to the zoo again. Guilty as charged.

Kind of a wintery day at the zoo....

A truly Ukrainian shopping trip. 2 loaves of bread, a packet of garlic-flavored ketchup, beer. lime-flavored beer, and a bottle of vodka (that was for the Halloween party)

Yeah, said Halloween party! In a very Soviet-style kitchen. These were our costumes. No one "got" them. (Dark clothes + a shot glass = a shot in the dark. Black clothes + an envelope = blackmail.) A fascinating globe D found is also featured in this photo; the earth-shaped globe consisted of nothing but the country of Ukraine. Apparently all the geography I learned in school is wrong. Anyways, the party was Halloween in theory (great decorations and the occasional devil horns or witch hat) thanks to the superhuman efforts of one of my co-teachers, but the party mainly consisted of playing "Mafia", the greatest party game ever according to most Ukrainians. I can't say I'm crazy about this game but if you give me a cup of "Halloween punch", sure, I'll sit still long enough to play it. Walking home, I said "D, what is it about this game? Why are people so fanatical about its merits and greatness?" He turned to me, shocked "Because it's awesome! It's a game of psychology in which you try to delve into the psyches of the other players and observe their body language and unconscious gestures!" Uh okay, whatever happened to good old-fashioned truth or dare? :p We Americans are so uncouth! But beer-pong gives us good coordination.....

In short, I'm 2 days into the break, still 5 glorious days to go!!!