Changing Blog Sites

For my few blog followers, I am changing sites. So to keep up with my adventures, please go to www.chrissyskiev.shutterfly.com!

I'm Back for Round 2

I am finally back in Kiev after a summer of fun and travel. School started last week and it is kicking my butt!! But I have an amazing group of 5 year olds. There are 15 on my list but only 10 kids have shown up. It's amazing what you can get done with 10 kids! I am still with my amazing assistant Aida and I now work with Marie. She is from the States and was teaching 3 year olds last year. She is a great co-teacher. I have students from America, Colombia, Russia, England, Hungry, Poland, Sweden, and of course Ukraine. I can already tell it's going to be a really good year.

The weather in Kiev is PERFECT!! I wish it was like this all year round. Mostly sunny and in the 70s. The leaves are starting to change color. I still walk through the park to get to and from school. It's a great view. Mom and Dad came to visit in July and my good friends from college just came this past weekend. All of them loved Kiev. I don't think people know what to expect before they come but are pleasantly surprised when they arrive. Of course there are the challenges of living here, but I think Kiev's quirkiness is what makes it so fun. I really like showing off the city. So if anybody wants to come visit, you will always have a place with me.

I finally got new bedroom furniture. I can actually walk around my bed on both sides!! In typically Kiev fashion, it took about 3 days to comp

lete the project but it all came together before my friends came, so we all had a place to sleep! I still have the old headboards and frames in the apartment but I am avoiding let my landlord pick them up because he is determined to hang up this hideous reading lamp next to the bed. I might just have to break it and say it was an accident. :)

Summer!

I am terrible at updating this blog!! School was finished on June 26. I survived my first year of teaching abroad! The end of the year is always bittersweet. I was ready for a break from work but I was really going to miss my students. I had a great group of kids this past year! I also had to say good bye to friends/teachers that were not returning next year. It will be very strange not having these people around the school in August.

I

School was out on a Friday and on Monday I flew to Greece for a week. Amazing! I was not that impressed with Athens. Every cruise ship in the world was there but Santorini was beautiful. The island is known for it's sunrises and sunsets. I never was awake for a sunrise but the sunsets were breathtaking. My friend and I rented a smartcar while on the island. We named him Zeus. I had the best time driving a car that was almost the same size as a shopping cart!

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After Greece, I had to go to a teaching conference in Zurich. Man, life as an international school sucks! I had a good time hanging out with my co-workers and meeting other international teachers. Mom and Dad met me in Zurich and then we all flew back to Kiev. They were my first visitors! I walked them all over the city and I think they had a good time. I saw more of the "touristy" things with them than I have since I moved there in August.

My last European stop for summer was Paris. Mom loved it! We saw more art in 4 days, that I have seen in the past 27 years! The wine and morning pastries were great and I loved seeing the icons of Paris (even if half of the planet was in the city).

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It is always a shock to go to places that have English posted or spoken everywhere because that is not the case in Ukraine. It makes the traveling so easy! I am used to sounding out Cyrillic letters and the pulling out the translating dictionary to figure out what the words are!

Now I am back in Texas for a couple of weeks. I am seeing old friends and attempting to get my my Mexican food fix. It has been a jam packed summer but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Бахчисарай,

Earlier this month, Jen (a friend and co-worker) and I traveled to Crimea and stayed in a quiet little town called Bakhchisaray.  It was a great weekend!  We stayed in this tiny little bed and breakfast run by a woman and her family.  They were Crimea Tatar. She cooked yummy Tatar snacks for us and told us the history of her people.  The Tatar people have been in the area since the 15th century and were part of the Khan empire.  Catherine the Great took control of the area and it became part of Russia.  In the 1900s, the Russian government gave the Tatar people, who were considered second class people) 15 minutes to gather their things and leave.  If they didn't leave, the people were drowned.  Currently, the Tatar people are scattered throughout Europe.  Some are returning to the Bakhchisaray area.  The landscape is beautiful.  You almost forget you are in Ukraine.  It felt like we were in Turkey.  I can not wait to go back!   

Follow the link for pictures! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2684592&id=7917086&l=22021d7090

Africa

I just got back from my trip to Tanzania, Africa.  It was AMAZING! I am ready to go back. I spent a week on safari and week just relaxing at the beach.  The weather was sunny and perfect!  I took over 450 pictures!  Here are the links to just a couple of those photos (hopefully these links work).  

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What would I do without her?!

I have the best teaching assistant in the world!  Aida is amazing.  I can not sing her praises loud enough.  We are always on the same page and she is truly interested in becoming a better teacher.  She has been at the school for 11 years, so she knows who to go to and get things done and she loves to help me practice my Russian...which I still suck at!  Here is a picture from our class field trip the metro!  

Lviv

This past week, I spent a couple of days in Lviv.  It's a beautiful city in western Ukraine that dates back to the early 1200s.  It's a great little city that has so much to offer.  You can go explore the churches that dot every block or just relax at one of the many cafes.