So, this is christmas...

I've been in Simferopol for almost two weeks now. Here are some highlights of my official Peace Corps Volunteer-dom thus far:

1. My first day at work was Decemeber 25th. I arrived at 8 am, only to find out that there was some kind of miscommunication and my coordinator wouldn't arrive until 9 am. I used this opportunity to spread Christmas joy via text message to my fellow volunteers.

2. My third day at work, I spent 3 - 4 hours taking staples out of the spines of notebooks and stamping the upper right hand corner with an official looking stamp. Apparently this is necessary work that must be done to prepare for the Olympiad (an academic competition that is held at the school, rayon (like a region), oblast (like a state - Crimea is my oblast), and all-Ukraine level). I suppose I just wasn't expecting it. In the end, I think it was a good shoulder-strengthening exercise, especially because the stamp pad was a little low on ink.

3. My fourth day at work was the Friday before New Year's and a group of 8 women (myself included) drank one bottle of vodka and four bottles of champagne over lunch. I even made a toast...in Russian! I used the champagne's warming effects to power my walk home, which ended up taking an hour but made me feel a lot better after quite some time without aerobic activity.

4. My host family went out to a disco for New Year's Eve and we didn't make it home until 4:30 am. My dad (that'd be my real dad) audibly gasped when I told him this over the phone. Things are a bit different in Ukraine, it seems. For example, I have never been a big fan of techno music, and it doesn't look like I'll ever be one, but there was definitely a strangely heart-warming moment when my entire family was out there shakin' it on the dance floor. The DJ even played an Elvis song at one point("Jailhouse Rock", for those who are interested), which was exhilirating, but, just like the techno music, somewhat challenging to dance to.

5. Last night I saw a movie (in Russian) in which three people were brutally murdered in the opening sequence. I'm told it's the most expensive Russian movie ever made (it's called "Volkodav", which has something to do with wolves but is also the main character's name), but my host mom and dad weren't too impressed. They even laughed when I said thank you for taking me, which was actually quite appropriate. In other news "Happy Feet" is coming out here in a few weeks, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be in English with subtitles. A girl's allowed to dream, right?

6. I finally received a package. Two to be more exact. AND I just got a message that there's another one waiting at the post office. Oh, the love. I can definitely feel it. Lauren Winkates won the "First Package to Alison" award, while Kristy Thrasher and the rest of the staff at I.S. 528 won the "Most Inspirational Package" award, as four copies of Runner's World were included. This prompted me to resume running, thank goodness, and to make vague plans to run the Athens Marathon in November. That'd be the original marathon course, thanks. Apparently it's quite challenging, but I figure I have almost an entire year to train for it. Goals - they're good to have.

7. Overall, things are still going well. I'm probably not learning as much Russian as I should be (what with my host mom and sister speaking English to me all the time), and I need to start waking up earlier, but, other than that, everything's on the up and up. I'm sure the real challenge will come when work finally rolls around (I have off until January 14th) and I have to start actually being productive, but for now, I'm finding ways to keep myself occupied that don't include any of the "dangerous coping strategies" Peace Corps warned us about. Good thing I brought my guitar, I tell you.

Hope everything is well where you are. Thanks for all the comments, emails, letters and packages. I'll try to keep you a bit more up to date as things start happening here. I'm pretty sure you'll be reading about my trip to the Ukrainian sauna next, and it will most likely involve nudity, wet birch leaves, and freezing cold water. I can't wait!