Fall has arrived in Kiev

The temperatures are cooler and the leaves are changing, so that can only mean one thing here in Kiev--Fall is here. The chestnut trees turned brown and the leaves fell in August, but the rest of the trees are turning golden and red signaling the shortening of days and the sleepy time of fall. School is now entering it's sixth week. Hard to believe. Both kids are doing exceptionally well in school. The best start to a school year ever! We are so pleased! I am balancing two demanding jobs. There are days when I want to pull my hair out, but resist the temptation since it would require more effort (I have short hair) than I have on a good day! Instead, I do the best I can with the time and resources I have been given. I have gotten positive feedback from teachers and that is enough to keep me going.

I have a new camera. I have taken many many photos. Here are a couple of new ones. The rest can be found in my Picasa Web albums. You can find a link to the left of this message!

Taras Shevchenko in the park named after him.

St Sophia's Cathedral

This is a mural on the side of a building near the zoo. I have admired it, and the others, for years. Today, I finally stopped and got a picture of it.

Another mural

Thank you for checking in with us. Drop us a line sometime to let us know what is happening in your world!

Christina

School has resumed!

We went back to school on August 27. Laura is in Grade 5 (across the hall from my office) and Ben is in Grade 4 (far away). Both have wonderful teacher this year, so we are hoping for a wonderful school year. Ben will begin soccer training on Monday. He is beside himself with joy. He doesn't like having to wear his new glasses while playing because they "make me hot." Interesting reason.

Today is September 1--the traditional first day of school for Ukrainian children. Even though today is Saturday, all Ukrainian get dressed in their school uniforms and take flowers to their new teacher. It is a neat tradition especially if you like flowers-and you are a teacher! The girls HAVE to wear huge white frilly things in their hair when they meet their teacher. Here is a picture of what I am referring to. The girl was at another picnic table, but i think you get the idea from the picture.


For a year now a friend of ours from our first time in Kiev and I have been trying to get the staffs of our two schools together. I finally convinced our director to make the first move and organize something. He did! Today we went to the Architectural Museum and had a picnic. There was also a craft fair going on at the museum. It started out as a chilly and rainy day, but ended up being a nice sunny afternoon--perfect for a picnic. Here are a couple of pictures from the day.

Cossack man playing music for us

Laura and Anastasia wanted to dance with the Ukrainian folk singers, so they got up on stage and danced!

Ukrainian Easter eggs

Dan, Natasha, Anastasia (9) and Paul (6)

The Taylor family

Our next family adventure will be September 15. We will go with our housekeeper, Olga, to her summer home 1oo kilometers from Kyiv. She is worried about me because there is no toilet in her house! I have to go outside! Oh man, I am worried about me too! The following week we will go to Dan and Natasha's summer house and Dan, knowing my issues, has promised to make it smell nice and clean the seat! What a great friend!


Keep in touch!

Christina