Fall Break

This week the kids and I were on Fall Break. We headed to Western Ukraine on Saturday for a short visit to L'viv. L'viv is the western capital of Ukraine. It has a long history as part of Poland. It was very evident to us on this trip that L'viv is more European than any other city in Ukraine. We were amazed by the churches. The last time we visited L'viv was over 10 years ago and those churches were still closed. Now many are open and restored. Here are just a few of the 500+ photos I took. You can see more on my Picasa site. Enjoy

Statue of Ukrainian poet and hero, Taras Shevchenko. Behind him is a statue to the victims of the Holodymr in 1932-33

Something spooked the pigeons in front of the opera

This mural is incredible. It is in the Armenian church. The church was used for storage during the Soviet times. Amazingly it survived.

Not too far from our hotel was the Polish cemetery. It was incredibly beautiful and peaceful.

On the way home we took the "country" roads and saw this man with all those pumpkins. His cart is being drawn by a horse.

I have news......

This morning Landon accepted a job in Washington, DC. There is the possibility to extend for one more year. We are all thrilled about the opportunity to be back in the US for a couple of years!

Now we have to: find a house and a job for me, get the kids registered for school, find a football team and dance class for the kids, buy a car, buy new towels and sheets....and on and on!

What a busy two weeks...

First I, Christina, went to Marrakesh, Morocco via London for a conference. I stopped over in London for the day and met up with a friend. She was one of my first students in Nigeria. Today she is a successful and beautiful woman. I am so proud of her!

I went to Marrakesh for the IB Coordinators and Heads conference. It is a bi-annual event. I looked forward to it for a year and can not say I was disappointed in the least. The keynote speakers and sessions were incredible and inspiring. Marrakesh a colorful and busy city. Above is a picture for a cultural evening we were treated to and a man I met in the market. He asked if I wanted to take his picture. I said, "Sure!" Afterwards, he wanted a little "something" for his time. For more pictures of Marrakesh, see my Picasa album.

On the way home, I had to stop over in London again (oh nuts) and decided to invited the family to join me. They flew into to London a couple of hours before I did and together we went into town to explore. London is not a city that can be seen in two days! We tried and we know. There are too many exciting and new experiences. That said, we had a full two days and the kids got a good idea of the awesomeness of London. Again, lots of photos can be found in my Picasa album.


When I returned to school I learned that my boyfriend of over two years, was leaving our school and returning to his home country of Germany. Julius told his mother once that he wanted me to come over and run naked in the garden with him. While I was tempted, I refrained! The first time I met her, she said, "So you are my future daughter-in-law?" Julius is a lover boy and I will miss him.




And finally, the four pictures show how and where Ben and I spent our day. We went with the fifth grade classes to a children's rehabilitation center for street children here in Kiev. The center is run by and American and Swiss woman who came here as missionaries. We have been out there before, but this is the first time we did some work and played! The center's kids were nervous about us being there at first, but in the end, they raked leaves with us and played soccer with the boys. It was an amazing day of giving back! Guess where there are more pictures???


No word on our next assignment yet! Our fingers are crossed for Washington!