necessity

To all of my fans out there, I am sorry for the delay on the posts. Since January 3 (or my last post for those untrue fans), I have had a very busy and un-busy month. In honor of this hiatus, I will try and make my post a bit more informative!

I have begun teaching classes at Планета счастья (Planet of Happiness - Planeta Schastya) and so far it has been an enjoyable experience. I have already begun to dismiss certain practices that were recommended to me back in training and am going to focus on the needs of the students in my school, even if it means playing hangman as a way to at least get them to speak (who knew hangman would save a dying lesson?). A lot of the teachers at school have expressed that this hour I spend with the students should serve not as grammar time, but as speaking time. Simply, a time where students can practice what they know and feel comfortable with the English language. Or as I like to call it now, FUN TIME with Avital. I might have to work on the name.

After not celebrating Shabbat for almost three months while being here, I have met an incredible family in my city that has adopted me. While being in America, I was blessed with the community and familiarity of a Shabbat routine. Every Friday at Binghamton, I participated in Hillel's Friday night gathering, and sometimes an occasional Chabad visit. After I graduated, I continued celebrating Shabbat with my family as usual, and then continued into Camp Tel Yehudah, where Shabbat continues to be the highlight of the YJ experience (and possibly where I started my serious love for Shabbat - Summer 2002 what up). Then out of nowhere, being thrown into a new country full of borscht and sour cream, Shabbat was left aside and my new realities slowly became priorities.

Peace Corps has a secret science of placing volunteers in different villages, towns and cities, and maybe something on my resume brought me to Dnepropetrovsk, but I truly believe that something bigger than me has brought me here. Now, I get to experience the most important day of the week while doing the most important job I will probably ever come across.

There is a ton of snow on the ground in Ukraine, and I still have not discovered the secret behind clean shoes but I have only made my shoes dirtier by wearing YakTrax aka the things that will prevent me from falling after I have already damaged my butt; however, I have defeated the system halfway by bringing other shoes to work. More tips on shoe cleanliness will be posted as winter continues. Until then, don't forget to walk around with an extra shoe brush.