in Balaklia

In Balaklia, enjoying being the oldest of 13 kids for a couple of weeks. The littlest ones didn't remember me at first and would look at me shyly and run away yesterday morning, but by evening, I was being pelted with leaves, asked to "Watch me! Watch me!", and basically one of the pack again.

This could either be a very long post or a very short one, but I am using the post office internet (we have 3 computers here now, not just 1!), and I'm down to only five minutes, so it will have to be short. Random bits of interest:

*Oleh Y. (15) still knows how to push my buttons and get me sputtering in English in a matter of minutes. He decided to pry into my personal life, hit a nerve on pretty much the first question, and then wouldn't drop it. He plays the piano beautifully, however.
*Vlada Y. (15) is going through what her mother calls a "difficult stage" and has lovely fingernails, one hand black and the other pink. She painted mine for me last night, all light pink.
*I went to school yesterday. My kids are all huge, the teachers are much the same, and Nelya was planning to use an idea that I had used back when I taught (an election scenario).
*The food here is as good as I remembered.
*Saw Robert today and got caught up on his time as a PCV here. A month away from leaving, he has many of the same feelings as I did at the same point.