They feed us there and the classes are there, and so with the low temperatures, I had every incentive to stay inside the whole time. It was cold in Prolisok: you had to wear a sweater no matter what, but there was none of the four-layers on/off ritual that I do several times a day in Zhytomyr. I happily watched through glass windows as the snow fell and ventured out to get some fresh air only twice.
So what do some seventy volunteers do when stuck inside for a week? That's what the pics are for:
You jam on guitars as Shanif and Caitlin are doing here
And as I am doing here
You discover creative recipies, like Dave eating a banana and chocolate sandwich
You learn the fine art of scavenging, as Amy as done here, leaving the dining room with many a midnight treat
You let your hair get a little wild
You learn to knit (as I did, being man enough taking one of the in-Russian optional classes), and let other bored people play with your wild hair
You marvel at the bathroom in your room
You have nightly dance parties DJed by iPods hooked up to speakers. And then you still manage to get up at 7:30 AM the next morning to go to class.
You get a little crazy dancing at those parties
Really crazy.
You eventually wander outside.
You walk along a frozen river. This shot is particularly interesting to me because the first day I was in Ukraine I was on this floating pontoon watching the sun painting the water as it set. Now it's just an expanse of white.
You watch some Ukranians do some ice fishing
You try not to piss off the wolves that wander around (Okay, so they're wild dogs, but they're maybe one generation from hunting elk and haven't forgotten how).
If you're like Lauren (who's from Georgia) and I, you scrape aside some snow and wonder at the fact that you really are just standing on frozen water.
And then you get cold and go back inside...