Football Fever

2012 was probably one of the best years to be living in Ukraine.  Why?  Because of Ukraine's joint hosting with Poland of the Euro 2012, which is the World Cup of European football (soccer) championships!  The hosting came with its share of problems this year in Ukraine, especially with the corruption and questions of if they would even be ready in time to host.  But, in the end, the energy and the event were so awesome, and I totally got a hearty dose of football fever myself.

One of the best places to catch all of the Euro 2012 action was, of course, in the capital of Kiev!  I was there on an off-game day, but was still happy to wander downtown through its massive fan zone (which was converted on the large main road that runs right through downtown):

One of the six massive big-screens set up out on the road:

The entire sides of the street were lined with bars and shops, with plenty of football fan frenzy fun to be had:

Of course, on game nights, the place looked something more like this:

Spending my last month in Ukraine down on the Black Sea in Crimea didn't mean I was any further from all of the Euro 2012 action!

Just a short walk from the hotel we were staying at for our Summer Teacher Training Institute in Sevastopol was a fantastic Euro 2012 Fan Zone set up.  I was there every night for a week and even used my "Female Foreigner" powers to sit in the front VIP sections for free each night!

By the end of the week, we had established quite the "regular" status with the workers and some of the Ukrainian fans!  Perhaps one of the best parts about taking in Euro 2012 in its host country was being a part of this kind of community!  I love football fans!

I'll be heading on a roadtrip to the Balkans with my Scottish friend, Rachel, this week and will be watching the final in Croatia!  As far as the bulk of the tournament goes, there's no place I would have rather taken it all in then right here in Ukraine!

Seaside Summer Camp

After wrapping up my time in lovely Lugansk and getting one great send-off at the train station, I boarded the third-class sleeper train heading to Simferopol (located in the In-Ukraine-But-Not-Really-Ukrainian area of Crimea in the south) with 40 of my favorite high school students and four other teachers as a part of our Access English Microscholarship Program:

Our destination was a pretty little campground located on the Black Sea where we met up with the other English Language Fellow and her 40 high school students in the program.  The goal?  One week of English immersion and fun, as well as even tans for all:

Besides us two English Language Fellows, we also had four Peace Corps volunteers, four FLEX volunteers (a program which sends Ukrainian teenagers abroad to study in the U.S.), and the six of the most entertaining Ukrainian English teachers you'll ever meet (below, I'm a placeholder for one of the missing):

The camp itself actually holds its own separate camps and activities in Russian for other children and us Americans were invited to their campfires one night as Special Secret American Guests!  I got to go with a lively group of elementary school kids, some of who couldn't wait to tell me how much they hate English!  Ha!  Oh, childhood honesty!  Can't win them all over, I guess.  Good thing I have a nice smile and some basic dance moves to bail me out:

Back with our high schoolers, it was smooth sailing and a ton of English and beachside fun:

The main project that the campers worked on all week was to, within their groups, develop their own country.  I'm talking everything from the name, anthem, culture, and history, to the type of government, social support, and dynamic structure of the land and the people.  On the last day of camp, these were presented to two visitors from the U.S. Embassy in Kiev.  Talk about pressure to perform!

Of course, all good things must eventually come to an end.  Summer camp is the bittersweet example of this world-over:

These camps always have a way of changing you, it's true.  Perhaps its from the sheltered Bubble O' Fun that you're wrapped in for a week or two, but I am completely grateful to be a part of the whole shin-dig even in my adult years!  And, to give 80 underprivileged high school students the chance to not only study English for two years on the Access Program, but to also come together and have a culminating experience like this camp (also completely free for them courtesy of the program) is just such an incredible thing to be a part of.  Thanks to all of the volunteers, teachers, and students for making this year's summer English camp such a rocking good time!


(Instead of heading back to Lugansk with my crew, it was off to Crimea for me with the Sevastopal bunch for a week of sightseeing, followed by a week of training teachers at our Summer Institute Conference (where I'm currently at now)!  Living out my final month of my fellowship down here in the sea and sun is not exactly bringing about any complaints on my end, that's for sure!  More Crimean travel posts to come...)