For as far back as I can remember, all of my friends have been either been two years older than me or two years younger than me, or closer. School has a lot to do with this. You go to new places and you join up with the other people who are experiencing the new ...

The Ukrainian flag consists of two colors, the top half being blue and the bottom half being yellow. I’ve heard a few different interpretations of this and usually the blue represents the sky and the yellow represents golden fields of wheat or sunflowers or something else that’s yellow and grows in fields here. Today, as ...

I’m aware I’m a little late on getting this email out. I’m also aware that I’m writing in italics. Let me explain both. Ever since that whole trip to Spain, I’ve been playing catch up. That in itself was eight days of being away from emails and other work. Sure, I checked things while I was ...

I really considered titling this email something along the lines of “Why I Hate Travelling” but then I thought about it and I concluded that I don’t hate travelling. I don’t particularly like it either. For me, travelling can be both a good and a bad experience. Take, for example, the summer before I joined ...

I’ve been in this game for a year and a half now, but at times, I still find things hard to believe and outright puzzling. Most of the time, I tell myself just to go with and to let things happen without questioning it. Because of this, I’ve made friends with the mafia, danced the ...

I used to enjoy math a lot. I mean, I still enjoy it but I used to enjoy it a lot. It was one of the few times I could do my homework and know there was only one answer. No one could take up half the class the next day arguing that the answer ...

I don’t remember the last time I could be quoted saying that I like winter. At least since the time I started driving (eight years ago, holy cow) I’ve had reason to be unhappy with the change of seasons in Southeastern Wisconsin. It’s far too cold in the winter. Snow is only pretty for five ...

There’s a joke in Peace Corps that we have to do a lot of paperwork to get into Peace Corps, but even more to get out. While I’m not yet sure about the latter, I know the former to be true. It took me roughly a year of paperwork and interviews before I received my ...

I was having a conversation recently about a delicious curry dinner I made for myself. I found a coconut chicken curry recipe on the internet so I could use up the box of coconut milk I’ve had in my refrigerator for the past six months. I found it in a small supermarket back in July ...

Last year, I was bored when winter break rolled around. I had been in Konotop less than a month, I didn’t know where anything was, and I wasn’t yet good friends with anyone else in town. I spent a couple hours a day at school working with students who were preparing for the English Olympiad, ...