Back In Time

     I wish I could go back in time and tell myself about everything that would happen before I left Ukraine. I might have been more diligent about studying Russian or more focused on taking every opportunity to help. I'm writing this in between final cleaning and packing on Wednesday. I doubt I'll get much time later to do it.

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday (Updated)

     Two days. Less than that actually as of the time I'm writing this. That's how long until I board my plane and wing my way to the States. But that doesn't mean things are slowing down yet. I'll be going, going, going, until Thursday morning. (Updated: two photos)

Lovin' Every Minute of It

     Thirteen months. That's how long it's been since I left the States last year. It finally is starting to feel like that amount of time. Probably because I'm standing at the edge of a new phase of my life. I can't say that I've loved every minute of it. Mainly because of the difficulties along the way. But it's certainly been worthwhile.
      I'm actually slacking a bit because thirteen months was yesterday (August the 25th). But it's in service of a good cause. Liberty followup, spending time with people from Big City and residency things. There have also been some other things happening this week.

Takin' Care of Business

     Occasionally over the past year, trying to think of something to write here has felt like business. It wasn't always fun like a hobby. Sometimes it felt like doing taxes or homework. Usually that happened when I was too busy, tired or distracted to feel creative. Coming up with a good post on a regular basis, for someone who hasn't done that sort of thing before, can be a chore. I find that again I'm writing a post that feels like it's "just business." And that's not because I'm finishing this three days after starting it. Standing on the sub-two-week mark, I'm thinking more and more about the things at home. But there is more to my life at the moment than moping around the apartment waiting for my flight to leave.

Shake It Up

     After a week of normal life again, I think I'm finally caught up on sleep and rest. Camp was a big shake up to my normal schedule. It's good to finally be back to something normal. Not a whole lot going on though now. I'm in the wind-down faze of the trip. I'll be leaving in about two and a half weeks. But there are still things to do.     Last week was slow mostly. Not a whole lot going on. I got to have dinner with the Eides and some friends from my home church on Tuesday. They stayed a few days after camp for a visit. Then it wasn't until Saturday that anything else happened.

Good Times, Bad Times

Visual representation of how I felt on Monday.

     That's the simplest way I can summarize Liberty English Camp 2016. There were good times, there were bad times. It's taken me this long to recover and process almost everything. I slept for about four hours during the afternoon yesterday. Thinking about it now on the Tuesday after camp, I'm not really sure where to start with the in-depth summary. So I'll do this. I've collected my photos from camp (phone and camera) into one location HERE. When you get a free minute or twenty, take a look. There's a lot of good stuff there (if I do say so myself). Also, I found this video from this year's camp. It includes a lot of good footage from our activities. Jim from the Texas team threw it together to display at the anti-talent show. See how many times you can find me in it.

I'm Ready

     We've done it. We finally made it to the end of Friday. It was all downhill from Wednesday but it was still a lot of work. Now that Friday is over. We can finally rest a bit. Not too much though. Saturday will still be busy. But academically, we aren't going to be doing anything. Photos, packing, traveling, and saying goodbye.

We Can Make It

     Only one more day to go. Saturday doesn't really count because it's all fun and travels. I think I'll keep today short on words and big on pictures.
     First, a short bit of good news. Tim and I moved. They found us a new room in another building. I don't know yet if there are critters or not. I'm just happy to sleep somewhere else. Hopefully I didn't bring any along in my dirty laundry or luggage.

Third Stage

     Wednesday. What's there to say? A few things actually. Last night before bed, I had a real, hot shower. I didn't expect to have hot water but it was a good surprise. After the sandy mess that was Ultimate Frisbee, it was nice to clean off. The hot water was just a bonus. Cool water on a day like yesterday felt really good too. I'll definitely partake of it again tonight.

Cool the Engines

     Tuesday was a much better day. If I forget about certain little things, it was a really good day. Those little things were the heat and fleas.

Smokin'

     Don't worry, I'm not smoking. It's the temperature this week that is. It's 32C outside as I write this. We're preserving. Luckily the forecast for the remainder of the week is much cooler.
     So, the first day of Liberty English camp is finally here. After months of planning and hard work, we are finally neck deep in the details of actually running the camp. I'm writing from my phone so don't expect an amazing post. But I'll do my best.