Weekly Report

A lot of people keep asking how much news I get about the U.S. Here's my answer. I hear the Bulls are doing okay. I have no frickin' idea what is happening back home and it's kinda nice.
Some statistics: the stomach meter has officially dropped again to 30%. For the last week, my stomach has been on edge. It could have been the river fish I ate that the medical officers warned us not to eat or perhaps the sewage water I swam in; there are so many options.
For 2 weeks this country has been experiencing record high temperatures. From what I gather, it usually only gets this hot for about 1 week in July. Seeing how nobody has fans or a/c, I am slowly melting away as my lovely friend Kelly pointed out. To give you an idea, I pound about 2 2liters of water every day and I think I've urinated once all week.
I finally received all my packages from the PC ffice and took them home Thursday. The microwave popcorn was a hit because they don't have that here. My family stared at the microwave in amazement like it was about to shoot out a million dollars. Beef jerky and red licorice was also a smash. I got 4 packages total (Mom, the DVD's did arrive...thanks) and I have included a picture here in which I show off my treasures. Wait, maybe that's why I am sick because my stomach doesn't recognize real food anymore.
So this week...a group of us went to the beach on the river. While I did not intend to swim in that mess of water, it was so hot I had to do it. The beach was a rather nasty experience all around.
Language class was good, but a lot of us are in a funk from our site visit and don't want to learn anymore. We are counting the days to the finish line. We had a tech session on Thursday and learned about the Ukrainian economy and the tax system out here. It was actually pretty interesting stuff.
I am hooked on playing badmitton lately. Yesterday, Hung-Chee, my host family and I walked to a different beach which was a lot nicer than the one on Wednesday. I soaked up some rays and then we went home and drank vodka, listened to music and played cards.
Tomorrow we are watching 7 episodes of "Lost" and I am more excited about that than anything else. I don't think the finale is included in there though. Tonight I am watching "Shrek the Third" in Russian and I also want to check out Pirates 3 at some point. I am also stoked about the news that a group of us are going to Kyiv next weekend for a music festival. It tuns out I won't go all summer without a good concert afterall. There are a bunch of bands, but only one band I know from the states.
My site situation is still the same. I'm trying not to think about it too much. I am focusing on our project for the time being. When that is over, I will make the big decision. /i am writing up a manual on interviewing basics and sample interview questions and then need to get it to a translator. I am working on a powerpoint presentation for our seminar as well.

Happy Birthday, Dad & TJ!