Hello my friends,
I have gone and returned to and from Ukraine. In the mere two weeks I was there I have months of stories and years worth of revelations. Thus, over the course of this next month I will tell stories of my experience in Ukraine and the insights that came with them. Just fair warning, I'm sharing these as they come to me, aka: not in chronological order.
I was stunned and amazed by the students. So gentle, courteous, and curious; while at the same time balls of energy full of opinion and thought, emotion, and passion. When I think of CCX English Camp 2011 I don't think of plates of food, I don't think of the buildings we toted to and fro from, and I don't think of the hedgehogs I so longed to catch. All I can think about are the flashing images of all the students I saw and met. Faces upon tender faces waiting and willing to listen. I see them facing fears and overcoming challenges. I see them talking and laughing over meals with one another. I hear them practicing English mixed with occasional Ukrainian and Russian. I can hear the excitement or shy anticipation for an event to come, and I can hear the silence of their mouths with the turning of their minds. I feel their pain from the past and look to the future with them together. I feel the utmost joy of loving a friend, and I remember the pulling of my heart as I hugged them goodbye.
This is what Ukraine is about. These are the people who have touched my life. And my hope is that by sharing our stories they might also touch yours.
until then,
До побачення
до свидания
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