My brother Michael and I had some adventures together on his 'last hurrah' trip/internship before he gets married this May. He helped me to stop and admire areas of Moscow I'd never had the chance to explore. From shopping the markets together his first week here to the last pub crawl his last weekend, I will always treasure the time spent with him in Russia. I hope he will too!
I also had some adventures in July when I traveled to Ukraine for vacation in Crimea and an unexpected visa run to Kiev. It was nice to relax on the Black Sea but Kiev was the real highlight of my trip. What a wonderful city! I met some amazing people through a contact of Michael's at couchsurfers. And the girl I stayed with just happens to work for UNHCR in Kiev so I got to visit their office and learn more about the refugee resettlement process from the other side. I also enjoyed 24-hour train rides across the country, meeting interesting people and understanding why they called Ukraine the bread basket of the USSR (miles and miles of gorgeous wheat and sunflower fields).
So we're now in the last week of October and I was hoping there'd be snow by now. My students tell me it'll come in a few weeks. In the meantime, I've been enjoying the leaves changing around town; especially the birch trees. This is truly my favorite time of year.
"premium" Ukrainian countryside
swimming in the Black Sea, Crimea
beautiful birch trees changing color
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