Kiev, Ukraine – Day One

Oxana made us breakfast this morning; what a great way to wake up! We had some combo of bread and butter/jam/honey, tea, and a sampling of meat and cheese. Our ride came to pick us up on time and of course we weren’t quite ready. Andrei enjoyed some tea while Kev and I wolfed down our food. Andrei had a perfect British accent, but was Ukrainian.
As we grabbed our luggage, I realized the handle on my suitcase wouldn’t open all the way. Man!! That sucks. Actually, it will suck when I have to roll it around the airport. Moving along. We stuffed our luggage into the trunk of his 1985 Lada (which looked like a 1960’s Fiat) and then stuffed ourselves into the backseat. It was somewhat roomy, which was a pleasant change from last year. Previously, six of us were crammed into at 5-seater Volvo AND we had all of our luggage on our laps. ALL of our luggage.
We stopped at a grocery store so we could grab snacks and water for our trip and then we were off. Or so we thought. We picked up another person and their luggage. Kevin and I thought we were going to have a comfortable ride to camp, which we did more so than the previous year; however, there were five people in the car, a few bags, and a sound system. Wow.
A video of part of the ride:

About 30 minutes later we arrive at camp and it was exactly as it was last year, except there were more dogs around and the weather was warmer. We got our room key at the reception and then dragged ourselves (and luggage) upstairs three flights and then slowly opened the door. We didn’t really know what to expect because last year the room could have been compared to “camping indoors”, but perhaps this year would be different. We walked in the room and sun was shinning through the new door/window combo. It was double pained and it was lovely. And warm! The heat was on this time (last year they didn’t turn the heat on until it started snowing)!!
The beds were a bit nicer, we had a TV and refrigerator, and the bathroom had a mirror (last year I have been stolen from the room) and a toilet seat! OMG, it was fabulous! As time went we realized how badly we had been shafted last year.

We taught three classes today and chose who would be in the advance plus class. We taught technique under the guise of dancing, as per usual, and the lower levels were awesome! They were so ready to learn because they were still in the place of “I don’t know very much, but I am here to learn” whereas the higher levels think they know a lot , which they do, but they aren’t actually leading or following movement, just patterns.
On top of that, we also worked on our new routine for two hours, got dressed up in traditional Ukrainian garb and did a skit for the camp and then judged the J&J prelims which started at 1am. Holy tired teachers Batman! Here is a clip of Kevin and I doing our “Dress Up and Dance in Costume’s in Ukraine” clip:

(here is a link to last years silliness)