And we're here.

Arrived yesterday.

So very tired.

And we're gone!

Talk to y'all from Kyiv.

19 hours to go

And we're gone.

Will e-mail out contact info once we're there (rather than, you know, putting it on the internets).

Jack's got love for everyone

Kisses all around.

My first trip outside of Kyiv

We arrive in Kyiv on September 19. Ukraine is having Parliamentary Elections on September 30. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will be monitoring the elections, and the Embassy is mobilizing to provide monitors to work with the OSCE. Yours truly will be one of those monitors.

Since I'm the new guy, and I wasn't sure I would be chosen, I told post that I would be happy to go anywhere for the election. I've been informed I will be going to Rivne, about 180KM Northeast of Lviv in western Ukraine.

So what wonders, besides the election, can I expect to see on my first trip out of Kyiv?

From Lonelyplanet:

Rivne is pretty dreary, and if you are staying here, the best thing is to make a day trip south to Ostroh, where there is an attractive fortress, and Mezhyrich, where there is a monestary. As the Nazis' administrative capital in Ukraine, the city itself was destroyed in WWII, and has been unattractively rebuilt since.

3 to 4 days in Rivne! Come see our famous teacher training and water engineering institutes!



5 days to departure.

A weekend. An actual weekend...plus a day.

Given that the passport taskforce was six days a week, I was really looking forward to a weekend.

Katherine and Jack started out Friday with Christian and Kimberly. I guess Jack just wanted Christian to shut his mouth.

Our friends Greg and Claudine and their son Matthew came down from NYC on Saturday. We did a lot of playing, walking around, and swimming in our matching swim trunks. And we went to the zoo. Lots of strollers at the zoo.

My new haircut really shows off my distinguished gray hair.

Big Sunday night celebration at the Oakwood Falls Church. 8 adults and 3 kids for dinner (take out Lebanese). We figured better to control the chaos at home rather than subject the Lebanese Taverna to our presence.

Katherine contemplating life with a second child. Just contemplating, not preparing for anything in the next 9 months or anything.

Jack Laughs

Leave it to uncle Christian to really pull the laughs out of Jack. Christian and Kimberly were down from NYC this weekend, and Christian pulled some HILARIOUS hijinks with an empty water bottle and the noise 'boop'. Who knew?