From midnight til two am last night, I laid in my bed with my legs on fire. I can’t remember the last time I was that uncomfortable. It’s a bad idea to play soccer in a forest full of stinging nettles! For those of you who have never encountered this particular type of devilry: it looks like any other leafy plant except when you brush up against, it your skin feels like fire and swells almost immediately! From the knees down, each leg looked like a hundred mosquitoes had massacred it. Daniel and I played soccer for an hour and then for another hour after Zoe and Maxim joined us! We ended up dripping with sweat and covered in dust/mud. Best soccer games ever…well except for the part when I couldn’t sleep because my legs were so swollen with nettle welts.

When I lying, sleepless in my bed, trying to pretend I didn’t have any legs so I wouldn’t have to feel them, Zoe started making some interesting noises in her sleep. It sounded a bit like she had peanut butter stuck to the roof of her mouth and then like she was chewing a hard candy. I giggled for a while then finally called out her name and she stopped. Ha, it’s been a while since I had a roommate or went to camp and got to experience other peoples sleep noises. I figured I should probably embarrass her at least once on the internet for all the world to know…better this story than mentioning the time she sneezed and farted at the same time and we laughed for hours...oops, sorry Zo ;)

Speaking of which, for English lesson a few days ago we had a tea party. The kids learned how to politely ask for tea, sugar, a cookie and also learned vocabulary like cup, spoon, plate etc. I happened to sneeze and we taught them how to say, "Bless you" after that happens. We also taught them to say, "Excuse me." after you pass gas. This was a little too funny for our own good. The rest of our party was filled with constant sneezing and yes, fart noises followed, of course, by the appropriate English responses and howls of laughter.We laughed for a full hour I think!

Tomorrow we are taking a night train to Odessa. We’ll rent a three-room apartment there and have it all to ourselves! Crazy! It’s in the same building as the pastors aunt, directly above actually and three of the kids from here are coming and staying with the aunt. The other two are staying in the apartment building next door. Even though we are switching towns, we’ll still get to be around many of the same wonderful people. It will be nice to know some new faces as well.