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This photo was taken on August 30th, 2010 in Kryve Ozero, Mykolayivska Oblast in Ukraine, just a few days after my 26th birthday. It was my last summer at site and I decided to throw an American style birthday party. In Ukraine, birthdays are usually celebrated around a table, eating a set meal of traditional fare, drinking, and wishing the birthday boy or girl health and success. To better achieve the second goal of Peace Corps, I wanted to show my Ukrainian friends just how different an American party can be. I invited many different people from the community of all ages and backgrounds. We had punch, mingled to music, played traditional games, ate American birthday cake, and even danced under the limbo stick! In this photograph, I am twirling my blindfolded counterpart, Natalia Chukhriy, as she attemps to pin the tail on the hand drawn donkey, as seen in the background. My Ukrainian friends, neighbors and colleagues told me at the end of the party, that it was the best birthday party they had ever been to. Sharing this bit of American culture with them was a highlight of my service and extremely memorable for us all.

A young sixth grader by the name of Victoria copies down that day's English lesson in 2009, The Beatles' "Hello/Goodbye". At school number two in Kryve Ozero, Ukraine, my counterpart and I tried to incorporate song and music into our daily lessons. Not only does singing allow the students to stand and become active participants in the classroom, but is a tool for aiding vocabulary expansion and retention, and also cultural exchange. Together we sang songs from all genres from British pop to American folk, from 'It's a small world' to 'The Hokey Pokey'.