down to the wire...

So my time here in the US of A is coming down to the wire. Friday morning I will be flying out of Manchester NH to Philadelphia, will have about 7 hours of orientation in Philly, then we all take a bus to NYC that Saturday morning, sit in JFK for HOURS and then fly to Frankfurt, Germany, and finally reach our destination of Kiev sometime on Sunday. It's gonna be hectic, especially since I am an incredibly nervous traveller when it comes to planes. As long as I can hold hands with the person next to me on the plane, I should be alright. I hope they know what they are in for!

I had an amazing weekend. Saturday night was a Razzy's karaoke party, and so many of my closest and dearest friends were there. It was so much fun. Of all the karaoke nights I have had there (and trust me, there have been a lot) I think that was definitely one of the best. Highlights: singing "A Whole New World" with Fionna, Lola's rendition of "Bust a Move", the dance party at the end, Hampshire people together (Miranda, Njambi and Christina), people who sang songs for me (Nina, Jenny, Fionna, Matt), almost getting sprayed by a skunk on Somerville Ave.... fun times!

Sunday night, my mom threw a party for me, which was equally amazing. It was a mix of neighbors, old friends, family friends, and people from throughout my life that have meant a lot to me. It was wonderful to have them all together. Highlights: Scott wearing his Russian hat, mom wearing her orange revolution scarf, my favorite elementary school teacher Rich surprise showing up, my old neighbor Will surprise showing up with his wonderful family, my moms delish cooking and baking, and lastly--having people I love and care about all together, so for that, thank you everyone!

And lastly, for those of you that have not seen this, you should watch it. It is from the TV show "Ukraine's Got Talent" and it's really beautiful:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2009/08/amazing_sand_animation_from_ye.html