take me here.

 mexico 2012. 

perfect picture. perfect people.

look how tan I look

I have been dreaming of sunshine for the past two months. And this picture basically sums up exactly how I'd like to see myself right about now. The sun never comes out in Ukraine - we do the weather with the kids every day and every single day we have to say its cloudy, its not sunny. And for a while it has started to really get cold. But I couldn't complain too much. And then this morning happened.

It had been raining for a couple hours, no big deal. I was getting ready in my room and my host mom says from the kitchen, "SamanTa. . snow. "
And I look out my window, lo and behold, the ground is blanketed with a soft layer of snow, and huge flakes are continuing to come down.
So I run out into the kitchen to join Oksana at the back door. We sat there looking at it, for a good two minutes, no words, then at the same time we both said "no."

She hates the cold. And when its winter she would like to just stay inside all day and never leave the house. I'm feelin' the same right about now. The snow is gorgeous, and I am glad that I got to see it while I'm here. But I was planning on it only snowing on my last day here, so that I didn't have to deal with it for the last two weeks of my time!

I won't lie though, it did make me a little happy. Until when my 30 minute trek to school ended with frozen feet and torn apart boots. The only pair I have here. Seriously? Two weeks left. New boots? Come on'.
On a brighter note.  TWELVE DAYS UNTIL PARIS. faster, faster, faster

 let it snow. jk please don't let it.

 Yeah he may look cute and innocent, but that snowball in his hand came flying straight at my precious camera five seconds later. Then directly at me multiple times after. No Vova, I don't want to play snowball fight. Vicious.

 selfie

good thing I had that umbrella. This picture is deceiving. I actually walked to school with it straight out in front of me, not over my head. It was freaking windy and I used it as a wind blocker the whole time. Wasn't worried about being able to see, Kim warned me of people and puddles. Thanks kimmy.

meow

its kind of embarrising the amount of pictures I have on my computer of me and the family cat.
I opened up my photobooth and started to look at the pictures and realized that I literally don't have enough friends to actually take pictures with humans. Instead I've resorted to cats. And lets be honest, who hasn't? The world is obsessed with cats.

On another note. I come home in three weeks. Home to America. But in exactly two weeks, I will be back in the greatest place on earth. PARIS, FRANCE. Can time please go by quicker? I am so ready to leave, I know that can sound ungrateful or bad, I love it here, I love Ukraine, and the people and my students and my host family -- but really, its time.
I've been here long enough. And maybe I take back my life-long desire to have a younger brother. I have learned why people get so annoyed with their younger siblings. 

This weekend is one of my last here. 

 yay

thanksgiving

thanksgiving2012 from Samantha Herbert on Vimeo.

Here's a little thanksgiving treat and preview of my break trip to Poland this weekend. 
I am in love with Krakow, so glad we got to go back and spend four whole days there. So thankful for so much in my life right now, especially the opportunities that I have been given. I've been so blessed to live such an adventurous life that I am in love with. 

hope you had a great thanksgiving weekend. I sure missed my family, and being home for Reay family thanksgiving dinner. Especially that stuffing. I'll be home in less than a month and I cannot wait to see all those people that I love and eat green chile enchiladas all day.

music continued

music with vova from Samantha Herbert on Vimeo.

Alright alright. Here's some videos from last night
Ps, Vova cut his hair himself, thats why his bangs are super short. 

musical talents of..

After church me and Taylor like to sneak into the primary room to play the piano for a bit before the russians come in. Tay plays piano and is so good. So this is a chance for her to play since there aren't any other pianos available. And this is my chance to have her teach me :)

Do not let your kids quit piano. Raise your hand if you regret stopping piano lessons as a kid? I'm pretty sure everyone has their hand up. Really wish I could play. I love music, and truly admire all those that are musically inclined. I love going to the performances we have up on campus to hear how talented people are. I'm blown away every time. I could die happy listening to somebody play me a song and sing. Best thing ever.

So we stayed and played for about 15 minutes before the children came in and we decided to leave. It takes us about 2 hours to get to and from church every week, so on our way back on the metro we stopped and got some waffles. Oh my gosh, these things are to die for. Broke the sabbath, don't judge.. remember I hadn't eaten for seven hours. Then I got back on the metro and rode to my bus stop, where there is a bakery with the best apple pie pastry, so I had to get that too.. oops. 

When I got home, host family had some friends over and they brought me a box of chocolates! It was the cutest thing ever, I was so happy. We ate dinner and I tried to lay down because I was exhausted, but of course the kids came in constantly so I finally decided to get up and go play with them. We went into the music room and played guitar and piano together. 
I played my newly learned song for Vova and we decided to play together. Then he taught me a song on the piano that he can play on the guitar and we played that together. We videod a bunch, and it was hilarious. That kid.. he's insane, but so funny. 
Hopefully these videos work for me to upload, cross your fingers.

 How cute is this little girl?

Host mom helping Polina play guitar.

early morning rock climbing

e333344444444bennnn[]hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgg - compliments of the cat. thinks he can type, silly kitty. Ps, why do cats purr? He's also purring.

So me and Kim have been trying to really commit to running for the rest of the time we are here, short, but well worth it. We've done good so far. Sore legs, and cold bodies every morning, but it makes us feel so good to get out and run. We have enough food in our stomachs, its time to work some off. 

This morning happened to be extra freezing. I had all my layers on, but was still cold. We ran around our neighborhood streets, got looks from the locals like we were crazy for being out in the cold and actually exercising. After our run I decided to keep walking so I took a nice walk around some more neighborhood. When I made it back to my house I rang the doorbell at the gate. 

side note - my host family is super into sleeping in. vova is homeschooled right now and the mom doesn't work, so theres really never any need to wake up. right? I fit in well here. the other day, none of us got out of bed until noon. oops, #sorryimnotsorry. 

So when I rang the doorbell at 9:45 of course there was no answer. I don't have a key, and our house has a huge stone wall set around it with a gate that you have to be buzzed in for. I waited for a couple minutes until I rang it again, still no answer, and nobody getting on the speaker to say "samanTa is it you?" So still I waited. And rang. And waited. And rang. Then rang continuously. Because by this point - twenty minutes later - I was freezing.

The wall really isn't that high, so while I'm standing there looking at it I'm thinking, "I could totally climb this. Easy." But I live across from a little convenient store and people kept walking in and out, I was scared to get caught and taken to Ukrainian jail without understanding. So instead I walked over to Kim's. And rang their doorbell. And what do you know, ...no answer. I gave up and went back to my wall and braved it. Climbed up the stone sides then jumped back down on the other side. 

And ran and jumped back in my bed like everybody else. . who didn't wake up for about another hour. So funny. 

I didn't tell them about this, and I probably won't.. 

its cool

that I live with the worlds largest, most obnoxious dog in the world.
that I thought it was the wrong date all day, and missed my class registration time.
that I'm now on the waiting list for multiple classes.
that its almost two a.m. and I'm still awake.
that my chapstick is missing and my lips hurt real bad.

 [ ferari shop next to the institute building tonight, super chouette ]

obviously the photographer was incredibly skilled.

 [ I came home to a dinner made by Vova. One egg and a more than half eaten piece of bread. He's the best ]

honestly though. My days have been going so much greater than I picture them to. As much as I'm so ready to come home, I'm also going to miss this place more than I can even imagine yet. My host family is so amazing, I cannot believe how blessed I was with them. The kids I teach are my best friends. I absolutely LOVE them and they get me through the day.

 [ sequins, polka dots, and cords ]