Pictures from Spring Break in Lviv

Despite the seemingly Islamic architecture, this is actually the Jewish hospital in Lviv.  I just walked by, so I can't report on just how Jewish or medical it in fact is.

 We didn't go inside because we had a more important destination--a German-style beer hall, Robert Doms Beer House.  Liter mugs of Lvivske Pivo (compare the glasses to Anand's head).

 Lvivske brewery.

 Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's national poet and the man largely responsible for the modern Ukrainian language today.  Kinda like Shakespeare, but if English only had Shakespeare and about 10 other major writers.

 Not sure what this was.

 Opera House.  Some Ukrainian told me "Lviv has number seven opera in Europe."  Not so sure what made this opera so good (or what made six other operas better than Lviv's), but it certainly looks pretty.  It's also much more attractive than the operas I've seen in Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk. 

 ...which is probably due to the fact that this opera was built by the Austrian Habsburgs, and the other Ukrainian operas had the misfortune of being built by the Russian tsars or, worse, the Soviets.

 Church of St. John the Baptist, the oldest church in Lviv.  Currently a tiny, tiny museum that costs 25 cents American to enter.

 on the way up to Castle Hill, the highest point in Lviv

 Receiving messages from Lucifer?

 At Castle Hill

 Castle Hill in profile

 Ukraine deer!  Get it!?

 Armenian Cathedral

 front left corner of the Armenian cathedral

 in the Lvivske Pivo museum...

 candid photo of Chelsea...

 ...who apparently can't take a photo herself.  Or my camera sucks.  She claims a combination of the 2 factors.

 Anand and I at the museum

A monument to the Cossacks.  Ukrainians sure love their Cossacks.

Spring!

Greetings from a not-so-cold Pavlograd!  It's been a while since my last entry, Mom informed me today, so I'll fill everyone who reads this in real quickly about the last 5 weeks.
March was a great month.  On the first day, I felt an immense sense of relief that February, the coldest month, was over.  The snow started melting and the sun actually shines pretty regularly now.  After the snow melt, Ukraine is left with a lot of mud and a lot of massive puddles approaching pond size--for example, the soccer field next to my school.  It took about 3 weeks for everything to dry up, but it finally did.  The weather is mostly pleasant (highs in the high 50s Farenheit) during the day, but at night it's still cold.  Also, the town administration has seen fit to shut off our central heating (finances), so my apartment has been a balmy 58-60 for the last week now.  But warm weather, I firmly believe, is around the corner!
As for what I did, the answer is a lot of traveling.  I went to Dnipropetrovsk several times for work and play, traveled to Kharkiv on what I suppose is my first business trip, and traveled on spring break to Kiev, Vasylkiv, and Lviv--the cultural capital of Ukraine--with my friends Anand and Kurt.  We had a blast.  We rented an apartment in downtown Lviv for 4 nights for about $35 a night and took in all that such a cool city had to offer.  I'll try to post a few pictures from spring break this week.  Spring break ended with a 17 hour train ride back to Dnipropetrovsk, where my platskart (3rd class) companions offered me vodka and pizza. 
Everything is going well with teaching, I suppose.  My 7th grade class is definitely my favorite--they're always interested and easy to get involved with whatever I want.  One student, Anya, is the otlichnik--basically an equivalent to valedictorian, highest grades in her grade or whatever.  They also made me a cool card for Defenders' Day on February 23. 
I promise I'll post some pictures soon.  I'm also looking to make a video entry of a grand tour of Pavlograd soon, so look back in a few days to see what I've done.