A new adventure to come...

Jon and I have taken positions in Kyiv, Ukriane for the next couple of years. Jon will serve as the Athletic Director and I will be the Elementary Counselor. We are excited for what the future holds in Kyiv, the people we will meet and the challenges that taking a new job brings. Thank you all for your support!

I will try to be more diligent with this blog since we will have limited ways of communication this time around. Check back a couple times a month for updated photos and the .. adventures of the Mudds!

The above pictures were sent to us from the school and are pictures of our apartment. They provide and pay for our housing. It is only a couple blocks from school. Looks to have a couple bedrooms and a couple bathrooms. It will work just fine!!

Playa Sucia and Scuba diving for Valentine's Day

We had a great time on the west side of the island this week. Jon had booked a hotel room for 2 nights at Turtle Bay in La Parguera, a little beach side town. In the morning at 7:30 we met at West Side Divers and jumped on the boat with 4 other guys to explore the underwater world off the coast. Our first dive was on "La Pared" the wall - a 18 mile reef wall that runs along the south side of PR. We got to the depth of 125 feet on the dive (it was noticable the further we got down, it was like sucking air through a straw - a bit of an asmatic feeling I would guess) but we saw great fish and awesome, colorful coral. The second dive was called "Chiminey Rock" (go NE) and we went into a cave"ish" thing and inside was a chiminey in which you could exit out the top. If you have ever seen "Little Mermaid"... well, picture the scene where she is in her secret cave with the surrounding watcha-mich-callits and thing-a-ma-giggers and she swims up to this light, singing (of course) and stretches her hand up to the sun.... "part of your... wor-l-d". Are you picturing it. Well, that is "Chiminey Rock". ... only we swam out the top. We saw an eel, a sting ray, and again, great fish and coral. It was a good time, and a great birthday/v-day gift.

After scuba diving, we went to Playa Sucia for the afternoon. We were both exausted and it was nice to lay down and read a book.

El Yunque - South side - the best side

We took the Peak/Kaufhold's to the rainforest. They had been here 6 months and had never gone, so we showed them our favorite spots. The best waterfall hidden on the unpopular, forgotten south side of the forest. We had great weather so we were able to climb the rocks to a further up waterfall. We were the only ones there the entire day and the water was perfect. Next, we took them on a hike that we discovered with Kort and Kayla last year. Again, we made our way to another waterfall and breath-taking views. Great day with great friends.

Viaques, Puerto Rico

There is Puerto Rico - the big island - off in the distance.

Barbara, Jon and I took a long weekend and went camping on one of Puerto Rico's island: Viaques. We had been to Culebra many times and thought it would be a good time to visit the bigger island. We had great weather - sometimes spotty - camped for free on a beach, with nats and ants. Saw many wild horses, which was fun. Did a little "off roading" in our rented truck - the road won. Did some great snorkeling and exploring.

Three Kings Day in Juana Diaz

Yes, I LOT late, I realize. We spent Three King's Day (January 6th) in Juana Diaz the "birth place" of the 3 kings here in Puerto Rico. It was a great time filled with tradition and culture. We bought some 3 kings treasures to take to the Ukraine with us and remind us of the great festivites of PR.

Halloween at Monte Verde

Jon and I were vampires this Halloween. Lindsay and Joe - Zombie couple. Derrick was a man-ina-tee. Jodi a hipi. Mandi - HurriKane. Zayas - a scary masked man. Mike - another scary masked man. Barbara was Missy Guamani. and Mendez - an old woman, I guess! We had a great time. The party was up on the roof of the Monte Verde Apartments. A bit of wind to keep the mosquitoes down, a bright moon to shed some light and great company. Hope you all had a good halloween! (Don't you love Jon's make-up job!)

Girls' Night, Culebra, Quincenera

Here was our Girls' Night in San Juan. Lindsey, Kim, Andrea, Mandi and Jodi. We went to dinner at a Flamenco show. It was a good time and something that we should probably do more often.

This last weekend, Jon was out of town (state, country) in CA with his brother and dad. The rest of us went to Flamenco Beach on Culebra and camped for Friday night. It was great to wake up on the beach. We spent the day snorkeling. It was good! One of the best places in the world, I am sure.

Yesterday, I attended my first Quincenera. It was a great time. I took lots of picture, trying to document everything if I ever teach Spanish again. Ashley was beautiful. It was basically a wedding... just missing the groom. 14 bridesmaids, almost as many "groomsmen", dinner, dance, DJ, ... everything really. It was so fun to be invited!