The First Day of Spring.

One of the first things my teacher said to me today is that it's 'officially' the first day of spring. I'm not sure how something like this can be made official, but I think she was right. The weather here has been lovely today. I'm not sure why people are still wearing fur coats and knee high boots, because I'm pretty sure if it were this warm in England I'd probably have seen a few fools in shorts by now.

After lessons today I met Sara for a wander around the city, and for the first time in my life I've actually taken a decent amount of pictures (woo, go me!). The emergence of the sunshine has really lifted Odessa, people have started sitting outside cafes, and some parts of the centre look particularly beautiful now.

The main park in the centre of town.

Is Liverpool on this because, like Odessa, it has a port?

I don't completely 'get' the whole putting a padlock on a bridge thing, but I thought this little heart shaped version was rather cute, even though it isn't really my usual kind of thing.

During our wander around town, we witnessed a very extreme take on the animal print trend. It does seem very common for people over here to love a bit of co-ordination, but this Grandma took it to a whole new level. She may become my new style icon.

I'm feeling better about things now I'm used to my new surroundings. I think when I first got here I felt under pressure to make lots of friends and do a whole host of 'super exciting' things, and I'm not really sure why. Sometimes I can feel really lonely, especially when Facebook is awash with people uploading pictures of themselves with their friends on their year abroad, and I do sometimes wonder why I decided to come out here by myself, however I think in the long time it will pay off. I think by the end of this I'll feel quite proud of myself for doing something way outside my comfort zone!

Anyway, I have a chicken burrito and a cider waiting for me, so that's enough for now. Let's hope the sun keeps shining!