USNOF

We arrived safely in Khmelnytsky around noon on Sunday. Compared to the drive between Kiev and Rivne, this drive was relatively short; only 3 1/2 hours and we drove through beautiful countryside.  Unfortunately it was a bit grueling for me due to the swaying and bumpiness of the roads.  I wish I could adequately explain or describe what the roads look like--they are really bad!  Weathering and erosion have left them pockmarked with potholes and use has created large ripples.  There are no visual boundaries on the roads such as lanes so the drivers create their own lanes; often times driving in what appears to be oncoming traffic only to swerve back on to the right side of the road at the last minute.  Needless to say, the swerving, bumping, bouncing, swaying, etc. can make the motion sick person in the group a little uneasy and I no longer feel comfortable taking dramamine.  Fortunately I was able to sit in the front.  That did help.  We made it to Khmelnytsky without any flat tires or broken axles, thank goodness.  Our only hitch was a speeding ticket (No, Daniel, I wasn't driving!).

After checking into the hotel we had a great lunch, then headed to the Omni Center to discuss the conference. We always have some miscommunications that need to be worked out, but nothing major and our meeting went pretty well.  Last night ended up being a late night for me because I was watching England play France in the quarter finals and of course they had to go into overtime and penalty kicks plus I was working on my notes for my presentation today.  Luckily for me they serve incredibly strong coffee here and I was able to perk up and wake up with ease this morning.

We kicked off our conference today, and I'd have to say that it went, overall, pretty well.  We began with general introducations and description of the week's events.  Lori began the conference with a lecture on communication development and strategies for promoting communication.  Her topic sets up the ground work for just about every topic to follow.  At some point along the way something got lost in translation and one woman became a little aggressive in her comments and questions towards Lori.  She fears that the "take home" message did not reach everybody.  I personally thought she did a fantastic job and felt for her that it was spoiled a bit by this miscommunication.  Following lunch I gave the first part of my presentation on behavior.  I thought it was received well and my consultation slots are virtually filled up for the rest of the week, which is encouraging.