What a week it’s been, full of great food and important conversations.

We kicked things off on Tuesday with a cozy house dinner. Lasagne was on the menu, and we wrapped it up with a delicious tiramisu for dessert. There’s something about sitting around the table together, laughing and catching up, that makes the house feel even more like home.

Wednesday: Talking Empathy at Our House Meeting
On Wednesday, we continued working on our 5th Pillar: Making Safe and Responsible Choices. This week’s focus was all about empathy—specifically, the tricky but powerful idea of seeing the world through someone else’s eyes.

The Advocates team led us through a video that broke it down in a simple but meaningful way: what empathy really means, why it’s not always easy, and how it helps us grow stronger as a community. The goal was to help us not just talk about empathy, but really understand how to live it.

Tonight’s Boarding Assembly was something special. Sofiia and her friends took the stage to tell us about Maslenitsa, a beloved Russian tradition that celebrates the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

Also known as Pancake Week, Maslenitsa is full of joy—sleigh rides, singing, games, and of course, blini (thin pancakes that symbolize the sun). Sofiia and her group shared what this tradition means to them and brought a little bit of that festive spirit to all of us. It was beautiful to see culture shared with such pride and openness.

Lots of Love,

Aida & Yewande