The last couple few days

The last couple of days have been so exhausting. It feels like I have been here for weeks and not just a few days. I think my body is still trying to function on American time and it is throwing me off. I am eating more food than my body can take in. I don’t have much of an appetite since I have been here and my host mom makes Taia and me two dinners. I don’t understand why and not being able to understand her makes things more frustrating. I am slowly getting used to Ukraine. I don’t know if I will ever get used to the smell though. Everyone and everything smells like cigarette smoke and bad body odor. Hardly anyone smiles, I can’t stand that! I am such a smiley person but it isn’t custom here to smile like it is in America. When I was at school getting things set up my native coordinator’s mom was there and she was all smiles and even smiled at me when she saw me. It felt so nice! So I don’t walk around with my usual big smile but it is still there. I cannot just get rid of it so easily. That is something that I don’t think I will get used to either.

The food is decent. It isn’t the same as American food but there is a lot of potatoes!! And being a girl from Idaho it made me happy. I have only had a couple of meals so far where potatoes was a part of it.

I am beginning to understand how to get to school and my way home. The commute is 1 ½ hours. I have to take a bus to the metro and then take another bus. But the last couple of days, Galina has been taking us on the tram which is like a trolley because it is on a railway and is hooked up to something on the top. The bus and the metro and tram are always so crammed with people. I feel like a can of sardines. I feel better using the public transportation than being in a car though. For some reason, it doesn’t feel as fast as when I am in a car so I don’t freak out.

As for school, there are three schools that we are split up at. And they are all about an hour apart from each other. I spent today at my school. The program has only been here for about a year so there aren’t a whole lot of things. Lessons are proving to be difficult but they have always been difficult. It is hard for me to sit down and organize my thoughts on what I will do. And the lesson plans are different from what I am used to. I have to write down every step that I and the children will be doing to get as much English out of each step. It becomes as detailed as how do you open the glue bottle. I don’t think about these things because it has become so second nature. And I am pretty sure that they know how to open a glue bottle. They just don’t know how to say it in English like I can.

I have been assigned to teach the primary level. It consists of children ages 4-7 and they are pretty much starting from the beginning. I am pretty excited to work with them. I don’t know how I will be working with or how many children I will have. This makes it more difficult to plan things out. I really want to meet my kids. I hope that I can develop a relationship with them during the short amount of time I am with them. And I hope that I am able to teach them English.

I haven’t done any real sight seeing except on the bus. I have fallen in love with a statue that is as large as the Statue of Liberty. I don’t know the name of it but it is the protector for the country. At least that is what Olya told me. I really want to see it. Tomorrow will be my first activity. My group is going to a flower exhibition and I am super excited about. I have to bring 20 hryvnias pronounced: grieve-nas. That is about 2.50 in American dollars. The currency exchange is 1 dollar to 8 hryvnias.

I am looking forward to this weekend. I am going to a flower exhibition and on Sunday, it will be church. I am going to an international branch and it is by the temple. :) :) :)

I can’t wait to tell you all about it. And I promise there will be some pictures soon!

I am finally here!

After months and months and months of anticipation and counting down the days, I am finally here in Ukraine. I still can’t believe that I am here. The only things that makes me believe that I am in Ukraine is that I can’t understand anything that I read or what anyone is saying.

There is so much to write that I don’t know where to begin. First off, let me just complain. United Airlines made me pay $100 for two checked baggage. That is ridiculous and then they don’t even give me a snack on the plane ride. What is up with that?!? Ok....I am done complaining for the most part.

I met up with half the girls I am teaching with on the first flight, which is nice because I don’t know how I would have felt if I had to travel alone. I have grown to love these girls already and maybe it is because I feel the need to latch myself onto them or maybe because I spent time with them on three different planes and I feel connected to them, who knows…

The plane rides were very long. I flew from Salt Lake City to Washington D.C. Then I flew from D.C. to Frankfurt, Germany and from Germany to Kiev, Ukraine. I started out with United Airlines and then switched to a German airline called Lufthansa. We were on a double decker plane! I can’t believe that a plane can have two levels. The economy section was jammed packed and the fellow in front of me felt the need to recline his chair back a fourth of the way into the flight leaving me with no leg room and the TV. screen about five inches away from my face. Let’s just say, I wasn’t very comfortable. But I got to watch movies, which was fun! The service was a lot better. We got a full dinner and a breakfast. And the meals were pretty good. I even got a second breakfast on the last plane even through it was only a couple few hours long. Yet United couldn’t even provide peanuts.

I was really worried that my luggage wasn’t going to make it. Fortunately, I have all my things. Though, I lost my I l <3 M.E. pin that I keep on my backpack somewhere along the way. I am really bummed about that because I love that pin. One of the girls lost a suitcase that had her shoes and her mission journals. I am bummed about that for her but at least it was only one suitcase.

I met my host family. It is an older couple about in their 60’s and their daughter who might be in her 30’s. She is married but I think her husband is away right now. I am not quite sure because I couldn’t understand a word. My host mom’s name is Galina. She is a sweet lady. I have a roommate, another girl in the program. Her name is Taia. She is a very nice girl and I see us getting along very well. It is a tender mercy from the Lord that he paired us two together. Both of us wouldn’t know what to do if we were alone in a house with people we couldn’t talk to. She and I have started roommate scripture study and I think that it will go well. It will help bond us and help us during our stay here. Our room is very small and there is no room to really unpack but I think Taia and I can make it work.

The drive from the airport to our host family was one of the scariest things I have ever experienced. I think I witnessed about 100 American traffic violations, at least. I ended up closing my eyes because I was having anxiety from just watching the roads. I wish I could write more about what the city looks like but I was too afraid of getting into an accident that I didn’t see much of the city. But from what I did see, everything is very old and rundown. The streets don’t make much sense but that is because the city was built before cars were created so they had to build the roads around existing buildings. And once I become more familiar with the city, my anxiety should go away. I am just very, very thankful that I don’t have to drive anywhere!

I am excited for work to begin. School doesn’t start until next Monday. This is nice because we can continue on with training and get ourselves acclimated to the culture and the people before we jump into things.

There is so much that I want to do and see while I am here. I hope that I can do and see everything. I am truly grateful for this opportunity. I am extremely blessed and things are working out alright so far. I can feel Heavenly Father’s love here in Ukraine.