Well, as I'm sure you could have guessed, life here in Ukraine is both amazing and hectic all at the same time.
I began my journey almost a week ago when my mom and I drove to Tennessee the night before my flight. While there, I got to see my big sister one last time.
Wait, backing up. So I wasn't quite sure what my plans were and when I would get the chance to say goodbye to my family and friends. There was a possibility that I was going to be up in Nashville the week I was leaving. I was going to keep working up until the day I left, but plans changed, and that didn't happen. Instead I stayed home and packed. Something that was much needed, I mean I am in a foreign country for 4 months! I spent a little time with my brother and sisters, but not nearly as much as I wanted. On Sunday we had a picnic with my dad (he has been working a lot of late nights the past couple of weeks, and I wanted to spend some time with him before I left). At some point during the week I hung out with my best friend H, and then Wednesday I got to spend some time with my best friend C. :) I got to be a part of her opening her mission call, and although it was just over the phone, I went over as soon as I could afterwards to congratulate her and to spend some much needed time together. The next day was Thursday... which I dreaded. It meant that I needed to pack and say goodbye to my family for the next four months. I have left my family before, but this time was different, the idea of no longer being able to call my family, or talk to them at any given moment during the day was upsetting to me. And then with C leaving for her mission a month before I get home, that meant and still means I won't see her again for almost 2 whole years! What am I going to do with myself???
Sorry... Let's continue. SO I got home from C's on Wednesday night, and realized it might be the last time I see my sisters S and H. When I gave them hugs I cried, and then I went to bed. I ended up waking up before they left for school, so I said bye yet again. Then I spent the day packing. After packing some, I met up with my daddy for lunch. :) It was nice to see him again before I left. He even told me he was proud of me. :) Later, I decided to bring some Gigi's cupcakes to my sisters at school, so that I could say bye one more time. Well, the school wouldn't let them come to the office for 20 more minutes, and my mom and I needed to be home for when L got home from school, so I left the school in tears - yet again. I then packed some more, and drove H to band practice, making sure to see S one last time as well. Then I said bye to Hannah, went home and finished packing. By the time I was done, it was time for H to be picked up, and S was home from drama practice, so I got to see them all again. :) That made me feel better. As soon as the goodbyes were over, my mom and I hopped in the car and drove to Fossil to see C one last time (she got called into work last minute). I walked in, gave her a hug and left. I didn't have time to cry, so I had to make it short and sweet. And it was just that - bittersweet.
So now I can move on to seeing R in Tennessee with my mama. We drove up there, and stopped at Wendy's for dinner. I ordered a Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger, and it was SO good! When we finally made it to R's, I was ready for bed. So after some talking, that is where I headed. I got a good nights sleep in a super comfy bed, and then first thing that morning we were off to the airport.
My flight to Chicago was nice and short. I was on one of those little planes where there is a seat that is both an aisle and a window seat because there is only one seat in the row. Those seats are my favorite. In Chicago I had to walk across the entire airport to get to my gate. I made it before any of the other teachers, and sat for about an hour or two before they arrived. We all sat together, and talked (a little bit at least. We were all so tired and exhausted from being up so early.). As we were getting ready to board, our wonderful gate people notified us that we needed to get our documents verified, and our boarding passes stamped before we could board the plane. Why they couldn't tell us that 3 hours earlier, I'm not sure. The good news though, is that we were not the only ones who needed a stamp, the whole plane did. Once on the plane, we sat for another hour waiting for some mechanical problem to be fixed. Our flight ended up leaving an hour later than scheduled, but we were finally on our way. My seat was in between two guys (both married, with kids - don't worry, they weren't cute). When we made it to Frankfurt, Germany, we couldn't understand anything. We just followed the signs. We ended up having to go through security yet again, but then we were off. We walked through the entire airport before finding our gate. Once there, we met up with another girl that was traveling to Ukraine with us. After 30 minutes or so, our gate changed. We got up and walked some more, backtracking from where we had come before. Finally at our gate we sat, and took over a whole seating area with the 10 or so of us, and all of our stuff. To get to the airplane we, and all of our stuff, had to be bussed to another part of the airport (that could not be walked to). Our plane ride was about 3 1/2 hours, and I slept the majority of it. We landed in Ukraine, and it just felt so surreal to actually be here. We went through customs (well, five of us did) before we realized we lost the other half of our group. Turns out one of the guys lost his passport on the plane, and couldn't go through customs until it was retrieved. It was kindof a big ordeal, but our native coordinator helped take care of it, and he was able to make it through customs.
We were split into groups by our coordinators, and bussed to our homes for the next 4 months. I am one of the few teachers in our group that has a roommate, and I love it. Dani is awesome. :) Our family is pretty cool too, but they don't speak English, with the exception of Dima our host brother who is married and lives next door. Basically we live and communicate using charades and Google Translate.
The rest of Saturday we spent getting settled. On Sunday morning we were taken to meet with one of the coordinators for our school, Tania (I work with her every morning Monday - Friday). At the school we had meetings and training. It was a long and tiring day. After we were done with training, a couple of us took the metro to see the Temple. :) It was beautiful, and just what I needed to help me relax and truly enjoy where I live.
We made it home late that night, and I may have gotten locked out... Haha. Okay, I did get locked out. Dani had the key, and she didn't come with us. I didn't have her number in my phone, so that meant I couldn't contact her. I ended up walking around the building, and going into a door after someone opened it, but there was no way to access my apartment from that door, so I was at a loss. I ended up trying to talk to the little old lady at the desk, and she took me to her apartment (I think) to say something to someone there to see if they could help. Let's keep in mind that they were all speaking Russian, and I didn't understand a word. They all ended up calling their friends who knew English, so that they could translate for me. One girl was under the impression that I needed a place to stay, and wanted to know how much I was willing to pay. At that point I remembered that I had a number for one of the other girls, so I told them thank you, left, and called her. Rachel then called Dani for me, while I waited patiently for her to come open the outside door. Someone happened to be going in, so I followed them, and made it upstairs before Dani had even left the apartment. :) It gave me a good laugh, and I wasn't scared at all. Haha. Everyone was really nice and just wanted to help me.
The next day, Monday, we had more training. We also spent time planning our lessons since we began teaching the next day (rather than in a week like we had anticipated). Monday night we went to Olia's house and celebrated Zach and Tessa's second anniversary. We played games, ate tons of delicious food, and made memories that will last forever. :) It was a nice way for us to enjoy some time together, get to know each other, and remember how wonderful it is to live in Ukraine.
Tuesday we began teaching, and besides the word rough, I really have nothing else to say about it. Some days are better than others, and I am slowly getting the hang of it, but right now I am just overwhelmed and exhausted. I can't wait for tomorrow's lessons to be over. Than hopefully I can finally relax.
Saturday we are going to tour Kyiv with all of the teachers in Kyiv Two. That should be lots of fun, and maybe just maybe I won't feel so bad for looking like a tourist.
OHHH! And we are going on our first big trip on September 28!!! It is going to be an 8 day trip, and we are going to visit 5 different countries! I am stoked! :) Yay for vacations!
*************************** I will post pictures tomorrow ******************************
