Free fallin'

We went out and saw a few more cathedrals today. I don't have a whole ton to say, so it will mostly just be pictures, which is what everyone really wants to see anyway. Honestly though, today the streets were like 10 times more slippery than normal. And they are always super slick. So everywhere I walked today, I saw so many people either slip on ice under the snow or actually fall.  It is sometimes the funniest thing to see. They don't smile a ton here, even when they fall. So you see these super stern adults falling and hoping right back up to continue walking. So funny.
But it's even better when us teachers fall. Again, when Ukrainians fall, they don't make a sound, or as one lady we witnessed fall, they let out the tiniest little, "Oh" and continue on. For us, we scream or grunt or many some ridiculous noise. Even when we just slip. So I'm basically laughing the whole walk when I'm with other teachers. It's great. Today walking back from school, Tamarah slipped for at least 10 seconds straight. Haha it was the best! I was there to try and hold her up but her feet had something crazy in mind. Just picture that video of the man shoveling snow and falling for like 30 seconds. It was basically that and we were laughing hysterically in the middle of town. No biggie. ;) I just love it here. We blend in so well...not. haha

This reminded me so much of a Whoville house. The fence mostly. It was great :) 

Unfortunately, this one was under construction. It was beautiful! 

We ate at the most delicious restaurant ever! It was Italian so obviously it was great. And super cheep here! I got ravioli and cheesecake. SO good!! Oh, and the menu was in English this time! 

Hahaha! Highlight of my day was watching this little boy dress up like Cinderella. He wanted to wear the dress but was so unhappy after he put it on. He is so emotionless all the time anyway, so it was the funniest thing to watch him act out the dance scene in Cinderella. My head teacher and I were both losing it. What a champ... 

"One monkey please!" That will be 150 hryvnia. "Doh!"

It's been awhile since I have written and a lot has happened! I've found myself just getting lazy to write and enjoying myself too much over here :) That's a good thing though. haha
To start off, I'll say that I have successfully completed my first week of actual teaching! It was pretty good-- getting easier each day. The kids are great. I just hope that I am able to teach them some English and not just lose my own in the process.
Wednesday we decided to have a slumber party, me and a few of the other teachers. I had stayed at the school all day, planning my lessons and then we all left. One teacher, Tamarah, walked with me to my house to grab my things. So the system here at the apartments--There is a "Babushka" or old lady/grandma who sits in her little room, waiting for people that live in the apartment complex to come and she will open the door for them. My first day here, my host sister told the babushka that I was living with them. So the first half of the week I had no problem. But this night, which just happened to be super cold, the babushka did not know me. I think she was a new one. So she would not open the door for us. But not just that, she was glaring through her little window at us! She tried telling me something, but obviously we don't speak Russian. So I called my host mom to see if she was home and could come help. She wasn't but was able to send someone to come let us in. It was just so funny that this whole time, the lady was still sitting in her room inside, watching us. She never once looked away... Five minutes we were out in the cold, freezing. Haha well she knows me now, but still wont smile at me.
Saturday, we had our first little excursion! It was pretty close to us. The night before, all 10 of us teachers came to one of the schools and had a slumber party! haha it was fun finally getting to really know some of the other teachers. We stayed up late and slept in. I don't feel nearly as bad about sleeping in over here. Waking up at 9:30, 10ish is pretty normal here! It's fantastic. If only it was that way back home.
We met "Big Tania" who would be our tour guide throughout the day. We took the metro and then a bus and after walked to the motherland monument. Along the way, there were so many beautiful buildings! Just walking along, snapping photos of everything, trying not to slip on the ice. We got to the monument and right beneath it is a WW2 museum. It was like a $0.20 entrance fee... Don't know how I can afford that. haha
It was incredible walking through there! Tania was telling us some stories of the war and helping me get a better understanding of what it was like. There was a room about concentration camps that nearly broke my heart. Seeing different items and pictures. It was hard. And then there was another room where Tania explained that all the Jews and Gypsies in Ukraine were told to meet somewhere with all of their personal belongings, or else they would be killed. They basically walked to their death... There was a video playing that was so hard to watch. I'm going to be a wreck when we go to Auschwitz!
After the museum, we went up and took a picture in front of the "Big Mama". It is huge! Oh and of course when we walked out of the museum, it was a blizzard outside! It was heavily snowing and was the one day I chose not to wear my heavy snow boots. Bad choice on my part.
We hoped on another bus that took us a little ways down, passing amazing buildings again on our way. We went to Maidan, or the central square in Kyiv. In 2014 there was a huge "dispute" and central square was up in flames. A boy at camp was telling me all about it. They all know so much history about their country as well as all of Europe. Anyway, we went to a restaurant for lunch which was kinda a cafeteria style. You go through, pick whatever you want, and then pay. It wasn't the best food I have ever had but I don't think I got the right things.
As we were walking out, 3 people with monkeys were standing on the sidewalk! We all were so excited! We walked up to them and they told us it is free to hold the monkey! So some of us went up and took the monkey, others had monkeys thrown at them. Of course, we start taking pictures but little did we know it was 50 hryvnia for photos, which is only about $2. That would be worth it for me, if I got a really good picture, but the lady grabbed my camera from the teacher I wanted to take my picture and took a terrible picture of me. Just one. Who takes just one photo!? haha anyway, after paying them, we started to leave. But they came up to Haley and said she held 2 monkeys so she owed 50 more. She didn't even want to hold 2 but they just put them in her hands and took a picture of her! So she payed the 50 and we again tried to leave. But no, the third monkey lady stopped us and Haley had also taken a photo with her monkey... Oh gosh, that's getting expensive now. But we ended up just walking away and saying we had already payed enough. It was ridiculous. But the monkeys were pretty cute :)
That night I came back so exhausted! But so excited for the next day--Sunday!! While being here, I have not been able to go to church. So after 3 weeks of not going, I was so ready to go to church! We all met, those of us here in Pozniaky, and walked only about 20 minutes to church. It was such a wonderful sight seeing it ahead as we walked. We walked in and see 4 missionaries, 2 elders and 2 sisters. The sisters offered to sit behind us and translate for us! What a wonderful experience. She did amazing too; I was so impressed at how well she knew the language. She seemed fluent and had been out for 9 months. So it was great knowing what they were saying and still having that experience of a Ukrainian ward. We exchanged numbers with them and let them know we would be willing to go on splits anytime :) It was a great, relaxing Sunday.

Girls on the metro

They like to do funny stretches

An awesome building on our walk to school

Big mama

These are pictures of all the heroes that died in Ukraine during WW2

Vodka glasses that family/friends would drink for those who died.

My cute head teacher, Kathryn

Me and Tamarah

Cool stuffed animal tree :) 

Love these girls!

Central school girls

Haley and the monkeys! haha

Yay for church!!

Especially church with these lovelies :)

So tonight, Kate and I decided to go to a restaurant and see what it was like. We literally just opened the menu and pointed to something. We wanted food, but accidentally bought dessert. At least it was delicious! And quite the experience... haha

This silly girl was spitting her tongue out the whole time I was trying to take pictures of her. So I joined her in the madness. 

"I bundle myself up like a little Ukrainian lady"

Seriously, it is getting colder and colder here! The past two days I have nearly frozen while walking to the school, to the store, and back. And also, that about sums up the places I can find on my own. haha the apartment buildings here, which are everywhere, are all nearly identical which makes it quite difficult to navigate myself. I am however getting better as of today.
Yesterday we all came together for a little training and to plan our lessons for the week. We finally had the chance to meet the other teachers! They all seem fantastic. It will be fun to get to know them better on our vacations and all. Oh and side note, speaking about vacations. We booked our first flight for a vacay to...GREECE!! Ah I cannot wait. It will be over valentines day, so what a great day to be all us gals in a beautiful country. ;) The hostels are also booked and look amazing! So that is something to look forward to!
Let's talk a little about the freezing temps here! I decided today that I cannot leave the house with only one pair of pants on, after freezing my butt off yesterday! I walked to the other teachers apartment after training and so ended up walking home around 9. I had my coat, gloves, scarf, and hat all on (but only 1 pair of pants). I also wrapped my infinity scarf around 3 times so that it acts as a sort of face mask as well. About half way back to my house, my eyes were watering, my face that wasn't covered by my scarf was freezing, and my hands and legs were hurting because of the cold! Luckily it didn't take too long to defrost when I got inside.
Today was my first real day of teaching an actual ILP lesson. It wasn't that bad. The first group of kids comes from 9-11 and the second from 11-1. 9:15 rolls around and one little girl, Sophia, shows up. She was super shy for quite awhile. Olia was talking to her and trying to reason with her for about 15 or so minuets. She came around eventually and teacher Haley took her for her first lesson. I would then have her after that. It was really strange with just one student being there. I had prepared to play musical chairs... So as you can imagine, that couldn't really work out well with just one student. I figured it out though and made it work. I'm glad that it wasn't my first experience teacher here though, or I might have panicked.

Haha oh my, one of the funniest moments I have had here! I was teaching a lesson, having the kids do a letter "A" worksheet, and this girl, Alisa, just starts singing this song! I started laughing and then filming. These kids know the most random songs...

Our second group of kids came and luckily there was more than just one student for each class. The kids were obviously adorable! The younger kids were a bit of a handful actually, which I wasn't really expecting. They know a little less English than I had imagined and so getting them to do what I needed was harder. They would rather just run around the room and pull on each others clothes. But I would say it was a pretty good first day of teaching at Pozniaky! Tomorrow will be at a new school. Mon, Wed, Fri I have morning schedule at Pozinaky and Tues, Thurs I go to Central school which requires taking the metro. We will see how that goes tomorrow!
After teaching today, I went and got my nails done, thanks to Olia for setting me up! haha It's only about $7 for gel nails! What a steel... Walking home I nearly froze again. It was super windy all day today, so that makes it 10x worse! And I still had not remembered to put on 2 pairs of pants! Stupid move on my part. In Ukraine, they don't really clear the walk ways or the streets, so the ice can be super think and is very slippery when its -15 and all. I literally skate rather than walk. I have yet to fall though, so it's working. But then I see Ukrainian women walk fast in their heel boots and wonder "how on earth!?"

I got back home and was freezing for a long time! My wonderful host mom made me some herbal tea and I had a muffin with it. Oh and if anyone is wondering, I am definitely  NOT starving here! I get fed at least 2 dinners a night, often more. Today I had lunch at school, then got home and had that tea and muffin, then before I left again, my mom fed me a couple crapes (or called pancakes here), I went to the other apartment and was fed a potato dinner there, and when I got home at like 10, my mom insisted that I have borscht and chicken! I was so full... Good thing I am doing a lot of walking. Anyway, I had a little time to relax and try to warm up. Then it was back to bundling up and heading back outside to go hang with the other girls. This time, I remembered to put thick leggins under my pants. Let's just say, best decision yet. Also, I was brave and decided to try a new way to get to their house, which if was right, would be a lot faster. The first 5 minutes I was afraid I was wrong, but then I realized where I was and was so proud! haha. All those times I walked all the way around... Now I know the short way, so less freezing. On my way back home, I just kept hearing little Vanellope Von Schweetz voice in my head, saying "...and I bundle myself up like a little homeless lady." Survival tip for Ukraine, bundle up like a little Ukrainian babushka or you will die. No matter how ridiculous you might look, just do it.

On my walk back home

Arriving home, riding in the creepy elevator

Host home at last!

Warning: Long post today with lots of pictures!
I'm home! Well, my home for the next 3 months. Finally we have arrived to Kyiv and I met my amazing host family! They are just lovely :) But before I get to that, yesterday was my last day with all the kids from the camp. And also my last day staying with the other teachers.
It was actually really sad to have to say goodbye to them. Our theme for yesterday was "party" and so all my classes we played different games and listened to some music. I found this ridiculous game online that was just hysterical to watch the oldest kids play! The younger kids didn't quite get the point of the game and weren't cooperating. But in this game, one person is blindfolded and stands in the center of everyone. The rest of us would move around to different places when he was blindfolded, so that he wouldn't know who was sitting where. Then, with a stack of rolled up paper, the person blindfolded would feel around and find someone and sit on them or in front of them. The one being sat on would have to say "quack, quack" in a strange voice and the blindfolded person would try and guess. The kids actually got into the game and we were all laughing our heads off! It was fantastic.
The last 30 minutes of our class time, we all came together to put on our Christmas plays that each class had been working on the past 2 weeks. My class was doing Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. My kids did pretty good in practices, but they would not listen very well when I would tell them where to stand or how to move around on stage. However, they all knew their lines perfectly! So that I was so happy for. So when it came time for them to perform, they all did amazing!! They stood where I had told them to, and they did exactly what we had practiced! Honestly, I don't think it could have gone any better. I was imagining it being a disaster but the kids proved me wrong! I have never loved those kids more! :) haha. It reassured me that even if they seem to not being paying attention or caring at all what I'm saying in class, they are getting something from what I'm teaching them.
All the teachers and coordinators voted and my class won! I was so proud of them and they were all so happy to have won. It was so cute--when it was announced that our class won, a lot of them ran up to me and hugged me! What a terrific feeling it was :) haha no matter how small of an accomplishment it actually was... They did great.

We knew that we would be leaving in just a few hours for Kyiv, so we headed up to our room and packed up all our stuff. I'm grateful I kept all my things sort of in one place, which made it super easy to pack it all up again. All the kids were giving us teachers hugs and saying how they would miss us. It was actually really sweet! What amazing kids they are. I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to spend these two short weeks with them. And I will be able to follow some of them on Facebook and Instagram to see what amazing people they grow up to be :)

This little girl, Sasha, was attached to all us teachers... 24/7

When Liza takes your phone, you end up with a billion selfies. These are my favorites ;)

We said our last goodbyes and piled all our suitcases and ourselves into the taxi van. What a crazy and all around terrifying drive to my host family! I understand drivers know what they are doing, but when your in the front seat and aren't sure what they are doing, it's freaky! This driver was weaving in and out of lanes like nobodies business. The whole time, he would drive in the middle of two lanes. Then when a car would be coming up behind us, he would just choose which lane he wanted to be in and move over. It seems to just be the way of driving here. I hope I get used to it because I'm scared to cross the street alone! haha cars do what they want it seems.

We passed the temple on our drive to host families

Well, when the driver pulled up to what was supposedly my apartment, us three teachers had no idea who's house it was. And the driver didn't speak a lick of English! When we left the camp, Miss Olia told us that we would first stop at the other 2 girls apartment and then I would be last. The driver looked at me, spoke some crazy fast Russian to me, and I just looked back with a blank stare. He then proceeded to show me an address, again in Russian, and I was supposed to know if that was mine or not. After all this nonsense, he called Olia and talked to her and then passed the phone to me. She said this was my address and I should call my host mom, Taunya, and let her know I had arrived.
I got out of the van and called Taunya, who said she was on her way down to meet me. The driver helped me get my 2 suitcases and literally said goodbye and got in the car to drive away with the other 2 teachers. So there I was, standing on a cold, dark street of Ukraine, watching the taxi drive away, still unsure if this was the right place. I had a moment of sheer panic, thinking of the worst case scenario--This was actually not my home and I would be stuck with my two heavy suitcases, not knowing how to communicate and freezing to death. My mom called, asked where I was and I tried to tell her, although I myself had no idea where I was. Apparently I was dropped off on the side of the building. So she came, walking up to save me and take me in where it was warm! The taxi had literally just pulled away when I spotted her... haha so maybe I had overreacted just a little.
She greeted me and helped me with the luggage. We live in an apartment building on the twelfth floor. As we exited the elevator, I heard some little Ukrainian voice shouting my name! It was my little 7 year old sister, Teresa, so excited to meet me! haha how cute is she. They welcomed me in and have been nothing but sweet since I got here. I have two little host sisters, Teresa and Barbara who is 14 almost 15. They fed me delicious chicken with melted cheese on the top and mashed potatoes. It was so good! We also had chocolate muffins and I drank hot fruit juice stuff called Kampot (Love that stuff).

My cute little bed

The doors to our room

The kitchen

I'm loving my family! They are amazing to me and the apartment is so cute! I share an adorable room with Barbara-- Teresa gave up her bed for me. Anyway, today I met up with the other two teachers, Elli and Haley, and we strolled around town. I first walked with my host sisters to go take Teresa to sports club and Barbara showed me the school I will be teaching at. We finally found the teachers and Barbara also left to go to the sports club.
The three of us wanted to go to the mall that was supposed to be pretty close to us. However, we walked about 25-30 minutes in the wrong direction, thinking we were almost there the whole time. It would have been unfortunate had we not found a beautiful little church along the way. We went and took some pictures and then figured we should probably head back and see if we passed the mall. It ended up that the mall was only about 5 minutes the other direction from where we started... haha. Everything just looks so similar here, it is hard to know where you are! I kept saying, "Oh, now I know where we are!" or "Ok so that's the way to my house!" and sure enough, I was always wrong... Luckily I have the most amazing host sister who comes to pick me up and walk me back to our house. Hopefully I will be able to find my own way around soon. And I know that I can walk to the school without getting lost! So that's something...

My cute sisters :)

The cool building we found while being lost

I'm just so glad to be here, with this family and I'm excited to start teaching at the school here! I know it will be challenging at times, but what an amazing experience it is going to be. :)

Of course when your host sister draws you, it's when you look your best... ;) (note how she managed to include the three pimples on my forehead) haha! But she is great at drawing for a 7 year old! 

So I thought I was done writing for today and almost ready to relax and lay in bed, and then my host mom came home. And she started making second dinner! Haha. They call in salad but the only similarity to our salads is the lettuce. It had boiled beats, lettuce, garlic (lots), cottage cheese, vinegar, croutons (another similarity I forgot to mention), and probably a few more things that I'm forgetting. It was actually really good! I'm so glad that there hasn't been any food yet that I haven't liked! My host mom is an amazing cook :)