the eagle has landed.

руддщк акщь еру дфтв ща глкфшту!

i wish i could pretend like i knew what that said, or if that said anything. but what i would like it to say is...
hello from the land of ukraine!


:)

is that weird to think about for you guys? that i'm actually here..because it is for me. but anyways. here is my take on everything right now.


-dont sleep for 4 days before you go on long flights. you wont get too bad of jet lag, and you'll sleep like a baby on every flight you go on.

- study up on a language before you go somewhere. it might help you.

- people in ukraine never stop feeding you. ever.

- when they say it's snowy in ukraine. it's SNOWING. hard. and winding in your face. and painfully cold.  (winding= fierce winds. that blow snow in your face so you cant see)

- listen to them when they tell you it's cold outside. because if a ukrainian says it's cold, IT'S COLD.

- "close" to them means at least 30 minutes..either walking, subway, or with the metro. so when they say something is far, dont even think about going there.


- for some strange reason, my lips were swollen when i woke up this morning. and they were painfully dry. i wanted to cry they hurt so bad. and i have been piling on the chapstick, but it makes it burn. SOMEONE TELL ME WHY THIS IS HAPPENING.

- they pull their kids around on sleds. why did i never think about this? best.idea.ever.

okay, so i guess you wanna know about my host family, and everything else well, here you go.

i live with the cutest family ever, and the very sweetest. there is a mom, a dad, and two kids: dasha and igor. dasha is 8 and igor is 4. to tell you the honest truth, i'm not sure if these are their names. but that's what i've picked up from our broken and extremely painfully awkward conversations.

the dad speaks the most english, and it's very hard to communicate. i tried asking if i could get a key to the apartment just in case i came home and nobody was here. yeah, he didnt understand. it was awkward trying to explain it for 10 minutes and then just saying nevermind. yesterday he took me to the market, which is just a small version of a grocery store here. it was fun! i mean, it was nothing really new here. except he asked me what i wanted to eat and i told him sandwich stuff, and he laughed and told me to go to mcdonalds for that...it was awkward.

ukranians are very blunt and straightforward. kinda sometimes it makes me feel stupid, but whatever. i'm used to it.

the mom is very nice. she tries very hard to speak english to me and asks me a lot of questions. both the parents work..she is advertising for a publishing company..and he is a sea captian..or something. i dont really know. it's hard to communicate..i'm not going to lie.

what else, the kids are cute. i think they're scared of me. they just run away and dont look at me.

i'm not going to lie. this whole set up is kinda awkaward. but i am lucky and have my own room. and internet. and today after meeting with my group we shared horror stories, and i am most def one of the luckier ones.

the boy in our group lives with one boy. he's 25...and only has one leg. he wasnt given a blanket to sleep with, and has to share a room with him. he says it's awful. and his "host brother" said he was going to sell him for prostitution. awkward.

also, there were other horror stories, but i am just happy i dont have to be apart of that..for the most part.

i do have a pet mouse in my room. i dont know it's name, but i call it fluffy. it's grey, and super...fluffy. and cute :) except for the cancerous tumor on it's face, i dont know what that's all about. but it's weird and gross. so i dont touch it. only poke it with a pencil.

what else, umm...today i made pretty good friends with everyone in my group. i like them all a lot. me and this one girl totally bonded today, well me and everyone kinda did. but me and her just couldnt stop laughing about this whole situation called "we're in ukraine and it's really scary and awakrd here"

so lets talk about teaching. i am scared out of my mind. but excited. i think (actually, i know) it will take a while to get used to. but i am excited. i start on monday morning (which is sunday night for ya'll) so make sure you pray for me.

okay, pray for me about everything, not just teaching. this place is really scary, and cold, and confusing, and the city is HUGE. so just..pray. a lot. i would appreciate it. i dont think i've prayed this much in my entire life.

i cant rembember what i've told you. umm...yesterday we picked up the little boy from daycare and they have a room dedicated for your winter cloths in every building. you have a change of clothes there so you dont have to wear your winter clothes. and i guess you're supposed to bring slip on shoes or slippers to wear when you get to a place (like school, or houses, or museums)

um. this might gross you out, but the amount of boogers my nose is producing is ridiculous. i feel stupid because i have to pick my nose sometimes because you know when it starts to hurt? and you jsut have to get them out. yeah, i had to do that. and i got awkward looks. but i dont care because i had to...and i dont know anyone here.

i kinda feel invisable here. like nobody can see me, and i'm just in some sort of interactive movie where i'm not really here...just pretending. like a dream! haha.

when people talk to me i just smile, and they look at me funny. i found out smiling is socially unacceptable. who woulda thought! but i dont know waht else to do! i cant reply! so i will continue doing my own thing...pretending like i belong here.

my dad told me before i came that there will be baby steps that help me become like i fit in here. step one is to buy your first thing. i have yet to do that. i dont even step foot outside my house unless i HAVE to. this will come. i think step two will be to find out where the subway station is, and to have the guts to get on. luckily they gave us all cell phones so we can call eachother or our host families and get help if we are lost. that makes me feel a looot better.

hmm waht else. everyone that speaks russian sounds so angry! i love it! it's actually a very beautiful language. i am trying to catch on to some key phrases.

all i've picked up is da da da. which i feel like means "yeah"...but that's just what i'm thinking. i honestly have no idea. pretty much 99% of the time i have no idea waht's going on, and i just trust that someone does. it's quite the adventure, that's for sure!

i could never be happier to be somewhere, even though it's the scariest thing i've ever done, i know this will be the adventure and experience of a lifetime! :) i cant wait!
please please dont forget about me! :( and say many prayers on my behalf. i need them!

pictures will come soon...once i can get my own computer hooked up to the internet.

фвшщы ьн акшутыю ьфн еру ащксу иу цшер нщг
adios my friends. may the force be with you :)