yellowbluetibia

today was an interesting day. my host sister (dasha) walked me to the school, and we met up with some other people to drive us to the other school to meet up with the rest of the group. then we did a whole bunch of pointless talking and training for HOURS. and then we were all starving our faces off so we went to the city center, which is BEAUTIFUL and walked around there and they gave us a mini tour of the center and talked about the buildings...which was very interesting. but it was FREEZING and snowing. and i got all stressed out that someone was going to steal my backpack, so we went to a restaurant, kind of like chuck-a-rama. but i got...the most delicious food in the whole wide world. i got potatoes with onions and cheese and chicken and tomatoes. i wanted to die of happiness, it was the yummiest thing ever made. the bread and cheese here is so  amazing, i cant stop eating it. i know i'm going to get fat here, i just know it.

so after we ate, my friend (who i leave "close" to) had her host sister come and pick us up and take us home. i feel like such a baby because i cannot do anything on my own. i am scared to even go outside by myself haha. i cant even look at someone without getting embarrassed. maybe it's the coat i wear around. everyone laughs at me. but i dont even care, it is the warmest marshmallow i've ever had on my body. and i love it. but all the women here wear very nice clothes, and heels. and NOBODY leaves the house without some sort of fur accessory. so i need to get me a fur coat or something so i can stop embarrassing myself. seriously though, it's embarrassing. but i'm pretty sure the fact that i'm an american that walks around following an 8 year old girl is more embarrassing than not having a fur coat or fury boots....oh well.

okay so after when we rode the subway, i met my family at a stop and we rode the subway together to go to my host mom's brothers house for his birthday celebration. and let me tell you, ukrainians know how to CELEBRATE.
i met a lot of very nice, very interesting people there. there was a boy about my age who was studying international relations in the university here, so he speaks english, which was SO nice. so i talked with him...and he was very sweet, kinda shy. but i made him translate everything for me. and then i sat next to this other guy and girl who spoke english pretty well, and they asked me a lot about salt lake (they all know it because of the olympics) and about my family, and my school, and why i decided to come here..and then they tried to teach me russian (i dont remember a thing) and then they tried to teach me ukrainian (which is actually a very pretty language)
so everyone was very nice. we ate dinner, and had cake and then we played poker. i was so tired though, but i was having a lot of fun talking with them. then my host parents sent me home with their brother because i was tired, and my sister came with me, and so we came home and he dropped us off...and then they stayed. who knows if they'll ever come home.

tomorrow we are going to attempt to go to church, which is a two hour excursion...so i have to wake up at 7 to get ready, and then at 8 my host sister is going to take me to the bus, and then show me the metro stop that i meet my friend at. and then we are going to take the subway all the way to the church (for an hour) and then we have to take a 30 minute bus ride from there to the church...

so wish me luck
this is the first time i will be riding the public transportation...and i have to do it alone! but i have my russian phrase book, and a  cell phone..so i think i will be okay...let's hope! hahaha...

eek. i kinda just have to take everything as an adventure, and i have been, and i am loving it! the snow is wild. walking in the snow is even worse. and the fact that my feet dont fit into any of my shoes because i wear so many layers of socks is outta control, but i wouldnt want it any other way...except for maybe if i was on a beach...
and if everyone spoke english...

but that would be in a perfect world. and i like my imperfect one a lot better. it's more hilarious.

except, i start teaching on monday. i still have no idea what i'm teaching...so that will be interesting. i guess we'll find out on monday! i am not worried though. all you have to do is be super animated and talk a lot..that cant be too hard, right?

bahh!

anyways, here's some pictures so you understand what's going on here :)

p.s. i learned how to say "i love you" in russian. and it's "yellowbluetibia" so feast yourselves on that masterpiece! :)