I have a man voice...

I’ve decided to make this blog a weekly thing. We’ll see :)

This past week… well this past week has been kind of a doozy! But here's the killer - I didn't do ANYTHING. literally.

Last Saturday, I started feeling pretty sick… extremely sore throat and nausea (I think because my throat hurt so much! That’s one of my first responses to pain…nausea. Ugh). Anyways, I kept hoping that it would all clear up on its own, but everyday I got worse and worse. Well, on Tuesday, I was feeling really bad so I talked to my head teacher, and she told me that she didn’t want me to come in and teach.  Thank heavens! I spent that whole day in bed, hoping that a little rest was all I needed, but it just continued to get worse :( And then I lost my voice completely. At that point, I came to the conclusion that this whole sickness business was getting a little out of hand, so I finally caved and let the director set up a doctor’s appointment for me.

To make a long story short, after having a ton of instruments shoved down my throat (which did NOT look sanitized to me!) and playing charades to explain what was wrong (The doctor barely spoke english, but I’m very grateful for the little he did speak!), I was diagnosed with acute tonsillitis and laryngitis. Funnnn stufffffffff. He wanted me to stay in the hospital for the next couple of days.  But, being the stubborn person that I am, I told him that I really really didn’t want to. After some apparently persuasive bargaining, he agreed to let me avoid the hospital stay. In return, I promised to stay in bed, not speak, and take all of my 5 prescribed medications dutifully.

Well, I kept up my end of the bargain, and let me tell you, it almost drove me CRAZY!

I hate hate hate laying around all day, not doing anything productive. I feel like such a waste of space when I do that! But, I had promised. By day two, I finished all five of the books that I hadn’t read yet. Out of desperation, I then turned to my host family’s small American movie stash. And when I couldn’t focus on the movies anymore, I’d take a nap. That, folks, is a recipe for depression! Just kidding, but really.  Don't worry - I didn't get depressed, but I definitely didn’t feel good about the situation - I was not cut out to just sit around all day... I wanted to be able to do something, anything!

Well, yesterday was day five of the prescribed exile-ment, and I was feeling a lot better! So, before my host family woke up and could protest my decision, I got myself on the metro and then the matschrutka and made it to church just in time. I felt like such a rebel, sneaking out to go to church and all ;) It was definitely the right choice – church was great –but it totally wiped me out! This being sick thing is definitely NOT my idea of a good time!

I’m feeling a lot better today, and this week should be pretty fun :)  Tomorrow night, I’m taking an overnight train to Poland and just sightseeing until I have to fly back on Sunday.  While we’re there we are going to see Auschwitz, the Salt Palace, tons of churches, etc., etc.   I’m (as my students would say) suuuper, suuuuper, suuuuuuuper excited :) haha    

Yay for travelling!

Oh hey! Yeah, I'm alive :)

Well surprise, surprise.  I STINK at keeping up my blog.  Hence the complete lack of blog posts!  Sorry about that one.   I really am going to try to be better about it. 

How do I even summarize my last month or so?  I don’t think it’s possible.  So, I’m not even going to try :)  Here’s the sparknotes summary of my life since August:

-          Travelling with my parents through Europe was absolutely AMAZING.  I climbed so many towers, walked through so many quaint little towns, and went in so many cathedrals, I can’t even keep them all straight!  Every town or city or cathedral we’d go to, I’d find myself looking around and thinking – “This can’t be possible.  People ACTUALLY live like this?!” (in the best way possible) or “No way can that building be THAT old!” or “I so badly want to live here.”  The list goes on and on.  It was truly the best/most beautiful/perfect vacation I’ve ever had.  I’m so thankful for the chance I had to go!  The only thing that would have made it better would be if my brother came with us.  (Which, in a twisted way, is kind of good that he couldn’t come because my mom is already planning another trip back to show him everything after his mission – Europe round two, yes please!).  I loved every minute of that trip. 

-          I’ve found that I really truly do love travelling – I love the food, the people, the culture, the history, the architecture, et cetera, et cetera!  Of course there’s always the scary side of travelling (getting lost, having stuff stolen, not speaking the language), but the experience is 100% worth all the worry that it involves! 

-          Ok and I just have to mention the food – who would have thought that schnitzel and sauerkraut could taste so amazing?!  Not me, but now I’m converted :)  And don’t even get me started on the Ice Cream.  Let me just say- SOOOOO good!  Especially this one Swiss chocolate ice cream that we had in Luzurne.  Divine.   

-          The one bad side effect of my time travelling Europe – I lost any respect that I may have at one point held for Mr. Walt Disney.  (Which isn’t really that big of a loss haha jk :) ).  But seriously.  He wasn’t original. AT ALL!  All he had to do was travel around Europe with a sketch book and ta dah!  He’s got Belle’s village, the famous Disney castle, sleeping beauty - all prime for the copying!  Really. 

-          Also thanks to this trip, I’ve officially added a big goal to my bucket list --- I so so so badly want to live in a European country with my family one day.  Germany, Switzerland, Austria… sign me up, I’d happily stay in any of them!  I’m seriously considering taking German classes when I get home :)

Truly, it was the trip of a lifetime.  I love Europe so much!

And then, after all of this fairy-tale travelling, I packed my two suitcases up and flew out from Budapest to Kiev.  And oh my goodness, I had no idea what was in store for me!  Kiev definitely gets the “eye opener” award for me.  Even though I had been researching and reading about Ukraine for the past 5 months, I found that I wasn’t at all prepared for my new life here.  (Just to put things into perspective, Switzerland is ranked #8 in the world as far as nominal per capita GDP… and dear old Ukraine is #102.  It is ranked lower than countries such as Turkmenistan, Algeria, Namibia, Jamaica, Columbia, Iran, Romainia, Albania, Mexico… to name a few.  Just saying.)  To make a dramatic story much shorter, let’s just say that Kyiv has definitely taken some getting used to.  And I’m still not there.  But I am doing better! 

The first week here was honestly one of the roughest weeks of my life.  I have never felt so alone, uncomfortable, and trapped… and the whole time I knew it was my own dumb fault!  I signed myself up for this. Ha. I must be crazy.  Travelling is BRUTAL.  But behind all this heartache, there was also a faint feeling of excitement/peace --- I always had this sense that it would get better and that I would really appreciate and treasure this whole experience after the fact.  And I had the added bonus of knowing that I'll have some pretty crazy stories to tell when I’m an old wrinkly grandma :)  

Three weeks in and now I’m feeling much better about life.  

I can fully navigate Kiev via the metro/bus/matschrutka system WITHOUT any form of GPS or anything (Which, by the way, I’m super proud of because in PROVO, UTAH, I rely on TomTom to get me around)!  

My Russian is coming along – from only knowing a grand total of about 6 words/phrases (one of those being belly button… really useful, yes?), I am now able to ask for “the next stop, please” on the matschrutka, ask for a bag at the grocery store (which they charge you for by the way), count to 100, read the signs in Cyrillic (for the most part!), and greet people that I know, don’t know, haven’t seen that day yet, or have seen  more than once that day (each situation requires a different greeting!).   

I keep myself super busy with teaching, exploring Kyiv, travelling, and spending time with the other teachers.   

I get out and go to dance competitions, soccer games, and even political rallies (on accident, of course!).  

I’m starting to love the industrial beauty of Kyiv (you really have to look for the beauty sometimes, but it’s there, I promise!).  

I’m coming to know, understand, and enjoy my host family much better.  

I’m growing to absolutely adore the children that I teach.   

Life isn’t easy, but it is good. 

I still don’t have internet, haven’t had hot water for the past two weeks, have to eat raw tomatoes EVERY SINGLE STINKING NIGHT, am constantly the only smiling American smashed in a crowd of frowning Russian speakers, and have to walk home from the metro alone in the dark through the ghetto of Kyiv --- but I can honestly say these things don’t faze me that much anymore!  No internet at home – ok, I just stay a little later at school and use their wifi.  No hot water – thank heavens I already kind of liked cold showers (these are the so-extremely-cold-that-they-give-you-a-migraine variety, but hey, as Candice told me, these are supposedly good for your circulation… yay for strong hearts?..).   Raw tomatoes and crab meat – I’ve almost mastered the art of eat as much as you can and then as you start feeling nauseous, cram in some food that you do like technique.  And walking by myself at night through the ghetto – ok, this one is still scary, but I have definitely grown to appreciate the comfort that a cell phone in one hand and pepper spray in the other can bring haha.

I’m surviving, and growing to love it.  It’s a process, but one that I won’t forget anytime soon!  I know that this is an experience that I’ll treasure when I’m an old fogie.  I’m becoming more aware of who I am and just exactly how much I can handle.  I’m happy to report that I can be a tough cookie :)  I have also come to more poignantly appreciate the tender mercies of life --- from the little cat that looks just like my Maddie and sticks with me whenever I’m home to my suitcase coming off the plane first to the random phone call from a girl living in Kyiv that completely turned my week around.  Even though I’ve felt so lonely, my experiences have really confirmed what I always knew - that I’m not alone at all, ever.  What a blessing this knowledge is!  Kyiv has made me more thankful for the kindness of complete strangers, and made me more determined to be that person for someone else.   I have more fully come to appreciate the blessing that is my family, my home, and my opportunities back in America.  I am so so blessed, it’s overwhelming.   I truly believe that as for me, Kyiv is exactly where I’m supposed to spend my next 91 days.

While Kyiv isn’t home, it’s going to be a good place to live for four months :)