Teaching, Futball, and a Weekend in Lviv

The good times keep on rolling over here in Ukraine! Teaching is.....fun. Ok, here's the thing: I like the fact that the kids are adorable (ages 3-6), that I get to do arts and crafts with them, and that they are actually learning English from me. I just don't like the fact that their attention spans last about a second, approximately. Or the fact that if I do not keep their attention, they'll go crazy and overrun the classroom. Us teachers definitely take advantage of the fact that they can't understand us. Some common phrases I've heard/used are "I am going to punch you in the face, crazy" or "I WILL kill you, child." Not gonna lie, if I was told to put some of my kids on a hit list, I know which ones I'd choose. =P It's really not that bad though, just some days that are worse than others; I actually am really enjoying working with the kids!
The soccer game last week was a really fun experience. I love soccer, for one, and this country gets really competitive! People flocked by the thousands to the stadium, which was also crawling with more police and militia than I've seen since I got here- for a good reason, probably. That night, we got flashed by a gross man, got taught Russian swear words that we thought were just cheers, watched a small section of the stadium catch fire, and saw at least 2 fist fights right in front of us. It was awesome though! We were in the 3rd row, so we were very close to the action. It was a great game- England was ahead by one until the last 2 minutes when Ukraine scored, tying up the game! I cheered so loud I lost my voice that night. I hope I can go to more soccer games while I'm here :)

Last weekend, me, Jamie, Peter, Megan H, and Megan U (other teachers from my group) accompanied Christina on her border run to Poland to renew her visa, stopping in Lviv. We spent the night at Christina's on Friday where we made homemade crepes (so yummy!) and pizza (eh, we tried). We caught our train at 4 in the morning and I had my first sleeper train experience. There's a lot I could say about it, but basically it was incredibly cramped, smelly, and stuffy, but I was just glad to have a place to sleep! This is the compartment where me and Jamie slept.

Eleven hours later (which flew by, since I was asleep for most of the trip) we arrived in Lviv! Lviv is simply, in a word, gorgeous. Cobble stone roads, European buildings lining every street, jaw-dropping baroque cathedrals, horse-drawn carriages driving past us, wide streets and sidewalks filled with vendors , musicians playing lovely music for money around most corners, and the list goes on. We kept saying to each other that we felt like we were in Italy, because that's what it looked like! We stayed in the Kosmonaut hostel that was decorated with authentic items from WWII, which I thought was way cool. We stayed up till 1 am playing games, and probably woke up our neighbors with how loud we were laughing :)

The next morning, me and the other 4 teachers went on a tour of our own while Christina made her border run to Poland. We passed 2 memorial sites of Jewish synagogues destroyed during the Holocaust,

, went inside Lviv's oldest church, St. John the Baptist, for about 50 cents. It was built between the 12th-13th century, it was sooo old! I'm learning that I love historical things. Which is weird, because history was always my least favorite subject.

After the church, we walked up an adorable street and a small hill and a long flight of steel steps to get to Castle Hill, where we were expecting a castle. Much to our disappointment, all that remained of said castle was a wall. But the view sure was beautiful!

We hiked back down to vul Zamkova street and walked past Gunpowder Tower, the Greek Catholic St. Michael's Church where we went inside and saw an actual traditional baby blessing (interior was breath taking, very baroque and ornate!), and to the yard/archway of St. Bernardine Church and Monastery where we went into the absolutely beautiful inside and ended up seeing a husband and wife being married. After that, we walked around pl Rynok square and ended at Amadeus restaurant by the Boyim Chapel and Roman Catholic Cathedral. Later on, we went back to the hostel to grab our stuff and hang out, and caught our train back to Kyiv at 1 am. Our train ended up getting back in Kyiv earlier than expected. Since I relied on Christina to tell me what stop to get off at, and since I was in a bathroom three cars away when our train pulled into Kyiv, I very nearly got stuck on a train that was leaving Kyiv. Luckily, we all made it back in one piece, with a new love for a little city called Lviv.

Next week, it's off to Poland! 5 days in Krakow, one of which will be spent at Auschwitz and Schindler's Factory. I am so stoked.

Weekend fun in Kyiv

I don't think I've ever lived in a place where every day is this exciting! On Friday, me, Megan, and Peter opened up my Ukraine book and picked a site we wanted to go that night- and that site was Babyn Yar. Oh my gosh, amazinggg! On September 29, 1941, Nazi troops rounded up 34,000 Jews, marched them to the Babyn Yar ravine, and massacred them all over the next 48 hours. Over the next two years, thousands more lost their lives at Babyn Yar when it was turned into a concentration camp. It was dark when we got off the metro by Babyn Yar, and Peter used the Russian he knows to help us find our way there. We had to walk through a forested park area, trying to find our way only by moonlight (it was a beautiful night!). We finally found the ravine itself and the massive memorial statue that overlooks it- it was incredible! The longer I studied the statue, the more I could understand the feeling of pure agony that occurred at the very site I was standing on. It is one thing to read about the Holocaust in history books, and a whole 'nother thing to stand on the exact site where thousands were murdered. It was very touching and humbling. Even though it was dark when we got there, just as we were about to leave, the lights around the ravine came on and lit up the statue. Gahhh, it was amazing! By far the coolest thing I'd seen since I got here. After, we caught the metro into the city center and ate at an adorable Ukrainian restaurant, then came home exhausted and happy.
On Saturday, our local coordinator Oksanna gave us a tour of some main sites in the city. We went to St. Michael's Cathedral (gorgeous!) where we all had to cover our hair, and we lit candles to put on one of the little prayer trays. We walked down souvenir street, which was ADORABLE! Cobble stone roads, beautiful art for sale, street vendors lining both sides of the road, beautiful old-fashioned buildings- gah! We took an hour long ferry ride on the Dniper river, then had lunch at McDonalds. We walked to a statue of the man who brought Christianity to Kiev, then to the friendship arc that symbolizes the unity between Russia and Ukraine. Or something like that. We had lots of random photo shoots everywhere, of course :) I picked the worst day to forget my camera at home! We walked to Independence Square, then kind of split off and decided to go back to souvenir street where I bought the best 2 pairs of earrings everrr. Love! Me and Megan split from the group around 9 to catch the metro home and dye our hair. Overall, we walked around for about 8-9 hours that day. Hopefully worked off all the potatoes we've been fed. I loved it!!!! Kyiv is so great.
Today, I walked 10 minutes to take a 10 minute metro ride to the bus stop to get on the 20 minute bus ride to get to church, which happens to meet right next to the casino. Classy, right? haha. But it was so great to be around other Americans at church, no matter how small or where we were! And to hang around other people from my group that I don't get to see as much. I love our group, they're the bomb :)
Tomorrow, another week of teaching and fun begins, and the good times keep on rolling. I'm so happy this gets to be my life for the next four months.

Week 1 in this place called Ukraine...I survived!

I can't believe it was a week ago today that I was on my way to Kyiv. Even though so much has happened in the meantime, it seems like just yesterday!
I'm having such a great time here. I totally understand why people can have a hard time adjusting, because in all honesty the majority of this city is dirty, disorganized, and smelly. But in the chaos, if you look closely enough, there is a very organized and beautiful way of life. Sure, it's a lot different from our own in America, but that's what makes it so wonderful! I came here with no expectations; I just wanted to experience a foreign country firsthand. Between the dim lit elevators, the dirty underground metro, the crowded marshrutka, my small cozy apartment, and the flow of Ukrainian lifestyle around me, I feel a sense of adventure in every step, which is exactly what I came here looking for.
I started teaching this week, and boy is it hard work! haha, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Teaching kindergarten is hard enough with all their energy and short attention spans; but when the kids don't even speak a lick of English, it's just madness! I'm in charge of arts and crafts, and so far we've made name tags, bears, birds, picture frames, the sun, the moon, and stars. It's a lot of fun, but of course the kids are crazy and disobedient! But seriously, so cute. Especially when they repeat the English words we say in their cute little Russian accents.
My days so far have been so laid back and perfect. I sleep in however late I want, I get up and ready, I hang around my apartment with my host family, and I make my lesson plans. Around 1, I take the metro and the mashrutka to the school to meet up with the other teachers and prepare my lesson. At 2, we eat lunch in the school cafeteria where the food is surprisingly decent and the Ukrainian cafeteria ladies are extra adorable. I teach for three hours every day from 3-6pm, then me and whoever else feels like it go out to explore the city. On Monday, we went out to McDonalds and the grocery store. On Tuesday, me, Peter, and Megan walked around our neighborhood, found a pretty lake/forest, dropped Megan off at her apartment, and then me and Peter got stuck at the trolly station and eventually found our way home long past dark. On Wednesday, me and Megan took the metro downtown where we saw gorgeous cathedrals, adorable side streets that had some of the cutest little restaurants I've ever seen, and some buildings preserved since their use during the holocaust. So much fascinating history! This morning, me and Megan met up and went running on this "track" we found. It's small, cracked, uneven, and dirty- but hey, it's something to run on, so I'm happy! Tomorrow, after teaching, the weekend begins, and we already have some pretty sweet plans :)
I guess I should be more worried about walking alone at night, being robbed, getting lost, etc. For some reason though, my only fear is honestly that after four months of living here, I will fall in love with this place and then have to leave for what might be forever. But for now, I really am enjoying every moment. It's funny how quickly a completely foreign country can become a new home.

Ukraine? or Limbo?

After much anticipation and traveling, I am finally in the huge capital of Ukraine! The only way to describe the transit between Salt Lake City and Kyiv, Ukraine is 30 hours of misery. Ok, maybe that's a little dramatic, but it was so long! I woke up at 4:30am on Thursday after 2 hours of sleep and my plane left SLC at 8:10am. I had a 4 hour flight to DC and a 3 hour layover in the Dulles airport, which wasn't bad at all! I got to know the cool people in my group who were on my flight. Then came the hard part- an 8 hour flight to Munich, Germany. I hardly slept, so it felt like it would never end!! It was really cool watching the time change though- the sun went down and 4 hours later I watched it come back up again! At last, we arrived at the Munich airport, and after an already long 15 hours of traveling, we now had a 5 hour layover in Germany. It was painfully long, especially when I just wanted to be there already! About 3 hours into the layover, my body decided it had enough and I passed out strung across 3 airport chairs- and trust me, I wasn't the only one! We were dropping like flies. At that point, even though it was a bright and sunny afternoon in Germany, it was around 4 am my time, so it was like pulling an all nighter the night after I'd only had two hours of sleep. But it wasn't over yet! At 1:15pm German time (5:15am Utah time), I caught my final plane to Kiev, feeling like I wanted to die at this point. I slept the entire flight, and at last landed in Kiev.
All I wanted was a bed and a shower, and I thought it wouldn't be far away now that I was in Kiev. Little did I know! Haha. After we got through passport control, our coordinator met us at the entrance. Without being told what was happening, the 12 of us AND our luggage were crammed into a small van and drove out onto the crazy streets of Kiev. I was soo excited to finally be here, but I was in need of sleep in a bad way! Unfortunately, sleep wasn't in the cards for me yet. Having no idea what was happening, or how long we would be in that car, we drove around town for the next - get this - FOUR hours! At least. It could have been more. I have to admit, as we drove around the streets, Kiev was nothing like I'd imagined it. Instead of the charming European architecture I had imagined, along every street and corner are tall, monstrous apartment building reminiscent of the Soviet era. Seriously, that's all there is! Imagine the scene from Inception where they wake up in Limbo and every inch of land is covered by buildings that are falling apart, and you'll have a good picture of what I first saw in Kiev. I didn't mind though; I didn't come here to live in the lap of luxury, I came here for adventure! And adventure is what I've found. Plus, as a bonus, I've since discovered that downtown Kiev is much nicer, with all the quaint European charm I had imagined.
The driver and our coordinator sat in the front arguing in Ukrainian for what seemed like the four hours, and one by one they pulled up to a seemingly random streetside, pointed to one of us, and said "You. Get out." And that's how we first met our host families. After four hours in this cramped van, it was finally my turn. I seriously hit the jackpot with my host family! The mom and dad are SO nice, and speak good enough English, and I have one host sister my age who speaks incredible English. She has been so helpful! She gave me her old phone, bought me a sim card, taught me how to get around on the metro, cleared shelves in her room for my stuff, and shows me around the city. She is so great!
On my first full day here (Saturday), I met up with the rest of my group at Nyvky (the adorable little school I'll be teaching at) and we all exchanged funny host family stories :) Afterwards, I went into downtown Kiev with my host sister and some of her friends from university. The main street was shut down and crawling with performers and thousands of people, and light up by decorative lights strung from streetlight to streetlight. Around 8:30, this huge dance competition that was also being aired on TV started, and dance teams from different cities all across Ukraine came and competed in front of famous judges- it was a lot like So You Think You Can Dance, which they have a Ukrainian version here that I watch with my host family. It was fun, but we stayed soo long and I was freezing and falling asleep standing up by the time we left.
Today was even better! I slept in, finished unpacking, and then my host sister's nephew came over (he wanted to meet me since I'll be teaching him this semester). This kid was so crazy! He jumped on my head several times and put me in a head lock, he threw pillows at me, he played never-ending rounds of hide and seek, he made me throw pillows at him which he hit like baseballs with a metal pole he found. I have to admit, he is still really cute! I met up with the rest of my group at a metro station (took the metro on my own for the first time and survived, woo!) when we walked to a park for the last part of training. Afterwards, a bunch of us went to one of the many vendors in the park and bought some delicious banana ice cream. Mmmmm, who knew Ukrainian ice cream would be so good! We then walked to a small Ukrainian restaurant where the food was good and I had my first squatter experience. And that's all I'll say about that.
Things are crazy here, which is part of why I love it so much. You thought drivers in Utah were bad- you should see what it's like here! And the pedestrians are even crazier. The women walk around in stilettos all day long (how does it not break their feet?!!). We have all been offered/strongly encouraged alcohol by our host families. Everyone talks in really fast Russian/Ukrainian, and it always sounds like they're yelling at each other. It's just great :) Tomorrow we start teaching and the actual hard work begins! I only teach from 3-6pm every day, though, so I got really lucky and have a pretty easy schedule.
Tonight after training, our group got smaller and smaller until 4-5 of us were left exploring the streets of beautiful downtown Kiev, taking pictures like crazy tourists, enjoying the performers along the main street, and loving every moment. It is so wonderful here! I am already in love with the market-lined streets, the crowded metro, the red sunsets, the liveliness of downtown, and the rush of the every day life along the streets. The food can admittedly be weird, but my host family let's me choose what I eat instead of force feeding me nasty stuff (like meat jello and frog, like some other people from my group have had to eat!). And the smoking here is ridiculous- my throat burns from all the second hand smoke I've been breathing in, haha. I love sitting around with my group planning trips in our free time- it's so exhilarating! Already, we have a tentative weekend trip to Poland and a castle tour planned. There's also been plenty of talk of Prague, Vienna, Romania, and perhaps even Greece. We'll see! Tomorrow, I'm going down to the Dnipro River to take a ferry ride. Me and Megan are going to start jogging tomorrow night. There's an endless amount of things to do while we're here. Four months here feels like hardly enough.
This is the greatest adventure of my life so far. I can already feel my perspective changing and expanding. I love it here.