Discovering New Talents

Yesterday I was given the opportunity to try something new. Give someone a haircut.
I've helped cut hair here and there, trimmed my own bangs, helped buzz a brother's head, etc. But never a real haircut. Here's what happened...

One of the teachers in my group REALLY wanted to get her hair cut. Her host mom had told her she would make an appointment, but forgot. Frustrated the teacher took things into her own hands. She went out on the city and bought herself a handy dandy pair of hair cutting scissors. I told her I had a little experience, very little experience cutting hair, but that I could try.

This is Christina and her long hair before I got to it.



She wanted to be able to donate it and it needed to be at least 10 inches long, so we ponied it up and chopped. The longest strands ended up being about 11 1/2 inches long.



I think it turned out pretty well.



Who knew I had some hair cutting skills. Add that to the list of talents I've discovered. Maybe I can fine tune that skill and perhaps someday I could have a career in cosmetology. That would go nicely with my massage therapy training. I could have an uber salon. It's a thought.

Ukrainian Style Remedies

It's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged last. But I am finally writing another blog post. We've been here a month now. Work is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Isn't that usually the case? A few weeks ago I got really sick. It was a bad flu, possibly bronchitis. Luckily for me some previous headteachers had left a bunch of cold and flu medicine. I survived on sudafed and nyquil. Most of my group's teachers also got sick. One of them when she started feeling sick got sent to the school nurse. The nurse recommended some Ukrainian remedies. Warm milk with honey, mustard compress on chest and back, and soaking your feet in hot water. Miraculously she was better in just a couple of days. And didn't suffer the horrible coughing up lungs that the rest of us seemed to have encountered.

I started feeling a lot better, everything seemed to clear up except my stuffy nose. Then 2 nights ago I had trouble sleeping. I had an incredibly sore throat and lots of congestion. Sure enough the next morning it felt like the beginnings of what I had had before. It felt like I had swallowed sandpaper. Like my head was in a C-clamp and about to explode. This time I decided to try the Ukrainian remedies. The warm milk and honey tastes great and definitely makes my throat feel better. I tried the compress. It was supposed to get really hot, but never did when I tried it last night. I must've done something wrong so I typed up the directions in Ukrainian on my computer and used google translate to translate it. So hopefully I can get it to work today.

This is what it said:

"спосіб застосування. гірчичники застосовують шляхом аплікацій на шкіру. перед аплікацією гірчичник змочують терлою водою і накладають на шкіру, прикриваючи зверху сухим рушником. час експозиції складає 5-15 хвилин (до появи вираженого почервоніння шкіри, сильного печіння). кількість аплікацій і їх частота залежать від форми і вираженості захворювання, ефективності гірчичників самих по собі або при застосуванні останніх у комплексній терапії.
показання до застосування. гірчичники призначають як протизапальний (відтяжний) засіб при багатьох захворюваннях (моізити, невралгії, бронхіти, ларинготрахеїт, пневмонії, головний біль і т.і.). іноді можна призначати при стенокардії (залежно від вираженності останньої)."

Translated:

mode of application. mustard plasters used by applications to the skin. front applique sinapism wet scrubbed with water and lay on the skin covering the top with dry towel. exposure time is 5-15 minutes(until the appearance of pronounced redness, severe burning sensations). number of applications and their frequency depend on the form and manifestation of the disease, the effectiveness of mustard plasters on its own or with using the latest in the complex therapy.
Indications for use. mustard plasters designated as anti-inflammatory (drawing) tool in many diseases (moizyty, neuralgia,bronchitis, laryngotracheitis, pneumonia, headache, etc.).sometimes can be assigned to the angina (depending vyrazhennosti last).

I hope it works. I don't want to be sick anymore. It doesn't help that its so cold outside. Its been in the single digits (F) here with wind that pierces like a knife. American winter wear was not cut out for Ukrainian winters. (Note to self: Next time bring money to buy a nice warm coat here). I can't wait for spring to come. Or for it to be at least in the 30's (F). I might be running around in shorts and a t-shirt when that day finally comes ;) Just kidding! The babushkas would yell at me a lot.

So far we've spent quite a bit of time walking around the center of the city. Exploring some shopping venues. We've eaten at McDonald's and Dominoes. Ate a lot of parapichka(Hot dogs inside of scones). We've seen the Chernobyl museum. The love/lock bridge. The LDS temple here in Kyiv. And we've had a number of gatherings just to have fun, play games, and hang out with other American friends from church.

In the future we have plans to go see St Sophia and St Michaels cathedrals, Lavra, Big Mama and the WWII museum. Trips to L'viv, Krakow and Auschwitz in Poland, Odessa, Komnyets Podilsky, and I'm incredibly excited to go see my family's village in Western Ukraine sometime! I think it would be incredible to get to help with everyday things in the village. Preparing meals, working with the animals, helping out in the fields. What an amazing experience that would be! I'm itching to do something family history related, but I don't know where to start. Or what I can do from Kyiv. That and I've been really busy with work. Perhaps I'll have to set aside some time to work on that in the near future.

I'm already doing way better at blogging than the last time I was here. But I promise to be better, I will try to blog more often, and I will do my best to make it interesting. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! And thanks mom for calling me out on not having written in awhile.