AHHH!!! I'm having an amazing day! I love it!
Reasons why I'm giddy today:
My scale says I've lost weight though I haven't been running at all this week and have eaten chocolate pretty much every day!
I'm in Kyiv Ukraine!
I get to see my Uncle Bohdan and Aunt Rosemary today...in Ukraine!!!
I have AMAZING friends!
I had a gloriously restful 8 1/2 hours of sleep last night!
Inspiring music
Great leads for great jobs
Time to clean my apartment and go grocery shopping.
Waking up early enough to get everything done :)
There may be a million other reasons why I'm giddy today as well. All in all its a perfect day :D
16 May 2011
30 April 2011
The Little Things In Life
You know...its the little things in life that make it so darn great!
For example,
I was having a completely terrible day today. I "woke up on the wrong side of the bed". Things seemed to go from bad to worse as the day continued, but I kept pressing on.
This evening I went and helped the activities committee make laurels for the upcoming greek themed disco we will be having at the YSA conference in Crimea next weekend. There things started looking up. I love my Ukrainian friends! A special thanks to Lena, Katya, Nata, Vika, Ira, Yulia, Dima, and Vitalik for a great time. And for dinner.
The little things that made my day:
-Incredible music!
-The McDonald's manager helping me with my Russian. <3
-Ice in my coke
-Oreo McFlurry(just arrived in Ukraine last week and happens to be my favorite!)
-Barbecue sauce with my french fries
(Yes McDonalds made me very happy tonight)
-Walking home after a rainstorm(it smelled amazing!)
-Being gawked at by a group of Ukrainians for speaking English.
-Hearing English from a group of picnickers this morning on my run.
-Birds singing all day.
-Buying 18 eggs for 80 cents USD
-Watching a huge pack of wild dogs crossing busy streets together.
-The trolleybus arriving the exact same time I did to the bus stop :D
-Getting to talk to my sister and realizing that she misses me as much as I've always missed her!
It's the little things in life!!!
For example,
I was having a completely terrible day today. I "woke up on the wrong side of the bed". Things seemed to go from bad to worse as the day continued, but I kept pressing on.
This evening I went and helped the activities committee make laurels for the upcoming greek themed disco we will be having at the YSA conference in Crimea next weekend. There things started looking up. I love my Ukrainian friends! A special thanks to Lena, Katya, Nata, Vika, Ira, Yulia, Dima, and Vitalik for a great time. And for dinner.
The little things that made my day:
-Incredible music!
-The McDonald's manager helping me with my Russian. <3
-Ice in my coke
-Oreo McFlurry(just arrived in Ukraine last week and happens to be my favorite!)
-Barbecue sauce with my french fries
(Yes McDonalds made me very happy tonight)
-Walking home after a rainstorm(it smelled amazing!)
-Being gawked at by a group of Ukrainians for speaking English.
-Hearing English from a group of picnickers this morning on my run.
-Birds singing all day.
-Buying 18 eggs for 80 cents USD
-Watching a huge pack of wild dogs crossing busy streets together.
-The trolleybus arriving the exact same time I did to the bus stop :D
-Getting to talk to my sister and realizing that she misses me as much as I've always missed her!
It's the little things in life!!!
22 April 2011
A Happy Morning!
This morning I went running in the park by my kvartira. A couple things made me smile from ear to ear.
#1 The birds singing and sun shining
#2 The elderly man who walked passed me humming to himself :D
#3 The adorable stray puppy who ran along side me for a few minutes
#4 The little girl who was fussing at her babushka, who I smiled at and the girl started giggling, her babushka was so confused. It was great!
#5 Its FRIDAY! And its Easter weekend. And we don't have work on Monday!
Speaking of Easter...
Below in bold is a quote a friend shared with me this week that I've been thinking about a lot in preparation for the Easter holiday along with some background to help it make sense. Its an amazing talk and if you have time, I highly recommend reading it this Easter weekend.
"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.
Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day those men stood triumphant.
On that day the veil of the temple was rent in twain.
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were both overcome with grief and despair. The superb man they had loved and honored hung lifeless upon the cross.
On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior—the man who had walked on water and raised the dead—was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies.
On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled. It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.
I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.
But the doom of that day did not endure.
The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind.
And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.
"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.
But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.
No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come."
Joseph B Wirthlin. October 2006 General Conference "Sunday Will Come"
I have so much to be grateful for. Most of all the atonement of Jesus Christ. I've had a lot of "Friday" moments this week. But Sundays are amazing and are always just around the corner. Its been an amazing week.
I hope everyone has an incredible Easter weekend!
#1 The birds singing and sun shining
#2 The elderly man who walked passed me humming to himself :D
#3 The adorable stray puppy who ran along side me for a few minutes
#4 The little girl who was fussing at her babushka, who I smiled at and the girl started giggling, her babushka was so confused. It was great!
#5 Its FRIDAY! And its Easter weekend. And we don't have work on Monday!
Speaking of Easter...
Below in bold is a quote a friend shared with me this week that I've been thinking about a lot in preparation for the Easter holiday along with some background to help it make sense. Its an amazing talk and if you have time, I highly recommend reading it this Easter weekend.
"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.
Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day those men stood triumphant.
On that day the veil of the temple was rent in twain.
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were both overcome with grief and despair. The superb man they had loved and honored hung lifeless upon the cross.
On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior—the man who had walked on water and raised the dead—was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies.
On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled. It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.
I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.
But the doom of that day did not endure.
The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind.
And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.
"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.
But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.
No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come."
Joseph B Wirthlin. October 2006 General Conference "Sunday Will Come"
I have so much to be grateful for. Most of all the atonement of Jesus Christ. I've had a lot of "Friday" moments this week. But Sundays are amazing and are always just around the corner. Its been an amazing week.
I hope everyone has an incredible Easter weekend!
27 March 2011
Setting My Course
Wow! Where has the last month gone?! I can't believe its already almost April!
This last week we had vacation. I went with a smaller group to Krakow Poland for about a week. We stormed castles, ate gelato, tamed fire breathing dragons and flying rats, bartered with local merchants, and survived Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was a pretty intense week!
The main reason we chose Krakow was because we wanted to see the Auschwitz concentration camp. This trip was one of the most eye opening and life changing experiences of my life. Going to camp and learning so much about it. The things people went through. The process of how things worked there. It overwhelmed me. I didn't cry while at the camp like I thought I would, although I was close a couple of times. These are the reasons I came close:
1-Auschwitz was a work camp. There you would be worked to death, literally. If you weren't strong enough to work you were killed immediately. If you weren't able to work you were killed. If you worked too slowly you were hung by your wrist in a way that would dislocate your shoulders, rendering you unable to work, therefore you would be killed.
I have days, more often then I'd like to admit, where I have a hard time getting going. I usually get stuff done, but for whatever reason I never seem to accomplish what I need to accomplish, and the things I do get done happen at a painful slow pace. And usually not with any semblance of good attitude.
Do you ever have days when you just want to stay home? Relax, take it easy, recuperate? And on said days have you still had to go to work, or go to school, or do your best to get everything done that you need to get done that day? Those are the days I'm talking about. I still am productive but my heart isn't in it.
I can't imagine anyone in those camps being able to put their hearts into the work they were doing. My natural reaction to that would be dragging my feet as I did it. The consequence being that I would be hung, shoulders dislocated, and killed. I probably wouldn't have lasted very long there unless I was able to overcome my natural reaction to being "tired". And that is a very sobering thought. So I've been thinking a lot about what I need to do to change the way I think when I'm feeling that way. I believe that whatever it was that helped those prisoners to find the strength to carry on amidst their trials and afflictions, whatever characteristic they possessed that helped them to persevere, whatever it is it exists in me as well. Its like finding out you've had a dormant superpower your entire life and now you need to figure out how to use it correctly. That is how I felt when I thought of the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau. And that is one of the many life changing things I learned there.
2-At Auschwitz-Birkenau there were several gas chambers. As part of the selection process and registration they would have those they couldn't put to work or experiment on sent to the "showers" to disinfect from diseases. 2,000 people would be required to strip down and squeeze into a room together. Then gas would be dropped in through vents in the roof and within 20 minutes everyone would be dead.(About 10,000 people a day were killed this way.) The 2 main gas chambers are still there, in piles of rubble left by the soldiers who destroyed them just before liberation to try to cover any evidence. Standing at the top of the steps got to me. Hundreds of thousands of people...women, children, the sick, the elderly and handicapped...who had no idea was about to happen to them, descended those stairs believing they were about to see a brighter future.
With everything I've learned recently its made me take a step back to evaluate myself. What do I believe? What am I capable of? How would I have reacted? What would I have done? Who am I? And would I be strong enough to stand up for that regardless of the consequences?
I am grateful that I didn't have to live through that, and now more than ever I have an inexpressible respect for anyone who lived through the holocaust and WWII. And to my Omi and Opi, who lived in Germany during WWII, who have shown me the strength and perseverance that is in me. Because of their examples I know what I am capable of. And that is a self liberation that brings an entirely new level of hope and promise!
See what I mean? LIFE CHANGING!
This last week we had vacation. I went with a smaller group to Krakow Poland for about a week. We stormed castles, ate gelato, tamed fire breathing dragons and flying rats, bartered with local merchants, and survived Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was a pretty intense week!
The main reason we chose Krakow was because we wanted to see the Auschwitz concentration camp. This trip was one of the most eye opening and life changing experiences of my life. Going to camp and learning so much about it. The things people went through. The process of how things worked there. It overwhelmed me. I didn't cry while at the camp like I thought I would, although I was close a couple of times. These are the reasons I came close:
1-Auschwitz was a work camp. There you would be worked to death, literally. If you weren't strong enough to work you were killed immediately. If you weren't able to work you were killed. If you worked too slowly you were hung by your wrist in a way that would dislocate your shoulders, rendering you unable to work, therefore you would be killed.
I have days, more often then I'd like to admit, where I have a hard time getting going. I usually get stuff done, but for whatever reason I never seem to accomplish what I need to accomplish, and the things I do get done happen at a painful slow pace. And usually not with any semblance of good attitude.
Do you ever have days when you just want to stay home? Relax, take it easy, recuperate? And on said days have you still had to go to work, or go to school, or do your best to get everything done that you need to get done that day? Those are the days I'm talking about. I still am productive but my heart isn't in it.
I can't imagine anyone in those camps being able to put their hearts into the work they were doing. My natural reaction to that would be dragging my feet as I did it. The consequence being that I would be hung, shoulders dislocated, and killed. I probably wouldn't have lasted very long there unless I was able to overcome my natural reaction to being "tired". And that is a very sobering thought. So I've been thinking a lot about what I need to do to change the way I think when I'm feeling that way. I believe that whatever it was that helped those prisoners to find the strength to carry on amidst their trials and afflictions, whatever characteristic they possessed that helped them to persevere, whatever it is it exists in me as well. Its like finding out you've had a dormant superpower your entire life and now you need to figure out how to use it correctly. That is how I felt when I thought of the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau. And that is one of the many life changing things I learned there.
2-At Auschwitz-Birkenau there were several gas chambers. As part of the selection process and registration they would have those they couldn't put to work or experiment on sent to the "showers" to disinfect from diseases. 2,000 people would be required to strip down and squeeze into a room together. Then gas would be dropped in through vents in the roof and within 20 minutes everyone would be dead.(About 10,000 people a day were killed this way.) The 2 main gas chambers are still there, in piles of rubble left by the soldiers who destroyed them just before liberation to try to cover any evidence. Standing at the top of the steps got to me. Hundreds of thousands of people...women, children, the sick, the elderly and handicapped...who had no idea was about to happen to them, descended those stairs believing they were about to see a brighter future.
With everything I've learned recently its made me take a step back to evaluate myself. What do I believe? What am I capable of? How would I have reacted? What would I have done? Who am I? And would I be strong enough to stand up for that regardless of the consequences?
I am grateful that I didn't have to live through that, and now more than ever I have an inexpressible respect for anyone who lived through the holocaust and WWII. And to my Omi and Opi, who lived in Germany during WWII, who have shown me the strength and perseverance that is in me. Because of their examples I know what I am capable of. And that is a self liberation that brings an entirely new level of hope and promise!
See what I mean? LIFE CHANGING!
20 February 2011
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.
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.
16 February 2011
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.
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.
30 January 2011
Back in Ukraine!
I can't believe I'm back in Ukraine. It still feels like a dream even though I've been here a little over 2 weeks. I have days where I am giddy beyond belief and days that I hate it and want to go home. Its all part of the adjusting process. Overall though I'm super stoked to be back. It feels like I'm home. Although its changed quite a bit. The kids I taught 2 years ago have grown up a lot. My school I taught at moved to a new location. They now sell oreos and my favorite shampoo and conditioner here. Change is good.
I've been pretty sick this last week. My body is adjusting to the new strains of influenza that Ukraine has and America doesn't. I can't wait for it to pass. I will be superwoman after I get healthy again. Haha.
Speaking of healthy...I've definitely lost a few pounds since being here. I've pretty much been walking miles everyday. I'm looking forward to my cough going away so I can start working out.
What else? We've been crazy busy with training. I love my group. And the other groups too. I can't wait until we have more time to hang out and enjoy Ukraine! I love our new friends here from America. There are quite a few people here with Nuskin. Very cool. I do also miss my American friends who were here 2 years ago too.
I love how cheap Ukrainian food is! I eat verenyky a lot. I can get a good sized bag that can last at least 2 meals for about 75 cents USD. I'm in heaven!
I posted some pictures on facebook. I'll try to be better about taking and posting pictures. We don't spend a lot of time out on the city. Most of us in our group have been sick and the only daylight hours are when we're in school. So whenever we get done its super dark and cold. So we just go to FHE, Institute, or straight home. I can't wait to see more of the sun. And get to spend more time around the city. I guarantee more pictures then!
I need your input friends! What do you want to hear about? Make this blogging thing easier for me! I'm definitely not very good at it, so I need your help. I am determined to blog this time round!
Miss you all and am looking forward to hearing from all of you!
I've been pretty sick this last week. My body is adjusting to the new strains of influenza that Ukraine has and America doesn't. I can't wait for it to pass. I will be superwoman after I get healthy again. Haha.
Speaking of healthy...I've definitely lost a few pounds since being here. I've pretty much been walking miles everyday. I'm looking forward to my cough going away so I can start working out.
What else? We've been crazy busy with training. I love my group. And the other groups too. I can't wait until we have more time to hang out and enjoy Ukraine! I love our new friends here from America. There are quite a few people here with Nuskin. Very cool. I do also miss my American friends who were here 2 years ago too.
I love how cheap Ukrainian food is! I eat verenyky a lot. I can get a good sized bag that can last at least 2 meals for about 75 cents USD. I'm in heaven!
I posted some pictures on facebook. I'll try to be better about taking and posting pictures. We don't spend a lot of time out on the city. Most of us in our group have been sick and the only daylight hours are when we're in school. So whenever we get done its super dark and cold. So we just go to FHE, Institute, or straight home. I can't wait to see more of the sun. And get to spend more time around the city. I guarantee more pictures then!
I need your input friends! What do you want to hear about? Make this blogging thing easier for me! I'm definitely not very good at it, so I need your help. I am determined to blog this time round!
Miss you all and am looking forward to hearing from all of you!
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