2 Week Checkpoint!
Wow this week has flown by so quick! What
with teaching, training, learning Russian, and going to activities I feel like I am always going somewhere to do something. Surprisingly though I enjoy doing that a lot. On Monday we taught at our usual time from 3 to 7 and then hurried over to FHE. By the time we had cleaned up the classrooms and arrived at the metro and taken it to the FHE building it was about 8:20 and they were wrapping things up. It was still nice to hear a little spiritual message even though we were only there for about 30 minutes. It's amazing how much the gospel makes me so much happier and less worried about the trials that are occurring in my life. On Tuesdays we have our group meeting for the 5 of us that teach at Pozniky school to catch up on everything
and make sure all is going well with the morning students and afternoon and any concerns that need to be brought up. Since it had only been one week we didn't really have much to put into this meeting so we spent the majority of it learning songs that we could use in our openings. Openings are what we do when the kids first arrive. We go over certain things like: the rules, weather, the day and month and we sing some songs to get the kids ready to be taught for the next hour. I love how excited the kids get about singing a song! Some of our songs include: the banana song,
princess pat, 5 little monkeys, shark song, a-toot-a-ta, and iggle wiggle. =) Wednesdays are usually pretty busy because we have Russian class from 1:30 to 2:30 and then we teach from 3 to 7 and then we go straight to institute. I was really glad we were able to make it to institute this week since we didn't last week. This was my first time at institute and I really enjoyed it! The lesson was on enjoying the journey NOW because there is nothing we can do about the past and you never know if you'll make it to the future so might as well enjoy what you have in the present. I love when I'm reminded to just enjoy the present because with how stressful and busy life gets its hard to slow down and smell the roses. I thought it was a good lesson. =) On Thursdays we have training with Ameri, our head teacher, about how to teach the children better. It was really helpful. I like the method that ILP uses to teach these kids English and it seems to be working really well! Teaching is still tough some days
but I think I am slowly getting the hang of it which is great. Friday we were so excited because #1 it meant it was our last day of teaching for the week, and #2 we were having a group sleepover at center school that night! After teaching we headed over to the school and we forgot what stop we were supposed to get off and for some reason everyone followed me ... not sure what they were thinking because believe it or not it was NOT the right stop, but we didn't notice that until we got all the way out of the metro onto the street! We were all pretty starving and there was a little candy store right outside the metro so we decided to spoil ourselves and get some chocolate. The rumors are true the chocolate here is DELIGHTFUL! We finally made it to the sleepover and pigged out eating pizza, oreos, chips, chocolate, and crackers... yep we were hungry! We really wanted to make a music video... but sadly it just didn't happen. But don't worry we will soon! On the plus side Rockie taught us
all the hula dance to the Lilo and Stich song. Natalie, Ameri, and I were up until 5 because we weren't tired when everyone went to sleep at 3. We turned on Taken and watched that. On Saturday we decided we
wanted to go see the Kiev, Temple. After getting all ready and eating lunch at a Ukrainian cafe we headed over to the temple. It was such a beautiful day because the sun was finally out! You don't realize how much you miss the sun unti
l you never see it! We even walked to the metro instead of taking the bus because it was so nice out. =) Once we got off the metro we sorta got lost and believe it or not we ran into the missionaries and asked them for directions. The temple is beautiful! It is not open right now but they said we could come help clean. By the time we got there they didn't have anything for us to do so one of the missionary couples showed us around. I can't wait unt
il it opens so we can go do work there! You don't realize how lucky we are in the states to have churches so close to our homes! I used to complain about it taking 10 minutes to go somewhere, not anymore. Today we went to church and it takes us about 2 hours to get there! It is definitely worth every minute! The talks were on hope;I thou
ght that was very appropriate for u.s =) After church I got home and ate lunch and then took a nap. I love sunday naps! It is so nice to have a day to just relax and go to church and spend time talking with family. I think I am beginning to realize the reason I came here and I am so glad I chose it! Thank you for all the support. =)
was really stressful, and we had to keep reminding ourselves that through practice teaching would become easier. We then were assigned to our schools. 4 of the girls (Auviaunce Evans, Rockie Fie'eike Tulikihihifo, Kynde Rochelle, and Kamila Brandley) were assigned to center school and 5 of us (Jennii, Natalie Neider, Audrey Hosman, Kenzie Parker, and I) were assigned to Pozniky school. Jennii, Natalie, and I teach in the afternoon from 3-7. Training was long and hard because we were all still trying to get over the jet lag from the day before. We finally decided that we would reassemble tomorrow after church because our brains were fried. Sunday
was quite the adventure! Church is at 10 so we decided we would all meet up at a certain stop on the metro at 9 then take a bus to church and get there in time for sacrament. Boy did we underestimate how long it would take to get to church. Jennii and I left our houses 8:30 and we did not get there on time. When we all finally made it to church it was about 10:30... better late than never right? Our lesson was on sacrifice and how when we sacrifice for others we do it because we love them. I just kept thinking about how all of us had sacrificed so much time to be able to get to church that day. I really appreciate the people who take the time to go to church on Sunday even though it may take them a few hours. We are so lucky back in the states to have churches so close to where we live! After church we went back to the school for more training then headed home. On Monday the girls at Center school started teaching, but Pozniky didn't start until Tuesday, and so on Monday my host mom Oksana took us over to the school and showed us how we would get there by walking and bus. The school that we teach at was just transferred to a new location from last semester, so when we got there we had to unload everything from boxes and put them in the rooms and get everything ready for Tuesday! It was a lot of work but we got it all done! Afterwards we were so hungry. So before we headed over to FHE we decided to eat at McDonalds. It was so 
nice to have american food again! Gotta love it. After eating we headed to FHE. We played some games, ate a treat, and had a short lesson. I love how we have the church to go be with people of the same faith. It definitely helps take our minds off teaching and culture shock. Tuesday was the BIG day! We taught our first lessons. We have 3 groups of about 15 kids who come from 3-5 then leave and 3 other groups come from 5-7. Teaching is very hard. You have to keep the kids entertained when half the time they have no idea what you are saying because it is in another language. It is very stressful with the kids too because you have kids ages 4 to 10 and kids are CRAZY! They are always wanting to jump off the walls and you have to try and get them all to calm down for you class. After teaching for 5 days I am slowly starting to get the hang of it though! I must say I LOVE KIDS! We have the CUTEST kids in our classes and i just love them! We teach Monday through Friday each day for 4 hours and it drains you completely. On Wednesdays we have Russian Class, where this lady comes for an hour to teach us. We are learning the alphabet right now. It is very hard but I am starting to
catch on and can actually sound out some words on billboards and advertisements now! Hopefully by the end of 4 months I will be able to communicate with my host family a little!
them has to be either drama or shop and the other one is for our older group of elementary kids and I teach them reading and writing. It is so fun to see the kids progress with words! They really are smart children. It amazes me how much they are able to do. On Friday after teaching we all met up at McDonalds and celebrated our first week of teaching by getting ice cream! It is so nice to be able to go to a restaurant that speaks English! It is so funny though because McDonalds here are soo nice! In Ukraine it is such an honor to work at McDonalds! It's hilarious! I'm glad they honor such a valued restaurant =) After celebrating, Jennii, Natalie and I decided to have a sleepover at the school. We painted nails, listened to music, girl talked, and watched Tangled! I love that movie sooo much! Then on Saturday we got all ready and went shopping! I found a hat and a scarf and some boots that I LOVE! Maybe now I'll look more Ukrainian! After shopping we went downtown and one of our native coordinators took us around to see the sites. It was the Ukrainian Independence day so a celebration was going on right in the middle of town and it was all decorated beautifully! We were also able to see a lot of cathedrals and even go insi
de St. Barnabas! It was so beautiful with all the different art work. After going around town we went and saw Gizelle, a ballet. It was ....interesting! We were all so tired from walking everywh
ere and teaching all week though that it was hard to stay awake. But the people in the play were very very talented! On Sunday we went to church again and this time we met at 9 so Jennii and I left at 8 and this time we got to church on time! I love going to an English ward! It's so nice to be around people who speak your same language again. The talks were on service and hard work and they were both very good lessons. After church I was able to Skype my family and that was so fun! I am learning to love it here. Adjusting is still hard at times, but I know that I was meant to come here for a reason, not sure what that reason is yet, but in time I think I will come to realize why. Well that was my first week in Ukraine. I love the girls here and I am so excited to keep learning! Dasvedanya!
were told to check in with United. After 20 minutes of waiting in line we then found out that our flight was having mechanical errors and would be delayed so we had to go over to Delta instead. We started heading over there when some of the other girls in the group who were flying to Chicago as well told us that in order for us to fly on Delta we had to check in with United then go to Delta and put our baggage through. After a lot of going back and forth we were finally all checked in and through security. Our flight with Delta didn't leave until 845 so we had time to sit and try and wake up. We finally got on the plane and me and Jennii were lucky enough to get seats next to each other. We were so excited to finally be on our way! The flight to Chicago was only about 3 1/2 hours. Jennii and I watched Despicable Me on my i Pod. We then arrived in the O'Hare airport in Chicago and
had to walk over to our flight that would take us to Germany. The O'Hare airport is HUGE! It took about 25 minutes to walk from our arrival gate to our departure gate. Good thing we had a 4 hour layover. Once we arrived at our gate we bought some food and played some cards. It was a good thing we had a lot of time in between flights so we could figure out our boarding passes. There were 8 of us
There were little screens hanging in the isles every 20 seats. Our area went 3 seats/ isle/ 5 seats/ isle /3 seats (abc//defg//hij). I have never understood how planes are able to fly and after being on this plane I am completely dumbfounded. There was about 500 or so passengers on flight, so if you added it all up there would be luggage+500 people lbs+ plane lbs! It was insane! But enough about the plane. I was lucky enough to be able to sit by another girl from the program, Kynde, and Jennii was one row behind us. We were right smack dab in the middle of the back, row 49 E & F. It was very cramped and I don't know how we were able to fit everything but somehow we managed! The flight was estimated to take 8 hours and 20 min with a 8 hour jump ahead in time when we arrived in Germany. Although it was such a long flight it really wasn't that bad. The plane showed 3 movies and the news. (none of which i watched because they all looked dumb or rated R).