What even happened??!?!? These last two weeks FLEW BY and now I'm leaving my beautiful home in Ukraine in under 12 hours! My feelings are in a flurry! But before we get to my sentimental musings, let me fill you in on the happenings since I last wrote!
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| Hahaha....do you see those crazy hair accessories? Ridiculous.... |
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| Just casually walking through a forest on my way to school |
The second to last week of school was pretty normal. Teaching went well and we started working with the kids on their Spectacle performance for their parents at the end of the year. It's been raining and thundering a lot, but I don't mind. It just makes things here greener which is something I love! I've also been working on my online class and preparing myself to go back to school in just a month! I've been updating my resume and applying for jobs, so wish me luck because I am basically broke after my European escapades!
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| In case you wanted to know what the outside of my house looked like |
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| Look at that archway workin it |
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| Still my house, just greener |
The last week of school was a blur of eating candy, playing Hide-and-Seek with the kids, and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes! We spent a lot of the time practicing the end of the year performance with the kids and most of my "teaching" consisted of playing with the kids and taking pictures. But they could still only speak English!
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| He really believes I can't see him... |
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| I know it's blurry, but look at these cuties! |
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| Partying it up like there's no tomorrow |
On Tuesday (May 27) Alysha and I went to a movie theater in Kyiv to see the recording of the live performance of "Coriolanus" a Shakespearean play starring the one and only Tom Hiddleston. It was long and a little tough to understand sometimes since I've never read the play before, but I really liked it and it was fun to be in a movie theater again! Even though the theater was really hot and stuffy and halfway through the movie the screen randomly shut off, it was still a fun evening out.
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| I approve of this princess |
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Oh Billa Market....only Kate understands the significance this building
has in our lives |
Funny story: one of the Primary kids, Armon, gave us candy and back massages almost every day this past week. It's really sweet, but then when he misbehaves and we try to discipline him he reminds us that he gave us candy. When we say he still has to be good, he demands his candy back and starts hitting us on the back to get the candy out of us. It's hilarious! I'm really going to miss that kid.
Finally the last day of teaching came. We actually didn't teach at all on that Friday. Before school, Alysha and I went to get some croissants and on the way back our marshrutka's tire blew out! That was a first and I'm actually surprised it took almost five months for me to experience that. The kids came at 4pm and we practiced until 5pm, which is when the parents came. We performed, passed out diplomas and balloons, and took pictures, and that was that. It feels incredibly surreal. I can't imagine not seeing these kids ever again. I can't fathom not taking marshrutkas to get around town. I can't believe that soon I won't hear any Russian/Ukrainian being spoken around me. I'm so excited to go home and see my family and friends and eat Mexican food, but Ukraine has become such a big part of my life that I don't know how I'll adjust to life without it.
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| The Pre-K Crew |
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| This kid is seriously my favorite |
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| He wouldn't get out of my lap--he just wanted to cuddle |
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Yeah getting a picture with this many kids and then adding balloons...
it's impossible |
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| My point is made again |
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| Got some fancy chocolates for my services |
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| Like do you even see this? This is fancy right here |
I came home on Friday to an empty house without electricity. The thunder storm was raging outside and my host family was with my host siblings watching another school performance. I gathered some candles and settled in with my McDonald's chicken sandwich that Nikita was so excited to leave for me. He was so excited all week that we were getting McDonald's for the last day of school.
Sitting by myself in a room only lit by candlelight gave me some time to reflect on my experience in Ukraine without the distraction of the Internet. I thought about what I would be doing if Kate were still here. I had Skyped her the night before and she told me about her awesome experiences at BYU and how she knows it was the right thing for her to come home early. Maybe that was just for her, but as I look back over the six weeks I've spent in Ukraine on my own, I can't help but think that Kate leaving was the right thing for me too. I have learned so much about myself and have become more confident and self-assured because of the time I've spent on my own and with my own thoughts. Being alone has also made me draw closer to my host family and to Ukrainians in general. I've been able to develop better relationships with some of the other teachers and with the kids. I've also come to appreciate and love the time that Kate and I got to spend together, and I am so grateful for the friendship we developed. I can't wait to see her in just a day! (She's picking me up from the airport!) This has been a really beautiful time of development in my life and although I've had some challenging experiences, I've learned that I have people everywhere who support me, and most importantly, I have Heavenly Father who is more aware of me than I will ever fully know.
Saturday was really fun, except for the morning. All the teachers traipsed around in the rain for a few hours trying to get something sorted with our visas. I still don't really know what was going on. All I know is that I was wet and cold, so it wasn't very fun. After that Alysha, Cheila, Keeley, and I went to the temple one last time to do baptisms. Then we waited at the church for a couple hours until our little branch party started. It was awesome because we had pizza and chocolate chip cookies! We also played some games, and afterwards Alysha spent the night at my house.
Sunday was a really great day. It was a Fast and Testimony meeting, which I think was perfect for our last Sunday in Ukraine. This branch has been so wonderful and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I've had to be a part of it. We took pictures with everyone afterwards and then Alysha, Cheila, Keeley, and I headed to this place called the Lavra. It's basically some caves with dead priests. I don't really know much about it--I'll have to read about it later--but it was cool to see a part of Kyiv I haven't seen before.
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| The whole group (minus Kate) |
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| Now add in some missionaries we found |
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| I was cold so naturally we shared a cardigan |
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| Thanks to the great branch members who gave us a ride in the rain! |
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| We're a bunch of babushkas |
And now it's Monday! It's actually my host sister Sophia's birthday today, so a ton of people are over. I'm almost completely packed and it's so sad looking at my empty room. I'll get picked up sometime around 2am or 3am so I can be at the airport by 4am for a flight that leaves at 6am! (Or 8pm on Monday California time.) Then I'll be traveling for almost a day before I arrive at the Salt Lake City airport and then the next day I fly to California! It is insane that this part of my life is coming to an end and I feel such an overwhelming mixture of happiness and sadness. But I've been told that life only gets better as you keep moving forward, so I'm ready to go!
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| No big deal...just my swanky breakfast this morning |
