Well, I dont have much time to type this! Plus my younger host sister is bouncing a balloon on my head and showing me her barbies. She also wants to watch all the youtube videos that I like...lol..

Riding the metro is crazy! I get most of it thanks to my time in Chicago, but obviously its much harder to find out which way to travel, and when to get off!! All the signs are in Ukrainian, no English! So I end up just counting and/or remembering what the stations look like. For example my train stop is Palatz, or at least thats what it sounds like in English, and its 'the one with the red tiles.' One of the others I get off at a lot is 'the one after the one with the green tile columns.' Not a great system, but it works!

Ukraine has this distinct smell. I mean...its not bad really, only when its highly concentrated. On the metro sometimes someone will come and stand/sit next to you and i will have to hold my breath or just turn my head b/c they will reek of it. Im getting used to it though, and I probably smell like it too. But I LOVE whenever I smell something familiar. Like today...haha...(its weird, i know), but I smelled something similar to rubber and it was so familiar...I just wanted to stand there for an hour and smell it!!

Im still getting used to the food here. My stomach is on the fritz. My favorite meal I've had so far is plain pasta, they dont put sauces on anything really so I put on ketchup (their ketchup is more spicy and delicious though) and then a little cheese (not sure what kind) added on top, with (frenchish) bread on the side. Pasta with ketchup...yea...my favorite lol.

Tomorrow we're (us teachers) are going to go to downtown Kyiv where there are tons of things to do and see, like go to Independence Square and check out things on Khreshchatyk Street, which is famous in Ukraine. We also might try to find a Mcdonalds because we are missing American food SO FREAKING BAD!!!

Everything is so cheap here! I need to get a watch soon and a good one costs about $2-3!! And the food here is cheap too, most things cost about 40-70 cents in American money. Though gum is kind of new here so its always more expensive than everything else (maybe a dollar).

Just thought Id mention that when it rains here...it pours!! I need to get an umbrella too!

Im really starting to bond with my host family. Im already keeping secrets for my sister. I wont say what it is though in case they read this lol... But really, Ive already talked politics with my father. Tonight we watched the Ukrainian version of So You Think You Can dance, they really like it. And I can understand it pretty well even though its in Ukrainian. Its funny though, all the Ukrainian dancers on that show pick American songs to dance to, so my family is always asking me if I like the song.

Well I better get to bed...until next time! Das ViDaniya!