Dasvidanya!

Ah man...Ive been having such a great time here. How could I ever leave?! Ha, alright, Im not in love with Ukraine THAT much. Im pretty sure that one of the reasons everything has been so good is because Im coming home and so Ive been appreciating things more. But really, I am going to miss living here. Maybe in my next blog Ill put up a full list of things Ill miss (like the culture, the metros, the kids I teach, Independence Sq...) and things I wont miss (undrinkable water, no washing machine or dryer, my matress, the pigeons...). It would be interesting to see which one was longer. ;)

Its crazy to think that today is my last day here. I couldnt feel further from home right now, but tomorrow, Ill be back in America. Last night I rode my last Marshrutka! Instead of being pissed that I was freezing my butt off and risking frost bite waiting for it, like I usually am, I was enjoying the wait by dancing. Haha, Ive been doing that a lot lately. I used to restrain myself because the people here dont even smile, let alone sing and dance. But Ive found that I honestly dont care what people think about me. And as soon as they hear that Im singing in English, and am probably an American, they seem to understand lol.
Im going to miss those Marshrutkas...


Ive grown to really love all those smelly Ukrainians that Im squished between. Now that there's snow and ice everywhere Ive noticed that usually a guy will get off first then hold out a hand for all the women getting off. Its sweet. One time, I totally fell out of a marshrutka and not one, not 2, but 3 people helped me up. (I would have said offered to help me up, but they didnt. They just picked me up, brushed me off, and went on their way.)
Oh and the metro...Ill miss the metro dearly. Ever since I first rode metro/subway in Chicago, I was in love. I wish every city had them instead of just those that are big.

Even though I WILL miss Riah, I think Im more happy to be rid of her. She's like that mean, stubborn grandmother that you never really wanted to have, lol. She's always pinching or slapping me. (and it hurts!) For reasons like if she thinks I put too much pepper on my food. She's also taken to knocking me on the head if I do something stupid...which I guess I do a lot, but they're just little things like forgetting my gloves or hat, tripping on the carpet, dropping something on the ground, putting my bag on the bed instead of the floor...you know, everyday things lol.
I wont miss her food. Well, except for her varenyky. But anyways, all I ate for 4 months was borscht, couscous, plain noodles, and mashed potatoes. No fruits or vegatables (except for what I bought, which was very little, b/c Ive been broke for a while lol) and no meat. Im practically a vegetarian now.

I thought I'd share with you the ONE time I had a breakdown. Yes, I had only one breakdown...Impressive huh? No, not really. I honestly rarely have actual tears come out of my eyes, (other than at church, i mean). Normally when Riah wakes up at 5 in the morning she'll leave me alone and keep her radio thing turned down but sometimes she'll be loud on purpose...she's very bipolar. This one particular morning she had turned up her radio as loud as it could go. I waited for an hour for her to turn it down, which she never did, before I got up and asked her to 'Puzhalsta (please) turn down the radio,' as I pointed to the radio. Riah started yelling 'Ya ni panimayu!' (which is her way of insulting me b/c I frequently have to say that.) I was like, 'Harasho, Ill show you,' and walked over to the radio and made the motion of turning it down. She started yelling at me again (actually she probably never really stopped) and grabed my arm with both hands to yank me away from the radio. It was at this point that I noticed she had a bunch of fish (that she undoubtedly bought from a place like this)

cut up on the table and she was holding and slapping my arm with bloody fish guts ALL over her hands.
I would be pissed in this situation at any time, but put it at 6am and well...
I went to the washroom (slamming the door as loud as possible) and washed my arm for 15 min trying to get the smell off, but it wasnt working. So then I went and sat on the bed crying angry tears for about half an hour. Sometime during all that Riah turned down the radio, so I layed back down and went to sleep. A few hours later when I woke, everything was normal. Haha...probably one of the funniest things Ive cried over.

So last weekend I went to Kamyanets-Podilsky.

Its a medival fortress built in the 10th century on a natural rock island with a large river for a moat. Pretty freaking awesome. We left Kyiv Friday night around 8pm on a 12 hour overnight train ride. We decided to make the trip as cheap as possible and opted for third class instead of second. Third class is not great...especially when youve got a top bunk in the aisle. I dont know why I didnt fall off. Because I should have, it was dangerous lol. The castle was amazing...I still cant believe it. They allowed us to go wherever we wanted, through all the passage ways, and into all the towers. We even had a snowball fight in the courtyard.

We climbed down into the ravine via some ancient stairs and crossed over the river on a rickety bridge. While down there, we also found a waterfall!

At night, Tina and I had a frightening experience in a graveyard in front of this cathedral:

Back in Prague, it was Tina that had gone on the ghost/catacombs tour with me so...we kind of bonded in that 'we've had some freaky experiences together' way, lol. On that tour, we learned that orbs are supposedly the engergy/soul that is released when someone is killed, or died in a violent way. We were in the graveyard (not really thinking about the fact that we were in one...) when Tina turns back to take a picture of the cathedral. I was standing right next to her watching her take it, and this is what she takes

(I recommend clicking on the picture to see the bigger version of it.)
At first I thought it could be snow, but then remembered that we had just been looking at the stars and pointing out Venus right next to the moon. We looked at each other and were like, whoa...weird. Well...there ARE graves at the bottom of this picture...and we ARE in a graveyard. Then we were joking about how it must be their souls. Tina was like, 'here Brea, you take one.' I said sure and walked forward to get more of the graves in the picture. So I hold up the camera, take the picture, and this comes up on the quick view:

I literally felt for a second that something was coming at me. Thankfully, I had the wrist band on, because I dropped the camera. I ran back to Tina and was like, 'Ugh!! Oh my gosh!! Here--take it, look at it. Ugh!' She hit the display button and I was half expecting that what I saw wouldnt even come up, but it did, and she nearly dropped the camera as well. She started running, and I was like, 'Wait!!! Dont leave me here alone!!' and grabbed her bag and ran after her haha. I had tears of like scaredness and 'is this freaking happening??' funny welled up in my eyes. (I dont think that sentence made any sense, but that works because what I was thinking wasnt making any sense either.)
So seriously...there is no way to explain that picture. There was NO mist in the graveyard, k? And it wasnt my breath either, I promise you. I think I might possibly, truely believe in ghosts now...and it only took taking a picture in the graveyard of a cathedral inside an ancient medival fortress city to get to this point haha.

Here are just a few random pictures that really scream UKRAINE! to me.

Walking home from school...

St Andrews

Haha...hahaha...

I cant tell you how many times Ive almost been ran over by cars driving on the sidewalks.

They love their painted wooden eggs here.

My time here has been unbelievably enjoyable. This has certainly been the best year of my life so far with college starting, Chicago, Ukraine, and all the traveling I have done in Europe. Ill always remember Ukraine and even though it may not be the prettiest place in Europe, Ill always have a soft spot in my heart for it.

I LOVE YOU UKRAINE!!! ^_^

Can't Stop Now

Oh my dear lovely blog, how I've neglected you...

Im officially under a month now till I come home! Of course, I have mixed feelings about this, though they tend to lean more towards me being happy, okay, and satisfied about leaving. Im not quite ready to leave yet, but in...26 days, I will be.

After my trip around Europe,

Lyviv

Prague

Germany

Prague

Prague again...

coming back to Kiev was pretty depressing. But its been almost 4 weeks since then and my spirits have come back up. Everything is going so well...I have so much fun! Us ILP teachers hang out all the time and its always ridiculously funny and great.

For the Harry Potter premier we found a theater that was actually playing it in English! A bunch of us, including me, attempted to dress up a bit with the stuff that we had at our schools. I was able to scrounge up a witches hat and Harry Potter glasses, I looked pretty legit compared to the others hahaha. The theater was so small that most of the people watching the movie were us teachers. The projectionist managed to switch up 2 segments of the movie so an entire hour or so of it was out of order! At first we were confused as to how and why Ron suddenly wasnt with Harry and Hermione and why there was a snake attacking them, but then we figured...yea, the projectionist screwed up (probably because the directions were in English ;) )...and we laughed because we should have known that something like this would happen. It really wouldnt have been complete without something going wrong.

Yesterday we had our Thanksgiving (or Spasibagiving) and it was perfect. We all signed up to bring a food item...mine was corn, because thats about all I can be trusted with when it comes to cooking food...but other people actually made homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, cornbread, apple crisp, and delicious carrots cooked in brown sugar. We had mashed potatoes too, and our meat was chicken instead of turkey (b/c we couldnt find any). It was fantastic! We watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie online and then turned on Christmas songs for the rest of the evening. We also played some games...Signs (which if you dont know what that is, its the BEST game to play with a big group and you dont need anything to play except yourselves) and speed Scrabble. It was actually the first Thanksgiving Ive had where I wasnt at home with my family, but its still one of my favorite Thanksgivings!

About 6 or 7 of us go to Institute every Wednesday night and we've made this sort of tradition of going to this one bakery afterward. Its an adorable little place and its also half off after 8pm on Wed, which is why we first started going there. Sometimes we even invite some of the native Ukrainians that go to the English speaking institute with us to come. We always have such great discussions.

It still hasnt snowed yet here! Though I just checked the weather and its supposed to snow a bunch this Tues, Wed, and Thurs. Dont ask me whether Im excited for the snow or dreading it, because I honestly couldnt tell you. Actually...its probably a lot of both.
At the beginning of this week it rained so much I though the city was going to flood! And if it had rained on more day it probably would have. I was totally unprepared the first day and ended up walking in usually ankle deep water in my flats! The next day I decided that I would conform and wore boots over my skinny jeans. I say conform because literally EVERY woman here (who isnt a babushka) wears boots.

There's this endless obsession with English speakers here in Ukraine. I am not kidding you. Whenever Im with a friend, or friends, and we're talking to each other (we normally are b/c we dont really get to speak English at home) every single person around us will turn and look at us. Or they'll like move closer to us and listen to what we're saying. Like, literally tilt their heads closer to us. Or, if they speak English themselves, they'll start talking to us. I haven't gone one day without having at least one or two people talk to me and ask me questions. Its insane! Ive gotten used to it of course, but I still find it crazy. I dont like or not like the attention...sometimes you have some really nice conversations and meet great people, but I swear at least 1/3 of the men here are always drunk and reek of beer and have no problem at all talking to you (whether they speak English or not) and that's when it gets annoying.

But like I said, its not always that bad. For instance, the other day, I met this pretty...hahah interesting guy. I was at the internet cafe (why is it always the internet cafe??) and was buying my ticket thing when he heard me speaking English to the employee. (I had meant to say 'spasiba' but got distracted because I dropped a Hryvnia and ended up saying 'thanks.') Anyways, he starts talking to me and ends up telling me he wants to take me to get ice cream at this place at Kreshatyk. Usually I can get out of these situations with some sort of excuse, but sometimes I cant...because it would be really obvious that Im trying to ditch them. So I end up saying yes and we head there. I learn his name is Alex and he's half Russian or Turkish (I didnt quite understand) and half Serbian and he plays on the Serbian national basketball team. ( Which may seem hard to believe but if you had seen him, you wouldnt have doubted it for a second. Also, he was wearing the jacket to prove it.) He was nice. At one point, I somehow choked on my ice cream and could NOT stop coughing...it was pretty funny. He patted my back and was like, "Ill go get you some water..." I managed, through my coughing, to say "No! I'll be fine! Sit down." Because really, water is not free here. I didnt need him buying another thing for me. Afterward, he walked me to the metro and that was that.

Once I got taken out for hot chocolate by a guy from England...haha and you can bet I enjoyed that. Another time, when I was heading to the train station to go to Budapest and Prague a guy named Slava carried my suitcase the entire way there (with me glued to his side in case he wasnt as trustworthy as he seemed, but seriously...it would be hard to run away on the metro carrying my 50 pound suitcase..) and then he wished me good luck in Russian and kissed me on the cheek. So yea, you mix the good with the bad and you get a place thats just like the rest of the world.

I think Riah is starting to like me and care for me a lot! Either that or Riah's worried that she'll be blamed for the death of a stupid American girl because she never seems to be wearing just the right clothes to go outside in, sleeps too little, doesnt eat enough, and still! for some inexplicable reason doesnt understand the Russian being constantly yelled at her, even though its been months. I dont know which one it is, Riah's a hard woman to figure out lol. I really do love her though...even when a couple times a week she'll wake me up by yanking the covers off me, yell at me for 5 minutes, then lay the covers back over me so that every part of my body up to my neck is under the blanket. Im assuming she does it because she thinks I'll get cold. Which is really sweet...though that can be a hard fact to remember when its 5 o'clock in the morning and you were in the middle of a really good dream. I think our relationship could be tentatively described as a love-hate relationship. ;)

Well, I'd better head out. Till next time!!

No Longer A Tourist (though I really never was...)

Now I've really been slacking. Its been what...almost 3 weeks since I last posted? Dang. (Sorry Mom.)

Well Ill start with the most basic of beginning conversational topics-the weather. As soon as October started, the cold came with it. The high temperatures usually reach 40'F (or maybe we'll get a warm day of 48'F) and the lows either below or at freezing. Im able to see my breath at 4 in the afternoon! Its absolutely ridiculous and honestly frightens me a bit. I mean, what will November bring...let alone December??!!

Normally cold weather wouldnt bother me so much, but the problem is its a 20 min walk to the metro every morning and then after a 30-40 min train ride it takes a good 15-25 min walk to wherever Im going...unless I have to take a connecting marshutka (bus) to my destination. And I ride the trains at least 3 times a day, usually more. So there's no jumping in the car and jumping out into the warm building like back in America.

The metros, bless them, are always warm though thanks to the trains and hoards of people riding them. And I mean hoards! The trains are ALWAYS busy and unless youre at the top of the line you'll rarely get a seat. When I think back to the trains in Chicago...they seem like a ghost town in comparison. A typical metro ride will consist of being pushed into the train then for the rest of your lovely journey, your squashed between a 30yr old business man, a hooker with sharp heels (that youll be lucky not to have come in contact with your own feet at one point), a super tall 25yr old guy listening to his music, and a babushka with her bags of vegetables digging into your side. But I have to admit, I still consider trains to be one of my most favorite modes of transportation.

Oh and while we're on the subject of the types of people you'll encounter on the trains, Ive noticed something about the older men here. Theyre very touchy with the younger women. Not in a 'necessarily' bad way I guess...(depending on what level of a feminist you are). For some reason they feel that they have the right to grab you with both hands by the waist and physically move you out of theyre way. Or, if your hesitating to get on a train because youre afraid its so crowded that the doors will shut on you and break some bone in your body (we've witnessed hands being broken, and heard rumors of ankles), the men will grab you and push you on in front of them, making the decision for you. Im not a top level feminist, but I AM pretty high up there...and this, this pisses me off.

Ive gotten some questions about what my school/teaching situation is like, so I'll clarify things a little bit for all of you. Im in a group of 9 girls, including our head teacher Michaela, who was a teacher in Kiev last semester like I am now. There are two other groups like us in Kiev. In my group, we teach at two school in different parts of the city. Mary and I teach at central by ourselves (with Gabby teaching there with us on Tues & Thurs). Everyone else teaches at Nivky school. In two weeks though, Mary and I will be moving to a different office building to teach at which is apparently bigger and nicer than where we are now. We also might be teaching new kids and possibly loose the ones we've been teaching. Which makes me extremely sad! I've really gotten attached to the adorable little boys we teach... But yea, hope that answered a couple questions.

Life at home is as interesting as ever. Riah continues to yell at me in a never ending stream of Russian, whether she is happy OR annoyed with me. Though she has taken to petting my hair when she is really delighted with me, so now I have this urge to get her to pet my hair all the time...
The other day I was on the balcony getting something out of my suitcase when I turned and accidentally knocked a pot of compote (homemade juice with fruit in it) onto the ground. She didnt seem very happy about it, or at least that's what I inferred because she started yelling at me louder than usual. Then 10 min later she sat me down for dinner and I ate my normal amount of food, but when she gestured to ask me if I wanted more and I said no thank you, she got that annoyed look in her eye and put the rest of what was left of dinner on my plate, then yelled at me to eat it. I took it as her version of a consequence of spilling the compote and forced myself to start eating it. I was seriously sitting there trying not to laugh though at how ridiculous the whole thing was. I was like 'How the HECK did I get myself into this situation? Im sitting here in a flat in Ukraine, being forced to eat a ton of food by a babushka as a punishment, waiting for her to walk out of the kitchen so I can run to the balcony, open the window, and dump the rest of the food out and down 15 floors to the ground below. I CANNOT believe this...'
It really was amazingly funny. Unfortunately, Riah didnt go out of the kitchen. (Though I dont think I would have chanced it anyways because of what would have happened if I got caught.) And so I finished the food, after which Riah seemed to forgive me because she started petting my hair again.

Ill have you know...Riah's food is pretty decent. I eat most all of it. There have only been a FEW things Ive had to throw out the window because theyre simply impossible for me to eat without having them come back up. There's a grassy area with trees below the window, and though it really isnt THAT often that I throw food out..the pigeons seem to know to congregate there.

Im not allowed to wash the dishes. At first I tried to sneak doing them, but Riah caught me once and yelled at me so intensely I haven't tried since. Is it really that bad that I want to clean my dishes so that a 70-75yr old grandmother wont have to?? Im thinking no, but Ive found that following her rules is definitely the better way to go about helping her and keeping her happy and pleased with me.

Well I'd better get going...there's about 10 minutes time left for me to use the computer. (Im at an internet cafe lol...)
I dont think Ill get another post up for a couple weeks because this Friday Im leaving on a trip around Europe! We're going to Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Dresden, and Lyviv. It's a long needed vacation from teaching English every Monday though Friday...and when I get back there will be only a month and 21 days till Im back in America! Crazy huh??
I love you Mom, Riley, Grayson, Hannah, and Dad!!!!!!! And all the rest of my lovely family and friends out there!!!!

Sorry no pictures (since Im at an internet cafe) so Ill leave a song/video for ya. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv2OyI0nXEE&ob=av2e
Ugh never mind, I lied. Its not working. But I refuse to be beat so Ill just leave up the link.

Till next time...

Babushka's and Immune Systems...

I know its been forever but this time it wasnt because I was procrastinating, it was because I litterally couldnt get my hands on a computer! Also, Im apologizing beforehand for any mistakes in this post, I dont have time to spellcheck or reread.

Since last time I posted theres been a big change. After some interesting misunderstandings I have a new host family! A babushka to be exact, (grandmother in Russian). Babushka Riah. Even though Ive been living at her flat for half a week, I only just met her last night. She was in one of the many villages outside of the 'thriving' metropolis of Kyiv, taking care of animals and crops possibly...? Im not sure exactly.

I havent been living alone for this past week though. Before last night when Babushka Riah came home, Marina (a 38yr old single woman) was my only roommate. She speaks a good bit of English and is very kind and outgoing. The first night I met her, she talked my head off for 2 hours. Listening, replying, and trying to translate/finish sentances in English is extremely trying on the brain, let me tell you. Then she force-fed me this apricot cheese stuff, (ok, not really, but she clearly wasnt going to let me NOT eat it). It was honestly just not good...I was able to eat about half of the 2 by 5 inch chunk of it before I resorted to dropping it into my cup of water bit by bit when she wasnt looking. But I really like her! She's a great roommate!

Now lets talk about Babushka Riah, (rye-ah). I had heard stories about her before I met her that left me a bit anxious. For example, how previous teachers would have to hide in the bathtub if they wanted to read late at night or finish their lesson plans, how she sometimes yells (she only speaks Russian so I can understand how this would be intimidating), she likes to dance randomly and will make you dance with her, and how, in general, she's just a force of nature and you WILL do what she says. Some of the stories were also about her interesting cooking, but I was pleasantly surprised when the first meal she made for me was absolutely delicious! The best borscht Ive had since Ive been in Ukraine and eggs sizzled to perfection on top of white and fluffy bread. And this morning! I had a potato soup, similar to the borscht from last night, and a thick and eggy crepe that tasted like heaven...
She danced a bit before I left this morning. Just thought Id add that, haha. I have no doubt we will have some awesome and hilarious experiences together in the future.

In honor of my old host family, Im going to share one of Vlada's and my funny little escapades we had over our 3 weeks of living together. (Dude...I totally botched that sentence didnt I? Stupid grammer...) Vlada and I decided to go to this

spectacular catherdral which I mentioned in my previous post. It was a Sunday, so we were allowed inside this time. When we walked in I saw two options before me. To the left was a staircase going not up, but down, and in front of me was the beautiful and enormous main hall of the cathedral. I decided to save the best for last and kept walking straight. It WAS beautiful, and I certainly spent my time taking in all of the details of the high walls, ornate decorations, paintings, and giant organ, but when we walked back out into the foyer I took Vlada's arm and steered her excitedly towards the staircase. She stopped though and we had a quick little conversation that went like this...
Vlada: You want to go down there??
Me: Yes, of course!
Vlada: I dont know...maybe first we ask someone.
Me: But there's no one around.
Vlada: Maybe we wait.
Me: Look, its not blocked! And I dont see any sign indicating that its against the rules for us to go down there.
She either saw the logic of my arguement or didnt understand a word I said and decided that it would be better to go with me than leave me to the wrath of some Eastern Orthodox monk when he found me creeping around. Vlada crossed herself and muttered what I assumed was a prayer in Russian (which I still think was a bit unnecessary) and followed me down. There we a bunch of old chairs and dark alcoves, but when we turned down one of the halls we saw these black double doors that were particularly ominous looking. We looked at each other, mentally agreed we'd see what was on the other side, then walked towards the doors. The second before my fingers touched the handles, the doors suddenly shook rather violently. I jumped back and let out a little shriek, (which I felf bad enough about doing in such a reverent place) but at least I wasnt outright insulting like Vlada who managed not only to swear, but swear in a language that I happen to understand perfectly. I took her arm figuring we would leave seeing as how the place was freaking haunted but she stopped me, laughed and said, "Sorry, it was me. I didnt know, look!" She stepped on one of the stones that was half way under both doors and they shook again. We both laughed (in relief) and I tried to open the doors again but they were, of course, locked.

Lastly I wanted to tell my family that LOOOOOOVE them!! And i miss you all dearly! I miss you my sweet little siblings Hannah, Grayson, and Riley! I miss you Mom!!! And I miss you Dad and Donna! Its harder being away from you in another country rather than just in another state going to college because of the fact that we cant talk on the phone! (Its also hard b/c this is the most difficult thing Ive done and everything is crazy and different in Ukraine. And, Im never NOT sick in some way. ((Today its a fiery sore throat, runny nose, and a wicked cough but its better than three days ago when it was a stuffed nose, wicked cough, and the stomach flu.) Yes email is nice and lovely and I cling to every word, but it is not enough!! I want to eat your faces and drink your voices. Everyday. For breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. Youre really pretty lucky that this is not actually possible.
Anyways, I love you! All of you!

Im still having a great time here, life is moving forward. ^_^

P.S. Mom! I love that scarf!! I wear it all the time...the colors are perfect <3

And time passes...

Well! Im a bit lazy at updating, I know. Ill probably end up starting all my posts with an apology of this sort. This is how I am with writing in my journal too...

Life at home is getting better everyday! I get along really well with my host family. Vlada and I have a lot of fun hanging out. They pretty much have down the things Ill eat (rice, pasta, fruit!, potatoes, bread, cereal, soup, pastries, ketchup, and most meat) and the things I wont eat (beet soup, nasty ukrainian drinks, buckwheat, caviar, fish ((its all real and blood and guttsy looking ewww)) their version of sour cream, and poppyseed bread). I am NOT a picky eater. Ask anyone I know!! But I swear...they took everything I dont like in America and eat it here all the time! Like I said though, the food in general is getting much better.

School has been an interesting ride. I was freaking out a bit the first and second days just because we were thrown straight into it! We've taught classes by ourselves from that first day! And there really isnt anyone to oversee our teaching. We have a head teacher, but she comes over only once a week. So you can see how I was stressing out at first, but its gotten much better and easier! Which I am sooooo thankful for! I am in charge of teaching 3 lessons each day...Arts & Crafts (my favorite!), Drama, and Gym. I teach kindergarten. Our school is from 4pm-7pm, Mon-Fri. You may think that teaching would be impossible, but we just repeat everything and use simple phrases. Once they have those phrases down we take it a step up and challenge them a bit more. Its amazing how easily we can communicate! They learn so well!! I can really see how this will help them in the future, theyll be so far ahead of the other kids when they start taking English at school.
Here's a picture of me and the other teachers..


I live so close to the school I walk there everyday! I really enjoy those walks. Its down this beautiful road with trees down each side, old and new buildings, cars everywhere (sidewalk included), and people everywhere too. Its a good time to put my ipod in one ear and listen to lovely familiar sounds, and soak in and watch this new world that is so different from what Im used to.
Speaking of cars...they have some pretty awesome ones here. While a lot of them are the cute and/or crappy little European cars, a lot of them are also very nice. Ive seen people lock and unlock their cars with their fingerprints! And most of the cars here have side mirrors that fold in, which is extremely necessary and needed with all of their narrow streets here.

There are pigeons everywhere...seriously, at least one every five feet.
Oh and everyone smokes here! Ive become so used to the smell...I dont cough, hold my breath, or even really notice it anymore. Which for some reason I feel is a little sad...

So a couple days back I got onto one of the city buses, nothing new, and sat down in one of the seats. On city buses there is a person (usually a woman) who comes by and makes sure that you have a city card, which is what I have, or money to pay. She comes by and checks my card, then goes and checks others. After a couple of minutes she comes back to me and starts talking (though it was more like yelling) to me in Russian. I was like 'I dont understand, I only speak English.' She stops talking, gives me this annoyed look, grabs my arm, hauls me out of the seat, pushes me into the aisle, and sits down in the one I was just sitting in. Apparently, that was HER seat. Many many thoughts ran through my head at that moment...ones like, 'oh no you DID-NT!' 'if we were in america id...sue you!' and 'why i oughta...' but I just did what I normally do in these situations (which come up more often than you'd think) and that was just laugh, b/c I really do find most of this experience quite funny, and sit down somewhere else.

Whenever I plan on going out, I always wear a scarf, because its impossible to know when you might come across a cathedral. They are everywhere here!! Just last night I discovered this beautiful thing, right down the road from where I live!


Im going to go back and go inside sometime this weekend for sure! Maybe right after I finish this blog...just because I can...haha.
Anyways, back to the scarf thing. Its mandatory for a woman to wear a scarf in most cathedrals here, but even when its not mandatory its just a respectful thing to do. I went into this cathdral

the other day, while mass was starting. It seems casual, but serious at the same time. Mostly because everyone stands, and there's a lot of people coming in and out, but its all very silent except for the prayers being said by the priest (in another language of course) and the angel sounding singing coming from a choir that remains to be seen. While everyone was doing their spiritual thing, I couldnt stop thinking about how much I wanted to go up to the very high looking second floor, or go up that secret staircase, or through that other very well hidden door. I was dying to explore it allllll!
When i was in Chicago I went into the only openly run Opus Dei cathedral, and this kid let me in through the back when nobody was there and I got to explore the whole thing by myself. Too bad I cant expect to have the same thing happen here...

Oh, and Ill mention this too because I find it EXTREMELY awesome. Across the street from that scary looking cathedral down the road is the headquarters of the Ukrainian version of the CIA! Ah...see? I told you it was awesome.... Haha I hope they dont consider me a suspicious looking person if I go and walk around the (outside) of the building for a while, trying to see all that can be seen. Yea, sometimes I just LOVE life...

So this is what I dubbed the 'theme song' of my trip to Ukraine. Ugh, I seriously LOVE this song. I gave it this theme song BEFORE I actually came here though...so it hasnt quite fit it perfectly so far. ^_^ Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesnt. Maybe Ill have to find another song to balance the perfectness of this song. But for now, here it is:


Love and miss you all!

~Breanna