Days 65 - 72 - Stories and Pictures!

Day 65 - March 24 - Tour Bus!

Got on the tour bus and drove ALL day. Earplugs were probably the best thing I brought for that, I really slept okay for the night portion of our trip. We were at the border to Hungary for over 6 hours though! That was the night time though, so I got pretty good sleep until the passport people came and had to check our passports. We did make it to Budapest safe and well the next day though.

Day 66 - March 25 - Budapest, Hungary

Day 67 - March 26 - Vienna, Austria

- Pictures- 

Day 68 - March 27 - Dresden, Germany

- Pictures - 

Day 69 - March 28 - Prague, 

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Day 70 - March 29 - Prague

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Day 71 - March 30 - Prague/ Bus home

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Day 72 - March 31 - Bus and Home!

- I'll update this post later :)

Day 59 - Awkward Moments

We were riding the bus to the Metro today when the bus driver yelled back, "Divichka! (Girl!) Blah blah blah blah blah" All these people looked back at me and the other three I was with. None of us understood a word, but I figured the bus-driver was in fact talking to us. It turns out one of us hadn't paid (passed up 10 grivna for three people, but got 4 grivna back instead of just one... it was just confusing), so Malory passed up three more grivna for the bus-driver.

When I made it down to the metro, it was packed. I did find a seat though which was nice. I was reading a magazine from church (the Liahona), so I was totally in my own zone on the way home. But then this lady started speaking Russian to me about something. Once again came the faces; people probably wondering why the heck I was in such a stupor about what this lady was saying to me. I said, "Do you want to sit here? Ya ni ponimayu Boruski. (I don't understand Russian.)". I finally figured it out though when she rubbed her hand over her belly (like a pregnant lady) then pointed at my seat. I'm pregnant, let me sit there. I felt bad for the confusion, "Oh! Izvinitye! (Sorry!)" I got up and let her have the seat.

I got off the metro, a little frustrated now at getting pushed around and talked to. At that point, I was feeling pretty down, I couldn't understand anyone. There were a TON of people there at my metro stop, and all of the running escalators were going up, just filing tons and tons of people out of there up to the tunnel that led to the sidewalks and streets above. I finally made it to the escalator and when I looked down behind me, it was just this sea of people all trying to get on the escalator I was now standing on. I turned back around to face the right direction going up the escalator, and lo and behold, there was this guy this probably drunk or just extremely friendly Ukrainian guy that wanted to talk to me. He kept talking to me talking something about futbol (soccer) and gymnastica (gymnastics?) and Ukraine. He pointed to himself and said his name (which I can't remember), then pointed to me. I made up a name, "Ya Madeline", that was the first other name I could think of at the moment. He put out his hand and probably said something like "Pleased to meet you!" I didn't want to be blatantly rude, so I nervously shook his hand back. The next thing I knew he had kissed me right on the back of my hand. Bleh! I pulled it away fast and wiped it on the back of my coat. He laughed, "Izvinitye, Izvine (I'm sorry, sorry)! Blah blah blah blah funny, funny!" which is the only thing I heard him say in English. He asked something else that I couldn't understand, I think he was wondering if I was going to the big event, whatever that was. All I did was shrug my shoulders and say, "Ya ni ponimayu". He kept talking until we got off of the escalator and said, "izvinitye" and "funny" a couple more times. I nodded and smiled, but I was relieved when he finally said, "Paka!" (Bye!) I went my own way trying to smile like I totally knew what was going on. But I didn't.

I walked home cautiously noticing ALL of the people walking the opposite direction as me to the sports stadium (there were SO many!). In reflection to my day, I realized that I had a choice, I could either be totally frustrated with all of Ukraine and everyone's failed efforts at trying to communicate with me OR I could laugh at it all and just call it an... experience.

When I got home, I related the whole event to my host-mom and we just laughed and laughed about it all. She said it was a compliment; she says I have a very European face (IS that a compliment? :P :D ) So maybe I totally made a fool of myself today in all of my mis-understandings, but I did have some good laughs in the end because of it :)

Day 44 - FHE!

Friday night, FHE ("Family" Home Evening) was AWESOME! I met some extremely sweet people, and we had a lot of fun playing fooz-ball, Mafia, and Phase 10. The foozball table somehow got broken a little bit; one of the bars that hold two players for the blue team got pulled out of socket, but we adapted, and it turned out to be twice as fun to play that way. Then I decided to go play some card games with this group of people. They were going to play Skip-O, but we couldn't figure out the rules. Actually, they didn't even HAVE any rules for the game written in Russian, so someone had to look them up online. We ended up switching over to phase 10, which most everyone seemed to know how to play already (I think it has simpler rules too!). We had about 10 people playing, and they ALL spoke Russian, but I actually got most of their joking's around. .It's not too hard with a game of numbers :) And half of them speak English too, so I was able to talk and laugh with them too. I remember Julia and Sasha and Alla and Igor and about four others (I can't remember there names). We just had a blast playing that game. Actually, the highest "phase" we got to in the game was 5, but it was 9:30 and most everyone had at least an hour commute or so home. So we all put the cards away, reset up all the tables and chairs in the room, headed out and said our goodbye's.

Day 41 - Looking Up :)

Okay, so basically since I got here to Ukraine, there's been this sheet of snow or ice or slush or puddles or something on the ground that causes me to have to watch my feet everywhere I go. But these last few days have been amazing! The sidewalks are clear (or at least more clear) of snow and ice and all that stuff that's been keeping my eyes glued to that grey and white path right ahead of me. Walking around Kyiv, there is SO much that I've been missing on all my daily walks. There are so many old buildings, that look like they've stood through many tests of time (and probably have). But right next to those old tattered buildings, there are these very modern, very shiny buildings that also stand out to me. I wish I could have taken more pictures yesterday on my small exploration of Kyiv, but I felt odd taking pictures of every building and thing that I saw. Anyways, I'll have to post some of those pictures later. (Oh which reminds me, I found my camera!)

Also, about my expeditions. Sometimes I have some time to kill but I don't quite feel like going anywhere in particular. On those days, I'll take the Metro to a random stop, then try to find my way to another stop a ways away. It's fun piecing together parts of this city that way. Honestly, I don't know which direction I'm going usually, but I figure if I stay around the center of Kiev, I'm BOUND to run into another Metro at some point. When I really need to, I ask a random Babushka (old lady), "Izvinitye (Excuse me), Gdye Metro? (Where's the Metro?)"

Yesterday, this one lady totally made my day, she was SO happy. When I stopped her in her walk (to ask for directions), she was looking up at the buildings around her and just smiling.. SMILING :) People around here don't typically smile unless they're with their family or good friends. On the street, it's basically an anomaly to see anyone really smiling about seemingly nothing at all. But she was, and when I said, "Izvinite," to see if she would stop and help, she said, "Zdrasvite!" to me and kept walking. I think she thought I was just saying a happy greeting, but then she realized that I was needing help with something, and she stopped and turned back to me. I asked, "Gdye Metro? Do you know?" She preceded to explain to me with a ton of Russian words (some I even understood!) and hand gestures to explain to me where the metro was. She seemed to be conversing with me, asking me questions or something. I just told her, "Ya ni punimayu.. (I don't understand) ..Ya Americanka," and hoped that would suffice. After talking a while longer, she spoke in English, "You understand?". I said, "Toot-toot" (a little) then I ended the conversation with, "Spaciba, Paka!" Looking back, I probably should have said, "Do svidania" (A more formal goodbye), but I think she understood. Anyways, after talking to her, I just kept smiling. My whole day was definitely worth it for even that one moment conversing with the smiley babushka :)

Day 27 - Post Office, Doughnuts, and Bums

Today was one of my first days being completely on my own in Kyiv. But honestly, it was kind of nice! I had to go to the post office to send some letters and a box. There were some people filming in the post office for some reason. It seemed to be a silent film or something, because all they did was record this guy putting stuff in a box then later him weighing it, then later him paying for the package to be sent. Otherwise, my time waiting there went really slow. The only other real exciting event was when I asked a lady if she had a pen I could borrow. I spent about five minutes trying to recall the Russian word for "pen" (ruchka), which at the moment, I couldn't remember for the life of me. I finally figured I'd just ask in English and try to pantomime what I needed. Turns out the lady I asked could in fact speak some English; she was so nice though, she let me borrow her pen and asked if I needed other help.

On the way home, I decided I should probably get something of a present for my host-family for Valentine's Day. I was thinking chocolate or a cute little card or something, but I saw a doughnut stand and thought, "Sure, that works!" So I got half-a-dozen doughnuts. It was a challenge to carry the box right-side up while not getting it squished on the metro, but I managed to get off the metro and up the escalator with the doughnuts and box all still intact. There was this bum sitting with a sign at the bottom of the stairs. I passed him and went up the stairs out to the street. About half-way up those stairs I had this idea that it might be nice to have given him one of the extra doughnuts, sort of as a Valentine's Day gift; but I didn't. I reasoned that I was too far and it would just be awkward to turn around and go give him one. But I promised myself that if that old babushka was sitting at her spot on the street near my house, I would give her a doughnut. I was secretly really hoping that she wouldn't be there because then I could fulfill the promise to myself and still not have to go through with my awkward action. I made it to the street and looked down the sidewalk; there she was, sitting right on that staircase (where she always sits). My heart beat faster and faster as I took the sidewalk toward her. I knew I had to do it, or I'd forever hold myself guilty for passing up the opportunity. She looked right at me, and then I knew I couldn't turn back. I didn't understand what she was saying, but I pointed at my box of doughnuts and asked "Would you like one?" She replied, "Blah blah blah blah blah, Da Da!" I took that as a yes. I opened the box and let her pick. She said some more stuff I didn't understand. I just said, "Pajalusta, Happy Valentine's!" and took my box of doughnuts the rest of the way home. 

I couldn't stop smiling at myself on the way home; it was SUCH an awesome feeling! I totally recommend it sometime, being awkward and giving gifts to strangers; haha it'll totally make your day :) 

Day 20 - Toy Museum

Photo from http://my.kiev.info 

I went to the Toy Museum in Kiev with Maddy, Clint, and Mike yesterday. Clint had this paper with a ton of different museums around here on it, and we thought that might be a good choice. It seemed pretty cheap and close by. We had to stop and ask for directions a few times, but finally we found it in the back of this elementary school-looking-place. There was some confusion on the cost of tickets, but after explaining that we were in fact "studient"s (Russian for "student") we only had to pay 20 grivna total for all of us, which we thought was a pretty good deal. But going into the museum, I was a little disappointed. It was a hallway with two smallish rooms branching off with glass cases of toys from various era's in it. There was some pretty cool stuff, but there wasn't anything but my own knowledge and memories of my childhood to add to the museum. At most, it was nice to have the others there, because at least we could compare notes on what we thought of the various toys. Anyways, I'm not recommending this museum for any coming to Kyiv unless you've got 5 grivna and about an hour or less of your time to kill. Still, time and money could be spent way better at a Chocolate Cafe or something instead. :)


PS: Pictures cost 10 grivna to take here AND you can take just about any of them from online! So don't take pictures! 

Day 18 - English/ Russian Party

The guinea pig is in the pink blanket near the right of the pic :)

Sunday, we had planned on going to St. Michael's, but when your with a group of ILP's plans can very easily and very quickly change :) We ended up going to my friend (from Amanda's group) Janelle's host-family's house. She lives right near the church, so we only had to wait for the bus then walk for a while, and then we were there! I hadn't realized this, but I haven't really met anyone else's host-family yet, so it was a neat experience to see the similarities and differences. Janelle's two host sisters didn't speak hardly any English, (besides maybe memorized phrases like "Hi, my name is...") We helped cut up fruits and vegis for dinner and dessert. It was nice spending time with some of the others too. Janelle, Madeline, Maddy, Danae, and Adrienne were all their too. We played this game that seemed to be specifically made for the event of American and Russian-only speaking people being at the same home. We had to try to translate words they had on the cards to English, and then the family tried to translate words we had on cards to Russian. It was fun to see that they sometimes struggled figuring out the word "hair-dryer" as much as we struggled with a word like... Well, I can't really remember any of the specific words. It was really fun though. We had dinner, which we all agreed was AMAZING (though it was fast-Sunday, so that might of had something to do with it :). Potatoes and Chicken with cheese and cooked vegetables, and there was enough for everyone. Afterwards we all chatted, at times the dad (who can speak English pretty well) got lost though, because we would all be talking at once. It was fun getting to know the others there and the family though. Oh! AND they had a huge guinea-pig which the two kids just LOVED. They put it in a backpack and carried it around, or wrapped it up in some blankets. That thing had so much patience for those children, and they'd had it for more than half a year already :)

Day 17 - Circus!

On Saturday, my ILP group all went to the circus! We went with Cami's group too (I'm with Marie's group). It was quite a journey there and back, but the circus was definitely an awesome experience! There was a lazer-light show in the beginning, and a huge variety of acts all in between (acrobatics, comedy, stunts, magic, music, and so much more!) I'll be posting a video soon (or eventually) to show you a bit of what it was like :) Definitely classic circus though! Except there were no elephants.. I was sad about that. But they pretty much made up for it with all the other awesome things I saw there! Anyways, sorry such an awesome event has become so short of a post. Just know that it was great, and that I TOTALLY recommend going to the "CIRK" (Ukrainian) if you're ever in Kyiv!

Day 16 - Cheesecake with Lena

Sorry it's taken me so long! I'm actually gonna just synopsis the last few days, because I've only got so much time to write. In a couple hours, I'm headed to institute for my church, then going to a chocolate cafe with some buddies. But more about that later :)


Last Friday I made "cheesecake" with Lena (The same type of "cheesecake" that I had on my first morning here!). Here's the recipe for it, the measurements all seem relative, but that's probably because they are! A table spoon here isn't an exact measurement, it's one scoop with one of those bigger spoons. A teaspoon is the actual teaspoon too, so these are all round-about measurements. Hopefully it makes enough sense though :) Enjoy!

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Picture by my host-mom, Lena :)

2 Table Spoons (stalova loshka) of Sugar

1/3 Teaspoons (Chinaya loshka) of Salt

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Sugar

3 Eggs

1/2 Kg of Cream Cheese (about a smallish plateful)

First, turn the oven up high-ish (300 - 400 degrees Celsius) to get it warmed up. Mix Sugar, Salt, Vanilla in a small bowl then in a blender add that with three eggs and blend well. Blend in cream cheese until it all looks somewhat like melted ice-cream :) Pour that into a small bread-pan (we used one of those rubbery ones, but I think a metal one with some PAM or something would work too. Turn the oven down to 200 degrees (Celcius), then put the bread pan of the mixture in the middle rack. In 30 to 40 minutes, the cheesecake should be done. Check every once in a while by poking it with a toothpick, when there is no batter on the stick after you poke it, the cheesecake will be read to take out. 

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Saturday morning we had the "cheesecake" for breakfast. It has a pretty egg-y taste, but I really liked it. Actually my favorite way to eat it is warmed up in the microwave with some home-made plain yogurt on it. 

 

Day 12 - Lena's Birthday!

Monday was Lena's Birthday! I had no idea what to get her, but on the way home, I decided to get a couple flowers at a flower stand in the market. I had to ask around a bit to find someone that would help me, but eventually I found someone that spoke English that was willing to help. She pointed me in the right direction of the flower stand (which humurously enough was just around the corner from where I was at at the time, and then I went. The people working there seemed really busy, but they let me pick out the flowers I wanted, I payed them to their price (which was cheap, but still I think I could have gotten the price down if I had time and wasn't so hungry), then went back on my way with a trio of flowers in my hand. Lena really seemed to enjoy the flowers, she gave me a hug and thanked me. We even got some pictures of Julia, Lena and me with the flowers.

Later on, we all started getting ready for going to a restaurant. I had no idea what kind of restaurant, but everyone was dressing in their best clothes. We got a ride there in Lena and Sasha's friend's car, and the whole time there I was joking around and playing with Julia. We got there and the table was set full of plates on stands with this really fancy food on them, I wasn't sure what everything was, but there were salads, meat, cheese, bread, fish, vegetables, and so much more I can't even remember. We ate sort of "family style" passing around the plates of food around, I was actually quite full at that point, so I tried to just take a little bit of most everything. It felt just like thanksgiving, except for instead of turkey and cranberry sauce on the table, the food was exotic. Anyways, enough about the food; I had a sort of "aha" moment on Monday. The adults were all sort of on their side of the table, and I was sitting down at the other end with Julia and a few others. I realized that when adults are talking to adults (in Russian) they are very hard to understand. When adults are talking to children, they use hand motions and facial expressions. I often feel like a child trying to learn this new language. I only know basic words, and I read very slowly. But I'm wandering if the reason children learn languages so quickly is in part because of the way people talk with them. They repeat themselves over and over and they make most all of their words into sort of actions. It was especially easy when they were talking to the little two year old. The little toddler could probably still speak way better Russian than me, but I actually understood what they were trying to say when someone was talking to her, which was pretty exciting for me.

One more thought; when Lena told me we were going to the restaurant, I was thinking "Great! We're leaving around 6:30, so if we eat even for an hour, we'll be back home by 8:30." But this meal was not a just-one-sitting event. People came and went (probably to take a smoke or bathroom break) and then came back again, but all in all, we were at the restaurant for around 3 or 4 hours. It was really quite an experience; people toasting every now and then to something (probably Lena, because it was her birthday and all), the kids entertaining themselves with dancing and running, everyone talking in Russian or Ukrainian (at this point, I'm still not sure of the major differences), and an overall very friendly atmosphere. We got home really late, but I was really glad to still be a part of the event.

Day 6 - Going to the "Magazin"

Yesterday I went to school (I was SO tired!), then went to the mall by the Metro on the way home. There's a grocery store (store is "magazin" in Russian) on the lower floor, and that's where I got my shampoo and conditioner. Shampoo has the almost the same name here (sounds like "shampoon"), except the word looks something like "wamnyhb"  in Russian, so it was helpful to be able to sound it out and know that I was buying at least one shampoo. I have no idea what "conditioner" is in Russian, but I figure it's whatever the opposite of the shampoo is. I think my favorite part about the grocery store was that all the cash register people were sitting in chairs, and the belts where you put your food and stuff was down at their sitting level. Maybe it's no good for health, but I know that working the register, you could work a LOT longer if you don't have to stand the whole time. I remember when I worked at Kiwi Loco, it killed me to have to pull a double shift just standing there. Why do cashiers have to stand there? Is it just more professional? Or have we Americans just not figured out yet that sitting at the cashier could be so much easier on these workers feet and overall stamina? Anyways, sorry this post has such little structure to it, I just got home about a half an hour ago from walking around Central Kiev for two hours, and that was right after teaching at school for four hours. Anyways, my host family's all home now, so I should probably get going.

Day 5 - "Concert" Party

Last night, Lena (my host mom) invited me and Julia to a concert that started at 7. We got picked up by a cab and driven down the street called Kreschatik. There were SO many sights on the way there! We drove past all these big buildings with lights. We drove past the Square with a huge column with an angel (or something of the sort) on top. All of the buildings were so old, and the one we went to was also pretty neat. We went in through this side gate and then through some double doors. Walking in felt like walking into an old movie with people all dressed up and chatting to each other, servers replacing food and picking up old plates and glasses. There was a table full of wine glasses, water, and juice. At first, I really felt out of place, like I had been placed in the wrong setting. But it felt like a truly classic night, we checked in our coats at the corner where we got this plastic oval looking thing with our coat-rack-number on it. We then sort of stood around and talked among ourselves while snacking on the appetizers. There were drinks there too, mostly wine, but me and Julia took Orange Juice and water instead. It was quite the experience, but "Fancy" is the best word I can think of to describe it. There was even this amazing pianist playing on a grand piano. And you have to know that here, real good quality piano's come very sparingly. Even at church last Sunday, all the piano's were electric; even the chapel organ! Anyways, the party was fun; I mostly talked with Lena and Julia, but it was fun getting to know them a little better. Julia was so goofy the whole time, she made up a song about my name, "Gracie not Crazy", except in her slight Russian accent, both words rhyme almost perfectly. Eventually, we went up these grand stairs to the concert hall to listen to this singer. He had an amazing voice, and he even sang some songs that I recognized. I started falling asleep part way through though (it was about 22:00, or 10:00pm, then) so we called a taxi and went home.

Game of Charades

Alright, so first I need to fill you in on some background. My sister's husband is Armenian, and his parents (up until recently) have been living in Moscow, Russia which isn't too far of a distance from Kiev, Ukraine. BUT they're currently here in America, and since last Friday, I've had a ton of opportunity to find ways to communicate with my brother-in-law's Russian-Armenian-speaking parents (Maria and Haroch). It has been a constant game of charades, but I feel like I'm getting better and better at it. Like last night, on our way back home, Haroch and Maria were trying to ask me something... "Blah blah blah fitness blah blah blah..."  At first, I thought they were talking to me about my shoes, because they kept pointing at the tennis-shoes I was wearing. We got home, and Maria told me again, "Blah blah blah fitness..." She made a running motion with her arms and legs, I thought maybe Maria was going to go running outside. I pulled out Google Translate (truly a god-send) on my computer, I typed in "Are you going running?" She read the translation in Russian then told me "No no no, blah blah blah blah fitness..." Then it clicked, I typed in, "You're going to the gym?" She told me "Yes!" So after about 5 minutes of trying to figure out what she was saying I finally figured it out. I went and changed to sweat pants and a t-shirt, then we went to the gym.