KIEV

Today a man got squished in the trolley bus. It didn't make my day. He fell unconscious and 2 men drug him off the trolley. The doors shut and we left. I hope I never get squished!

LOST

Today me and an ILP teacher that lives with me, Marina, had to to find the school today, by ourselves. We take a trolley to the metro station, "Metro Minska," and then walk to the school. We were able to find our trolley and headed to the metro. We got off, crossed the street, and looked hopelessly at a crowded square of people as the snow fell. We walked. Our walk turned to a trudge. We peered out over the vast city of white, slushy, dirty buses. Everything looked the same; the people, the buildings, the apartments, the streets, the signs..just everything. I decided to call one of the local coordinators for our program. We started to talk. She asked where I was in order to help me get to the school. ...of course I don't know where I am. She asks me what metro I'm at, but come on. I am in a foreign country! I can't read one blasted sign. No. Not one. She then tells me to hand the phone to someone. I gave the reply, "To an old lady?"...why....why did I ask that? haha I looked. There was a man selling something on a table on the side of the street. He looked safe?... as safe as a street seller can look I guess. I walked up to him and motioned from my mouth to the phone. He took it and talked to the woman. He then handed me the phone and started doing all kinds of hand motions and speaking Russian. I gave him a confused smile and walked. We just walked. Finally, the other ILP teachers decided to meet us. They found us, and 2 hours later we made it. Glad that is over!

MONDAY

TODAY I saw a woman get squished inside of the trolley.
It shouldn't have made my day, but it did.

Cram em' tight!

Kiev is the capital of a European country. There are about 3.67 million residents. Hundreds of flats (apartment buildings) line along the city. Some are hundreds of years old and most of them have bars on the windows. They look pretty sketch, but some of the bars are for decor, believe it or not. I guess it's soviet style..
Me and some of the other ILP volunteers decided to stay at our head teachers' apartment the night before church. Notice apartment is singular. We made the hour and a half journey there and walked in the door. 1 bunk and 2 beds. 25 people. 2 rooms, 1 small kitchen, 1 toilet, and one bathroom. 25 PEOPLE.
It was interesting.

We lined up along the carpet. some kids were hanging off chairs, some decided to sleep on the wood floors in the kitchen. ....and might I add the bath tub. Yup, that basically sums it up. We crammed. Our ages ranged from 17 to 22. Sounds like a crazy party? No. It was a ridiculous, RIDICULOUS idea. Over the night, some people got 15 mins of sleep, others got at most 3 hours.
We got up at 7:15 and made the 2 hour trek in the slush and snow...in our skirts and tights into the white abyss of Kiev, Ukraine.
We are DEDICATED.

KYIV, UKRAINE January 22

Today was Sunday. My head teacher and other fellow ILP teachers decided we wanted to make the 2 hour adventure to church together. Our group of 25 people journeyed to the head teachers' apartment to stay the night before. I took a trolley, walked to the metro, rode the metro, walked, caught a bus, and walked to the apartment. It took an hour and a half.

Sunday morning:

8-walk to the bus, ride the metro, catch another bus, miss the stop, and finally walk to the LDS branch building. ...this took another hour and a half.

All in all, traveling to and from church took the course of 5 1/2 hours.

I think it was worth it.

KYIV, UKRAINE

I have made a few observations from the past four days that I have lived here:

1. All women dress up. No matter the weather, I"m talking four inch slush and 24/7 snowfall, women wear 4+ heels.....ALL women. No exceptions.
2. Fur is in.
3. Don't wear tennis; not with pants and certainly not a skirt!
4. Look angry. It's normal.


Rules I've Broken:
#1- I wore my boot cut black jeans, and a sporty waterproof jacket. ....Come on. It's waterproof!
#2-Fur? I thought that was in Anastassia's day?! Maybe? ...like 50 years ago? Anyway, apparently I'm not in the "in crowd."
#3-I didn't bring any boots. So what have I done? I wear my tennis every day....even with my skirt.
#4-I like to be a happy person so..I smile. I wave. I say thank you or "spaciva."

Rules I will continue to break:
Welp, probably just about all of them.