i saw a naked man.

At the beginning of the week I thought this blog entry would be lame and completely uneventful. Butttttt, that is definitely not the case anymore.

We started teaching this week, and let me tell you. The first day was HARD. The second day was HARD. And the third day was HARD. Basically, I realized that this was going to be hard. Well, I guess I should say that I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn’t know what to expect when teaching, and it’s just different from what I expected. I am really enjoying it though.

The kids are adorable and they do not understand a thing I am saying to them. Hopefully I will be able to teach them a little English before I leave, and let’s pray it’s nothing bad. Hahah, just kidding. I would never.

On our free days, Cherish and I just hung out at the school with Alexis so we could have wifi and we had a marvelous time! I honestly wish we had a camera recording us at all times. We would be the number one TV show in America. We’re hilarious. We even started a book of quotes. Hopefully when we look back at it we will be able to remember why it was all so funny and the stories that went with each.

On Thursday it rained. Which meant we had to walk in the dark and in the rain. All the way home. We walked to the trolley bus stop and thank heavens for the first time all week we didn’t have to wait very long. We rode it to our stop and got off into the darkness. This is when I discovered I definitely did not wear the most practical shoes for walking in the rain. I was literally falling out of my shoes because they were so wet. It was a miserable walk home. We got soaking wet and it was cold outside. And you know in the movies when you see the person standing on the side of the road and a car drives by and hits a puddle and splashes them? Yeah. That happened. It was a humbling experience...

Saturday all the girls in the group met up and we went to basically what I am calling a Ukrainian Costco! It was huge and full of everything we could think of. Including the best junk food and chocolate ever. We loaded up on the good stuff and went back to one of the schools to eat them and talk about our vacations. I think I went into a sugar coma from all the food, but it tasted so good!


After we talked about our vacations we talked about what all girls always talk about to have a good bonding experience. Boys. We all had our little stories to tell about things that had happened and stuff like that. Let me just say, some of the girls have fairy tale boys in their lives and I want to know where I can buy one. I am just a little jealous. I had such a good time with everyone and I pretty much decided Saturday was one of the best days so far.

Saturday night I left the school with Cherish, Alexis, and our head teacher Samantha. We hopped on the first mashutka we saw even though we didn’t know where it was going. Turns out it wasn’t going where we wanted it to. We had a mini panic attack then we figured out it took us to a metro stop so we were all good. On the mashutka we had our first conversation with drunk Ukrainians. It was so funny. They were trying to talk to us in slurred broken English and the girls taught us how to say some things that should not be repeated. It was absolutely hysterical though. We could not stop laughing. They showed us the way to the metro though, so that was nice of them. I’m actually a little surprised they could make it down the stairs without falling. It was impressive.

I think I must be sending out some sort of vibe to the guys on the metro, because I have had two stalkers in two days. The first guy gave me this, as Alexis calls it, bad boy I want you type look. It was a little creepy. Alexis saw him give me the look and all she said to me was, “Did you smile at him?” From what I remember I never did…but who knows. I know I’m not really supposed to smile here. But sometimes it’s really hard. Then today, on the way to church as I was walking out of the metro car thing a guy was right up on me. He had plenty of room, so I don’t know what he was doing. Then we went up the escalators and Cherish and Alexis kept saying he was turning around to look at me. I swear I saw him go over to go the opposite direction on the red line, but the next thing I know Alexis and Cherish were pointing him out to me right by where we were. Then the metro came…and of course with just my luck we ended up in the same car. I couldn’t help but laugh. And I’m not just saying that. I was literally laughing out loud. Which probably didn’t help my situation. He stayed on the same car as us until almost the very end and I kind of started to get a little freaked out. But he got off the stop before us. At one point it was just me and him sitting on the seats and he started to make a move to scoot towards me, luckily Alexis jumped in and sat between us. I was so thankful for that. I’m thinking maybe I need to change my perfume or stop smiling or something, although these guys do make for funny stories.

We took the bus to church today. Only we got off four stops too early. Just when I thought I was becoming a good at public transportation. So, we ended up walking 2 miles to church. And I’d just like to say I did it in 3 ½ inch heels. So go me.

Oh and one more funny bus story. The other day I was on the bus and a woman came around to collect the money. She came to me and asked me for the money, so I gave it to her. She said something else to me and I responded with “ya ne penny mayo” or in other words, “I don’t understand.” Then she proceeded to mock me and completely make fun of me for not speaking any Russian. It was the funniest thing. Even though she was making fun of me all I could do was laugh. Everyone on the bus was laughing to. Although, she kept saying to me “Ya speakin da Deutsch?” and in my head I kept thinking, “No, I don’t speak German.” It was the weirdest thing. I’m pretty sure I spoke English to her at least once. Anyway, that was my first experience being made fun of in Russian.

STRIKE A POSE.

I looked out the window tonight and saw a naked man on his balcony. The crazy naked people frenzy has begun.