wait, i'm here?

It took me all last week to pack and get ready to fly across the world. It actually took me until I was at the airport to be completely ready. Transferring clothes from suitcase to suitcase in the middle of the airport isn’t exactly fun.

My friends were over at my house until the wee hours of the morning hanging out with me before I jetted off again, leaving them once again. I was really sad I was only home a week, but that’s a week more than I would have spent if I had stayed in Utah. I spent a lot of time with my family, and I tried to spend what free time I had with my friends. We ended up making a pretty good week out of the 168 hours I spent there.

But after all of the preparing and stressing I’m here. I’m really here. And it’s still so hard to believe!

After I took a flight from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., and then an 8 hour flight from there to Frankfurt, Germany, and then had a 5 hour layover in Germany, I finally slept for the two hour flight from Germany to Kiev!!!

I met up with some of the girls in my group in Germany right before we boarded the plane. Sadly, we didn’t sit together, but after we landed in Kiev we had plenty of time to get to know each other. All of the girls are super nice and we all get along really well, which is great! We all live pretty far apart though, so that stinks. Cherish and I live together with a family that has three children. Our host parents’ names are Nastia and Andrei. Their kids are Danya (8), Marsha (6), and Tonya (3). They are little balls of energy! Nastia runs a kindergarten here at their flat so there are lots of kids here almost all day, climbing up poles, jumping on each other, throwing balls, you know, the usual.

So far we have had pretty delicious food. The night we got here we had potatoes, this meat patty thing, vegetables, bread, eggs, and an “apple pie.” I’m not gonna lie, food was probably one of the things I was most nervous about. Olga is one great cook though! There have been a few things that I have eaten and not exactly loved the taste, but most of the food is great. Today we had pizza at training and it was so different than the pizza at home. It was so scrumptious and light! And yes…I just said scrumptious.

Today we took the mashutka (I don’t know how to spell it) to our school and got to look around it. Then Cherish, Alexis, and I went with Oksana and Galya on the metro to head over to another school where our group was meeting. We spent the whole day there having training, and after that was over we had nap time. Thank heavens! During nap time I got to face time my sister, Kaitlyn! I woke her up and she wasn’t too happy about that, but it was obvious that she was stoked to talk to me. After we got our Ukrainian phones it was time for us to head back home. We took the mashutka and then the metro back to near where we live, then we hopped on the trolley to take us a little closer before Cherish and I walked through the long cobblestone streets and down the narrow broken stairs that brought us back home.

When we got home we had food waiting for us. More potatoes with some gravy and meat, delicious fruit that tastes like cantaloupe but better, bread, vegetables, and baby pears. It was great. Then we played with little kids and we learned a little Russian from Marsha, who kept telling us “No!” every time we would attempt to repeat what she said.

It was a pretty full day. It was really exciting though. I’m so happy to be here and really lucky too. The customs are different and everything is a little intimidating. But I’m learning and enjoying every bit of it!

I also have Ukrainian money now. And a metro card.  And some people talked to me in Russian asking questions, which I’m assuming means I don’t look too much like a foreigner. So I feel pretty good about myself. Oh, and Dad, there are blondes here! So there was no need to fret about me dying my hair. The only thing that makes me stand out is my lack of the Russian language…and maybe my polka-dot backpack.

crunch time.

This morning I woke up with the harsh realization that in a week I will be waking up in a different bed, in a different house, and in a different country. Needless to say I am having a panic attack. I have so much to do still! My mom and I keep going over everything I still need to get and I feel like the list keeps getting longer.

This past week has been pretty crazy. It was an...interesting...last week in Utah. I was insanely busy the whole week and honestly I hardly remember it now.

I finally made it back to Alabama after a 31 hour road trip. It wasn't like most road trips I have taken though. Most drives out and back to Utah take three days and we stop every night in a hotel. Well, not this time. My mom, my friend Katie and her husband Devin, and I all drove back together only stopping to get food and gas. Driving straight through was certainly an experience I have ever had. We had so much fun despite being completely sleep deprived. Four sleep deprived people are quite hilarious. Not only are we hilarious, but absolutely everything we see is also hilarious. This made for an even more interesting trip. I was so thankful Katie and Devin were there with us. If they wouldn't have been there we couldn't have driven all the way through.

I've been back for a few days now and I don't think I've really had any free time. A friend of mine might say that "I'm in high demand." Just kidding. I just have lots to do and lots of people to grace with my presence.

This week is flying by and it is terrifying me. Each day I get closer to leaving. I don't think it has completely hit me yet. I'm just following the steps I'm supposed to take without fully comprehending where the steps are taking me.

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So, funny story about this post. I typed it out on Tuesday night right before I went to bed. I was about to publish it when I accidentally hit the back space button and the whole thing disappeared. It was late and I was tired so I just left it, thinking it was lost forever. Well, tonight I get back on to write a new post and I was excited to discover that it was here all along!

Since Tuesday I have managed to do more supplies shopping, eat at my favorite restaurant, have a meltdown, hang out with my little sister, chase a frog with my best friend, and start the organization process for packing.

The packing has been the most difficult so far, and I'm pretty sure it will be hard until Monday morning when I finally have to leave. At on point tonight my little sister came upstairs and said, "Jenna, you need to be practical. Don't take everything with you!" This is coming from the girl who does not need to pack enough for 4 months. She obviously doesn't understand the hardship I am facing.

I only have a few days left in America and I am determined to make the most out of them!

the woes of packing.

Packing is always a pain. And in my case, I have packed and unpacked suitcases more than I care to remember. There have been times when I have been at home in Alabama and I have lived out of my suitcase because it was such a hassle to unpack, then turn around and repack. However, my mom did not appreciate this, so she would always end up unpacking for me, leaving me to repack.

Now, I not only have to pack to go home, I also have to pack to go to the Ukraine! I'll get home, be there for six days living out of my suitcases or boxes or both until I leave the following Monday. Since I have lived in Utah I have taken three trips home, and on each of those three trips I managed to bring more of my stuff back with me! As a result of this, I now have an overabundance of clothes I never wear and useless items I have since forgotten about.  I need to get it all back home. I feel like this task is near impossible. But I will try my hardest to do it.

I do not leave fo go to Alabama for another week, but I have already started packing. I have so much to do so I figured I would go ahead and get a head start on it. I have all of my long sleeve shirts and sweaters in my suitcase now...and over half my closet is empty. I guess you could say I have an addiction to sweaters. This addiction has paid off ,though, since it gets to be pretty cold in Ukraine. The downfall to this is now I have one suitcase already mostly full. I still have half a closet to pack and a dresser full of clothes.

I think talking about all I have to do is stressing me out even more.

It'll all be okay. I'll just put on my Matt Nathanson Pandora station (best Pandora station ever) and let the sweet songs sing the stress (nice alliteration, Jenna) away.

Luckily, I do not have to make my life fit into two fifty pound suitcases...yet. That time will come and it will be treacherous.

the list.

Today I got the list. The list I have been waiting for. The list probably every girl going to Kiev has been waiting for. The list I am referring to is the list of names of every girl that will be in the same school as me! There are 13 girls that will be in Kiev School 1 including me! It's not a small group and it's not a big group. I personally think it's the perfect amount! I think a group this size will allow us all to get to know each other well and become pretty good friends!

Within an hour of having received the list I already had multiple friend requests from the girls. We have all begun communicating and I'm almost positive facebook stalking each other. But facebook stalking is totally normal for people to do now. So I have no guilt in admitting that I have stalked the ones I am now friends with. Hahaha, maybe I shouldn't have admitted that...but oh well! I'm an honest person.

I was also informed by one of the girls that we have the same birthday (proof that she was facebook stalking)! So now I have a birthday buddy! October 21st really is the best day. We are already planning on having a party! I am so excited for it! It will definitely be one of the more memorable birthdays that I will probably ever have!

On a different note...tonight my mom, my little sister Peyton, and I all went to Wal-Mart to go get an adapter and converter to take with me to the Ukraine. After looking around for quite some time we finally found where they were. I examined the adapters and converters and came to the conclusion that I have absolutely no idea how in the world those dumb things work. Which one goes in the wall and which one goes in the one that goes in the wall?! It does not make sense to me. In the end I just gave up and my mom decided we would let my dad buy the right one and he can explain it all to me...although he doesn't know this yet. I'm sure he will be pleased to hear of this. Hahahaha love you dad!

It's kind of crazy that three weeks from today I will be in Ukraine. It's blowing my mind just a little bit. I still have so much to do! It's all okay though. I'm just taking little doses at a time so I don't overwhelm myself. This is all SO EXCITING. I can't believeee ittt!!!!

Well it's getting late, and when it starts to get late my filter starts to fade so I better quit before I regret it!

time for an adventure.

I've never been one to really do the whole blogging thing, but since I am going on this grand adventure to Ukraine, I figured now would be a good time to start one.

Why am I going to Ukraine? or the Ukraine, as my best friend Cherish and I like to call it.
Well, it all started one day at lunch time when Cherish and I were trying to find a place to sit at the Cougareat at Brigham Young University. We found an open table with a flier on it, so of course we read the flier. It was about in interest meeting for something but all we saw on it were the words free and food. Of course we ended up attending this meeting, and turns out it was for the International Language Program (ILP). In this meeting we really became intrigued with the program and seriously started talking about how awesome it would be if we could go. Well, as luck would have it, our parents thought it would be pretty awesome if we went too! So we both put in our applications, both got accepted, and we both got emails saying we would be going to Kiev, Ukraine! We leave at the end of this month!

I guess I should kind of explain what this program is all about. ILP sends teachers to schools in many different countries and cities to teach English to kids. We will spend about 15-20 hours a week teaching English. Luckily for us, we do not need to know the native language to teach the children.

We had training a few weeks ago and we got to learn the ways in which we will be teaching. We had a lot of information crammed into our brains in two days. We will be having more in depth training once we arrive in Kiev. While we were at training though we got to meet our head teacher! Her name is Samantha and she seemed great! As of right now, Cherish and Samantha are the only people that I will know in Kiev. I cannot wait until I get there and meet the rest of the girls! It is going to be so fun!

I know that I am going to experience some pretty insane culture shock and I am really nervous for that. I have actually never left the country and now the one time I do leave, I'm not coming back for four months. Well, hopefully I'll come back.

If I remember, this blog will be updated about everything that I am doing before I leave for the Ukraine, while in the Ukraine, and once I get back from there it'll be about wherever I happen to be living. And people who know me know that I love stories. And that I always have a "funny" story to tell. So I am pretty positive I will be sharing plenty of those with everyone!

I am so excited for this new chapter of my life and I can't wait to leave and to share all of my experiences with y'all! ...if there is a y'all. It might just be my mom reading this...possibly. Maybe my dad. Or my sisters. Well, at least I'm making an effort to keep people updated!