first week of work!

First week of work. Well for start off it was crazy! The kids are a hand full but I’m starting to get the hang of it. It’s just a different way of teaching that I’m use too and it’s only going to take time to learn the right way. You have to be on your toes but I think the hardest thing is, trying to get them to learn more English and teach it in a way that they will learn the best. They are so much fun but after 4 hours you just want to do something mindless like watch a TV show.

There are some new things that I have found out about this city and the people that call it home. Most families eat late and so most of them go to bed late, like 12 on most nights. Even the 3 year old from the family I’m staying with goes to be at this time. I am not a night person but I have found myself often going to bed at 11. My goal is to try to go to bed maybe 30 minutes earlier.

we had our first day off today in a week. we got to walk around town and see some sights with the other teachers like some churches with gold roofs and even went to a chocolate restaurant (witch was fantastic!). we also went around the center of town and saw some barricades up and smoke rising over the cities buildings. It felt like something in a movie or a town in the middle east that you see on the news, not eastern Europe.

The protesting is getting worse here. We have been encouraged by the US Embassy to not be out after night and do not travel in large groups. I had not noticed anything wrong in the past week that I have been here. it doesn't feel like the protesting is right in this town even and how out of control it has gotten. It wasn’t until yesterday that I noticed some different things that stood out to me while going to school. There were some people wearing ribbons that had the European Union flag on it and just right across the road from the school I teach at it looked like some men where burning what looked to be a sign.  I didn't get a close view of what the sing said though.

I almost want to say “fire is catching” from the very popular Hunger Games book because that is what it feels like to me. I’m in the heart of a revolution and it’s spreading.

buildings close to the center of town have the most history and I think are the most beautiful. they look more like the western European buildings I'm use too. 

Camden and I in from of the berricades in the center where people are protesting currently. and my new fur coat! :)

earmuffs and lost people

Over the course of a few days there have been some things that I have noticed that are different in America. Like for one, if a guy thinks you’re pretty he might touch you, like your coat, hair, something like that. I was on the metro a couple days ago and a random man just rubbed my ear muff. I gave him a look of sheer bewilderment and then gave the same look to my friend I was with. At home people don’t do that. It’s not normal or even sane for that matter.  I learned that you can not smile at people after they do that or even look at them. they might think you like it , so from now on I plan on keeping my eyes on no young man.

I walked home from church a couple days ago all on my own. I have lived in this town for a total of a few days  and I had the best idea to walk home alone. My host family asked if they could pick me up but I wanted to see if I could get back on my own. I thought I could. I knew I could. It should have only taken me about maybe 2 hours max (I took a longer way on purpose to drop Camden off at his metro stop.) but I got lost a couple times after I dropped him off and so it took me about 3 ½ hours to get home. At least I made it.  I ran into some friendly missionaries that helped me out as well.

I also got a chance to go shopping with Camden and a new friend Marilee. What is odd is the shopping mall is normally next to the super market or sometimes the super market is in the mall it's self. We walked around looking at random things aimlessly as we spent a couple hours there. I didn’t get anything but I am thinking about getting a fur collared coat. They are really beautiful and with my bright red pea coat I stick out like a sore thumb. If I got a fur coat I would look a little less out of place.  

I have found that over the past couple days that I have walked around that this city has started to grow on me. The simplicity of it and the little things that are beautiful catch my eye as I walk through the frozen streets. The people are friendly and helpful even though most of them don’t speak English. however most of them do not smile at you, just this death glare they give. I have not been able to reenact this face nor do I think I will ever because I can't help but walk around with a smile or a smirk on my face. But it doesn't bother me that they do not smile back at me. I hope that someday I will be able to look at people and not smile at them but it'll take some practice.

as for the protesting in the center of town, I don't even know what is happening just a few miles down the road. I saw video and heard about things getting violent but women still carry on in their glamorous fur coats and high heals and the men carry on much of the same as if nothing is wrong. or maybe they just choose to believe that things will get better. I feel safe and comfortable here just as I would if I was walking around Columbus.

for another time,
Darla 

first day in the city

Do you ever get those feelings that no matter how hard you try to blend in it’ll never work? That’s the way I feel right now. After a long day of travel from the city I call home to Chicago then to Frankfurt then finally to Kiev Ukraine. My first day in this lovely city of snow, well let’s start off with it’s nothing I would have ever imagined. I already crave a language that I can actually communicate to the locals with. However the locals that I have managed to talk to (that do speak good or little English) are friendly.   However it’s completely different from my culture I was born and raised in. it’s going to take a while to get used to it.

I met my host family. They are great people. There are the parents and two boys aged 11 and 3 1/2. The mom speaks English really well and so does the eldest. The youngest seems to only get the word Hi and says it with much enthusiasm to me, often. The dad works a lot and I have yet to meet him. but from what I have been told he doesn’t speak much English at all.

I honestly wasn’t expecting much from the house I was going to be staying at. I say this because Kiev is filled with lots of old high-rises, not so much of the old European housing ones that I am use too and enjoy. I was expecting them to be a little out dated however I was pleasantly surprised by the size and quality of the apartment.

 Till next time,

Darla

pre post

my name is Darla. I'm 19 years old from a small town in Ohio. I am a sophomore in BYU-I studding International studies. This past fall I decided to make a dramatic change to my normal schedule. from January 16 though April 20th I will be living in Kiev Ukraine teaching English as a second language to young children. while I am there I will be living with a host family whom I do not know anything about yet. but I'm not going to be completely alone, I will be traveling with one of my good friends Camden. I plan on posting once or twice a week, updating what my adventures are going to be and what I experience. 
it's time to go in an adventure.