I've been home from Ukraine for three weeks. These three weeks have flown. I've been meaning to write this final post but I guess I have been in denial. A lot of denial. Don't get me wrong I love being home. I love America so much! But there will always be a part of me that will miss Ukraine. I'm grateful everyday that I was able to go to Ukraine. It's an experience I will always cherish.
On Monday of my last week Alyssa and I left our mark in the Elevator. During the first week my host sister pointed out to us that previous girls who lived with them had signed their names in the elevator so we decided we wanted to do it too.
Our names in the elevator. I hope whoever lives there next notices this and carries it on.
On Tuesday we had a huge party with all of the teachers in Kyiv 2 and our coordinators. I can't even say it enough. I was so blessed with the girls I was in Ukraine with. They are amazing and I really did grow and learn a lot from all of them. The three girls I teach with and I got fun hair pieces to wear in our hair at the party. I just really like this picture. It's classic!
Our coordinators were so cute and gave us presents. They gave us a calander of Kyiv and these traditional Ukranian head dresses. The cool thing is that they were made by kids with special needs.
That night we also had a talent show. The girls I teach with and I decided to do a NSYNC number. It was great and a definite hit! So glad I had my snap back hat for it!
Great snap shot of our number. I miss these girls! I'm confident I taught with the best girls in our group.
These are my country coordinators. Igor and Tania. I haven't talked about them a whole lot but they really are great. Igor is hilarious! He cracks me up every time I see him. Oh I miss these two!
This is Alyssa and I with our Russian teacher Tania. Lets be honest with life I fail at Russian but I'm grateful for Tania and what she taught me.
Wednesday and Thursday we had our performances with our kids. They did so great. I was so proud of them! I tried uploading a video of them but blogger has failed me. Just know it was it was cute. I didn't realize how much I missed their little faces and voices until I watched it.
Thursday and Friday were our last day with our kids. We played with them and we gave lots of hugs. A lot of the kids didn't show up these last days which was sad but sometimes I guess it's easier to say goodbye when you don't really get one.
Marina and I. She did all of our hair. She was so proud of herself despite what her non-smiling face is saying.
Us teachers with our AMAZING coordinator Larissa. I love Larissa! I'm so glad she was my coordinator!
My crazy little Oma. This is the cute gift she brought me. It now lives on my bookshelf in my room.
Watching elf and doing hair. Oh Nastia. This is the little girl that tried to set me up with her brother. Too funny!
Nastia: Chelsea that's my brother.
Me: Oh really that's cool.
Nastia: You should go talk to him.
My little Anya. She had been sick all week and I was so nervous that she wasn't going to show up Friday. I was so happy to see her little face run through the door with this box of chocolates for me. I love my little Anya. The two of us have a special bond. I miss her and her hugs and kisses. When Anya and her Babushka left that day they promised that we would skype. I hope we really do!
Pre-language kids looking out the window at the christmas lights. These kids were hard at times and I'm so glad they were just as crazy this last time. It wouldn't have been pre-language without them being crazy!
After we left the school which was harder then I could have ever imagined we had waffles for the last time and went downtown and played around then we went home for dinner. Liuda cooks the best food. She kept telling us she wanted us to try all of the Ukranian food before we left. This meant having Sola. Sola my friends is straight PIG FAT! This is a picture of Sola.
I was so nervous! It took me forever to work up the courage. This is cute Liuda coaching me and encouraging me to eat it. I'll be honest it wasn't too bad. Not my favorite though. I also think that the fact that it was pig fat made it really hard to want to eat it. But I did.
Saturday night Liuda took us to a beautiful concert. They had the most beautiful Soprano and Tenor perform. I loved it so much. They did an incredible job. This is cute Liuda looking at the program. She is the sweetest to take us. We also rode in a cab to get there instead of taking other transportation. Her legs were hurting her. I felt bad that she was paying for that but because we had to take a cab we basically had to drive past every major building in Kyiv. It was fun to see them one last time.
This is the cathedral where the performance was.
This is inside of the cathedral.
Sunday was my last day at church. I was so grateful for my branch in Ukraine. And the fact that it was an English branch. Blessings. My ward was basically ILP's, couple missionaries, people who work for the state, and the five other random people. The first day that we were there they split the ILPs into families and assigned a missionary couple to be over us. This was my family. Amberlee, Alyssa, Brother and Sister Cullum, and Areil. I love these guys! We had a lot of fun this semester and enjoyed lots of American food. It's funny how American food was so comforting to us while we were there.
I've never shown pictures of the coat closet at church but I had to take a picture before I left. My branch was the first branch to have church so when we got there it would be basically empty. But when the largest ward in Eastern Europe comes in after you it makes it hard to find your coat! One time it took me five minutes to dig for my coat. No lie.
Especially when the hooks are like this. They slant out so that you can fit more on them. We would put our coats on the bottom hook because you are supposed to start from the bottom and work up. So by the time it was time to go all of the hooks would be full and our coats would be hidden.
How fun is this. Parents pull their kids on sleds everywhere. We should do that in America.
I was so sad to say goodbye to my ward family that day and to say goodbye to the beautiful Kyiv temple. I'll never forget the first time I went to the temple in Kyiv and the immediate peace that I felt. I'm excited to back to Ukraine one day when I have my endowment.
This is a picture I took that day standing from the foyer of the church. The temple was so close!
The nativity that was outside of the temple for Christmas.
It took us about an hour and a half to get to church. Part of that journey was riding my favorite bus. Bus 26. Many fond memories on this bus and funny stories too. Including getting hit on by a drunk guy which wasn't so funny at the time but it is now.
My favorite conductor was even on the bus which made me extra happy. I don't know what it is about this cute old man but I just loved him. Sorry about the bad quality I took this picture on my iPod.
The rest of Sunday was really sad and really hard. Alyssa and I did have fun trying to make sure our bags met the weight requirement. We had a whole system. She would stand on the scale and I would would take a picture of where it was at. It worked perfect and neither of us where overweight.
This may sound slightly pathetic on my part but when Liuda called us for dinner my eyes teared up. I was so excited to go home that night because I missed my family a whole lot. But I don't think I'll ever be able to put in words just how much I love Liuda and how much she means to me. She is an amazing person and has done so much for others and for me. Lets just say I cried at dinner. Then when they showed up to pick us up at 2:30am I balled again. I like to blame it on being tired but I think I would have cried that hard if I was wide awake. As we took or luggage out I almost forgot to put on my shoes. I was so disoriented. I just couldn't believe I was going home. As we were putting our things in the car the women who sits at the window of our apartment complex thingy came out. We had waved to her everyday and had managed to somehow make friends with her just through waving. She was even smiling at us. We accomplished this with the two old men as well that were sometimes there. She came out and said goodbye to us which was a really sweet moment for me. Kindness is a universal language and you can never show it too much. I'll probably never get the image out of my head of hugging Liuda for the last time are seeing her tear filled face as we drove away. I've said a lot of goodbyes in my life and this was by far the hardest I've ever had to say. I'm not exaggerating when I say I cried the whole way to the airport. You can even ask Alyssa. Then as the plane lifted off I looked out the window at Kyiv and tears started falling down my cheeks. I was so sad to be leaving this place that I loved so much and all of the wonderful people that were there. I miss them so much. I'm excited to go back and see them again someday.
After over 24 hours of traveling we were finally on our last flight home. By this point we were all so excited and anxious. To bad we had on hour delay because the plane was too heavy.
It was so fun to come out of the terminal and to see my family. I'm so mad at myself that we didn't take a picture. I thought it would just be my Mom, Dad, Jeni, and Kari. But to my surprise everyone of my siblings were there and even three of my nieces and nephews and one of my brother-in-laws. I was so excited to see them. They had fun posters and balloons for me. They even had yellow ribbons tied all around the inside of my house. I really do have the best family.
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I am so thankful for my experience in Ukraine. I can't say it enough. It was impacted my life so much. I was able to do and see so much. One of the first weeks we were there we were at a museum and a man heard us speaking English. He came up and started talking to us and he bluntly asked, "What are you doing in the Soviet!" I've thought about that question many times. I don't know if I have the perfect answer to it yet but I was learning and growing. I was becoming a better me and developing my relationship with Christ and with many little Ukrainian kids who I will always love.
There is a scene in UP where Carl is flipping through the adventure book that Ellie has made. He finds this note from his sweet wife. "Thanks for the adventure. Now go have a new one!" Thanks for the adventure Ukraine. I'll never forget you. I'm off for more exploring and more growing. Adventure is out there! до свидания Украина
