"Dude You're Going to Have to Push Me"

Me, Merc, and Elite 8 Team.

It is Sunday morning here in the lovely Kivertsi, Ukraine. A cloudy winter day, but relatively warm compared to last winter at this time with a high of 34 F. I just got done taking my first bucket bath of 2011. It isn’t so much that I mind the bucket bathing process as how cold I feel when doing it. Luckily the temperature in my flat isn’t that bad compared to how chilly it was when I left to visit home.

Anyways, I’m back. The flights here weren’t bad at all. I realized that I prefer to have a window sit so I can prop my head against the window. The flight from Chicago to Warsaw I was on the aisle and the head rest didn’t pull up which ended up in me not being able to nap that much which was frustrating. But my connecting flight from Warsaw to Lviv had the adjustable head rest which meant I fell asleep before takeoff. I did however think the plane was crashing when I woke up surprised to have slept through the whole flight and was startled by the landing.


Me and Swimmer shopping on State St. down town.

I got my bag, grabbed a quick taxi to the outer bus station, bought a ticket and the bus departed less than 15 minutes later. Again, fell asleep on and off on the 3 hour bus ride back to Lutsk. Arrived to Lutsk around 6:30ish hopped bus 15 to Melissa’s part of town. Melissa greeted me with a big hug, warm bowl of soup and delicious biscuits. Glad I made the stopover in Lutsk I think coming back to a cold, empty flat would have been a bit depressing.

I went to bed a little before midnight and slept straight through until 10am. When Melissa started talking to me to wake me up, I was a tad confused to why my sister was at my dad’s house waking me up. Oh, wait I’m back in Ukraine. We might up with Val, my new site mate, and then headed to the center to meet up with the boys. We all enjoyed catching up over tasty Ukrainian cuisine.


Rockin'Out in Da Bears Apparel.


After we headed back to Melissa’s place, Val was nice enough to help me get all my bags back to my site. We probably stood at the marsuka stop for thirty minutes. The 103 came but since it was decently full and stops on the other side of the stairs in town I opted to wait for the 107. Around 10 minutes later a 107 comes along. It was so full and saw us standing there with my huge bags that it didn’t even stop. Then probably another 15 to 20 minutes another 107 comes along.

The driver motioned for us to go to the back door. So imagine me with my close to 50lbs hiking back pack on stepping up two feet to get on to the back of a very, very crowded bus. There was only one handle that was on my left side. I tried to hoist myself up, but only get half way there. I would run out of umpf to make it. I turned back to Val and was like “dude you are going to have to push me.” With a little help from my friend, I made it on. Since I still had my back pack on, it didn’t allow much room for Val to get on. I’m knocking into people and apologizing, but people at the back of the bus didn’t seem too phased by it all. I only wish I had moments like those on video.


Tob and I getting down with Kinect, oh how crazy technology is.

I got back to my flat. Unpacked my bags while visiting with Val. We made an easy dinner and she peaced around 6ish because I was so tired. I got a second wind around 8 then couldn’t fall asleep until 1am. Woke up around 9am, cooked eggs for breakfast, took a bucket bath, now just chilling until Val comes over. It isn’t even noon and I’m already for a nap. We are going to run some errands are town and maybe watch a movie later in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, I’ll swing by school to say hello, but then Tuesday morning I’ll head to a nearby town until Friday for a language refresher with my local volunteers. It is nice not to be thrown straight back to the wolves (Ukrainian school children). Hopefully I will easily transition back into my Ukrainian life.


Can a kid get any cute than this, I think not!

It is so crazy how you board a plane, ride for however many hours and then you step off in a completely different world. I had a great three weeks at home. It was a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but none the less a good time. Seeing my family and friends was definitely the best part of it all. But here are the high and low lights of the trip for me.

Some of the many highlights:
Leo Walker (the cutest little man to ever exist), taking funny photos with my brothers and sister, laughs in my sister’s theater, seeing all the high school teammates, Cherry Lounge, shots with RA crew, driving, mini chocolate doughnuts, Mexican food with Pat and Swimmer, and really just all the small moments of hanging out with family and friends.


Fun morning of taking random photos with Kevin, me posing at the old railroad station in Chilli.

Few of the low lights:
The Bears lost, not getting to see Theran, not having enough time to visit everyone the amount I wanted to, and having to board a plane knowing it will be around 11 months until I’m home again.

Well I’m going to hang with Val this afternoon and probably nap a little too. Hope everyone is well. I had a great visit in America. Thanks for making it special. Here is to a great 2011 in Ukraine for me and in America for you. Love and miss you all.

Kate

(Sorry really too tired to proofread might do it at a later date; still a little jet lagged right now)