To the Ukraine I go!

As I was saying bye to my parents at the airport, I had no idea of what to expect once I got to Kiev. Let me tell you, Kiev, Ukraine is such a fascinating place to live in. It’s still so weird to believe that I am actually here and I am living in Kiev, with a Ukrainian family! I was really paranoid, nervous, and mostly excited as I boarded the plane to leave VA and begin my Ukrainian Adventure! I was paranoid because I do not want to get robbed when I am here and I had no idea if my blonde hair would make me stick out and become a target, straight up I did not want to get snatched and thrown into some crazy drug, sex, slave life.. like in the movie Taken. I was nervous because I seriously had no idea what my plan was for after I got to the airport in Kiev. All I knew was that I was suppose to show up, go through customs, get my baggage (hopefully it would all show up) and then meet up with our Native Coordinator who should be holding up an “ILP” sign once I got there. I was excited because I was leaving my country, leaving my comfort zone and going to experience a whole new way of life. I was and still am just so excited to start teaching the children here English.

Well here I am. Alive. I’ve been here for 5 days and I already feel comfortable. After my long 18+ hours of traveling which consisted of flying from Norfolk, VA to Chicago O’Hare airport in which nothing excited happened I seriously just knocked out and slept the flight. Then in the Chicago airport it hit me that that would be the last time I could use my cell phone freely and happily to call my family, boyfriend, and friends freely without any crazy time differences or expensive phone charges. My mom and I decided that I wouldn’t get an international plan because it is REALLY expensive. However, thankfully, I can use apps on phone and connect to wifi whenever it is available to talk to my people. :P In Chicago I met up with 2 girls who are in my ILP group. On girl, Hanna, sat next to me on the plane and the other girl, Afton, sat behind me. From Chicago I flew to Dussledorf, Germany. It was pretty hard for me to fall asleep on that flight, but I somehow managed to get probably 2 and half hours of sleep total… yeah, I woke up a lot. In Chicago, Afton, Hanna, and I chilled by our gate and we got to each other pretty well. We were all pretty nervous and excited about what would happen when we got to the airport in Kiev. Honestly, I hate being left in the dark. I like having a plan, or at least some idea, of what I am doing that day. Double that when I am in a foreign country!

Finally, it was time! Next stop Kiev, Ukraine. Thankfully, I got a window seat and besides talking a little with the German guys sitting next to me who were going to Kiev to watch their favorite football (soccer) club play the day, in which they told me they had an extra ticket and that I should meet up with them, I slept! I passed out for at least an hour which was good because I was exhausted and I knew that I would be landing in the Ukraine at 3pm, and not knowing what the plan was for the rest of the day I decided I should get as much sleep as possible. By the way, only one of the German guys sitting next to me, Patrick, could speak English… and he didn’t know that much. It was fun trying to figure out what we were both trying to say… not to mention he got a kick out of the only German I know, Ich Liebe Dich. Haha

As we were about to land, my eyes were fixated on the window trying to see what the country looks like. Unfortunately, it was a rather cloudy day so I couldn’t see anything until we were right about to land. All I saw, farm land. That was definitely not what I expected. I mean I was landing in the capitol city of Ukraine… I expected a few skyscrapers. Haha. Fret not, I came to learn later on that the airport is on the outskirts of Kiev and not in downtown. This would be why I didn’t see any tall buildings. Once I landed, I stepped right off the plane and onto some stairs straight onto the ground. Did I mention it was pretty chilly? L Well, it was.  I got on a airport shuttle and was shipped to the terminal. There I got my passport stamped! J I was pretty excited about that because when I went on my Mediterranian cruise in spring of 2011, I thought I was going to get a stamps from all the countries I visited, that was not the case. Haha. But, now I have 3 stamps, Italy, Israel, and now Ukraine. Yay! So after I got my awesome stamp, I went to get my luggage and guess what it all made it! Yayyy! So I was happy and ready to go. We (the 2 other girls and I) ,met he native coordinator and headed out to the parking lot. In the parking lot, Jenna came running out of one of the vans and we were finally reunited. We somehow stuffed all our bags and 12 girls into 2 huge vans. I was handed some laminated paper, one was a Metro map, and the other one had all the girls name with our addresses and metro stations written on it. Then the van started moving, and no one had any idea where we were heading. Then we made a stop and one of the girls, Alexis got off and met her host family. Nervous and excited Jenna and I were next. We discovered that we live together!!! In a giant house, with hot water, a nice shower, and friendly host parents with 3 kids. I am really glad Jenna and I are living together, it makes everything so much more fun and less scary.