Pictures of Dnepropetrovsk (and me!)

Here are some pictures from Dnepropetrovsk (I'll narrate as best I can):

This is me in front of some columns where people get their pictures taken...I'm following suit.

This is a "youth hall" from the days of yore. I'm not sure what it's used for these days.

This picture is for Molly...she knows why. Hope you like it, Mols!

Orthodox cathedral. We went inside, but we couldn't take pictures. Even if I could have, they would not have done justice to just how incredible the artwork is.

I just thought this was pretty. It's in the middle of a park. When you get up close, though, there is a LOT of litter. Made me want to pull out the trash bags and go to work.

FINALLY here

Hopefully, this will come out making sense and as the work of a jet-lagged maniac. I’ll try to keep this quick and snappy, but there’s a lot of ground to cover to catch everyone up! Currently, I’m staying with my supervisors in Dnepropetrovsk, which is a big city in eastern Ukraine. It’s about two hours from the city I’ll move to. Here are some highlights:

1. I made it! I actually got a good 6 hours of sleep on the trans-Atlantic flight. I had a whole entire row to myself! My layover in Austria was short, but I did make friends with a Ukrainian lady named Olga. We chatted in the airport, and she kind of made me her project for the rest of the trip. She stuck around when she was done so that she could translate for me if I had trouble. She then hung around to help me get my luggage. So helpful! Especially since there were no rolling carts for luggage, and I had four pieces. Ugh…

2. Mike and Linda Ray met me in the airport with flowers. Apparently, Ukrainians love to give flowers for all occasions, so they greeted me the Ukrainian way.

3. I don’t remember just a ton from my first afternoon, but Saturday was very productive. I got some money changed, bought a phone (a Razr that is just like my phone from home…except that everything is in Russian. I’ll have to fix that.), bought a hair straightener (how vain am I?), and got my bearings in a grocery store.


4. I totally thought I’d be fine staying asleep at night, but no. I was wide awake between 11:30 and 2:00 Sunday morning. Of course that would happen the night I needed to get up at 6:45 the next day. Growl…

5. Sunday, we drove almost two hours outside of Dnepropetrovsk to a city of about 25,000-50,000 people. A church that the Rays partner with was having a new building dedication. It was a neat experience. We left the apartment at 7:30, got to the church around 9:15, church started around 9:45, and we wrapped up around 1:20. Being Miss Jet Lag, it was quite a challenge to stay awake, especially when everything was in Russian and I understood approximately 15 words. It was neat, nonetheless. I also found a little kitten that I really wanted to adopt.

A few cultural observations:
1. A woman in the grocery store was wearing an ensemble that looked something like a black bra under a shirt made out of off-black nylons. No one else seemed to notice.

2. Men kiss each other on the mouth in greeting.

3. Um, if it’s really cold outside and you use a bathroom that is housed in a cinderblock-ish building, it will be absolutely freezing when you sit down. You might, in fact, jump right back up immediately. Just a tip.

4. There are still hammer and sickle paraphernalia. Here’s me playing Vanna:Incidentally, this is the name of the city. It’s like a “Welcome to Alabama” sign.

5. There’s a kind of dialect-esque creation that a hybrid of Ukrainian and Russian. It’s called surjik. That won’t be confusing at all while trying to learn language, will it?

Much love to all of you loyal readers. Hopefully, the one of the next updates will be of my apartment. I’ll try to give a tour.

PTL!

I get my computer back today! Thanks to Geek Squad, my computer has been diagnosed, fixed, and is now ready to be picked up. I'm so thankful for your prayers! Next time I update, it will be from my own computer. Yessssssss.

3 trunks + 1 suitcase + 1 backpack + 1 carry-on...

That's the count so far. I know it may sound a little much for two years, but please remember that I have to pack winter and summer and teaching supplies and various and sundry heavy household supplies...YIKES!

The countdown is five days until departure. Things are coming together. I'm getting to visit with people I love and eat foods that I'll miss. It's becoming very real as my belongings become inaccessible due to their locations in pieces of luggage.

Thank you for your prayers! Important prayer request: my computer is very seriously ill and is in the process of being healed. Unfortunately, this is a very long process, and I really need it back by Wednesday. If you could remember that when you pray, I'd be very grateful!

Love.

Farewell tour

I'm on my farewell tour of loved people and places right now. It's so fun! (and a little sad...)

I've spent the past few days visiting Union, and it's been wonderful. So great to see all of the rebuilding and the recovery. The best part has been seeing all the ones I LOVE. More goodbyes to come, though...

Bon voyage to all of my beloved ones who fly out in the next few days!

Sweet Home Alabama

The official countdown has begun. At least in my head. Now that I'm finally back home, the whole "I'm-moving-to-a-foreign-country" bit is sinking in. As of today, I board the plane in 19 days. I'll probably have 4 suitcases, one carry-on suitcase, and one overstuffed backpack in tow. Whew...

I have a lot to accomplish before getting on that plane, though. Did I mention I already have my plane tickets, by the way? That made the whole thing incredibly real. Anyway...I have banking things, lawyer-y things, voting things, packing things, speaking opportunity things to do, but most importantly, I have the saying goodbye to beloved friends and family to do. I hate that part.

I'm going to have to wear waterproof mascara for the next few weeks.