1. Singing worship songs in Russian and Ukrainian on Sundays. It was frustrating for the first two weeks, while I was a) learning to read, b) trying to keep up with the words on the screen, and c) trying to figure out how they force so many sounds out of their mouths in such a short amount of time (this one still gets me occasionally). But now, I love it. I take videos of the songs all the time, because I want to be able to replay them when I get home. I'll miss that terribly, even as I'll love being able to worship in my own language.
2. Bus rides between Poltava and Dnepr. I know I just wrote about this recently, but it bears re-mentioning. Part of the reason I love it is because I know something happy awaits me on either end: in Dnepr, it's the Rays, who are like my family, and in Poltava, it's Home.
3. Having friends over for true quality time- cookies, snacks, tea, talking, laughing, going through pictures, learning about each other's lives. Some of my best memories revolve around times spent like that. I love Friday nights, because that's when I get to spend fun times with Vika and Natasha, eating, chatting, looking at pictures on Facebook, listening to music.
4. Sleepovers with Ira and Tanya. I love those girls and how much fun we have spending the night in their apartment. I'll always remember the time that Ira translated an entire Soviet-made movie (2+ hours), or the time we had cold fish paste on toast for breakfast.
5. The small space of change between the seasons. The seasons here seem to change exceedingly quickly, but for the couple of days in between, there's this cool sense of anticipation. I don't even mind it in the winter. It's just neat and somewhat mysterious.
6. The challenges of everyday living. I don't really love everything about these challenges, but there's definitely a sense of accomplishment when you successfully get everything from the bazaar that you set out to. Or, when you do things with duct tape that would make MacGyver proud or when you discover crazy culinary substitutions to use when you can't get something. OR, when you conquer the fruit flies by the use of common household products. Very satisfying (check with me in a couple of days- I'm sure I will have had a failure that makes me regret writing this one!)
7. The convenience of public transportation. I have a love-hate relationship with this one. However, though, on the whole, it's really convenient to know that you don't have to worry about putting gas in your car or finding a parking place.
8. Walking all the time. It's nice to have built-in exercise...especially if you're me and really abhor exercise. When I'm walking, though, I don't seem to notice. I've literally walked for miles here and didn't realize I was exercising.
9. Roaming around Poltava with Nastia. Actually, I spend a lot of time with Nastia. So, basically, I'll just really miss her being in my daily life (and by daily, I actually mean every single day).
10. Tackling the weekly project of creating new ESL lessons. Sometimes I dread this one, but often, it's like a puzzle. I love puzzles. It's fun to think about my students and their specific needs so that I can tailor lessons for them. Of course, more often than not, I have the privilege of totally changing my plan on the fly...
I'm sure I'll build on this post in the upcoming weeks as more and more things I'll miss make themselves known.
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