Week 2

After a great weekend, it was time to get back to business. Monday morning, I had the privilege of giving a devotional. So I chose to share my testimony. I shared with them Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11. We also listened to the song How He Loves by David Crowder Band. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FxaUYjRtkc It was amazing. Monday afternoon went great and of course I love conversation so that was fun.

Tuesday was a busy day but it went smoothly. Then Tuesday night the church here at DCU has a young adult group and they put on a tea for the students. I was asked to share my testimony. Again, God is so good and that went great. Ben who is from Australia shared his testimony too. Our testimonies were so different but we said the exact same thing that all of our lives we were missing something and we did not know what that was until we both found a relationship with Jesus Christ. It was very powerful. A couple of the students sang American Christian songs and they were great:)

Wednesday was a bitter sweet day. The enemy was really after me today. Our day went a little different because instead of afternoon activities we went to the movies with the students to see a film in English. The movie that they program picked was Fireproof. We thought it was an odd choice but knew it was a Christian film so maybe that is why they chose it. I love the movie but it made me start asking why? Anyways, they promoted this by saying there will be a film critic there to discuss the movie. We get there and can you guess who the film critics were. Yes that is right Denaya and me. We were told right before the movie starts that we were the critics and to make sure we paid attention. However after the movie the students did not want to stay so we all left.  We went and had dinner at the American Embassy. Then we walked around for a while. We went to a park that had all of these metal statues. It was very nice and beautiful.

Thursday was another normal and busy day except for I was not feeling well. So if I was not working I was in bed. The team went on a tram tour ride around the city. I stayed home and got some rest.

Friday was a great day. It was graduation for module 1. The students were so excited. Each class got up there and did something in English. Some did a song, play, or did a game. It was really awesome. All the students did so great. Then the teachers gave them their certificate. I felt like a movie star because everyone wanted their picture with me. (Well not just me but all the Americans) Then after graduation, they had a picnic/bon fire. They made shashlyk. Which is basically marinated meat on a stick. It was good. We also had watermelon. We played a game like charades and they were giving us hard words. I had to act out accommodations which in the end they meant to say apartment. I had a really good time.

Saturday was great because we got to sleep in a little. Jim made us biscuits and sausage gravy at 9. It was YUMMY!!!!! Then we went back and laid down because we were stuffed. Then we decided to head to the city to the big mall. We knew kind of how to get there. So we got on the first trolley to Lenon Square. After that we were not 100% sure where to go. Katie had to stop and get money, so Denaya and I were looking in our Russian Language books trying to figure out how are we going to ask how to get there. Then God is so good because we turned around and saw some of our students. We were so excited and they told us how to get there. It was great. We finally arrived and the mall was very nice. It is probably like our International Mall. There were four floors. 3 floors had all stores including a X-rated store. Then the fourth four was like a mini chuck-e-cheese/fair/ice skating rink/movies/bowling alley. It was great.  We had a good time just walking around. We ate lunch and then went back home. We rested the rest of the night.

Sunday was a relaxing day. We went to the African church which starts at 1, so we slept in. Then after church we went to the grocery store and came home. We had to start lesson planning for the next day. I had a great week. I don't know how God is working but I believing He is.

This next module, I will am teaching intermediate. I will be teaching in the mornings. I have gotten a lot of compliments on being really friendly and always smiling, so hopefully it will touch someone. Please continue to pray for God's will. I love you guys.

Olga and I....She is so sweet!!

This Mark... He came and talked to me almost every day for one on one conversations.
He is an awesome little boy. He has a big heart for God.

Lillian and Anne!!! Such sweet girls!!!

Our amazing photographer for the English Intensive.

These girls were great!!!

These girls are missionaries in India!!! I love their heart.

All the students that Graduated and the teachers

A picture of all three of us on the trolley:)

Nayda is the Margaret's Assistant.

This is the mall's bus station.

A mix between bowling and ski ball.

YUMMY!!! Ice Cream Cone:)

One of the characters from the Kiddy Land!

Show me your city,Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery, and the grocery store

The concert!!!

Team Ukraine ready to go!

The Football Stadium

My Personal Tour Guide Olga

Katya and I

Friday night was "Show Me Your City" night where the students had to take us to the city and show us using only English. It was a lot of fun. There were probably about 30 of us. We all stayed in one group. We started out in Lenon Square. In Lenon Square there was a concert going on. You all know how I love concerts, so I was standing there moving my head to the music and the Ukrainians were like "you know this song." I said "no." They started to laugh. The concert was a celebration for the city and apparently the president was there. Well the biggest excitement in Ukraine is the Sports Stadium so that is where they wanted to take us. So we walked about an hour to the sports stadium. On the way, we past beautiful scenery, lots of statues, and amazing buildings. Olga was my personal tour guide. She knew a lot about the city. She told me a lot but I don't remember everything. We finally arrived at the stadium and it was HUGE and very nice. In front of the stadium is a big football (soccer ball) that moves. It was really neat. The students knew so much about this stadium. After there we all got on a trolley and rode to the American Embassy (McDonalds) and ate dinner. McDonalds was packed. There are no lines you just have to push your way up there to order. The workers understood what we were saying so that was great. After we ate we took the trolley back to our flat. It was a really good night. There is so much history here in Donetsk.

Pushing the Football!

On Saturday we had to wake up early and take a 2 and half hour bus ride to Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery. It was a beautiful place. This monastery has been around since the 16th century. We had lunch there. We walked into the church while service was going on. Then of course, I had to go to the bathroom. So we found a bathroom inside the Monastery and what do you know there are no doors. They were squatty potty's with no doors. I was laughing so hard. One of the girls with us could not do it. I have seen every type of bathroom. There was a beautiful river that we sat by and talked. Then we decided to walk up to this huge statue. It is a statue of ___________. (I am not sure what his name is. Will put it in when I find out.) The walk was long and uphill. It was very hot that day as well. As we were getting close there was another church made out of only wood. They did not use any nails. IT was beautiful. We finally got to the top with the statue and the view was amazing. That was my favorite part of the day. It was worth the hike. The truck back down was much better. We had some ice cream then headed back. On the way back we stopped at a sunflower field so we could all take pictures. So the bus driver just pulled off the side of the road and we got out. After a few minutes, the bus drive turned the bus around and left. Yes that is right the bus driver left about 20 people on the side of the road. We were like what is going on. Our tour guide said he forgot something back a the monastery he will be back. SO we had to hang around at the field for about 15 to 20 minutes. All we could do was laugh. I still cannot believe the bus driver left us on the side of the road. When we got back Margaret's husband Jim made homemade chili and corn bread. It was amazing. We were so happy. It was a great day.

The Montastery

The Beautiful River

The Church made out of only Wood. It was Beautiful!

The View from the top!!

Another view from the top.

Sunflower Field that we stopped to take pictures then the bus driver left.

My Favorite

Love

The Bible verse we were learning. I believe it was John 1:1

On Sunday, Katie and I decided to go to the church that meets here at school. It is all in Russian. My friend Katya, translated some of it. It was fun but obviously we could not understand anything. I think next week I will go back to the African Church. After church we had lunch and laid around for a little bit. Then we decided to go to the grocery store on our own. So we walked to the bus stop and waited for trolley 11. It took a little while for the trolley 11 to show up. So we got on and we were so proud of ourselves. We took the trolley to the Amctop store. We went to get a buggy but they were all chained up. We did not know what to do. So we waited to watch someone else do it and you have to pay for a buggy. You put in a 50 cent coin and it will unlock. We were all laughing so hard. Once we got our buggy we went shopping. It was fun to be able to walk around on our own and look for groceries. We ordered bread from the bread counter. The lady was saying a lot of things but we could not understand her but we got our bread. We were very proud of ourselves. After we were done shopping we had to catch the trolley 11 again. We stood outside for a long time. I am not sure how long  but it was long. Finally a trolley showed up and it was packed. We did not know if we would be able to get on but we did. Plus we each had a huge bag. Then at the next stop a men got out of his seat to get off and all the older women were pushing and shoving each other to get that seat. My arm and grocery's got got up in all that. I was thinking I don't want the seat I just want my food. Then the next stop and older women was getting up from her seat and before she got up she tugged on my shirt and told me to sit in her seat. I thought that was very sweet. So I finally got a seat. The next 5 or 6 stops people kept getting on but no one was getting off. The trolley was very packed. When you ask a  Ukrainian how many more can fit on they always say one more. Finally our stop was coming up and there were about four rows of people in front of the door. So we pushed our way to the door. We got off safely. Then we had to walk the long path home with our big bags of grocery. It was a work out. When we got home we made a pizza and we cut up a watermelon. Dinner was very good. We accomplished a lot today. I think we are becoming Ukrainian.

Denaya waiting for Trolley # 11 with all of our groceries

The grocery store we know how to get to:)

Week 1 in Donetsk

My Home Sweet Home for 4 weeks

My Room:)

The Building that I am staying in.

Our walk way to school.

This is where we teach:)

So I finally arrived in Donetsk Friday, June 29th. Our flight was delayed an hour and half. We got in around 11ish in the morning. Margaret was there waiting for us with a sign saying Teach Overseas. We were excited to finally be in our destination. We get in the car and we thought we would be going to our home for the month. Nope, we stopped at the grocery store to do our shopping for the first week. We were so tired and overwhelmed. The store is like a wal-mart. It was huge. There was so much going on everywhere. The store was packed. There are a lot of similarities to the stores in the states and a lot of differences as well. There is a whole isle just for sausages. There is a separate counter for cheese. The frozen fruit and vegetables are not in bags. You put what you want in a bag. The fresh fruit you bag and weigh it yourself. Lastly, you have to pay for all of your plastic bags and bag it yourself. Anyways, we finally got to our dorms. The dorms are pretty nice. We have a two bedroom door with two beds in each bedroom. Then the four of us share a bathroom. There is a common kitchen area for each floor. It is not bad. I took a 3 hour nap. We made rice and beans for dinner and then went to bed.

This is the school where I am teaching and staying at.

Nothing says good morning like the sun up at 4 am. I could not go back to sleep so I laid around for a while. We had orientation at 10 am. I found out that I will not be teaching in the mornings for Module 1 which is two weeks. I am helping out with games in the afternoon. I was very excited about that. After our Orientation, we got to go to the city for a couple of hours. I met the Ukrainian women who I will be working with this summer for the afternoon program. Her name is Katya and she is my age. So I was so happy to meet her. She is super nice. We rode the trolley and a bus to get there. Ukrainians do A LOT of walking. We went to Lenin Square. It is beautiful. We walked around a park that had paintings for sale. We had a really good time. Then we got dessert at the restaurant that if you translate it into English means duck-swan. But apparently it is based off of a play in the Ukraine. Once we got home we were tired so we went to bed.

Lenon Square

This is called Goose-Swan when translated. We had desert there. It was really good.

Sunday we went to church at an African Church. It did not start till 12:30 which was great because we got to sleep in and relax. The church was in English. Everyone was very friendly. After church we went to another grocery store. This time we had a list and we shopped by ourselves. You know pictures are a wonderful thing when you have no idea what the package says. After we got back, Denaya and I met with Katya to organize our first day. My team also played phase 10. It was a great day.


This is my schedule during the week:
8:00 Team Devotions
9:30 Afternoon Group Meeting
10:00-11:00 Hanging out in the Cafe to meet with students on their break
11:00-1:00 Free Time
1:00-2:00 Lunch
2:00-4:00 Afternoon Activities
4:00-5:30 One on One Conversational English
5:30-7:00 Dinner
7:00 Evening Activities (On Some nights)
10:00 Bed


On Monday, one of the morning teachers asked if I would sit in their class to be interviewed by the students so they could practice their English. It was fun. No one wanted to sit with us at break. All the students were still nervous. Lunch was really good. The afternoon activities were okay. I did not like it and I think I was just not comfortable. I love love the One on One conversations. You meet with someone for 15 minutes to talk. It is a great way to get to know the students. Our evening activity, we played volleyball. It was a lot of fun. About 6 students came. My arms were killing me the next day.


Tuesday was about the same. I had a rough day. I just don't feel like I belong here. I really struggled on Tuesday. I kept asking God why????? I did love the One on One. I really enjoy this time. Our evening activity, we watched a movie. It was Simon Birch. I had never heard of it or seen it and it was great. It was funny and sad. I think you should watch it. Again we had about 6 students show up.


Wednesday was a lot better. God is so good. The students really enjoyed the afternoon activities. Again, I love the one on one conversations. I feel I am beginning to build relationships. No evening activities. I was out around 8:30. 


Thursday, was a hard day. In the morning, Denaya and I went to an orphanage. A family that is here is from Australia and part of their mission work is working with some of the orphanages around Donetsk. This one we went to was very nice. The director spends a lot of time getting sponsors and helping to kids have a decent life. But hearing the stories that these babies come from is heart wrenching. I want to do more than just bring a couple of things of diapers but I do not know what. It was hard. The afternoon went great again. I feel like I am getting into a groove. One on One was great. We had dinner then went to Margaret's house and her husband fed us dessert. We had banana pudding and carrot cake. Both were delicious. Now I am in bed typing this up.

Denaya and I with some of the orphans. They were so sweet and cute.

Overall, I am having a great time. I do ask for some prayers. Prayers for obedience in talking about my faith when needed. Confidence to start my own bible study with the students. Confidence that I am here for a purpose and only rely on God for that purpose not my own understanding. Also for God's will in my life. I am wanting to know what is next. Also for my team and our health and unity. Pray for the hearts of these students. Pray for the orphanages. I will be visiting another one next week.


On Friday, I am filling in for one of the morning teachers. It is one of the beginners classes, so they will know very little English. She said that she knows I will do a good job. Also, Friday night the students will take us out and show us the city. On Saturday, we are going to a Montessori school that has a lot of history. So the next couple of days will be very busy.


I miss you all and Love you!!!!

Traveling and Kiev, Ukraine

So from California, we left Katie's house on Tuesday morning at 5 am and we flew to Chicago. It was a 4 hour plane ride then we had to three hour layover. We had pizza in Chicago but it was not Chicago style:( Then we got on an 8 hour plane ride to Germany. It was very long. The food was good but could not get comfortable. I watched 3 movies and organized my pictures on my computer. Then we had a 3 hour layover in Germany. So we walked though customs and got stamp in our passports:) I bought a magnet from Germany. Finally, we got on our last plane of the day to Kiev, Ukraine. It was another 3 hour flight. It was not too bad. We finally arrived in Kiev. We got to get money out and exchange any cash we had on us. Our dollar goes further in the Ukraine which is great for us. Then we got a taxi. Man was he a crazy driver. We finally got to our hotel on Wednesday at 4 in the afternoon. We checked in and went to our rooms. The rooms were small but manageable. I shared a room with Denaya and Katie had a room to herself. 

Our Bathroom

My Bed

We decided to go get dinner. We were nervous about trying something new so we just went to what we knew and that was McDonalds. It was fun trying to order when we did not know how to speak Russian. The man who took our order knew very little English. He was smiling and laughing at us. It was a funny experience. Then, a lady heard us and she asked us to sit with her. She knew some English, so we talked with her while we ate. It was really fun. We did not expect that. After we ate, we walked around for a while. They have an open market and it is really interesting. You can buy ANYTHING there. We went back to our hotel and crashed. It was a very LONG two days.


On Thursday, we got to eat breakfast in the hotel and guess what music they were playing???? Justin Timberlake. Yes, that is right Justin Timberlake. I was in heaven. 

Our First Orthodox Church. We went inside this one.

My Lunch:)

Mickey is Proposing!!!!

One of the Many Orthodox Churches

After breakfast, Denaya has a student from Moscow that she teaches English to. So she came to Kiev to be our personal tour guide. We were so excited and blessed to have her. So in the Ukraine public transportation is huge. So on this day we rode the metro, the train, and walked. We went to almost all of the Orthodox Churches. They are so beautiful. We went to the center of the city. There was a festival going on for the Euro 2012 Games. Guess who I saw??? Mickey Mouse. So I paid again to take my picture. This Mickey Mouse proposed to me:) We went to a lot of historic sites but I cannot remember all the names. We had lunch at one of the most popular restaurants. Here we got real Ukrainian food. It was delicious. My favorite was the compote drink. We even had ice cream in the park. The day was so beautiful. God is so amazing. After a long day of walking we went to dinner. Had a more American dinner. I had a chicken sandwich with fries. Then we went to bed. It was a very exhausting day. We had to get up early to catch another flight to our destination city Donetsk.

Hollywood, In and Out, and Huntington Beach

After a long week of training, God blessed me with some time in LA. On Friday night, Four of us went to Hollywood. We had such a good time. It was great to just hang out with some of my new friends. First we had to ride public transportation. That is always fun. The train we rode was in the middle of the highway. Then we had to ride the metro. Once we got to Hollywood Blvd. I could not believe all the people that were there. Then I saw all the stars on the ground. That was so exciting. I could not believe all of the stars. Then we took the red carpet road to the Hollywood sign. It was far away but we still got to see. It was great. Then, I saw Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I was so excited. The girls were laughing at me because they were like you know you will have to pay for that picture. I said I would pay anything to take my picture with Mickey and Minnie.  IT was two dollars and worth every penny. I could not believe all the impersonators that were on the street. It was unreal. The Tom Cruise impersonator was the best. He really looked like Tom Cruise.  I had to do a double take. Then we went to the area where many stars put their hands and feet in the cement. It was really cool. I got to put my hand on Robert Pattison (Edward). That is probably the closest I will ever get. LOL!  We ate at a Mexican restaurant. It was very good. I am so glad that I got this amazing opportunity.

Saturday, was a relax day. Finally, after five crazy days we got one day to relax. Some of us went to the burger joint In and Out. It was YUMMY. You put 1000 island on your burger. Their fries are homemade. It was great.  Then I was on the hunt for a new suitcase as mine broke before I even left Tampa. It was stressful but I found one finally on Sunday. Then Saturday night, we had our closing ceremony. It was really powerful, as we all prayed for each team. It was great to be around all of these people and praying for God’s will. I was humbled to be there. Then we had a talent show. I could not believe all the talent that we had in our group. IT was really fun.

The first team left Saturday night at 9:45. Then another team left at 2:45 am and another team at 4:30. I went to all  the send offs. It was so sad to see everyone go but great to know that they are going to do God’s work. Then Sunday, two more teams left. We went to In and Out again. I loved it. We also went to wal-mart and did a little shopping. Then we went to Katie’s house. It was very nice. We had a good time. Her roommate Thea made us a delicious breakfast. Then we made sandwiches for dinner. I got to sleep on an air mattress. It was so comfortable. Her neighbor also came over and she was super sweet.  It was very nice to stay in an house instead of the dorm.

Monday morning, the Russian team left in the morning. We met them and said good-byes. It was hard because we got close to them since we did most of our training together. The Russia team is a young team but they have so much heart. I cannot wait to see what God does in Russia. Then we went to the Beach. We drove to Huntington Beach. It was gorgeous. The water was really, really cold. We only put our feet in. So I can say that I have been in the Pacific Ocean. Then we hung out for about two hours.  It sunny and there was a nice breeze. It was Perfect. God is so awesome.  They had a bunch of surfing camps out there, so we were watching all these young kids learning how to surf. It was great. Some of them were really good. Then we went to a little restaurant. It was called Blackboard Bistro. It had a school theme to it. IT was really good. Then we went to pick up a couple more things for our trip. We went to the THREE story Target.  It was great. Then we walked the Americana Mall. It was such a beautiful day out. I just loved it there. For dinner, we went to a Mexican restaurant and had a margarita. It was yummy. Then we finished packing and went to sleep. It is our last night in the United States.