I'm here, Safe and Sound!

I can honestly say that I have about 10 "this is my life" moments daily.The first thing that really struck me about Ukraine is that it looks A LOT like MI, environment and climate wise.I have started learning Ukrainian (which is a very difficult language might I say). We spend about four hours a day on that. During the rest of our time we do homework, learn about teaching English, walk around our tiny village, and hang out with our host families. There are about 3000 people where I live with my host family. We are about an hour from Kyiv, and it's a very nice place. A lot of people grow a lot of their own food. There's not a whole lot in the town. We have about five little shops where you can get mostly food and household products, a cafe/bar, a school, stadium, and small doctor's office. My host family is awesome! There is are six people living in our house (not including me). All adults, Babysya and Tato (gma & gpa), their two daughters, and then one of their daughters. Two men, four women. They don't have indoor plumbing, we get our water from a well and use a squat toilet in an outhouse. At first I was worried about that, but now it's old hat (I'm sure that will change when it's below 0 and I'm freezing). We bathe in a little building outside too. They have a really big garden, a cow, chickens and lots of puppies and kittens. I have definitely made freinds with the animals. Most of my day at home is spent trying to communicate in a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian (called surgic). There is a lot of gesturing and laughing. One thing about Ukraine is that they feed you a lot! Our host families are paid to feed us twice a day and I can't believe how seriously they take this responsibility. Lots of meat and potatoes. The food is actually pretty good. Oh and they LOVE candy, desserts, and chocholate with every meal. My training group consists of five people (including myself). One guy and three other gals. Poor Thomas is stuck with all women all the time. Ooh, my host sister is an english/history teacher at the local school, 26 years old, and a bad ass. We get along great and have a lot in common. She is pretty much fluent in English so that makes things a lot easier. I also have a friend named Dima. We help eachother with our homework (my Ukrainian and his English). It's a very symbiotic relationship. Also, it's nice to know someone local who speaks both languages, he has definitely done some translating for me, and helped me figure out my phone and computer. He's turning 18 soon so we'll have to throw him a b-day party. Basically I'm very safe and happy here. Of course I'm home sick and missing everyone a lot! No joke A LOT, but I definitely feel good about what I'm doing and how much I am already growing from this experience. It really doesn't hit you what you've gotten yourself into until you get here. I definitely cried quite a bit the first night at my host family's house. But then I got it together and started to really enjoy myself and the people around me. I love you all and truely miss you more than I can say already. Stay safe and stay in touch. Your comments will really help a lot.