2 months later.

As I am back in America... I keep finding Ukraine creeping up on me from everywhere, and I didn't exactly know what to do with this latest find. It was so great. 

I am in a Russian class, and today I was doing an online comprehension quiz and I came across one section.. and I loved one of the answers.. that JUST SO HAPPENED TO BE CORRECT. 

Here's a screenshot.. 

why do I love this..?

Because when I lived in Ukraine.. 

There was a freaking rug on the wall. 

John Lennon

I am totally and completely behind on blogging, and I've given up mostly. But I will post a few more times before I leave.

One attraction in Prague (in The Czech Republic) is The John Lennon Wall. All it is, is graffiti... about The Beatles and freedom/independence. 

The best hippie dude ever.. He honestly looks like
he could have just walked out of "Across the Universe"

Kenna had a sharpie and we all put
our favorite beatles lyrics on the wall. 

We found the John Lennon Cafe near by... and there was a yellow
 submarine hanging in the doorway. Awesome. 

I had this song in my head alllllll day, and pretty much ever since we were there. This very version too. It was even they lyrics I wrote on the wall. 

Goooooogle

Google is always pretty nifty, but since I've been abroad it just keeps getting cooler and cooler. This is what I've come across in the last few months.. 

I think I was in Germany when this happened.. 

Russian! I love Russian!... sometimes.

No idea what this one's about.. I think it has something to do with space? But I keep thinking of the Chernobyl museum when I see it.. this is what the control room looked like.. insane, I know. 

I love this.. Google being so considerate! 

These figures were dancing.. 

There were some more, but I never caught screen shots of them. Anyhow.. I still think it's pretty cool. 

Lviv

CATCHING UP on some blogging.. and MAN do I have a lot to do! Here I go!

So this blog is as you can tell, about Lviv. Lviv is a city in Western Ukraine. I was told that Lviv was a must-see city in Ukraine. It is one of the only places in Ukraine that survived the war. We took an 8-hour train ride to get there, which was a new experience for me. I guess now my blog name can get its full use—“planes, TRAINS, and just go.” The only thing I haven’t done is do legitimate travel by boat.  

When we got to Lviv we had absolutely no idea what to do or where to go. Luckily for us we found some more English teachers from Kiev in the same situation. They were all from Scotland and England. We all stuck together and eventually found all of our Hostels.

HOSTELS! This was also a new experience for me. I was presently relieved when we arrived to find fine accommodation. I was assured by the rest of my group that it was unusually nice for a hostel, but that was totally fine with me.

The city of Lviv is gorgeous. It is known for the chocolate in Eastern Europe. And oh my word, it lived up to its expectations! I loved Lviv. It was great to get out of Kiev for a weekend. I wish I took some more pictures, but here are a few! 

Thanks to blogging so late I have forgotten the name of this cathedral.  

We tried to go inside, but there was a wedding going on. 

This was the no-smoking sign in our hostel, it made me laugh. 

This is some unusually small Veraniki that I had in Lviv.

This is some of the Famous Chocolate in Lviv.. I had to laugh at the grammar.. 

choices.

After I read the first word.. "Congratulations!" I nearly died. I got accepted to university in HAWAII. Paradise. I got accepted to live and learn in PARADISE.

I was also personally asked to apply for a job in TURKEY/RUSSIA this summer. Two of the 3 countries on the top of my bucket list.

My heart is torn. I am ready to be back in America.. but I am NOT done seeing the world. I am so scared of going back to America/Canada and settling down for good.. and I am just not ready for that. I am terrified at the thought of it.

I am probably the most blessed person in the world, and here I am fretting over it. I have everything at my fingertips.. I just can't have it all.

Meow

 ромашкa.

(Rom-awsh-ka)

I will never ever see this word for what it actually means-- daisy. ромашкa is the name of a devil cat. A cat that has a special place in our hearts full of hatred. Okay so that might be a LITTLE dramatic. 

Where do I start with Romashka? I think at day one here in Ukraine. This was the first ounce of dislike that both Mckenna & I had for Ukraine. Over time Mr. Omash didn't help his reputation. He's an in your face, glass scratching, in everything, table walking, earphone ruining, scratching literally everything, slipper killing, jumping demon... yet an extremely cute demon. 

still in the first week.. and not understanding why this cat feels like he can
 interrupt my computer time by just placing himself on my lap... 

sometimes he just lies on the ground and twitches..
for no reason. human reason that is.. 

Okay for a little story... we have this glass cabinet full of our crap. And Romashka LOVES getting into it so I pulled him out one day and shut it, but being lazy I left about 3 INCHES and I am completely serious.. 3 inches if even that. And with my two eyes I watched him dive right back into the cabinet.. yes he LEAPED up into a 3 inch space!!! I thought my eyes played a trick on me.. luckily my camera was handy. 

how.. and why?!

Stas, Lenas son has this laser and of course Romashka, like all other cats go insane when they see a laser point. But our bedroom is unique.. it has a carpet for a wall.. so put two and two together and you get freaking spider-cat. 

I honestly hate when Stas does this.. its like a tornado in our room
 knocking stuff over, jumping on our heads, scratching us... and everything.. you name it.

This cat would do anything for this laser point... ANYTHING. Take a look.. 

yes.. that is him leaping at our window... 

He's not a very good cat.. and we don't like him.. but we love him at the same time.. kind of like a.. well I can't think of anything quite like the relationship we share with Romashka. We have our good times, like last Sunday.. it was just me and Romashka at home and he came and curled up on the corner of my bed and took a nap for a few hours.. before Stas came home and into my room and made the cat freak out.. after that I had to use probably 8 layers of a lint roller just to get the coat of fur off that Romashka had left on my bed. Suddenly not so much lovin' 

Love his expression.. shows his personality towards human beings quite well. 

Apparently March 2 was National Cats Day in Ukraine.. but we only heard that from a student.. nevertheless we took an opportunity to snap a few pictures. 

So there you have it.. we love/hate/like/have-mixed-feelings about this kitty. But for now.. Meow. 

The Honest Truth?

My ILP duration is 97 days, and I have already completed 45. This finally means I am on the down hill for teaching, but not going home quite yet. When did that happen? But more frequently I also think.. is that all? Really? 

We lost our first teacher yesterday, she just packed up and went home $2500 later. Sadly I think we all silently watched her leave with envy in our hearts. If you asked any one of the teachers in Kiev right now if they enjoyed teaching I honestly believe they would tell you that they don't, and they might actually tell you that they hate it. Now I might be getting ahead of myself here. We are all just fine doing what we are doing. We all chose to be here, we all paid to be here as volunteers, but at the same time I don't think any of us had any idea what we were getting ourselves into. 

They tell you it will be hard, but you can't imagine it all when you are in training-- and even when they tell you some, you have no idea until you actually experience it. 

Everything is fine for all of us. But we will all miss you Brittani! 

My Baby Goldilocks

I am feeling sorry for myself. When I feel sorry for myself I go sit in my gorgeous car, I pull out a bag of dill pickle spitz, and I turn on the Harry Potter audio books. I'd hate to admit to how much I actually do this at home. I could use a pick-me-up. DP Spitz, HP, and Goldilocks. Best combo ever. 

yes, I have an unhealthy obsession with my car. 

I am 20!!

Or I should probably say "we are 20," Kenna and I work the same shift together in the same school and our classrooms are actually connected. We sleep in the same room, we go to work, church, or any other activity together, we eat together... what I am getting at here is that I share pretty much everything with this girl, and it just so happens that we share our birthday too.

"Hoppy Birthday Ribeka!"

"Hoppy Birthday MiKena!"

GREEN GRASS!!! It was so nice to see,
thanks mother nature for the birthday present! 

At school they had a cake for us!!
And we didn't have to teach our first two classes, it was great!! 

So this is called a "Kiev Cake"

I really enlarged this photo so you could see it. It was crunchy with what seemed like layers of pure butter and sugar. It was good, just EXTREMELY sweet.. and different. 

There is a lady here at work that is always around helping clean up. She works for the school kind of behind the scenes.. we had no idea she could speak english!! This was such a sweet surprise!

Another fun surprise!! The kids made Kenna and I crowns and bracelets!! It was so cute!! I really do love my students! 

We had fun lighting sparklers on the pedestrian bridge here in Kiev. It was awesome!

SO we went out to dinner for pizza and Sushi.. I decided I'd try sushi again. Yep. STILL DON'T LIKE IT. 

We also managed to get 2 meters (6 feet) of pizza. 

At home Lena and Oleg had Kiev cake for us again! and we each had our own cake. It was sweet. 

С днем рождения

The Beautiful City of Kiev

These are a few of my FAVORITE photos of Kiev so far!! I know I have posted some of them already, and I know they are in a funky order, and they are kind of random.. but I just love each and every one of them!! 

Saint Michaels

Down Town 

Kreshchatik Street.. I think

Saint Michaels

Saint Sophias 

Saint Michaels

Saint Sophias

Independence Square

Kiev Temple

Saint Andrews

Down by Independence Square

We call it "Souvenir Street"

Saint Andrews 

Opera House