First Impressions...

So I am officially in Ukraine and I have been for about a day or so. I'm in love. This country is so awesome. I thought it would pretty much be just like Slovakia or the Czech Republic and it is, but it isn't.

The flight here was terrible and long. But I expected that and was able to brace myself for it. I met up with 4 other volunteers in the DC airport and then with 3 more in the Munich, Germany airport. So we got to chat and get to know each other a little better. Good times. I wasn't really able to sleep on the flight to Munich which was my longest one. But on the flight from Munich to Kyiv, I straight up passed out before the plane even took off and woke up as the plane touched the ground. I was so dead.

The native coordinator with ILP was waiting for us at the airport. Her name is Oksana and she is super great. Love her. So me and the 7 others with all of our luggage got piled into some man's van (I still have no idea who he is) and then he and Oksana took up each to our host families. This is what I saw on the drive around the city:

(Kyiv Temple!)

Finally meeting my host family in person was absolutely amazing. These people are so great. I seriously am the luckiest ILP volunteer ever. They're just so dang nice and welcoming. They really just go out of their way to help me and sacrifice a ton to let me stay here with them. They even made this sign for me:

Before I left to come here Max (host dad) told me that the 2 little boys love beef jerky. So I brought them 4 bags of it. I haven't even been here for 48 hours yet and they've already eaten 2 of the 4 bags. He wasn't kidding....

This is a picture of my room. Love it.

Here are a few more random pics of things I found cool or interesting...

Just some really cool building by the place we ate lunch. Lunch was..... interesting. I had borsh with some drink that tasted like campfire in a cup.

I went with my host mom to the park with the boys right outside of their apartment. I don't know if you can see it or not but in their hands are Spider Man walkie talkies that I brought them from America. They take them everywhere and even sleep with them. They're seriously the cutest.

The juice isle. Oh my gosh. I went to the store with my host dad last night and this is the juice isle. Just. Juice. All of it. So much juice. There are so many brands and flavors. It was seriously blowing my mind the entire time. Max bought a few kinds for me to try such as plumb, pear, and one more made of some other fruit that I have never heard of. All three were delicious even though I don't even really like plumbs or pears. But I could drink this juice all day long. Fo' real.

So I love it here. Every detail of it thus far. Yesterday morning we went on a walk with the elders. It really makes me miss my mission being here. It even feels kind of awkward for me to be walking by myself around the city and I still feel obligated to talk to everyone for some reason. Hopefully this will pass. Haha. Because I do not speak Russian or Ukrainian. 

I got my school assignment and I will be teaching at the Nyvky school. It's a fabulous little school. I still have yet to find out what ages I will be teaching. I'll let you know when I do.

It's morning here now and it's pretty dark and rainy. I love this kind of weather though so I am happy. I have a meeting with the other volunteers at 10:00. We are going to have more training so we can be good teachers. That's all for this post. If you have questions or want to see pictures of certain things, just ask away!

Packin' up...

...... Cause I'm packin' up, packin' up, packin' up

ooooooooooo I'm packing up. 

Cause my daddy taught me good.....

If you are unfamiliar with the reference above, please refer to the following video: 

That's right. I'm not backin' up. But rather packin' up. Eh, close enough. I have rug burns on my knees and a sore back and legs from spending majority of my Saturday packin' up. So far so good. The following images should explain 2 things to you:

1) They explain why I am SO dang good at Tetris.

2) Why I was able to fit everything into 1 suitcase but it ended up being 37 pounds overweight.

I watched a YouTube video on how to pack. I'm a really fast learner.

You guys. I leave tomorrow! Tonight I will drive down to Phoenix with my mom and tomorrow morning I will fly to Kiev, Ukraine! This is seriously so surreal. All week long I have been doing just fine and then all of a sudden I just get this huge wave of emotions that makes me feel super uneasy. Me feelings are as follows.

I have already said bye to most of my family which totally sucked. I got back from my mission 8 months ago and it just kind of feels like "Oh, hey everyone!" "K, bye everyone!" Although this is going to be a lot different than a mission, it still sucks saying bye. I am going to really miss every one...

You guys have NO idea how excited I am to live in Europe again. I love love love Europe. I am not a huge fan of the (what seems like) endless flights but once you get there, it' magical. Maybe being there this time as a non-missionary, people might actually like me! ;-) For reals though.... 

I can't wait to start teaching English and meet all of my little students. I just keep dreaming about who they will be and what they'll be like. I hope I don't have outrageous preconceived notions and these kids end up being complete brats. Pray for me.

I am super stoked to meet my host family but at the same time, sad to leave my own behind. Everybody be good and stay safe please. & I promise I will (try to) do the same. Also, if you guys don't already have the app Viber, GET IT! It's free calling and texting to anyone in the world over 3G or Wifi. It's seriously amazing. If you get that we can call and text while I am away! iMessage also will work over wifi as well as FaceTime and Skype. I am totally down with doing all of the above with you. Just hit me up.

But I still have a bit of packin' up to do so this post should probably end now. I love America but I just can't wait to leave! Bye everyone!

#yoloswagforJesus,

Jerem

& so it begins...

Well.

I am not really the "blogging" type of person. But I have a blog now and I really am grateful that I do. I am grateful because this blog was made and will be updated for a purpose. & a good one at that! This blog is going to be for you guys. I hope to write here as much as possible about all of the experiences and journeys that I will be having in Ukraine for the next 4 months. I am going to Ukraine through ILP to be a volunteer English teacher for little children.

I found out about ILP from my best friend, Rileigh (Nikolaus) Ellsworth (woah). She went to China and taught little children there. She introduced me to the program but I chose to go to Ukraine because it's a neighbor to Slovakia, which is where I served my LDS mission for 2 years & I plan on going back to visit while I am abroad. ILP is a program that has volunteers in Mexico, China, Ukraine, Russia, Thailand, & Lithuania all living the adventure of a lifetime. 

While I am over yonder I will live among the people, do what they do, and eat what they eat. In fact, all of the ILP volunteers in Ukraine will be living with different host families throughout the capital city, Kiev. Most of the volunteers do not know who their host families are until they show up on their doorstep, luggage in hand. But for me, it's been a little bit unique. I was able to get into contact with my host family via Facebook back in March of this year. & to be brutally honest with you, I could not have personally hand picked a more perfect host family for me. My future family consists of:

Dad and Mom (Maksim & Natalya)

& these 2 little rascals (left: Niki, right: Mark)

No, I am not kidding. Yes, I am going to live with THEM! They could be models. All of them. 

Even though ILP is not a church program of any kind, I am fortunate to have a host family that practices the same religion that I do! My host dad is the bishop of his ward even! Pretty shocking, I know. I really hit the jack pot on this one. I don't really personally know them yet, but I already love them so much for being willing enough to take me under their wing during my semester abroad.

You're probably all bored to death by now but the last things that I wish to write about (well, more like the last people that I wish to write to) are the people who contributed to my "get me to Ukraine fund". You guys will never know how much your sacrifice actually means to me. This experience is going to change not only me, but also the children that I am going to be teaching English to. It really will help shape their entire future. I am so blessed to have such selfless people like you guys in my life and I really will never be able to repay you for what you have given me. I pretty much have my entire fee payed for which is such a blessing. I will always have you guys in my heart while I am gone and I will constantly remember that if it weren't for you, the experience would not be possible.

THANK YOU!

If you're even remotely curious as to what I am up to in Ukraine, stop back in frequently because I am going to try and write as often as people to keep you all updated.

P.S. I LEAVE IN 11 DAYS!!!!!