Dogs come with three legs.. in Romania

I have been on holiday for the past week to the beautiful country of Romania where Vampires live, "Dracula's Castle" in Transylvania, and the night life of Bucharest. The 28 hour train ride was torturous (when the toilet was "flushed" you could literally watch your waste drop onto the train tracks) and ironically delightful, I was able to see the countryside that you cant see any other way. I watched as horse drawn carts with gypsy nomads crossed my window while just a short while later i stared at the incredible architecture of old town Bucharest. The beauty of the country is hard to describe, but i feel like Google images does a pretty good job. So feel free to browse the country conveniently through your computer screen and be jealous that i was actually there, on Dracula's hunting ground. The food was delicious the view was breathtaking and the company could have been better ha. Jared and Nate were my travel buddies, three amigos, three musketeers, three stooges, three exhausted young adults with too many jokes at each others expense. If you want to get to know someone well all you have to do is play "hot seat" and realize you have nothing to ask each other.
My backpack got lighter each day of travel and then i realized my friends were stealing my stuff so once i got it all back it weighed about the same. The trip was great, traveling eastern Europe is surreal life is lived so differently here, yet people are all the same. Everyone is always trying to get somewhere, but not me. Im here.

me and borscht, inside and out.

Good news, I figured out how to translate my blog into English finally so now I can update it! I was just saving my first post for a rainy day, which is today.
Yesterday I had my first bowl of red borscht, a traditional Ukrainian soup with beats, cabbage, potatoes and something else I didn't recognize :s I don't know how I made it three weeks being here without having it yet, the people here just down the stuff, but yesterday after my long walk to school my hunger pangs got the best of me.I swallowed down the whole cup. luckily no sort of hunger would ever lead me to eat the cottage cheese pot sticker things (I think it was cottage cheese, thats what it looked like) well anyway my point is my stomach is screaming at me right now which has therefore lead me to writing this blog at 5 am.
My stomach doesn't like it here, actually it hates it here, but I LOVE IT HERE! Im so lucky to be living in the Ukraine right now. Its incredible how things happen for me and how I always seem to be in the right place at the right time with the right people doing the right thing. I have already mentioned my host family in some of my emails and they are just awesome, taking very good care of me. Im even offered the occasional shot of Vodka at dinner, "just a little bit" they say ha but Im no sucker!
The majority of my time here is spent preparing for or teaching lessons which is the reason I came. I had no clue how difficult it would be for me. I feel bad for every single teacher I have ever had growing up, and all the other teachers in the world for that matter. I don't know what they are thinking when they decide their profession, but im grateful for them.
Kids seem to hit each other and me a lot. I got a kick in the face yesterday but I will admit its my own fault. Im the one that got on the ground to demonstrate the position of a frog and my kids thought this was me saying "hey everyone, jump on my back!" given, this lead to the kick in the face. Fortunately, Egor, was there to give me a kiss on the cheek. all better.
When I am not teaching, it is the weekend, which means travel time. I want to see as much as I can while I can, this past weekend I went to Odessa where I got to see the famous "Steps to Odessa" and the Black sea. The steps were cool, there is a lot of them. The black sea is cool, the beach taught me a lot about human anatomy that I never knew before :s This upcoming weekend I am leaving on my week long trip to Romania, it should be amazing and I will be sure to return to blogger after that!
Thank you all for your emails, comments, pictures and prayers. I love hearing from all of you, I feel like it took me traveling across the world to get closer to some of you and I have been really grateful. I love you, Pacaw!
Kens

privet!

Hello from the Ukraine! I made it here on the plane at 2:30 pm Sep. 1. My host Dad Dima picked my up from the airport and brought me to my new home. My family doesnt speak much English so communication is.. fun. I have a new little brother named misha and my mother is Natasha. They have two dogs, one that could eat me, roy, and the other I could eat, chuck. When I first got here the power was out so we had no lights or running water but I packed a flashlight so everything turned out fine. Today I learned how not to ride the metro haha and tomorrow i hope to learn how to ride it successfully. I walk to the "stop bus" and ride the privet bus to the metro station where I get on and ride five stops down until my school. I teach everyday 3pm to 7pm starting on Monday. I have plenty of pictures and videos already so as soon as I figure out how to be a blogger I will post some of my pictures. Have good day.

almost there! kinda..

ok ereybody its almost that special time we have all been waiting for. I leave for the Ukraine on tuesday whoop whoop. This blog will be my only connection to all of you in America unless you email or skype me. So go ahead and follow my blog I love you all and Ill miss you! See ya on Christmas!

Kens

attention

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square hole. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignor them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do."

emotional constipation

I have spent long hours building up my emotions regarding my service trip to the ukraine. I decided the best way to make up for my leaving the people I love is to include everyone in my adventure through video documentation pictures and posts. I feel a little vulnerable doing this as I know I will be subject to many judgements, the kind that people make while watching someone eat a tuna sandwhich. Everyone agrees that tuna is good but no one really has the confindence to eat one in public. Except for me. Because I love tuna and I dont care who knows it. So here is the beggining of my blog. Judge all you want, im still going to eat it.