many........

of my friends from America have written and said they were worried about me. I am okay. It does take a thick skin to live here in the beginning. I am learning to make routines and am finding out what I need to be happy and who I want to be. Life will forever remain a journey and you have your good days and bad days where ever you may be. I got back from Pryluky yesterday and taught for eight hours after a three hour marshrootka ride. I was so exhausted and then Yura wanted to meet. I ended up falling asleep, not meeting with him and slept most of today. I have to go teach tonight and I think that meetings with friends will be reserved for days off. On the flip side, Pryluky was amazing...but cramming so much into two days was exhausting. It was really good to see everyone and catch up and as it turns out, I have a bit of a fan club there with the men who play volleyball with Sveta (my friend). :)

rolling forward......

I am thoroughly amazed at how quickly time is going here. I am waiting for February to be over soon. The weather is a rough thing to deal with but it is teaching me patience. It has been a crazy week. I had had to stop, breath and just pray so many times this past week. I had a pretty serious arguement with one of the boys after he asked me for money for the apprenticeship. I was pretty ruthless last night and I know he did not understand. I was not in the mood to explain it to him. I feel like he should have told me to my face what the problem was and then we could have talked about it. I had no patience for someone who did not trust me enough to sit down and talk to me and work something out. I needed time and that is what I got today. I taught one class today and then came home to hang out and just rest. My roommate got way too openly frisky with a boy all day yesterday which left a bad taste in my mouth as well but she is gone now. She went to work in another town and I officially start teaching tomorrow night on independence square. It is all working out. I struggle with life every day but soon, that will wear off. I am trying to stay disciplined with Russian and am going to pryluky to see the crew next weekend. I think that everything is rolling along...stay tuned.....

been here..........

almost a week. It has flown...this is going to be a short update since our internet at home does not work as of yet. I finally got here after many delayed flights and met an amazing girl going to austria on the way. :) awesome!! I have seen all of the boys, finished my tattoo and started learing "old school style". I am excited. I live around the block from Yura and spent a very sweet afternoon with him last Friday. Stay tuned on that one. Lauren (my roommate) and I observed our first class last night and it was awesome. They are long hours but it looks like so much fun. Everyone here has been great for the most part and I am excited to be here, even though I am so rusty with russian. I love and miss you all and watch for future updates! :)