dead guys in caves and stuff

Yesterday was GREAT

First off I finally got to go to the temple here in Kyiv and do baptisms. It is BEAUTIFUL. I love seeing temples around the world, each one is so special.

After that I met up Ameri and our regional coordinator, Tania, at the train station to get tickets to go to Lviv this weekend. Without Tania, we would not have tickets. Customer service hasn't made it this far around the globe, and the lady was so frustrated with a native trying to get 17 tickets, I don't know what she would have done if it was just Ameri and I and our super limited vocabulary. Actually I do, she probably would have yelled at us and shut the blinds at her little booth. I am way excited for this weekend, I have never been on a sleeper train before. Or any train for that matter. In fact when I was little I used to be afraid of trains, we lived close to some train tracks and the noise would freak me out, which can be attributed to the fact that I had a dream that Thomas the Train drove through my house and tried to run my family over.


Yeah, remember this guy?? I still do.

So then after we battled the lady and got our tickets, we went to the Lavra, which like I thought, were cave monasteries. These monks would come, dig out a cave and shuts themselves up in them. They had one tiny window, for food. They were completely silent and did not come out, and the only way anyone knew that they had died is when they quit taking the food. Then, they would seal the window up and leave the body in there. I guess they never got the "be in the world, but not of the world" memo. Sad. Some monks were just mummifed.. and we all bought candles and walked through the caves and saw their bodies that were in glass coffins.. it was gross a little bit. You could see their not fully decomposed hands. I got kind of queasy. I felt bad for the kid who's mom was going by and making him kiss every coffin and do the little catholic prayer, that would not be my favorite.

This is the lavra, the tall building is the bell tower that we loco danced next to, and the caves are built underground on this hill. Obviously it doesn't look like this now, it is covered in snow.

We went and toured a little cathedral, and singing is supposed to sound really bueno in there with the ceilings and whatnot, so Tania asked if we wanted to sing, so we busted out some hymns, and it really sounded beautiful. Also we had mad crazy interpretive dancing to the bell chimes, which started out as an effort to keep warm and turned into majorly fun and entertaining.

Next we went to Catholic Mass. I have never been. The contrast between the way I felt at the temple and the way I felt there was so insane!! Mass was dark and mysterious and confusing while the temple was full of light and peace and hope. I had never been to another church before so it was really interesting to experience. I am so thankful to know the things that I know and to belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. SO GRATEFUL.

Today Ameri and I abused our snooze buttons, and both accidentally turned our alarms off, and woke up at the time we normally leave for church. We booked it like no other!! And we had to hike down our stairs because our elevator is broken again. We practically ran to the metro, ran up to catch our bus and missed it! We got there right as they shut the doors. The best part was though, we still beat half the teachers there, and were 10 min early. Small miracle I tell you. On Sundays I put leggings over my tights, and put my heels in my backpack and then just swap when I get there, my shoes always get so muddy walking around.


Ooook buds well I am off to bed! Ready to start a new week in Ukraine : )

Luvs,
Kayla

this is a serious and solemn occassion.

And game night was hilarious. My cheeks hurt from laughing. I made nobakes for my teachas and they came over and we partied Mormon style. The first batch of nobakes turned out the opposite of bueno because I was skyping Elliott while I made them. I forgot vanilla and salt and overboiled it... whoops. Fiance is very captivating anyone would have made the same mistake. Batch two however was very successful. We played BS and all kinds of fun games and made sweet fools out of ourselves. We feel comfortable doing that. We sauna together.

Despues, I saw the blog post where ILP announced the opening of the school in Thailand. I already have an love for Thailand. We wanted to honeymoon there originally, but Mexico won out, it is after all my #2 home country. Ok, back to Thailand. When I fall in love, it's like a done deal. Serious. I fell in love with a dress on overstock. It's on it's way to my house. It doesn't happen often. But it's serious. I fell in love with a pair of pink sweatpants like 3 years ago. And hey look I am wearing them right now. I fell in love with Elliott. Now we are getting married for eternity. You see!! Anyway, I facebook announced that someone needs to go, so I can live through them for now and go in future when we aren't newlywed and brokesauce, preferably before I quit looking decent in a swimsuit.

And about the sauna. We reserved this place with a lounge and a jacuzzi and a "sauna" and cool showers that you pull a string and it drops freezing water on you. The sauna was more like a sweat lodge.But as for the honey & brown sugar body scrub we did- AMAZING. Feel light headed? Eat some. Rub it on. My skin is soo soft now. We were expecting something more like the scene from Monte Cristo where the bad guy is all in the steamy sauna with the cool pool with flowers floating in it with the pull string.. not exactly the same but we had like 8 times as much fun as that guy. And we got to wear sweet toga sheets.

ook well I am off, my chicas and I are going to the new temple in the morning!! I am so excited. And then we are going to the Lavra, which I believe are cave monasteries. I still need to google it. Okkk.

Luvs,
Kaylaa

Daybook Giveaway

I read this blog called The Daybook. It's adorable.

tandsdaybook.blogspot.com if you would like to enjoy it too!

This week Sydney is giving away this dress!!

I love it.
Mucho.

The End.


Luvs,
Kayla

teaching.

Here are some funnies about teaching the kiddos here.

Yesterday little Vadim got up during opening and yelled to Amber and I, " SIT DOWN, ME TEACHER!" ha ha ha. He is a spirited little guy, and also overly affectionate trying to kiss me all the time, but we let him go over the rules for the other kids.


It's not uncommon for me to walk by a class and hear a teacher say, " keep your teeth in your mouth please!" What does that mean?! It means that the kids eat so much junk that all their baby teeth rotted, had to be pulled and be replaced by fake teeth on retainers. And they pop them out and play with them all the time and it's really gross. Dental care isn't as cool here as it is in the states. A contributing factor could also be that many families eat chocolate for meals. I thought I would be more excited when I found a people who consider chocolate to be a food group.

Another oddity we have discovered is that the kiddos don't know the difference between the words know and no. The teachers would ask, do you know this game? And the kids will respond.. I yes this game!! We are working on finding solutions, and also laughing because it's pretty hilarious.

Also, this should be pretty obvious but you should never sit down on the toilet seat at an elementary school. Unless you want to sit in the pee of kids who can't aim. Maybe I learned this the hard way.

good news!!

HOPE IS BACK!!!!!
Figuratively and in the form of my dog!!!! My little brother opened the front door and she was just sitting waiting for someone to open it after she had been missing for over 3 days! I was having such a hard time thinking that she could be hurt somewhere all by herself. I feel so lucky and soo so blessed.

HAPPY TUESDAY!!

recipes for happiness: carrot & ginger soup

I decided to branch out and explore different soups. Why soups? What else would you want to sit down to after walking home in freezing temperatures??? Not much else. I didn't make this recipe up though, I googled it. At Mega Mart today, I decided that I am getting really effective at being linguistically challenged. I bring my russian/english dictionary with the ingredients bookmarked and underlined. I know how to say where is. So I say where is and then I point to the word in my book. I am getting better at sounding out the words, but not good enough to where a native would understand me.

So here we go, Carrot & Ginger soup

3/4 stick unsalted butter ( yuck I used maybe a tablespoon to saute the ginger and that's it)
1/4 c. finely chopped ginger root (seriously. chop it FINELY. ginger chunks are a little surprising)
7 c. chicken stock
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 c. carrots, peeled, in 1/2 inch pieces ( I used 4 giant carrots)
Pinch curry powder
1 lg. chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. dry white wine ( I used orange juice instead )
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Melt butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic. Saute for 15-20 minutes. Add stock, orange juice and carrots. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered over medium heat until carrots are tender, about 45 minutes. You are supposed to puree the soup in a blender... I don't have one. But we did have something close to a potatoe masher. It basically did the job. Season with lemon juice, curry powder, salt and pepper.


Ok so I am eating it and these are my thoughts. You need to puree it. I feel like it needs to be smooth. It is delicious, especially with fresh lemon juice squeezed over the top. It smells like Thanksgiving. Then ginger gives it an awesome kick. Fiance and I were skyping while I was making it, and he says that carrots and ginger in a soup sound grossnast. We will see what he thinks when I trick him into eating it down the road. And plus ginger is crazy good for you, it is supposed to help everything from ovarian cancer to migraines, and carrots are loaded with vitamin A. Eat up.


And now I would like to shout out to my Sorel snowboots, for empowering me to plow through the snow and slush while the rest of the women teeter around on stilettos.I love heels. But in the snow? Really?? Crazies. Yes, my boots may look like I stole them from a man. But my toes are toasty.

luvs,
Kayla