Don't worry if

For the ones following us here, don't panic if you experience any of the following. As our cute facilitators say, "It is not a problem." We know this to be true because we have been here in Ukraine for almost 4 days and are still alive.

1. Grafitti- It is everywhere but we see no signs of gangs or violence or feel any danger. I think that they think it is pretty and so they simply leave it there.

2. Public Toilet horrors- When you get to your apartment, you will have your own that will be clean and everything will be OK. Try to hold it if you can :)

3. Potholes--We didn't see or feel any when we first got to Kiev. We thought they would be everywhere. Kostya said that the roads are pretty good here in Kiev but once you get out of town a little they are everywhere. We found them while looking for the temple once we got off the main road.

4. Clothes or lack thereof--There are some Muslim women who are covered up here and the babushkas are pretty modest (thank goodness) but many of the beautiful Ukrainian women are not bashful when it comes to self exposure. When they have a jacket they don't bother with the blouse underneath. When they are wearing shorts, it looks like they roll them up to make the short shorts shorter. Don't worry, everyone is not a hooker even though I have to wonder how you could dress to be hooker and stand out here. There are a lot of high, high heels here too. The cobblestone streets have got to be really tricky when you are walking on 6 inch heels. I wonder if they have special classes on how to walk and not get your heel stuck in a crack,

5. We heard from the Lawrences that the TV is not what we are used to and so we haven't turned it on at all. Others said that you will be watching along and all of a sudden out of the blue there is something that is never on primetime TV at home and the US standards are pretty lax these days. So don't freak out if you decide to see what is on. We were pretty shook up a few years ago in Korea and so the TV stays off now,

6. The packaging is all different here for food etc. We went into a large grocery store when we first arrived and it was awesome. The carts twirled and they had a ton of things to buy except for rubbing alcohol which is only sold in pharmacies. The frozen food is not sold in bags, but is in boxes or trays in the freezer section. You can buy a handful of frozen french fries or just one chicken patty, The mayonnaise is sold in bags similar to a craisen package. The juice is in cardboard juicebox type canisters and not in cans or bottles. The dairy products are in foil packages and if you don't speak Ukrainian you are going to be tempted to peek and see if you are getting butter or cream cheese or cheese or lard. I wanted to make some homemade chicken noodle soup the first day in Kiev because it was kind of rainy. We went to the corner market and the only chicken was a few wings that were kind of deformed and looked like they had been here when chermnobile happened, I couldn't find chicken soup base and there were not any carrots, celery or potatoes to be found. We had palomini (however you spell it) and juice and bread instead, There is McDonalds a block away. The women are skinny here, I think they are like me, still trying to figure out how to cook :)

Laundry facilities uh nope- We have not seen a laundrymat and they told me truthfully that there are no dry cleaners here. We don't have a washer in our apartment and so we have washed some clothes out in the sink and hung them to dry, If you have room, pack extra underwear because of the water that you are not allowed to even brush your teeth with, you will not feel that your clothes are really clean if you do wash them. Hot water is on a sometimes basis and No one has a dryer which is common in Europe, We hear that in the region it gets even more primitive than here and so I am grateful for this opportunity to get fully in tune with my new calling as camp director.

I am not complaining about our experience. We are having the time of our lives here, It would be harder without Tyler who can do the language, I just want to give you a heads up so you aren't thrown into culture shock and miss your SDA appointment :)