Ukraine...still alive and kickin'!

Both Ukraine and our team are still alive and kickin', actually. I'm sort of feeling all foggy and hazy from the jet lag, but I'm alive despite that.

We had a really great week. I think I might do several posts about the trip so that y'all aren't stuck reading one really long one. We arrived in Kiev on Saturday evening (March 19), after a non-eventful trip. The best part was that Nastia met us at the airport! I got to spend the entire ride to Poltava catching up with her. I tried to keep the others awake for the ride to Poltava, but I only succeeded at keeping them awake until 9:00. I gave it a solid effort, but it was me against 8 sleepyheads. What's a girl to do?

Sunday was a great day at church; it was SO good to see friends and to worship together. Amiee was asked to sing (like, 30 minutes before the service), and she did a fantastic job last minute and a cappella. The jet lag was STRONG about halfway through the service, and I was having the hardest time with my eyes. I tried to keep them from shutting, but it ended up with them rolling around in my head because of the awkward fight to keep them open. Yeah. It was awesome.

Sunday evening, we finished working on lesson plans...and Victoria and Nastia came by to visit with me! I'm so thankful that they did because I wouldn't have had another opportunity to visit, and I just got more and more tired each day after that- making me not such a fantastic conversationalist. You can ask Amiee; the conversations got stranger and more incoherent as the days wore on. During the coherent(ish) visit, however, we talked about Victoria's classes, Nastia's work, and my upcoming wedding. It was kind of a flashback to hanging out on Friday nights when I lived there, which were some of my favorite times. I promise to update with more info and more pictures soon, but I'm just sooooo tired right now. Can't...hardly...keep...eyes...open... By the time I got into bed last night, I had been awake for about 27 hours. I couldn't even walk straight. To tide you over until I can upload more, here are a few pictures:

Nastia and me. SO glad I got to spend time with her! I've missed her.

We love each other.

More people I love: Maya and Victoria

And Ira!