So...that's it. We're done with training. We finished up today and we are in Chernigev briefly to buy gifts for our host families. The first snow came to Ukraine on Monday. We got just over a foot. Yesterday the temperature dropped to -20 Celsius which is around -3 Fahrenheit. Needless to say: It...was...cold. We did our Language Proficiency Interviews yesterday and they went well for Shannon and I. I'm certain that we passed but we'll find out for sure on Monday in Kiev. The interviews were a blur. The interview was only supposed to last 20 minutes, which it did, but it seemed like 2 minutes flat.
Funny side story (and so typically me): So during my interview I said that I liked vareneky which is a pastry filled with sour cherries and super delicious. So the interviewer asked me to tell him how to make it which luckily Alona told me the recipe the night before. Funny. So, I said (in Russian) "First, you need 1 kilogram of "MOOSA" and then..." The interviewer stops me and says (in Russian) "Wait, wait...MOOSA?" And I say, "Yeah, moosa. So, then..." He stops me again and says, "I don't understand...you said moosa? Did you mean miasa (meat)?" "No, not miasa. 1 kilogram of moosa." I said. "What does moosa look like?" he says. "It's white and comes in a big jar." I said. He says, "Oh, you mean MOOKA!" Then I realized my mistake: You see, MOOKA is Russian for flour which you need to make vareneky. MOOSA is Russian for trash. So, I said "To make vareneky I you need 1 kilogram of trash and then..." Classic.
Today we did our Self-Directed Learning project which, for me, meant that I had to learn and sing a song in Russian. So I sang "If You Don't Have an Aunt". It's a famous Russian folk song and it was fun to play and sing. I also learned to write in cursive in Cyrillic.
Shannon drew all the places she liked or frequented (her host family's house, LCF's house, school, post office, and a church in Chernigev. She talked about them all in Russian and she did a very good job. The drawings were beautiful. We'll get pics soon.
So, we go to Kiev on Monday and we should know where we will be living for two years on Monday too. We should be able to blog next week in Kiev and let everyone know where we're heading. Extra exciting. I have a few more pics so I'll post those soon too.
Til then. We love and miss you!
Danny and Shannon
