As my title is really weird and you're probably wondering what it means, I'll explain. So in Ukraine, bathrooms in apartments are a little different than American bathrooms. We have one room with just the toilet, and then the room right next door with the shower/bathtub, sink, and washing machine in it. So in the bathroom with the toilet in it, for whatever reason we can feel a breeze in there. So this morning (a particularly windy morning) I was listening to the wind outside, and feeling it in the bathroom! Don't ask me why, we can't figure it out. That's just one of the culture differences here, two rooms for the bathroom. Another difference is that no one really has beds or bedrooms. You sleep on your couches, which are pull out couches. It's actually really economically sound, you only really need 3 rooms, a bathroom, kitchen, and living/bedroom. We also pay for the plastic bags when we go shopping, so if we're buying something small usually use just put it in your purse. Speaking of grocery stores... they have serious security guards here. Not mall cop uniform ones, but ones that wear suits and have hand-held walkie talkies. They stand at the end of the aisles and look really intimidating. Zach will enjoy this one...cashiers at grocery stores get to sit! In really nice comfortable rolley chairs! Living in a different culture really is a lot of fun!
Something else interesting, everything in Ukraine is done in cash, so we take money out of an ATM and that's the only time I use my card. Money here is an 8 to 1 ratio with the US dollar. For every 8 hriven, it's 1 dollar. There is also no sales tax, kinda cool.
As for the language. Mom, we get General Conference here a week late because it's on DVD and if they showed it real time it would start at about 5 in the afternoon. We do get to watch it in English with Elder and Sister Mayberry. They're a senior couple that serve our mission and five others as the medical advisers. They spend a lot of time at our branches and will show us General Conference in English on his computer. As for understanding Ukrainian/Russian. Understanding is still really hard at this point. It also doesn't help that I live in the capital of Sergick and nobody speaks pure Ukrainian here. I hear a lot of Russian, and my companion is a Russian speaker so I actually understand a lot of Russian at this point, but learning Ukrainian is still my primary focus. Sister Jacobson always asks our members or investigators to speak in Ukrainian as much as possible, but some of them don't even know Ukrainian. Sometimes it's really beneficial that I don't understand a lot, we've met a lot of interesting people with a lot of interesting ideas. There are a lot of superstitions here and you have to be careful not to offend people.
So health wise, I've been sleeping really well, jet lag really didn't get me after the first few days. I've lost 10 pounds my first week in Bila, we walk everywhere. We also eat better here, there's really no fast food. My feet hurt a lot for about a week. Last Friday we spent all day on the street and by the end we both just laid on the ground, elevating our feet on the wall. We also bought icy-hot, well, Ukrainian version. It was really fun trying to explain what we needed to the pharmacist. That's another thing, there are pharmacies everywhere here! Apparently when people feel the beginning of a cold, they medicate hard core and stay inside until they feel better. I wish we could do that but it's not very conducive to missionary work. I bought new boots at the reenik on Saturday. A reenik basically is an open market, it was crazy and totally awesome!
Well, there's not much more to say. We get up, exercise, study, walk to center, walk, walk some more, go to appointments, then walk home, study, and then sleep. I'll send some pictures.
As for what I need, I could really use a cook book full of recipes. Preferably not one you buy, but recipes you use. This can be a birthday present, take your time with it. As for immediate things. Taco seasoning, Enchilada seasoning, and sage. (Those are requests from Stan, an American in one of our branches, although I really want some taco seasoning too) Also some peanut butter M&Ms. Don't send peanut butter, I'm not craving it yet, and I don't want to start, otherwise this will turn into a vicious cycle. Some velveeta and shells would be cool too. When you send a package just address it to the address at the mission office, but just put my name, not the Kyiv Ukraine Mission! The custom fees will be huge!
Love you! Have a good week!
If you want to know anything specific in my emails, just ask, I'll try and answer questions.
Sister Daniel
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