Then came Brienne . . . the party has started!

A few hours after Jordan left, Brieanne arrived. Brieanne and I have an interesting relationship: We have some of the same morals and experiences – first year residence, very close with family, competitive high school athletes, work ethic, Beyond Borders, and our desire to learn and help to name a few – but also many different ones and a very different way of looking at things. I’ve noticed that, especially here in Ukraine, I tend to hesitate and analyze more. From Brieanne, I would like to learn to be more assertive but still keep my sensitivity and openness to people/ideas. I am excited to grow together, learn and support each other.

I was really happy to be greeting Brieanne at the airport. From the time I spent there, I saw many people come and go (departures are from the same room as arrivals) and couldn’t wait to be the set of arms to welcome her. I wasn’t sure how she would be feeling  (Would she be excited to be here or disappointed about leaving home?) but she seemed fine. She also had all the necessary gadgets to keep in touch – something I had overlooked because I didn’t think internet would be readily accessible.

After a traditional lunch of Ukranian fried chicken, potatoes and a token spoonful of cabbage (all delicious), we took a few pictures and waited for Kalyn, one of the students from Alberta. (The other student’s name is Chis. They will both be studying at the university for two months and then heading home.) Olena, our program coordinator in Ukraine, was nice enough to greet us at the airport and take us in a van to our host families.

My welcome was not nearly as warm as the other girl’s, possibly because it was the brother of the house that came to meet me rather than the mother. My host family is a family of 4: a mom (Mama), and dad (Tato) in their mid fifties, and their ~ 30yr old son and daughter. The daughter, Tanya, lives at the apartment and teaches German at the university I go to. The son, Slavic, is a surgeon that lives away on weekends but at home on the weekend. I get the feeling this set-up is not the norm because most people are married and having children by age 25, but do live at home if they are not married.

This family is very nice and they seem like old pros – apparently they’ve had people stay with them quite often. Denise lived here last year so they were very happy to talk about her experiences. It sounds like I have a lot to live up to!

For dinner, we ate delicious green borsche and potatoe perogies. We had rhubarb perogies and rhubarb cookies for dessert. Here, we don’t eat dinner together. Instead, you eat whenever the food is ready and then go about your business. It’s different from what I experienced at home and was not what I was expecting but I’ll get used to it. I tried to make some small talk but the dinner conversation ended up being a lot of thumbs up signs and smiling due to the language barrier. I sure am going to get good at charades!