Day 1 & 2 - We are HERE!

YAY! We made it…and to be honest, there were moments when I was starting to wonder….. The flights were “fairly” uneventful, unless you count the TSA breaking the wheel off of Eric’s large (NEW) suitcase, my soda exploding all over some lady sitting next to me who was NOT happy and made a huge deal of it the remainder of the 8 hours flight, and being CLUELESS going through passport control/customs. But we made it! That is when the fun really began….

Our driver picked us up from the airport. We knew it was him because he was holding a sign that said “Smith.” Even though it is Ukraine and that last name isn’t super common here (LOL!), we asked, “Eric and Ashli Smith.” He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Yep – he didn’t speak English, except to say “no English.” But he got our bags in the car (don’t ask….when RR says pack light, THEY MEAN IT!) and off we went. Man….people here drive FAST and love to use their horns! And stoplights are at some intersections but not all…you can imagine what it is like at THOSE intersections. Wow!

We got to our apartment and our driver left. We were told that someone would come by and take us out and show us around. Eric and I just looked at each other…what do we do NOW? We have no one’s phone number, no cell phone (other than our US one), no money (other than US dollars) and no groceries. We were exhausted and hungry. We waited about 4 hours and I decided to bite the bullet and turn the “data roaming” back on on my iPhone. (Pray for my bill…. ) I sent our facilitator a message through FB saying “help!” He replied saying someone would be there in 30 minutes…and he was! “Uncle Nico” came by and showed us where to exchange money, buy groceries, walk to eat, etc. We appreciate his help SO much! We now have Ukrainian money (grivnas) and groceries. We also know where TGIFs is and plan to hit it up tomorrow afternoon.

Tomorrow is just a “relaxing” day….yeah right. I am SO far from my comfort zone I may never find my way back. :o) Eric is handling this “culture shock” much better than I am, but I am trying. I knew it would be different, but I didn’t really know what to expect. Now I know…. Tomorrow we plan to just walk around and go to TGIFs.

Wednesday is our SDA appt. Please pray all goes well and according to plan.

Our internet connection isn’t great so I will update when I can. Pictures will follow once I have a faster connection.

Thanks for all of your prayers! Keep them coming!

Ashli and Eric