going on 30 hours with nothing but catnaps

If this post doesn't make much sense, read the title and please understand. :) I dozed a little bit on the Minneapolis-Amsterdam flight and might have actually slept on the Amsterdam-Kyiv flight (not sure), but I'm tired nonetheless. And hot, and sticky, and grubby...

But I'm HERE! I made it safe and sound to Kyiv around 1 o'clock this afternoon and caught a marshrutka to the train station, where I got a ticket to go overnight to Kharkiv (from whence I will catch an elektrichka to Balaklia). Went to a phone store and got a new battery for my old phone (I had two non-working Ukrainian cell phones, but now I have a working one! Yay!), so I could call Nadia and tell her approximately what time I'm coming tomorrow. She said they'd be waiting for me.

Also got in touch with my friends Natasha K. and Andrey. Natasha was actually my student, ages and ages ago, but now she's in medical school. She's the oldest of 8 kids (last I knew), and I used to attend the church she goes to sometimes on Sunday nights. The last time I was in Ukraine, I spent the night at her house and we talked and giggled until the wee hours of the morning. I used to tutor Andrey in English, and the last time I was here, he and his wife Ira had just had a little girl, Yanna. I can't wait to see how much she's grown!

Cast of characters for the next couple of weeks, since I think this blog is getting some new readers via Facebook (and it may help Melanie sort them out before she gets here!):

The Y family--my closest friends in Ukraine, Baptists with the biggest hearts of anyone I know. Have spent their lives taking in children from orphanages, with all the joys and challenges that entails:

--Viktor: The dad.
--Nadia: The mom. My mom when I'm in Ukraine.
--Vitaly: Oldest boy, serious, ponders theology, is married to...
--Katya: I used to teach her, and she's supposed to have a baby boy any time now.
--Vlada: Just finished high school. If her VKontakte page is any indication, is interested in love and fashion. :)
--Oleh: Same age as Vlada, last I knew was studying at a technical school, may have finished that by now. Used to be good pals with me, but was too cool for that last time I was there.
--Yura: Joined the Y family when he was already a teenager, didn't talk to me last time except to mock me. Biological brother of...
--Ruslan: Just finished 7th grade.
--Valera: Also just finished 7th grade. Has been my special buddy for years. I'm worried he'll have grown too cool for that.
--Liza: Just finished 6th grade.
--Snizhanna, Ihor, Serozhia, and Yan: Have all just finished 3rd grade. Hopefully their individual personalities will show through now that they're older.
--Alosha: Just finished 1st grade. When I first knew them, he was in a crib most of the time.
--Babushka (Grandma): Nadia's mom, lives across the yard. Married to...
--Didushka (Grandpa): Nadia's dad and the pastor of the church I attended for two years.