Living Inspired.

         Flats,Dominoes,& Hedgehogs

    My day began at 7:30 this morning...not my ideal time of rising. Thankfully, there were super delicious heart-shaped waffles and coffee to make everything right. I have volunteered to take the three youngest girls to kindergarten or "sadik" everyday. This is the perfect time to soak in the culture and get my exercise on (right after I consumed a waffle covered in peanut butter, condensed milk, strawberry preservatives...you get the point).

    Stupidly, I slipped on my fabulous purple flats from Target to go walk in mud and mush. As I was walking with the girls, I mumbled under my breath 'these shoes were not made for walking through muddy roads in Ukraine.' At that moment, I realized I was having a "prissy princess" moment. Some of you might read this, and say 'so what, you just put the wrong shoes on, you'll know next time.' Oh, it's much more than that. I spent most of the time with the girls complaining about my shoes getting filthy. My priorities were a little screwed up to say the least. In the amount of time I was whining about my flats, I could have been laughing, skipping, talking with these precious girls. So, when I got home, I just washed off the mud and said out loud, "They are just shoes, Raegan. You can always get another pair."

*As the day continued, Sasha (my baller translator and friend) and I spent some time at the CP Center. We colored, played checkers and dominoes, chatted with the teachers. As I was chatting with one of the teachers she asked me if I would come and help her 16 year old daughter learn English. Of course I said yes, knowing that this was another door opened by 'Papa'. 

     After Sasha left for school, I spent a few more hours hanging out at the center. I spent that time with one of Sasha's teachers who was working with Maxim (picture to the right) on his English, coloring more pictures, playing a little more checkers (and miserably losing), trying to communicate with the workers....Okay. Let's stop here. I was left without any English translation for about 2-3 hours. It.was.wonderfully.fascinating. The teachers spoke to me in straight Ukrainian, using a little sign language to get their point across. This is how you learn language. We worked on a puzzle with one of the students and the teachers kept pointing to pictures wanting me to speak English. There was a picture of a hedgehog (now that I think about it, maybe it was a porcupine. Oops) so I proceeded to tell them what it was. After I said it, they all looked at each other, smiled, and gave 'ooooss' and 'aaaahhhsss'.

  My time at the CP Center ended with me eating cookies and an apple pastry...and Katya (my other baller friend) picking me up. I felt like I was in elementary school again. This will be happening again on Thursday and Friday. Score.

Maxim and Sasha swinging :)