why it's cooler to post from ukraine

so i'm here on my last day in the great HARKOV, or KAPKXIV, or KHARKOV, or XAPKOB, XAPKIB... 

actually i'm not entirely sure any of those are right (mom this is your que to correct me),  but needless to say there are a plethora of spellings for this city.

anyhow, i just got onto blogger.blogspot and all the little words along the top, like 'sign in' or 'sign out' if you're logged in, were in ukrainian.  cool beans!  now i'm logged in so it's back to boring english, but man i was living for the 15 seconds it took me to find the right word for 'sign in.'

i like ukraine.  in case anyone out there is wondering...it's true.  every year i come here.  every year i fall in love all over again with the kids and the staff.  every year it is harder and harder for me to go back home.

when saying goodbye to the kids today it was the typical hugs and kisses and fighting back tears.  this to which i was successful until i finished hugging nastia and realized she was bawling.  then i couldn't help it.  but when vanya came up and scolded me for crying i professed that i was done and wouldn't cry anymore.  and i didn't...until i got into my hotel room.  abby, my roomie for the week, was in the shower and i was curled up on my bed sobbing like a baby.

the truth is that a big part of my heart is here and when i have to leave, it just kind of hurts a little(or a lot), because i have to leave a part of me behind.

okay, enough feeling sorry for myself.  instead i'm going to tell you a funny little story that just popped into my head right now and made me smile(which is really great considering how depressed i'm feeling).

so we were all at the transition home (roughly, it's the really nice home for good kids who have graduated from the orphanage.  this way they don't have to live in the horrible dorms) yesterday and sveta (my little sis for the past 4 years) took me up to her bedroom to paint my nails. (just wait, it gets girlier)  pretty soon galya (her sister) and natasha (her friend) come up and together we went through sveta's perfume and clothes(she made this adorable little jacket that i totally want).  

sveta pulled out a picture of a kitten and i said it was "cute".  then i taught them how children are cute and women are beautiful, and when they asked me what a good looking man would be called i said cute, too.  they seemed really confused so i said the most suggestive ca-u-ute i could and they all giggled which made me think they understood.  either that or they thought i was mentally handicapped.  i never can quite tell...(refer to earlier post)

so then they broke out a picture of all the boys in their church and told me who each of them liked (well, natasha told me who galya liked and galya told me who sveta and natasha liked and each girl giggled and tried to deny their crush but, of course, were not at all convincing)  then they asked me which boys i thought were cute and i proceeded to point to each of their crushes.  i figured it was safest.

they also asked me if i liked any boy and i said 'no' and they wouldn't believe me.  so i said, "there are boys i think are cute, but i don't like them" and galya, who speaks the best english of the three stroked my hair and said, "i understand" and then i said "but i'm happy" and galya (continuing to stroke my hair, i think because it was straightened and she really like it that way) said "ya tosha" which means 'me too.'

(now this was the fun part)

then i said, "men...who needs 'em?"

this really confused them, so i said it slower and with slightly different words and they all laughed and said "da!" (yes) and then i shouted out "girl power!" and they all laughed and whooped in agreement!

so later that night we were eating at mcdonalds (i know, not terribly authentic) and sveta said, "bathroom? ...you come?" to me and i was like, "tee hatchesh?" (basically 'do you want me to?') to which she promptly said "okay, let's go." 

from all of this i have concluded one very important fact...girls speak a universal language...whether it's painting nails, talking about cute boys, boy bashing, or even going to the bathroom together...we can all still relate to each other...maybe not as ukrainians or americans...but as girls.