Hello everyone!
Tomorrow we go back to the United States, and I have to admit I'm really going to miss Ukraine. We had such an amazing experience here, and I am absolutely thankful that I had this opportunity.
For the past couple of days, we spent some time with the Iarosh family and did some sightseeing. Saturday was our last day at their home, and it was sad to say goodbye to the children. They're simply amazing, and they gave us several drawings to show their appreciation. Their parents also gave us some souvenirs and a lot of thanks. I am sad that I won't get to see them again. However, at the same time, I am excited to tell everyone about them, and I am looking forward to guiding next year's volunteers and see how these children will have grown by next summer!
Definitely, this trip should focus on working with My Family more next year. The Way Home is a good place, but it has grown so much in the past couple of years (and has obtained so many sponsors) that it doesn't necessarily need our help. In addition, the kids there are older and prefer to mind their own business, which is understandable. At the Iarosh household, the children were very excited to have students from the United States play with them and help them with their English. In addition, Nataliia and Yuriy were able to accomplish several tasks for their organization while we spent time with the children. Most importantly, we got to know these children on a personal level, and it felt as if I was part of their family.
For the rest of the weekend, we went sightseeing in Lviv and Kiev, although the rain for the past two days interfered a little bit. However, I am very glad that Chelsea got to see her friend Jenny (whom she met in high school, since Jenny was a foreign exchange student). Both of them had tried to set up a meeting time throughout the entire month, but these last two days were the best time for them to meet up. Even though they only got to see each other for a couple of hours, it was a great time. We went to a gallery which exhibits modern art, and that was absolutely my favorite part of the day. It was incredibly different and right up my alley. I love modern stuff, and every piece of art was so intriguing and awesome! My favorite part was a room with orange lighting, which forces visitors to view everything in a monochrome scheme. It was very cool to see how my bright teal shirt turned dark grey as I entered the room. It's unfortunate that I couldn't sneak in my camera to take pictures, but I did get an issue with several pictures of the exhibit.
Overall, our trip to Ukraine has been amazing! Iryna has been a great host to us and we have been taken care of very well. I am excited to go back to the United States to see my family!! Also, over the next couple of days, I will finalize FCEE's publicity tasks. So far, I have created a logo for the organization, created some flyer templates, updated our website, and linked our blog to the website. Now, we just have to spread the word about our organization! Anyways, I have to go! Thank you so much for following our blog for the past month! It has been great, and we hope you liked it!
Until later,
Alex
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