The Adventure of a Lifetime

We woke up this morning and can see clearly that we have been dropped right in the middle of Kiev :).

We arrived in the dark late last night. After a good rest, I can finally see straight enough to post here:)!

I can say already that this is (by far) the craziest thing I have ever done. I am feeling very much out of my element and comfort zone, but I'm excited. I very much like having a plan, and an idea of where I am and what to expect. Chris, on the other hand, loves all the unknowns and flying by the seat of his pants. He is having the time of his life.

I will try to post a couple of times each day with some interesting details of our trip. For the other families on their way over here--this part of the process is exhilarating and exhausting, fascinating and humbling. All I can say is: be prepared for an adventure :).

Details from yesterday:

After being in transit for over 24 hours (including a 1 1/2 hour flight from Columbus to Chicago; an 8 hour flight from Chicago to Munich--with 2 extra hours on the runway due to a weather delay--which caused us to miss our connection in Munich, hence the ensuing 6 hour wait in the Munich airport; and a 2 hour flight to Kiev), we landed at 11 pm Kiev time. Getting through customs was fairly quick and easy.

Our driver, who was waiting for us at the airport, gave us a cell phone with pre-loaded numbers for our contacts here in Ukraine. He took us to the market (a story in itself!--where we bought a little bit of fruit, cheese, lunchmeat, yogurt, Coke light, juice, bottled water and beer), then brought us to our apartment(s). (He actually brought us to the apartment we were supposed to have...and there was someone already in it...which we discovered at 1 am, after climbing 5 flights of stairs with all of our bags. After some calling around--and waking our facilitator--we found another place to stay. The great news is that Plan B has an internet connection...the other unit did not)...and we were able to connect via Skype with Jennie, Sara and Bridget before bed. We hope to have a video call with the rest of the group today.

Here is the view out of our top-floor window:

We are waiting for a call from our facilitator with our plan for today and tomorrow. We are hoping to take a walk down the street and check out some of the shops and restaurants nearby.

Nancy--we have the same cell phone and apartment that you used :). Nikolai says hi to you and Sveta!

Kristin, Jen and others traveling soon--I have written a list of essential items for the flight and important details to know for the beginning of your stay here. I will try to get that to you today or tomorrow.

We miss everyone! We are feeling good overall, though, and are ready to get this show on the road. I'll post again later today...