This is for Reals

   Holy schmoli - the calm before the storm has ended! For over a year I have been thinking about, praying, studying, fasting, and planning a volunteer trip through ILP, and over the past week it has hit me hard that this is for reals.
   Last Monday when I got back to BrIdaho after Thanksgiving (which was fantabulous), ILP called and asked if I'd be willing to leave a little early, and of course I said yes. Plane tickets haven't been bought yet, but my estimated departure is January 2 or 3 (I was originally leaving January 16ish). I leave in 26 days. Possibly 25. I have 25 days left in America, before I leave for my craziest adventure yet. In 25 days, I'll be living in Kiev, Ukraine and I am beyond stoked!

        This weekend I had two full days of training in Provo, and I have to be honest, I'm still a little overwhelmed. I'm about to move to a 2nd world country to live with a host family and teach English to who-knows-how-many 4-15 year olds for four months with a whole bunch of people that I don't know. Not that I haven't known this before, but now I am absolutely positive that I'm at least a little bit certifiably crazy.

     Training was great, though. I drove down to Provo on Thursday night with another girl going to Russia. We were able to stop in Salt Lake City and see the lights on Temple Square - gorgeous! All of Friday (9:30-5:30) was spent learning about the teaching model, lesson plans, and how to manage a classroom of 5 year olds. I don't think I'm supposed to give details about their teaching model, but I love it! It's speaking-based and makes absolute sense.

     Friday was split in two: during the morning we learned about teaching the older kids ages 8-15, and all afternoon we talked about safety, rules, culture shock, and living in another country. All of the training was done by the three directors of the program, which I really appreciated. After spending two entire days with the three men taking care of us state-side (and they are directly involved with us), whatever concerns I had about safety are gone. If there is a problem, and there will be sometime while I'm over there, it will be taken care of quickly and well.

     I was also able to meet two of the people in my group! My head teacher's name is Madeline (Head teachers are volunteers who have done the program before, so they are there to help us in the classroom) and one of my fellow teachers is Steven. There will probably be 5 others, some of whom I'll meet at the SLC airport at departure, and some I might meet once we've arrived in Ukraine. I don't know who they are, but I'm sure these 7 people will become some of my closest friends and I am so excited!