Welcome to Dresden, Germany

After being in Dresden I definitely saw the draw of the city to tourists. It is a beautiful city with a lot of history. Dresden is the capital of the Saxony state of Germany, hosting residence to approximately 550 000 people. Near the end of WWII Dresden was bombed by the Royal Air Force and The United States Army Air Forces, one of the most controversial bombings during WWII. The beautiful city was completely flattened and later rebuilt and repaired based on pictures and drawings of the original city. There are said to be two theories as to why Dresden was so heavily bombed. One was because it was considered one of the most beautiful European cities, but after Hitler came to power and WWII broke out, the rest of the world did not want Germany to have that recognition. Another theory is that it was bombed because it contained much industrial and military infrastructure and the world wanted Germany to fall behind and suffer because of Hitler's reign during the atrocities of WWII. Whatever the reason, Dresden is a wonderful city with historical sites such as Zwinger Palace and the Semper Opera house which are a must see!

Zwinger Palace

Though I only had one day in Dresden, it was still so amazing, but there is so much to do! After visiting the sites on the old side of the city, Nonika and I headed across the bridge over the Elbe River to the new side of the city. We found a cute little chocolate shop with a lady who owns it and makes all her own chocolate, now I see why Germany is famous for chocolate! German food in general is amazing. We also had some amazing bratwurst and braktkartoffein (fried potatoes with vegetables). Later on before we left we had to sample a durom, so good! 

Bratwurst and braktkartoffein

Durom - yummm!

Owner of the chocolate shop!

While Nonika and I were wandering around Dresden we ran into the one and only Kyla who had been there visiting a friend for a couple of days! We were so excited. So we hung out with Kyla and her friend Kenna for the rest of the afternoon. We went to this little back street that had a building for every earth element, and a lot of little shops. It was very cool! 

We love Kyla :)

Earth element water!

Dresden is full of so many little shops, bakeries, beautiful buildings, amazing views, and very friendly people! It was so amazing to be able to visit this historic city and take in some of the culture there. It was so much fun, we loved it! Definitely go to Dresden if you ever have the chance!

Love this girl so much, best travel buddy ever!

Melted My Heart

Anyone that knows me knows I absolutely adore kids. They just make everything better. They make you slow down, and realize that there are way more important things to worry about, especially when these kids are in an orphanage. I'm continually astounded by the extraordinary people in the world. Here in Kiev there is a family, mom, dad and daughter, who take in children from various orphanages and raise them until they are 18. They just got 5 new, what we would call foster kids, and there are a few other children who have been there for 5+ years. These kids love their 'mama' and I'm amazed and these people and their willingness to help these orphaned children, out of love and no other motive. They get no money, they get no compensation from the government. The family lives in an apartment building where they have had 2 apartments converted into one so they can house more children. The children are Valera who is 5, Maxim who is 6, Alona who is 7, Lusha who is 10, Artoom who is 11, Alina who is 13, and Dasha who is 15. Valera, Maxim, and Alona absolutely love the attention and hang off of you every chance they get! It is so sweet, and I am beyond excited to go back every week and play with these children and help teach them English. 

Alona! Most energetic little diva in the world.

'Mama'

Valera and Maxim :) 

The hospital this week was an adventure! The equipment they use surprises me to no end. It is all at least 20 years old and doesn't work 3/4 of the time making it nearly impossible for the students to do research or for tests to be carried out. They only have an x-ray machine 2 days a week, so if you come in on a Friday, you're out of luck until Monday! The doctor I am shadowing was showing me how their electromyogram worked and then let me test it out. She is such an amazing person to work with and is so willing to teach, show, and get me involved with everything that she can. A pharmaceutical rep was at the hospital today. Apparently he thought he was quite the charmer kissing my hand and telling me he was going to call me at 3am... like that's going to happen! These guys just think they can charm you into loving them... where I come from he just comes off as creepy plain and simply haha! 

Room for starting IV's and giving intramuscular injections 

ENT doctor who is available only once a week and sets up right in the middle of the hall

Ice Age equipment!

Electromyogram.. I'm healthy! 

One night this week Nonika, Kyla and I went out for dinner to a Ukrainian restaurant. As we were leaving the waiter, who spoke a little bit of English, says to us, "are you coming back tomorrow?". We kind of looked at each other and Nonika asked if he was working. He said yes and so we promised to go back! But we didn't... hope we didn't break his heart too much! Then we went to institute where we got to meet some other girls who are here in Kiev. It was a great way to end our day, and we got free pizza, what could be better! 

Traditional Ukranian Holubtzi

Loved being at the orphanage with these fun girls!

"Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost"

No matter where you are... the first day of classes is a drag! Try first day of classes where you can't understand your teacher and there are 4 of you in the class so it's like all eyes are on you at all times! The Russian language is a tough one to learn, but thankfully we have Kyla, our own personal teacher so we will be pros in no time! While we are here we decided to volunteer in an orphanage to play with the kids... obviously. Or, so you would think. When Kyla and I got to the orphanage we were told we would be scrubbing floors and walls... who are these people?! I get that they need help... but we love the kids... not the buckets and mops! At any rate, we spent a couple hours cleaning in pretty cute outfits I must say, and never saw 1 child! We were pretty sad, but we cleared it up and from now on we are playing with the kids, so crisis averted! 

Kyla in our cute cleaning uniform, looking good :)

We also were SO happy to find the post office today, Nonika especially.. she apparently has someone special who needs to be written every week, lucky guy ;) So I grabbed a few postcards to mail home to my best friends! Nothing better than mail. Later monday night, Anna, our coordinator, and I went for a walk around the city centre square and just talked then she took me into a beautiful old cathedral. She is the best coordinator that I could ask for. She is so sweet and is so willing to do anything that I or anyone else here needs, she is wonderful! 

A fantastic moment in the last couple days was when we got THAI food. I know, you're thinking Thai food in Ukraine? Weird? Sounds weird, but it was so good you would not believe it. I think we are definitely hooked. And so much food for so little, the food here in Ukraine is unbelievably cheap compared to home. 

We LOVE Thai food 

Wednesday was the first day that we took the metro and busses and everything all by ourselves. You could say we are getting pretty grown up or something like that, it's no big deal really. Nonika, Kyla and I got all the way to school today without getting lost once so it was a big accomplishment because their system can be confusing! Then I got to the hospital without getting lost and I almost got back without getting lost. I guess the good luck wore off and something bad had to happen! I got on the metro from the hospital and then got on bus 180, the bus that is supposed to go back to the front of our building. But I rode the bus and never saw my stop then we got to the final stop where everyone HAD to get off. I had no clue where I was, and great I don't speak Russian so I was pretty hopeless. I called Oleg, one of our coordinators who tried to direct me home, finally I had to stop someone on the street and give them the phone so he could explain it haha! It was too funny, but eventually I got home, turns out I was really close from the bus stop but the bus didn't take its normal route.. gotta love that. One day I'll get it! 

Today was my first experience at the hospital and I loved it. The doctor I am working with, Anastasia, is wonderful and speaks amazing English so it is so fun to be around her. She loves showing me things and teaching me whatever she can and is willing to let me help her with some procedures such as intramuscular injections, insulin shots, helping with the preemie babies, recording EKG's, doing vitals, etc. She even wants to move to Canada, so I love her even more! Unfortunately their health care system is in despair and doctors barely make minimum wage in state hospitals. They do not have modern technology and rely on equipment and some techniques from pre-Soviet times. After the hospital today I met Nonika and Kyla in the centre of the city and we went to this little pie shop that Nonika has been raving about for the last 2 days, and it was awesome. We definitely found a hot spot, we will probably keep it in business. They have all sorts of pies, cherry, cranberry, chicken, and RABBIT. We had a couple of rabbit pies and a chicken one. They were both so good, and the rabbit was especially tasty, I highly recommend it!

I've had a fantastic week so far and this adventure only gets better as time goes on! Love you all! 

Rabbit pie!!

Love this girl!