There are a lot of things I’ll miss when I leave Ukraine and then there are the things I won’t miss one bit.
Things I won’t miss:
Rain. Fall and spring in Ukraine (at least where I live) are outrageously rainy. I don’t think I’ve seen a full day of sunshine for over a month now. It’s rained at least a little bit (and often a lot) every day for at least a month, maybe even longer. It doesn’t even feel like summer right now it’s so rainy and chilly on most days. Lately it’s been really humid and sunny for part of the day, and then it rains like crazy later in the day. The humidity I’m used to – Kentucky is stupidly humid. But the rain is getting really old. I won’t miss this.
The smell of the hog farm across the river from where I live – especially when it rains. I don’t think I really want to know why it smells so much worse when it rains, but the stink is repulsive and takes a lot away from the beautiful sight I see when I look out my window.
Mud. Closely associated with the rain. See paragraph 1.Made much more annoying because of the fact that there are only occasionally sidewalks and most of the time I walk on dirt roads which just turn into giant mud pits when it rains for days.
Not being able to buy what I want in the stores — either because they don’t carry those products or simply ran out. The only store in town that carried the Laughing Cow cheese I liked now appears to no longer stock the product. I’ve gotten used to this by now, but I’m looking forward to going to the grocery store and getting whatever I want.
A shower with no shower curtain. I haven’t had a shower curtain for nearly three years and I’m really looking forward to having one again. I feel like that’s really going to enhance the quality of my showers in a way I’ve almost forgotten.
My rickety bed. I’m really looking forward to sleeping through the night and not waking myself up because of the creaky noises the bed makes every time I roll over.
Living with students. They’re fun and all and I love my students to pieces…but they’re also kids and they make as much noise as I’m sure I would have if I’d lived in a dorm when I was 15. But I’m not 15 anymore and staying up until 4:00 a.m. just isn’t as much fun as it used to be.
Throwing away my toilet paper. That’s just gross.
Sitting on steaming hot bus rides with all the windows closed because the older folks on the bus are afraid of the draft.
Crappy pens.
Beating carpets clean. If I ever have carpets again you better believe I’m gonna buy a vacuum or strip the floors so I can just sweep them.
Things I will miss:
Everything else.
Even the rain.
This had me laughing and nodding along right til the end, and now I am in tears. I can’t believe this is coming to an end so soon.