Updated apartment pics :)

I wrote this post at home 2 nights ago with all intentions of pasting it into the blog format and hitting publish post...but that didn't work out yesterday! So, everything is written as if it were a few days ago...enjoy!

Well, I lied. I ended up staying up late last night when I finally got on a roll cleaning and putting away the last final things in my apartment…which means that you get more pictures of the way things will probably be for a little while! I am overall pretty pleased with how things have come together…considering that 1) I am in a foreign country where I cannot find things readily available (or just wouldn’t know where to purchase them to begin with!), 2) I am trying to stay on track with a small budget, and 3) the furniture I have is all I get…

So, without further ado, my {very first} apartment:

This is the view you see from the entry into the living room/my bedroom. My suitcases are underneath my bed, while most of my winter clothes are under the pull out drawer on the loveseat. (sidenote: I doused the couch in fabric refresher that I brought from home. VERY glad I brought a full size bottle with me).

Here is some more of the living room, actually standing in the doorway. The flowers I got from work on Friday which was my first real day at the job. My counterpart has pictures of me with the flowers looking nice and fresh…I’ll try to get them from her soon. It was all very sweet :)

A close-up of the corner which has 1) the blanket that came from inside my sheet duvet cover, 2) one of the two outlets in the room…the other outlet is by the cabinet with my clothes in it, 3) one of the two stools that I have no idea what to do with…the other stool is out in the entry way for me to sit on to put on my shoes, and 4) most importantly…an OU poster thanks to Mitchell’s accounting class project :)

Close-up of my shkaff (that is the Russian word for any piece of furniture that could hold items that is not a table). The bottom portion with drawers holds a random assortment of things that I might need at some point…extra toiletries, bug spray, air mattress, med kit, toilet paper, paper towels (which people do not use here…I was surprised I was able to find them to buy! I have used almost an entire roll just for cleaning…), etc. On the open bottom shelf is my stack of books/notebooks that were from PST (pre-service training). That’s a lot of reading material…

Different view of my bed and the loveseat. The entrance into the room is to the left in this picture. Amy, see if you can spot something that is an OLD, old (circa 2003) project you made me J it made the trip over here…and I’m quite glad it did. One of the first things I plan on having my parents send over is a pair of twin size t-shirt sheets. Bedding is very different here and I’ve had quite a time adjusting to it…which may seem pretty picky, but I would like to enjoy my bed for the next two years. (Sidenote: I'm about to be very whiny, so you can skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to hear…). Ukraine does not have fitted sheets, at least that I can find. This means that every night, my bottom sheet comes untucked and I end up on the “mattress” that I would rather not know how many people have slept on. So, on top of the not-fitted bottom sheet, is a top sheet duvet cover for whatever blanket you happen to be using at the time. The top sheet in this set has a giant opening at the bottom for you to slide the blanket in…which means that the blanket also moves around throughout the night and becomes very whopper-jawed. My reasoning why Ukrainians do this is to allow you to wash your sheets every week but it also keeps the blankets from getting exposed to much dust or dirt. So, I really want some of my old dorm sheets that are bright Lydia colors and that will actually stay on the bed. The end :) moving on…

I love the little nook above my bed. Very handy to keep my phone (alarm clock), journal, Bible, and Kindle in. BTW, my Kindle has 3g here in Kirovograd…definitely faster than in Oster where I had EDGE. Oh, the wonders of technology…

An overview of the entryway into my room…Ukraine map, check. Calendars, check. Pictures, check!

This montage is immediately to your left when you walk into my room. I got the two blue stick on decals from Target right before I left…$8.00. They can come off and easily be reapplied wherever. If you click on this picture too and then click to enlarge it, you might be able to see the rocking wallpaper my apartment has in it. It’s GLITTERY. I kind of love it. The OU frame is actually magnetic but I taped it up to the wall for now because I don’t have anywhere to put a magnetic frame since my fridge is outside on the balcony…the frame also has an easel back so I may put it somewhere else. Other pictures printed include one of my favorite group pictures of our cluster…the day we bought our Ukrainian cell phones. And my Ukraine fam as well :) (sidenote: Tina, I need a copy of the picture of the 5 of us at the wedding. Please please!)

Moving on to the kitchen…This is the view that you see right now when you walk into the kitchen. I can’t figure out if I will actually eat in my kitchen or not. I loved eating breakfast at the kitchen table in Oster and watching my neighbor work out in the garden, but it doesn’t feel the same here. All that I would see out my window is people walking by…a little boring compared to Oster. We’ll see. It’s a trial run right now.

It’s like an unwritten rule that you have to have candy waiting for any guest that happens to come by your house. Luckily, my host family stocked me up right before I left. Thanks, Christy :)

My dish rack that I love so much! Those are all of the dishes I have, minus a metal pan.

Kitchen sink. Purchased the sponge holder at the super market. LOVE it. One thing my host mom taught me during my 3 month stay with them was to never be afraid to use enough dish soap…and to throw away the sponge. Also pictured is my lovely retainer case…forgot to take that out for the “staging” picture :)

Here is my electric tea kettle (borrowed from work until I buy my own) and the hot plate that I used for the first time today (tried to make kasha, epic fail). The “dragon” (aka, hot water heater) is mounted on the wall.

View from the corner of the kitchen (by the stove…that doesn’t work) looking into the hallway and into the living room. I purchased the hook that the towel is on for 10 grievnas, and the towel for 6 grievnas. Towels are relatively expensive here which kind of surprises me…most of the tea towels I saw were 35 grievnas (a little over $5). While that seems normal in America, I would expect them to be less expensive here like other things, so it was kind of jarring in my mind. I brought a microfiber bath towel that I am SUPER glad I packed because my first night here there was definitely no towel in the apartment at all. And, it dries super fast. Yesterday I purchased a stick-on-the-wall paper towel holder. It is now next to my towel hook.

So that is my apartment...hope you enjoyed the tour :) love love